Great player that works without hassle
I'll start with the bottom line about this player-it just works! If you're looking for a nice fully functional Blu Ray player that's going to just WORK as you'd expect it to on anything you throw at it this is a nice safe buy. You'll have no problems upgrading from a normal DVD player to it.
Like a lot of people my first Blu Ray player was my Playstation 3 which I bought last year. If you don't already have a PS3 that's worth considering instead of a stand alone player because it doesn't cost much more handles Blu Rays (and DVDs) well and of course plays Playstation 3 games.
I even toyed with getting a second one but decided a stand alone player would be a bit cheaper and I didn't really need the second Playstation 3. (I've also since bought a Blu Ray drive for my computer so I can watch Blu Rays on it too.)
Impressions of the s360:
-Audio and video are excellent. I can't notice any difference from my PS3.
-The unit is physically SMALL. It's actually smaller than my two stand alone DVD players (though is the same width as normal stereo components so fits in fine)
-The unit is very quiet in operation-quieter than my two stand alone DVD players in fact. I don't think I can hear it at all except when it's first starting up loading up a disc (and that only if the room is dead silent). Interestingly the disc drive's seek sounds sound IDENTICAL to the drive in my Playstation 3! I'd be shocked if it's not basically the same drive.
-Remote is decent-I mean no remotes aside from Tivo's are particularly good but this works as well as any other (the oft-noted omission of an eject button is a bit surprising but not really missed since you have to get up anyway and the eject button on the unit is pretty large). (And thankfully unlike the PS3 remote it's normal infrared not Bluetooth.)
-Performance is very good. I think it takes SLIGHTLY longer than my PS3/PC to load the fancy interfaces some discs use (some discs replace the normal fast forward/rewind interfaces with their own themed interfaces and loading that interface adds a few more seconds before the disc's ready-so far I've only run across this on two discs and it's kind of pointless but this player DOES seem to handle them just fine). Rewinding/fast forwarding on this isn't quite as smooth as my Playstation 3 but it works as you'd expect a normal DVD player to.
-Power usage is very low-the unit says it draws a *MAX* of 22 watts in operation
-Boot time takes...well I haven't timed it but I'd guess maybe 15 seconds. To me that's plenty fast but that can actually be cut by setting the player to use more power when it's "off" (essentially it presumably actually stays on so it appears to boot faster). Players that claim they have faster boot times are probably just doing that same thing without giving you the option of actually shutting the unit off.
-It has all the features and ports you'd expect from a unit like this and has an excellent menu system that's ripped straight off of the Playstation 3 and Portable (of course once you've set it up with the settings you want you'll probably never really use the menu again but it's easier than any DVD player's menus I've ever used).
-Unlike some players it doesn't have internal memory to store "BD Live" internet features but it does have a USB port where you can connect a USB memory device to enable those features. I have a spare one lying around but haven't bothered hooking it up because I never use those features. I mean Blu Ray has some great additions over DVD like the pop up menus that can adjust settings without going back to the main menu-but the internet features are pretty gimicky to me and I've never used them. Still this player does support all of that if you care.
(Also unlike many of this year's players it lacks support for online services like Netflix's streaming service etc. I don't use those (I just use Netflix's disc service) and if I did use them I already have other devices that connect to them but if you check reviews the s360 is a better BLU RAY PLAYER than those other devices-and I'm buying this to be a good Blu Ray player.
I'm probably forgetting something I'd like to mention but honestly I could have quit after the first paragraph. If you're like me and just want something that WORKS without hassle this is a great choice.
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