Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi (2013 Model)

Everything worked perfectly out of the box. Netflix / Amazon Prime /Pandora etc etc all worked fine with the codes the player provides during setup or when using the first time. Absolutely no problems. Old DVD up-conversion looks sweet. Hookup was a snap (does NOT come with any HDMI or any other cables in the box), and I had some minor kludging to do, as some of my other equipment has been around for quite a while - but everything went smoothly. My old receiver has, along with 3 Toslinks, a default "coaxial" digital audio input for DVD players, and since the hi-quality :D gold shielded "digital audio" cable I foolishly ordered from Monoprice hadn't arrived yet, I just grabbed a cheap video composite rca cable I had laying around and used that. I'm used to good quality (for digital) 5:1 optical audio, and for the life of me I can't tell any difference (no crosstalk, buzz, interference or drops) using this cheap workaround rca cable (a short 6' run) - so I'll swap out when my "good" one gets here, - but just so you know, a cheap yellow video composite, or ANY cheap rca audio cable will likely work in a pinch (for short runs). If you don't have a "coaxial" digital rca input on your receiver, just get something like this: C2G / Cables to Go 40018 Coaxial to Optical Digital Audio Converter The picture quality right out of the box was impressive - if necessary I can even convert the HDMI output to DVI (via converter cable) to accommodate an older DLP Samsung tv, and though when I do this it degrades down to 1280×720 it still looks great. I've seen no glitches, drop-outs etc so far, even when I hook it up to the older equipment. The icing on the cake was the network performance. I have a Netgear 802.11.N wireless router with wired gigabit ports, but even though the Sony player only has a 100baseT ethernet input (I did go wired RJ45, haven't tried wireless yet) the network speed is more than adequate - I have little to no download wait time for Netflix, Amazon Prime HD movies with 5:1 sound - and when I can dig up a good quality movie from one of those sites (full 5:1 / HD) everything looks and sounds great, with fast rewind / fast fwd / repeat over the network (Comcast "blast" testing at 50Mb+ down-speed) Lastly, what also impressed me was how painless it was to access all my multi-media from my PC with DLNA. My laptop saw the Sony player immediately on the network and vice versa - and with a few "share / permissions" tweaks on my laptop for security all my music, vids and pictures were immediately available on my tv. The only things the S5100 doesn't do that higher-end players do are 4K upscaling and "Skype on your TV" - but until prices for 4K come down a lot, I have no desire to shell out $$s for a 4K tv, and I Skype from my laptop. The included Opera browser imo is for me a waste of time - I use my laptop's browser. For $130 bucks, this thing exceeded my expectations in performance and literally painless setup. Easily worth the dough. As I try newer more tricky stuff in the future I may add some detail to this review, but honestly, after just a couple days and just the few things that I've done so far, I I have to give the BDP-S5100 my total recommendation for anyone looking for an affordable mid-range solution to media players.

I bought this to replace my Panny 210 and so far, it works well, with just a couple of complaints. Compared to the Panny 210, the unit is quieter and much quicker to load and play a BD. The UI is typical Sony and I like it, a lot. The wireless was easy to set up, and the firmware update was finished quickly.......... Make sure you turn the "BD Audio Mix" setting to OFF if you are connecting the player to an AV receiver that can decode DTS Master and Dolby HD signals, otherwise you won't get the best that Blu-ray has to offer. Now, as for the issues. The Pandora app takes much longer than I expected between songs. On my Sammy 6420 TV, it is no more than 5 seconds between songs and on my Onkyo 709 it is no more then 3 seconds, but on the S5100 it takes at least 15 seconds or more between songs........Pretty annoying. However, the YouTube and Amazon Prime apps both work great with no stuttering or buffering and I'm only on a 2.5mbps connection. The main issue: Today when I went to play Pandora it got stuck on the "Acquiring internet content 3/3" screen and would not load any smart apps. I turned it off/on and nothing, then I unplugged it for 5 minutes and plugged it back in, nothing, I rebooted my DSL ( even though the S5100 said that my connection was OK ), and still no joy. I read online that with some of its other players, Sony recommends to do a system reset to fix this, but I also read from users that a reset didn't do a thing, and they had to spend 20 minutes resetting up their player, so I didn't do it. I then got stubborn and tried to load Pandora again and let the machine idle on the "acquiring internet content" screen for 20+ minutes and it magically fixed itself. This would be a huge deal breaker if it becomes a trend. I will update with the results and adjust my rating when I get more time on the unit. If it happens again, it will be going back immediately, but if it was a one time fluke, then I will be more than happy to keep it. Hopefully Sony gets enough complaints regarding the Pandora app and sends out a firmware update to fix it. If that happens, and today's app issue never happens again, then this would be the perfect 5 star player......Time will tell. UPDATE 5/7/13: I read over on AVS Forum that it was recommended to disable the "Software Update Notification" setting (set to ON by default) to prevent the "acquiring internet content" freeze that I experienced. I did so the day I wrote this review and I have not had another issue since. The downside is I have to manually check for updates my self, but I personally prefer that as it's no different on how I handle Microsoft Updates for my computers. One check per month should be more than enough, but since it's so easy, you can do it at the end of every session as it takes under 15 seconds to complete. I could no longer take the Pandora & Slacker delays between songs, so I ditched them, and now just use my Samsung's Pandora app instead. If you have other smart machines in your home theater, then they probably have Pandora & Slacker on at least one of them, but if you're going to have to rely on the 5100's Pandora & Slacker apps, then be prepared to be frustrated. I raise my rating to 4 stars because of the simple fix for my main issue, and it only falls short of 5 stars because of the lazy apps. If Sony fixes them, then it's a 5 star machine......Overall, a very good player that (knock on wood) will live happily in my system for years to come. UPDATE 6/4/13 Today's firmware update completely fixed the Pandora app. Now there is only a 4 second delay between songs. I raised my rating to 5 stars. UPDATE 6/28/13 It's been 3 weeks since the firmware update that fixed Pandora and I'm happy to report that this is the only Pandora app that I use now. 3-5 seconds in between songs is awesome. Also, I re-enabled the "Software Update Notification" and I have not had the issue I mentioned above regarding the unit freezing on the "Acquiring internet content 3/3" screen, and I use it daily.............Typical Sony, find a problem, fix it........... I can't recommend this unit enough. UPDATE 9/1/13 We have been using the Amazon Instant app more than we ever have, and I am happy to report no issues. We are now on U-verse 6Mbps and that speed is fast enough to receive DD 5.1 when it's offered, also no stutters or freezes either and the video is above average for a streaming HD feed. The firmware updates have lessened as of late so it looks like Sony is happy with its current performance..........I know I am. UPDATE 5/20/14 It's been 13 months with many, many hours of use both as a Blu-ray player, as well as a streaming media player and I am happy to report there have been no major issues. Sure, there has been the occasional issue once or twice that turning it off/on resolves, but knock on wood, I have not had to do any type of soft/hard reset like unplugging or hitting the reset button in the settings. I would say that it gets used for 70% BD movies and 30% streaming as I now have a Roku3 that I rely on for streaming duties. I see no reason to pay more for the 2014 Sony when this model can be found for so much cheaper............... 5 stars easy.

Let me start by saying I think this is one of the best blu-ray players on the market. If not the best. However, there are a few things that Sony *STILL* can't get right after several years. This is my third Sony branded BDP-series player in five years. The long and short of it is the player does its basic functions - playback, internet connectivity, interactivity - all extremely well. However, Sony still continues to have weird proprietary issues, as they've had throughout all their history, which keeps this player from being basically perfect. To start: 1. Controls are inconsistent throughout the internet apps. Some (like Netflix) let you exit through the "return" button. Hulu requires you to hit the HOME button. On-screen keyboards are different throughout every single app. I know the individual service providers are often to blame for this, but Sony could have done a little about it. Other devices do. Having different onscreen keyboards is really frustrating. 2. STILL, in 2014, onscreen keyboards are sluggish and difficult to use. 3. Speaking of keyboards, one of the nice features of this player is that it supports a USB keyboard. But good luck finding one it supports. The specs say it supports "101 keyboard" - that's all.. Which isn't even a thing. I imagine they mean a 101 *key* keyboard, which is pretty much impossible to find anymore. Several USB keyboards I tried didn't work. The popular Logitech Unifying wireless keyboards, which work with everything else from my Stanton SCS-4DJ DJ console to my cable box, do not work with this player. As a software engineeer, I can tell you this is just pure laziness. There is no reason they couldn't have simply written in support for the entire standard USB HID keyboard class, vs narrowing it down to a much tighter keyboard spec. Much simpler and cheaper devices handle this just fine. Keyboards aren't exactly complex; they've been around a little while. This could easily be fixed with a firmware update - lets hope Sony takes care of it. 4. The Hulu app is strangely sluggish compared to others 5. Despite a dedicated button for "SEN" (Sony Entertainment Network) on the remote, I repeatedly have tried but have not been able to get it to work. I simply get an "An Error Occured" screen. It works fine on my two PS3s and other Sony BDP. Makes no sense. I'll keep trying (EDIT: It eventually started working after about 3 hours. Mysterious.) 6. Again, maybe I'm asking too much (since I own other players like an OPPO) - but WHY can't Sony integrate some simple support for formats that they (god forbid) don't own? Nobody ever wins in these stupid standards fights. Why no FLAC disc support? Why SACD, but no HDCD or DVD-A? Of course I know the answers to these questions - especially when dealing with Sony - it's pure Not Invented Here Syndrome. Sony has gotten better about that (fie, Memory Stick!) - but they still play this game for some reason. 7. The pyramid shape, while cute, is really impractical. 8. Lots of the included "100+ apps" (they are using some creative math here) and channels are really crufty and kitschy. YuppTV? The Wiggles? Billabong? Red Bull TV? "CelebTV"? I have no idea what Opera is doing with the "Opera TV Store" which is completely analogous to the Sony Entertainment Network, just with fewer choices plus some games. Trying to remain relevant, I guess, with yet another App/Movie/Game store. Yawn. How many of these icons will do nothing in 6-12 months? Most if not all. It's starting to look like the old days of preloaded PC crapware. I'm all for choice, but some of this stuff is just garbage. 9. FacebookTV. Automatically broadcasts to the world the title of what you're watching. I'm not sure what kind of person this is for. I find it weird. Really weird. I can see no purpose for it existing other than for Facebook to grab metadata for targeted advertising. This trend disturbs me. Before you know it, Coke cans will be wired and will broadcast to Facebook "Steve just enjoyed a Refreshing Coca-Cola (TM)!" Gah. 10. Only 100mbit wired Ethernet and 2.4GHz only, not 5GHz. Booo. And the biggest pain in the ass (and hey Amazon, here's looking at you): Sony STILL makes you sign up for their stupid Bravia service portal to use certain providers, namely Amazon Instant Video. Confusingly, the Amazon app provides a 5-character code that you'd think would register you on Amazon's site - specifically because they list Sony BRAVIA directly on that page AND also ask for a 5-character code! But no, the code is for another website, BRAVIA branded, (internet.sony.tv/customer - now strangely called "My Essentials", but still branded as "My Bravia" once you sign in) which entails even more convoluted registration hoops. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why are some Sony devices, called Bravia, registered directly through Amazon - while others, NOT called Bravia but when using Amazon, are registered through "My Bravia"? Mind boggling. Marketers: You are a scourge. This is the game you have to play to use Pandora, Amazon and Vudu. A further note: This is also COMPLETELY separate from the Sony Entertainment Network (also known as the Playstation Network) with which you also have to register your device. Why all these disparate services, Sony!?? All being said, I admit I'm probably being picky. At $100, this device does more than anyone would have dreamed even three years ago - and does it very, very well. It really is one of the best players out there. That being said, it's 2014, and there's really no excuse for a lot of the annoyances that come with consumer electronics these days, especially from a major brand like Sony. Sony needs to get their marketing department out of their product design and go back to good engineering. So, on the positive side, real quick - I'm just saying what others have said: 1. Fast and responsive. 2. Picture quality is near perfect 3. Audio quality is near perfect 4. Discs load fast 5. Wi-fi is fast, and streaming is high quality and smooth 6. Support for DLNA. Even recognized my Logitech media server (Squeezebox). Nice. 7. Two USB ports and mass storage support 8. I am liking the move to smaller form factor (despite the weird top panel) 9. Dedicated Netflix button is cool. I'm sure was the result of millions of dollars paid to guys in suits to negotiate what anyone else would consider a five minute decision, but cool nonetheless. 10. Plays FLAC (Over USB) and MKV. Something Sony wouldn't have dreamed of supporting a few years back. Good on them. 11. Gracenote support is excellent. Sony acts like this is new / unique to them (it's not) - but it's great. 12. Their "Super Wi-Fi" implementation does truly seem to work better. 13. Upscaled DVDs look great on it. 14. Netflix supports SuperHD on this. Looks great. Better than my AppleTV and Roku. The jury is still out on: 1. 2D to 3D conversion. Not sure why you'd use this. Then again I think 3DTV in general is one of the biggest gimmicks dropped on the buying public since Microsoft Bob, so if you're a 3D fan, ignore what I'm saying. 2. 'TV SideView'. Sounds like another proprietary mobile device "enhancement" slash remote app. Perhaps it will alleviate my keyboard complaints. I'll give it a go and report back. We'll see. All in all a great player. If you're in doubt, this IS the one to get. But it isn't the walk-on-water device some web reviews are making it out to be. Well worth the price even at $200. Just a few annoyances.

Update ------ Please note that there is a new version of this player to be released soon. The BDP-S5200. The higher end BDP-S6200 is available now and you can find out what I thought of the player on the product page here> Sony BDPS6200 3D Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi and 4K Upscaling ------- Original BDP-S5100 review: This is a full featured BD/DVD/Network player. The player uses the same XMB (Xross Media Bar) interface as last years players and the PS3. All the same services are on this player as last year, including all the popular ones - Netflix, Amazon, VUDU, Hulu and Crackle. The Netflix interface supports the new Super HD (5800kb/s) stream, with Dolby Digital + audio. Amazon also supports Watchlists and Dolby Digital 5.1 bitstream. I mention this, because its one of the few players out there that does. New for 2013 is the Youtube app, that gets a serious facelift, and supports HD streams and a new look. Disk start up times have also being improved over last year by at least 10 seconds (compared to the top of the line BDP-S790 from 2012). A lot of folks complained about text input on last years player, as the onscreen keyboard used a numeric keypad to provide the input. This year, Sony replaces it with a full QWERTY style onscreen keyboard, which is certainly easier to use. What else is there. Well again the Sony player is very good for supporting local media playback through DLNA. This bluray player supports more file formats and codecs that most, and is best used with the Serviio DLNA server. Also new for 2013 is the players ability to work with Sony's new 2nd screen app called TV Sideview. This gives folks the opportunity to interact with the player using a iOS or Android device. You are able to search across multiple network services (Netflix, youtube) and local content too ... although i've not had much luck with search ... the system seems to have a few bugs in it right now. Early days though. One other new capability over last year is the built in Opera web browser. It has being improved and will support "some" HTML5 video streams ... such as youtube, within the browser. Again, my experience with it wasn't ideal, and I really wouldn't recommend using this blue-ray player to browse the net! Its just too slow to render the pages. Visually, its a nice looking player, and has a semi metal case, compared to last years all plastic one. Its suppose to have improved WIFI reception too ... although I only tested it with a wired Ethernet cable. If you're looking for a solid disk and network player, the BDP-S5100 is well worth a look. Is it worth upgrading from last years BDP-S590? ... well, only if you are a heavy youtube user would I consider it. The BDP-S590 was already a excellent Bluray player, and Sony has only done a few incremental improvements here. Final thoughts ... note that this player has no analog outputs; not even for audio .. so if you have non HDMI equipment, don't even consider this player. No Digital optical output either (Only Coaxial) Also this player won't come with a HDMI cable, so plan ahead !! I can't comment on its 3D abilities as I don't have any 3D displays. For folks that may have a issues with video cutting out intermittently, do yourself a favor and turn off "deep color" in the screen settings. No content uses this feature anyway. Thanks for reading.

I bought this blu ray player for one reason: to watch blu rays and dvd. All of the wifi stuff was really not important to me since my (Vizio) TV already has wifi. But this seemed like the best buy to me and I figured I could compare wifi systems. For the price that I paid ($77, I think), it seemed like a bargain. Of course, I had recently tossed a three-month-old Sony dvd player (a really cheap model) in the garbage, so I was wary of buying anything from Sony, but Amazon is great when it comes to returns, so why not. And the funny thing is, I almost returned this player the day I set it up! It stopped playing in the middle of a disc (and it was a funny movie, was killing me not to be able to finish watching it) and I simply could not get it to play. It was an older disc and I thought perhaps it needed cleaning, so I took it out and wiped it off gently: still wouldn't play. Finally, the next morning in desperation, I put in another dvd and it worked fine. Hmmm. So I got an idea and put the failing dvd in the sink and rinsed it in cold water--and it worked! The player has worked fine since then so I'm sure it was that disc (what are the odds that the first disc I would play on the machine would be flawed? Just my luck, no kidding). I'm very impressed with the play quality of the machine and, in particular, with the upscaling quality of dvds. Wow, unless you've seen a good blu ray player upscaling a normal dvd, you can't imagine the quality improvement. I watched Eddy Murphy's fine movie "Coming to America" on dvd and I couldn't believe my eyes: that film is spectacular when seen through this player (and it is a dvd I bought years ago, so was not enhanced). The wifi was EXTREMELY simple to set up (if I can do it, anyone can do it), but I haven't used it much. As a test I called up Youtube and while I got the site to work, the lag time of uploading videos was torture. I'll try my Amazon prime with it soon and update this review. But as a dvd/blu ray player this gets high marks. The set up was utterly simple and logical (someone really thought out this set up) and I actually learned a few things along the way. My Vizio TV has 3 HDMI ports, so I just plugged it in and had the player running in a few minutes. I hope this lasts a while--it would be nice to regain my confidence in Sony because I like the design and engineering of most of their stuff. The player is small and the remote is easy to use (to turn on subtitles, for example, it's just a quick press of a single button). I was late to flat TVs, HDMI, blu ray, etc, but I have to say, I'm a total movie junkie and this system has done nothing but feed my addiction. :)

I'm not a techie, and I really know nothing about high end electronics, video, etc., but this DVD player is the best I found that INCLUDED Amazon Prime and Netflix, along w/ a bunch of other stuff I haven't delved into yet. Main thing is it connects to your wireless router, and you can pull up all the movies AP and Netflix has, for your viewing pleasure. Set-up is easy, it pretty much does it itself,,,,Note: I've found it's a good idea to get the key router codes written down or stored on you pc, mine are affixed w/ clear tape onto the router itself, and hard to read. You have to plug these numbers into the wifi/blueray player (a screen comes up, key in w/ the remote)to make the connection. This is to keep outsiders out of your network. Once the numbers are in, just follow the bouncing ball(on-screen directions), and you're connected. All of the Amazon Prime, Netflix, and other icons are there to scroll to, take your pic. I've found it easier to find the movie I want to watch on my pc, add it (or remove and re-add) to my watch list, then when you pull up Prime or netflix, the movie you just entered on you PC is right there to enter w/ the remote. Of course there is also a Search feature. Load-up is pretty quick, under say, 20-25 seconds. Picture quality is great, of course a lot of that depends on your TV, You can pause, ff, fast reverse, stop. BTW, you can wire the player to you modem/router, but my stuff is in a diff room from my TV and what-not, so I use the wireless. For $89, same price as my prev Non-wifi player, w/ no Amazon, Netflix, etc capabilities, this player is terrific. And it has amazon Prime!!! Def Recommend!! ps...there are prob a lot of other features, stuff i don't use or even know exist, haha...I'm an old man, the fact that i can watch amazon, etc on my TV, not to mention play discs of all my favorites, is enough for me, so I can't comment on everything this player may be capable of. For watching clear, well defined discs, or the Netflix, AP and other movies, this thing is just right. It's small, about the size of a laptop, weighs less than a pound or two. Panasonic DMP-BDT230 Smart Wi-Fi 3D Blu-Ray Player (2013 Model)

There is obviously a defective issue with these players that Amazon have. I bought one and it came and "no signal." It's pretty simple, I pulled my HDMI cord out of my ROKU and stuck in into the blu-ray player, did not work. I even did the switch HDMI cord/input thing. Even though I knew Amazon would take it back with no questions, I called SONY and got an RA number from the first player because, per SONY, "the item needs service." Working in the electronics business, I already knew this. But I wanted to make sure SONY declared this as well. I didn't rush into a review though. Every now and then, an item will be defective. I called Amazon and they were suppose to send one overnight. For some reason it did not come and another one was dispatched for overnight. Today, both arrived and both were defective. Given the other reviews on Amazon, it is more than safe to say there is a major issue with these players. At least the ones that Amazon have. The Amazon customer service representative helping me with my refund/return shipping of all three players said she was pulling the add so this player could be reviewed. After finalizing things with the returns she stated that she was going to expedite this add being pulled until this issue is resolved. I see it is still up at the time so beware. I personally know someone who has this player and it is dynamite. That's what made me seek it out in the first place. But, it was not bought off Amazon. I still like Amazon and will still use them but they need to address this player, now. ***UPDATE*** I did go to a local department store and got a Samsung BD-FM59. Not a lot out there about them yet. I paid 10 dollars less and it looks real classy and it has a dual core possessor and is every bit as good of a player as the best Sony blu-ray on the market (BDP S790). The main differences is that this Samsung plays region A flicks only. But, it works great and looks great. The purpose of this update it to show that it was not a defective HDTV that prevented the player from working. I even passed up another BDP S5100 from the store because there was no way to try it out first.

Set up a second home theater area and wanted a Blu-ray player that provided great Blu-ray playback and DVD upscaling. Hadn't bought a Blu-ray player since around 2009, a Sony S360 that is still going strong. Checking out the Blu-ray players available on Amazon, I was amazed to find that streaming of subscription services like Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu, etc., was now a major selling point of these players. I already had a Fire TV, a couple of Apple TV's, and a Roku 2XS, so I was not interested in finding the best streaming Blu-ray player. Looked at the customer reviews for Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic Blu-ray players. So many of the reviews, positive and negative, dealt primarily with streaming capabilities, it was difficult to zero in on Blu-ray playback and DVD upscaling abilities, the features I was interested in. Ended up searching online for reviews of several models from Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic. Several of the Panasonics had good reviews but had ads included on their system menu which turned me off. Samsung models were highly rated by Consumer Reports but checking online forums seemed to indicate their reliability was hit or miss. This is probably true of all brands these days, I guess. But the reports were enough to steer me away from Samsungs. The reviews online of the S5100 were very good and the reviews on Amazon were also mostly positive, and since I have had no problems with the Sony S360 for over five years, I went with the Sony S5100. Set up was easy, connected it to our home network via an ethernet cable, and to our Marantz SR6006 receiver via an HDMI cable. Blu-ray playback on an older Panasonic plasma is outstanding, vibrant colors and sharp, highly detailed images. It loads Blu-rays much faster than our old S360 and our PS3. Operates quietly. If you are interested in sending the Dolby True HD, DTS-HD Mater Audio, etc., audio signals via bitstream to your receiver for decoding, remember to set the BD Audio Mix setting (in Audio settings) to Off. See pages 27 and 34 in your operating instructions manual for details, although there really isn't much of an explanation :-) I was curious to see how the video streaming of Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and MLB games, performed on the Sony S5100. I found the loading of programming, even via an ethernet cable connection, to be very slow compared to our Fire TV, third gen Apple TV and our old Roku 2XS. The five star rating I've given is based solely on my own personal requirements of a Blu-ray player, excellent Blu-ray playback and quality DVD upscaling.

llego muy rápido y trabaja muy bien, muy practico si tu pantalla no es smart definitivamente lo recomiendo además fue el mejor precio del mercado