BDP-S780
4.4
5
17
17
This player competely blew me away!
This is my first blu ray player. I was a little apprehensive about buying this player because I had read some reviews that were critical of the setup and configuration for this device. While that did turn out to be the weakest part of the package, I decided to take a chance because I have always been partial to Sony products. I am sure glad I did.
The setup presented a few challenges but if you are reasonably tech savvy you won't have any problems. The interface is much better than I was led to believe. If you are familiar with the PS3 it uses the same award winning crossbar navigation.
Here are a few tips for setup. First, the main feature I wanted, Netflix support, did not appear on the menu initially. You have to drill down the menus to select something like "add bonus features." It also helps to have someone help you because I had to run back and forth to my computer and router to press buttons and enter configuration codes, etc. I also recommend that the first thing you do once you get connected to the internet is to update the system software. (This is a nice feature because just like a PS3 or Xbox you can get updates to the system as improvements are made. Sony recommends checking for updates every 2 months.#
Another tip is that it supports an iPhone app called "Media Remote". That appears on the box but I did not see it in the manual. Just go to the App Store and search for "Media Remote" and you can get an app for no added cost that allows your iPhone #or Android based phone)to act as a remote from anywhere on your network. This is most useful for entering text using the iPhone's software keyboard.
It is probably in the specs but there are USB ports on both the front and the back. If you leave a flash drive in the rear port it acts like a disk drive for BD Live content, although so far I have not been that impressed with BD live. I don't know if it will help performance in other ways, but flash drives are cheap so I put a 4GB drive in the rear port.
I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of free content available, such as movies from Crackle. It also supports YouTube, Skype, Facebook, Hulu and many others. Actually I think this would be a great device even if it didn't have the blu-ray disc player. It also supports a DLNA home network allowing you to stream content from a DLNA enabled comptuer. I was mostly interested in the wi-fi capabilities, but it also has an ethernet jack
The performance with Netflix and the other video services I have tried is fantastic
So in summary the instructions are not very clear but this is a great BD player and so much more with the built-in wi-fi. You will not be disappointed with this player!
December 13, 2011
Great Player
great plaer, second BD player. Love the wireless, has changed how we integrate our house !!
shame the player does not support 5Ghz band and also does not play back 1080i unless on HDMI, two calls to support and various chat sessions and nothing... my cheap walmart panasonic does 1080i on component !! I can't beleive this does not also.
March 14, 2012
Fan Error
I was very disappointed when a "fan error" message began to appear and I had to continually turn the player off and on to get it to work. After spending what seemed like an hour on the phone, she finally told me to unplug and plug in. That seemed like an easy fix unless you use a Control 4 system, which opened up a new can or worms. Eventually the player was up and running.
December 20, 2011
Great BDP
I love the S-780. I have it paired with sony's 55hx929 and the STR-DH820 and everything works seamlessly together. Setup is a little time consuming but simple.
The fact that Sony is bundling HP7 1&2 is perfect for me because my wife loves them. Although, based on my short experience with 3D the Potter movies aren't exactly the best examples of quality 3D.
December 16, 2011
