Gizmodo: bdp-s1

Sony Blu-ray Firmware Update Means Helloooo Keira!

Wilson Rothman — Tue, 29 May 2007 20:35:24 EDT

We just received word that the Sony BDP-S1 firmware trouble that was keeping you from enjoying your Pirates of the Caribbean Blu-ray discs (I can't bring myself to say "BDs" yet—sounds like underwear) has been fixed. In fact, it does quite a lot. If you or someone you love is suffering from Pirates BD Java issues or just feels like maximizing the potential of the player, consult Sony's support page. And in case you didn't know, a DVD burner is required for the DIY update. – Wilson Rothman

BDP-S1 Firmware Update [Sony]

Dealzmodo: Sony BDP-S1 at $799

Jason Chen — Sat, 26 May 2007 10:45:42 EDT

Sony's BDP-S1 (see the review here) has just got a two hundred dollar price drop from $999 to $799. While still not the cheapest Blu-ray—Samsung's BD-P1000 is $439 and the PS3 is $499 for the lower version—it does reflect on the lower Blue Laser diodes we reported on before.

If you're curious as to whether the firmware problems that affect this player have been fixed? Yeah, they have—with a firmware update. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon]

Blu-ray Players Have Problems With Pirates of the Caribbean Discs

Jason Chen — Fri, 25 May 2007 17:40:53 EDT

If you've just purchased the first two Pirates movies on Blu-ray in order to get psyched up for the third one, you probably came up with a whole lot less Johnny Depp and a whole lot more firmware problems than you expected. Apparently at least two players—Samsung's BD-P1200 and Sony's BDP-S1—have difficulty playing back the first two movies, thanks to outdated BD java. And by difficulty, we mean they throw up their hands and give up like a fat man at the starting line of a 10K.

Firmware to the rescue? Yes.

Samsung's already released a firmware update here, which fixes the problem. You can either burn the firmware update onto CD or download it via the BD-P1200's LAN connection. Which brings us to another point. Why isn't Ethernet in the Blu-ray part of the manditory spec?

The Sony BDP-S1 is one of the few players that doesn't have an Ethernet port. Unlike HD DVD, which makes Internet connectivity mandatory, Blu-ray doesn't tells player makers to go nuts and put it in if they want. That means disc manufacturers can't count on the Ethernet being there for firmware updates (well, individual companies can, because they can make all their players Ethernet-enabled). And I don't think Blu-ray content producers are going to count on hardware that isn't in every set. This is why we favor the HD DVD spec as a hardware platform, which requires many more things in the spec, so developers can count on the hardware support. Blu ray is just plain lucky for all that studio support. – Jason Chen

Firmware Update [Samsung]

Sony Firmware [Sony]

Pioneer and Sony's Blu-Ray Players Choke on The Descent. More Proof They're Identical?

Jason Chen — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:25:28 EST

Despite Sony's "official" statement that their BDP-S1 standalone Blu-Ray player only uses similar parts to the Pioneer BDP-HD1, there's been more than a few similarities noted in their reviews. The Pioneer and the Sony players all have the same format support, menus, disc drives, back panels, and load times. Now, with the release of The Descent they crash and burn in exactly the same way.

Reason? Both players don't support BD-J (Java enhanced discs), which is what Lionsgate produced The Descent in. Gee, if people are having a hard time telling DVDs from Blu-Ray and HD DVDs, how do you think they'll react when you tell them their player won't support BD-J discs? The PS3 plays back these discs just fine, and Sony's said they will release a firmware update to upgrade to BD-J support "sometime early this year". – Jason Chen

'The Descent' Playback Problems Reported on Sony and Pioneer Blu-ray Players [HighDefDigest]

Update: A Pioneer spokesman says they do support BD-J, as evidenced by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen working fine. It's just something odd with this batch of The Descent titles. Maybe it's a tech somewhere along the line sparing you from watching the movie?

First Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Review (Verdict: Identical to Sony?)

Jason Chen — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 19:34:05 EST

If you read the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray player review, you'd have a good idea of what the Pioneer BDP-HD1 player could do. Because, strangely enough, they are identical. HDGuru found that the back panel, disc drive, menus, format support, and capabilities were exactly the same between the two players, down to the time it takes they take to boot and load a movie.

When asked, Pioneer said they manufacture the player itself, so does that mean they make Sony's as well? Is that the reason for their massive delays? Does Sony not even make their own Blu-ray players, something they've been pushing like crazy?

Hard to say. But that's the way it looks now. Fortunately for Sony, their version of the player is $1000 compared to the Pioneer's $1500. But for the extra $500 you get an ethernet port, a longer warranty, a more conventional black finish, and BD-R/RE recordable playback.

If you're looking to author your own discs or enjoy updating firmware over the net, the Pioneer seems like a better buy. – Jason Chen

EXCLUSIVE: First Review of the Pioneer Elite BDP-HD1 Blu-ray Player [HDGuru]

Dealzmodo: 60 Sony Blu-ray Players for $475

Jason Chen — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 16:30:14 EST

American Express has their own version of a Woot-off every year around the Holidays: a bunch of people scrambling to bid on something that's less than half its MSRP. Today they've got the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray player for $475. Regular price, $999.

All you have to do is get there at 7PM EST (4PM PST) and purchase one with your Amex card. Sounds simple, but good luck beating thousands of other desk monkeys to it. Better warm up your clicking finger. – Jason Chen

My Wishlist [American Express]

Sony BDP-S1 Reviewed (Verdict: Great Picture Quality, Weird Format Support)

Jason Chen — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 15:09:39 EST

So the Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray standalone player was finally released. But how does it perform? Well, if all you care about is image quality, then it's pretty great. HDGuru says:

All images appeared razor sharp and artifact free. Particularly appreciated was the absence of edge enhancement within Enemy Of The State disc. It has been seen on some earlier BD disc releases, and appears as a faint white outline around people and objects. Colors were completely free of noise and fine detail was superb.

So what's the downside?

Although the BDP-S1 can play just about all Blu-ray discs, regular DVDs and DVD-RW/Rs, anything other than that meets with a mechanical grunt as it spits out your disc at you.

What the player will not accept are "all types of CDs (CD-ROMSs/CD-R/CD-RW, or the CD layer of hybrid discs etc.; VCDs/Super VCDs; DVD audio discs; Super Audio CDs; DVD-RAMs; HD DVDs" (duh!) "BDs with cartridge; BD-REs/BD-Rs" (rats); "DVD-RWs/DVD-Rs; and DVD-Rs of VR mode" It goes on "Some DVD-RWs/DVD-Rs cannot be played on this player due to the recording quality or physical condition of the disc, or the characteristics of the recording device and authoring software"

You can't exactly get rid of your old players just yet. Also, pressing the remote took the player 2-3 seconds to respond. That's pretty ridiculous. All in all, a decent player in terms of image quality that may be upstaged by the PlayStation 3's Blu-ray abilities and cheaper price.

The funny part? The BDP-S1 doesn't come with an HDMI cable either. – Jason Chen

EXCLUSIVE: First Review Of The Sony BDP-S1 Blu-Ray Player [HDGuru]

Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player Finally Released

Jason Chen — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:05:47 EST

After being delayed multiple times, Sony's BDP-S1 Blu-ray is finally available for purchase. They should be in stores now, if not later this week.

Sony's BDP-S1 has 1080p and HDMI outputs, along with the ability to play back just about all Blu-ray format discs out there now. If you're looking to save $400, and can actually find one in stock, a PlayStation 3 can also play back Blu-ray movies in 1080p and has HDMI as well. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Amazon]

Press Release [Sony via Sci Fi Tech]

Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player Gets Delayed. Again.

Jason Chen — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:40:22 EDT

With the LocationFree getting delayed, the possible PS3 ship date miss, the PS3 controller complaints, the laptop battery troubles, and now the Blu-ray BDP-S1 player being delayed, could this be the worst quarter Sony's ever had? Well there was that quarter where they sold poison-coated pacifiers back in the '80s, but this is probably a close second.

The December 4 release date push may be bad news bears for Blu-ray lovers, but it also could mean Sony wants every available Blu-ray diode in its PlayStation 3 consoles, making a PS3 release slip less likely. Also, if the BDP-S1 doesn't actually make it out for Xmas, the Samsung BD-P1000 and Panasonics' DMP-BD10 may be the only Blu-ray players available this holiday season. Other than the PlayStation 3, of course. – Jason Chen

Sony's Blu-ray Player Delayed Yet Again [Home Theater Blog - Thanks Kevin!]

Sony Blu-ray Player Launch Delay: Why?

Charlie White — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 13:52:54 EDT

In an attempt to set the record straight on the delayed launch of Sony's BDP-S1 Blu-ray player, ars technica went directly to the source. Sony insisted that there has only been one launch delay. The company said there had been confusion about the number of delays, denying that a ship date had been pushed back from July to August. The Sony spokesperson explained that July was the original ship date for the player to be sent to retailers, but the players had been scheduled to be available to consumers in August. This is why it seemed that the players had been delayed from July to August, according to Sony.

Sony acknowledges the latest delay that we reported yesterday, where the Sony Style website showed October 25 as the new launch date of the BDP-S1 Blu-ray player. But that date may not be accurate, either. Sony says its online site required a specific date, and so it picked October 25, but says the actual date is not that specific, and would only say the player would be shipped in "late October." Why the delay? Sony cryptically cited a "product software issue." – Charlie White

The real scoop on Sony's Blu-ray launch plans [ars technica]

Sony Blu-ray Player Delayed Yet Again

Charlie White — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 12:57:29 EDT

Here we go again, where Sony delays its Blu-ray player once more. We told you about how Sony's $995 BDP-S1 had been rescheduled for an August 15 launch, and now the company has gone and postponed the launch of that Blu-ray player again, this time until October 25.

Our pale-faced yet lovable cohorts at Kotaku astutely wonder about the strategy of releasing this Blu-ray player just weeks before the release of Sony's cheaper Blu-ray-packing PlayStation 3 gaming console, which will sell for between $500 and $600. Could the BDP-S1 be a shill, set up like a stooge to make the PS3 look like a tremendous bargain? – Charlie White

Sony's First Blu-Ray Player Slips Again [Kotaku]

Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player Delayed

Charlie White — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 15:15:30 EDT

Sony quietly announced on its Sony Style website that the BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player won't be shipping until "on or about August 15, 2006." This is not quite the date the company had originally announced for the $1000 player, which was to coincide with the launch of the first disks. Samsung's first Blu-ray player has its launch planned for around that same time, still on track for its scheduled June 25 rollout.

Let's just hope when it finally does arrive, this Sony Blu-ray player not as half-baked as the lame Toshiba HD-A1, the unfortunate poster child for those who urge consumer electronics manufacturers to rush their products to market. – Charlie White

Sony Bumps Release of First Blu-Ray Player to August [High-Def DVD Digest]

Sony Says BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player Up For Pre-Order

Charlie White — Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:49:45 EST

If you absolutely have to be the first one on your block to have a Blu-ray player, Sony says it's now offering its $1000 BDP-S1 unit for pre-order starting today. One thing's for certain, we won't be seeing any of these until at least July even though Sony told us at CES the unit would ship in the spring.

We get an eerie feeling with these circumstances, reminded of the Betamax we bought decades ago for the same price that ended up taking its place atop the ash heap of history. D j vu anyone? Word is the player will be available on Sony Style or Amazon, but when we checked both places, the pre-order mechanism for the BDP-S1 wasn t in place yet. But that could change any minute.

Sony press release [via I4U News]