Sony's BDP-S350 Blu-ray player hitting Canada this month
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 18th 2008 3:01PM
posted Aug 18th 2008 3:01PM
[Via Digital Home]
posted Aug 18th 2008 3:01PM
The percentage of sales people that recommend Samsung HDTVs.
Salespeople are also becoming less likely to recommend LCD sets over plasma sets, which goes against the industry trend.
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Genuine question: What does this have that a PS3 doesn't have? Or is the price of the PS3 so much in flux that it's worth getting the BDP-S350 just so you know what you're getting?
Feature-wise, this doesn't have anything beyond the PS3 besides an IR remote. I'm still recommending the PS3 to people who ask me about Blu-ray, but this is a good option for Blu-ray buyers who just refuse to consider a game console, no matter what.
It does offer bitstream output over HDMI which some people prefer to get it done in the AVR, with the PS3 can only get decoded output. Hopefully it is near silent which is an advantage and the PS3 doesn't fit in with my kit (they are all seperates)
ill buy a standalone blu-ray player (or ps3) when they are affordable, which is a decent brand name one (like this one) for $99. I think its still 3-4 more years before we see that tho. Until then, ill stick with the internet downloads.
Bingo. No one (ok very few people...first adopters/PS3 owners), will drop those kinda of prices on a BD player when upconverting DVD players are below $75 and BD titles are still selling in the $25-35 range. Also I can simply download HD titles via On-Demand and other services for $3 and have no media cluttering up my place. Also, didnt Toshiba just push out the XD-E500 which is supposed to be a big improvement on the upconverting DVD market?
D-Shan, I see your point, though while the mainstream consumer may like it, I prefer the 1080p and especially the lossless sound and the extras on the disc. Not available via downloads, only VERY compressed Dolby Digital. A good portion of the public is much smarter that you credit them for. They are buying HDTV's in droves now, and want to show off the best picture their tv can produce. They are also more educated on sound quality now.
My main problem with downloads is this: I have taped 3-500gb hard drives full of HD movies from Dish Network (they allow for external hard drives, unlimited number). One disc that was full with 96 high def movies suddenly went bad. I checked with Seagate and there was no way to get back the data (they had me send it in since there is a 5 year warranty). So, my 96 movies are gone. The same is always possible with any sotrage drive for any download. If you purchase the download, and you lose the drive, most downloading services will not simply let you download it again without paying (I have checked the terms of 4 download companies because I was interested at one time). ALL hard drives are going to eventually fail, some can fail within months, one never knows. Blu ray discs will remain safe on my shelf. That is my negative against downloading (that and the very lossy sound and download times for a 1080 movie in HD).
You'll know what I mean when you lose your hard drive or storage like I did. Oh yes I still tape movies in HD off Dish but I don't expect them to remain safe and I don't feel like I permanently own that movie like I do with a blu-ray. Besides, the players and the discs are not going to remain at higher prices. I expect $199 specials on blu-ray players this holiday season, especially between black Friday and X-mas.
As a movie fan, I am all-the-way for blu-ray, because no other service or download can match the quality in picture and sound. I am not alone, so when you say "early adopters" are the only ones who will buy a player, I think those words will become wrong by the end of the year. The economy is not helping either, and the studios need to price movies at a more reasonable price (39.95 for the 1966 Batman movie? Really!). I think movie prices will be down as well by the holidays, at least catalog titles.
I already have 4 or 5 friends who have purchased blu-ray players (3 with a stand alone and 2 with a PS3). They are not movie buffs or electronic buffs like I am-but average electronics consumers who want the best for their high def tv.
I'm looking forward to buying this or the S550 player. I've got an initial release 60GB PS3 and it has been an amazing DVD/BD player, but I still would like to own a standalone player to simply play movies.