Sony announces BDP-S350, BDP-S550: first new Blu-ray players since the fall of HD DVD

by Ryan Block, posted Feb 26th 2008 at 3:02AM

Those waiting for the next generation of Blu-ray players, here you go: Sony's got two new ones for you today, the BDP-S350 and BDP-S550. Both feature BD-Live (and thus Ethernet) and USB (for external) storage and PiP (BonusView), while the S550 has 7.1 discrete analog outputs and 1GB of onboard storage. As for the rest of the specs, well, expect TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus (and DTS-HD MA & HR in the S550), AVCHD and xvYCC color support, and, of course 1080 60/24p. The S350 will hit for $400 this summer, while the S550 will run you $500 this fall.

Gallery: Sony announces BDP-S350, BDP-S550: first new Blu-ray players since the fall of HD DVD

Filed under: Blu-ray, Sony

Tags: BDP-S350, BDP-S550, breaking news, BreakingNews

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Jove @ Feb 26th 2008 3:12AM

this one looks better than the first one. smaller and slimmer and if my tech wizardy dont fail me, your saying its actually 2.0? if it is at that price its sure to sell a lot. i like it. good one sony.

Highest Ranked

chestnu1 @ Feb 26th 2008 3:18AM

Good to see the new profile 2.0 players are coming out soon. Now if they could just do something about the price tag.

Highly Ranked

Jove @ Feb 26th 2008 4:07AM

i know, right

Low Ranked

Tim @ Feb 26th 2008 11:21AM

Good thing the consumers chose Blu Ray. Now we don't have to worry about any pesky competition driving the prices down! We can expect to pay a premium for making Blu Ray the only high definition disc format. Good for us!

Highest Ranked

Jyncus @ Feb 26th 2008 10:01AM

@Tim

Err..right, kinda like the premium we pay for making DVD the dominant format? You should be glad HD format prices have dropped as much as they have; thinking you're going to find a BD player at 'mainstream' pricing levels this early in adoption is delusional.
People are too accustomed to seeing the chinese-manufactured $29.99 DVD players on store shelves, and don't want to wait for BD to hit that mass-market level.

Neutral

MrGuru @ Feb 26th 2008 5:02PM

its a widespread issue with us as americans. we dont see value in things we just see price, so when they say well these two items look the same say for example a vizo tv vs the likes of sony and samsung. they will be crying when their inexpensive vizio craps out within a year and the cost of repair is as much as the tv. cheaper does not always = better. even with the hd-dvd players yes they were full spec'd but the remote / design on those things were gawdawful.

Start looking for BANG for your buck. and not cheap as f***

Neutral

andy @ Feb 26th 2008 5:43PM

MrGuru

I guess I should be shopping for new TV then? I've had my vizio for over a year and a half now.

Value is all about what you get for your money.

A buggy blu ray player for 500 bucks is sure as hell not a value. It's buggy. In my CES land, everything should just work as advertised.

An olivia 37" LCD for 500 bucks IS a value, it's a decent TV that others have found to work properly as advertised.

Face it, HDDVD has movies and at under 100 bucks for players and movies around 10 bucks. The players are bug free, and the movies play.

I'd say that a bug free player and 40 movies vs one single player (likely buggy, but maybe not) has a FAR better value proposition.

How are you defining value? It's obviously not "what do I get for my money?"

Neutral

MrGuru @ Feb 26th 2008 6:44PM

ive seen all the brands your vizio may not go now, but all they had was price advantage and this is dwindled to nothing now, that was their only "gimmick" vizio, olevia are not ten year brands. olevia is already in financial trouble. the prices are so close to each other its worthless to even attempt to buy those "other brand" ive been working in retail enough to see how these tvs do with how long they run over ten years time. dont get me wrong their good enough for a second or third tv. but as a number one. HELL no. we gone thru vizio displays so much and customers returning them for various "defects". i love beacause its not happening to you then you have the best product available, yet when you look deeper its very far from the case. if it were the case then why spend thousands

Neutral

Jove @ Feb 26th 2008 4:10AM

hey you think their using the smaller diodes now?

Highly Ranked

DrXym @ Feb 26th 2008 4:14AM

The product descriptions don't make any sense:

"Both feature BD-Live (and thus Ethernet) and USB (for external) storage, while the S550 has PiP (BonusView) and 1GB of onboard storage. "

You *need* 1Gb to support BD-Live (profile 2.0), so how can S350 support BD-Live if it doesn't have 1Gb storage. And how can the S550 support BonusView (profile 1.1) and the S350 not when profile 1.1 is mandatory?

To add to the confusion, the screen pics show a BD-Live logo on the S550 but not the S350. If I had to guess, I'd say the S550 has BD-Live and the S350 doesn't. Though if the S350 has ethernet maybe you can shove a USB stick or something into it to make it BD-Live enabled.

Neutral

DrXym @ Feb 26th 2008 4:17AM

Gizmodo gets the story straight. Looks like they're both going to support BD-Live but the S350 will have to be updated through firmware. And the S550 supports some additional audio codecs.

http://gizmodo.com/360642/bdp+s350-and-s550-sonys-first-full-20-spec-blu+ray-players

Neutral

Trond M. @ Feb 26th 2008 9:17AM

It's a common misunderstanding that BD-Live requires 1GB storage. It only requires the CAPABILITY of accessing at least 1GB storage. So as long as the player has a USB-port that can be used to access external storage, the player is BD-Live compliant.

Neutral

andy @ Feb 26th 2008 5:45PM

I must say, as an above average consumer, this is far less confusing.

I'm so glad the format war is over, and I can't wait to jump into blu ray.

Highly Ranked

Prey521 @ Feb 26th 2008 4:17AM

These sure are purty and that S550 is mighty tempting. I'm hoping it drops a considerable amount for the '08 holiday season. Would look nice next to my HD-A2 :-D

Highly Ranked

zargon @ Feb 26th 2008 7:23AM

I wouldn't bother with them, either check out the Panasonic DMP-BD50 or if you are waiting for the 08 holiday season, maybe Oppo's player will be out.

Neutral

alienclays @ Feb 26th 2008 10:03AM

i want my bravia theater sync. but at this price i may tide myself over with my ps3 and wait untill 09.

Highly Ranked

Jake @ Feb 26th 2008 8:25AM

In terms of features, the S550 is sweet. What remains to be seen is whether the Panasonic DMP-BD50 will come in at a similar or lower price point. The option to add additional external storage to the S550 is about the only thing that I can see to distinguish the two models. If the BD50 doesn't come in at least $50 cheaper, then it is hard to argue that it's a better value.

Of course, if Panasonic sets an MSRP of $500, then it will street for less. Since Sony locks down their MSRPs like supermax, $500 MSRP means $500 street.

I expect this price will come down before this thing hits, though. The BD50 will have been out for a few months by the time it hits, and the PS3 could (should) have its audio upgrades by then. Maybe Sony is giving itself some wiggle-room by saying "about $500"?

Highly Ranked

rg23 @ Feb 26th 2008 8:51AM

I'm glad to see 2.0 stand alone players are coming out soon. It looks like I'll have a blu-ray player this year. Has anyone heard if Denon is coming out with a 2.0 player this year?

Neutral

Galley @ Feb 26th 2008 9:20AM

It's been rumored that they delayed the high-end model to add Profile 2.0 support.

Neutral

rg23 @ Feb 26th 2008 8:47PM

I looked at Denon's website and the 3800 says coming soon. BD-Live is not mentioned yet, but I hope it will. It has Realta HQV chip, so its definitely high-end. I think its going to cost me an arm and a leg, but it will go nicely with my Denon receiver.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 26th 2008 9:02AM

These look like good options for those who have been waiting for BD-Live standalones. I'm definitely thinking there will be a very nice selection around the end of the year.

Neutral

CassilineKnight @ Feb 26th 2008 9:17AM

Those actually look pretty damn sweet....its too bad that I don't like sony otherwise I'd definitely consider them among the variety of 2.0 Players that are being announced/developed as we post...

Right now though I'm still deciding between the Daewoo and the Panny. Plus there's the Oppo player...

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 26th 2008 9:28AM

You know, one important feature of the S550 is that it internally decodes DTS HD Master Audio. That gives me even more hope that a PS3 firmware update will arrive one of these days to complete my lossless codec decoding capability! C'mon, Sony, you can do it!

Neutral

David S @ Feb 26th 2008 10:45AM

I guess the big difference between these and the BD50 is the video decoder. The BD Master List says the Sonys have the Sigma SMP8634 while the Panny has its UniPhier Decoder. Will be interesting to see which is better.

Neutral

Leif @ Feb 26th 2008 11:15AM

While past performance is no guarantee of future results, the Panasonic has been the far more stable platform for standalones (i.e. not including PS3). Sony and Samsung have had a number of issues with standalones. The Panasonic really only had the LFE -5 dB bug when outputting to HDMI. That is now fully resolved with the 1.6 firmware and the couple of discs out there that caused audio glitches (i.e. Sunshine & RE:Extinction) were also resolved. My money is on the Panny BD-50 being superior to these Sony standalone models. Of course, it already has been with the BD-30 which I've very much enjoyed.

Neutral

Leif @ Feb 26th 2008 11:54AM

I forgot to also mention the flickering issue with Samsung displays (HDMI handshake issue). This bug has also been fixed, no thanks to Samsung. I guess Samsung support didn't even respond to direct inquiries from Panasonic, so they just fixed it on their own.
Say what you will about the bugs in these blu-ray players, but Panasonic is proving that they're dedicated to making their players the best. They will be posting an faq as well to better communicate with the end-user.

Neutral

alienclays @ Feb 26th 2008 11:13AM

if a firmware comes out to decode DTS HD MA to 7.1 LPCM over hdmi than i won't have any reason to buy a standalone untill sonys are $150 or less. i'll buy this to fix the IR/universal remote problem and be set.

http://www.schmartz.com/product.sc;jsessionid=4195349A361A550EF6A51223679869F3.qscweb24?categoryId=1&productId=2

Neutral

alienclays @ Feb 26th 2008 11:15AM

trying to reply to Mr. E

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 26th 2008 4:32PM

You could also get this IR solution (which is what I have):

http://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-3-Darklite-DVD-Remote/dp/B000VPUR4I

The major advantage is that the IR receiver sits at the end of a USB cable, so you can position it wherever you need it to be. In other words, you don't have to have line of sight to the PS3 for your IR to work. You still can't turn the PS3 on and off with by remote, but that doesn't bother me, since I leave mine on constantly, running Folding@Home when I'm not watching a movie or gaming.

Highly Ranked

Prey521 @ Feb 27th 2008 3:29AM

It's useless if I can't turn the PS3 on/off with my Harmony....good job there Sony Corp....you dumbasses.

Highly Ranked

regeya @ Feb 26th 2008 11:23AM

Seems a little disingenuous to throw HD DVD into the mix; these things were in development well before HD DVD's demise, I'm sure.

Keep floggin' that dead horse, Engadget!

Anyone know if/when Oppo's throwing their hat into the ring?

Neutral

1stGreg @ Feb 26th 2008 12:00PM

Those are pretty awesome, I was just hoping that the S350 would come before the summer hehe, it's perfect for my needs.

- BD Live
- Bitstreams the new audio codecs, and decodes TrueHD and DD+
- 1080p/24

And for a MSRP at release of only $399, meaning the S300 will be bumped way down (expect to find the S350 around $349 rapidly if not immediately, and easily under $300 in fall/ Xmas).

Those guys will also entice Panny to lower the prices on its BD50/ BD30 to stay competitive :)

Highest Ranked

YouFaceTheTick @ Feb 26th 2008 1:09PM

Guess people forget how expensive DVD players were in 1999-2000. $400 for BR player doesn't sound bad to me. Then again I paid over $300 for my first DVD player in 2000. That DVD player still works...

Highly Ranked

wreckedchevy @ Feb 26th 2008 1:20PM

i remember my first dvd player in 2001 was a brand x dvdrom and a real magic dvd decoder card that cost around 200. also remember my first cd burner was a smart & friendly 1x scsi and it was $750

Neutral

Storyman @ Feb 26th 2008 5:24PM

What's the point? I won't be purchasing a player. I want a device that will work like current DVD Recorders. As far as I'm concerned, unless it can record, it is a waste of money.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Feb 26th 2008 6:18PM

The only problem is: What are you going to record on it? SD? There is currently no path to send HD to a recording device. The only option would be to have it all integrated into a DVR-type solution, getting content internally either over the air or via Cable/Satellite.

My first TV supported the FireWire (IEEE 1394) interface for sending the MPEG-2 stream from the TV to a DVHS VCR. I was able to record/archive OTA content on the VCR. That was actually a pretty decent solution, but of course the copy protection paranoia effectively killed it. I don't even think current TVs are including FireWire ports any longer. :(

Neutral

WebDev511 @ Feb 27th 2008 12:20AM

And I'll take a firmware upgrade to add DTS-MA and bring my PS3 up to BD 2.0 spec while they're at it.

Neutral

TyHere @ Apr 19th 2008 1:57PM

It's depressing that people are too stupid to know the difference between "Their" and "They're"... Their- indicates ownership as in "This is their favorite thing."... They're- indicates action as in "They're stupid for not knowing basic English."...

It's embarassing to know there are Americans out their who don't know they're stupid.

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