Sony's $400 BDP-S350 Blu-ray player shows July 15th ship date

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 1st 2008 at 3:30PM

When Sony introduced its classically-styled BDP-S350 Blu-ray player in late February, all we knew was that the $400 machine would land sometime this summer. Now, we're seeing a pre-order page (on Toys R Us, admittedly) that pegs the ship date at July 15th. Yeah, a fortnight from now. The price remains unchanged at $399.99, but at least you'll find Profile 2.0 compatibility as well as bitstream support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, right? Okay, now that it's a date, who's buying (and more importantly, who's not?)

[Thanks, Rahul]

Filed under: Blu-ray, Players, Sony

Tags: bd-live, BDP-S350, blu-ray, blu-ray player, Blu-rayPlayer, on sale, OnSale, pre-order, S350, sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Achilles @ Jul 1st 2008 3:39PM

Wow, aesthetically speaking, that's one of the ugliest players I've seen to date. At least it's a final iteration of the various profiles floating around the market. Price still blows but at least it's a final version.

I'll pass on this ugly-duckling. I'll continue to wait for the prices to settle. DVD is still working fine for me. Doesn't compare to Blu-Ray but it's not costing me either.

Neutral

DEEZNUTZ @ Jul 1st 2008 3:48PM

Ugly? Well guess it's in the eye of the beholder but it seems slimmed down from their earlier players. Only thing I hate about this player is the BD logo... should be much smaller.

If load speeds are the same or better than the PS3, then it would merit some consideration at $300... otherwise, I'll pass.

Neutral

Peter @ Jul 1st 2008 4:15PM

The only thing ugly about that player is the sony logo with the weird colored plastic filling in the O and stuff.

Neutral

Jlangner @ Jul 2nd 2008 1:33PM

I love the way it looks. I'll be getting it. BTW, Circuit City has it listed as coming out on 7/7/08 and Sony Style has it listed 7/19/08, so sometime soon.

Neutral

Video Master @ Jul 3rd 2008 1:27AM

They also offer it in black which is more aesthetically pleasing - forget the ugly blue.

Neutral

Scott @ Jul 1st 2008 3:57PM

For me, it's a question of, how long will it take to load the discs. I gave up on my first (pricey) Sony for a PS3 for that reason. My PS3 is kind of noisy these days.

Neutral

MI @ Jul 1st 2008 6:00PM

Well said. The 300 I have now takes a LONG time. Next player has got to do way better with that.

Neutral

alienclays @ Jul 2nd 2008 9:15AM

make sure to blow out any dust with a can of air. my ps3 gets both noisy and hot with a few months of dust build up, but when it's clean, i don't hear it.

Highly Ranked

Galley @ Jul 1st 2008 4:16PM

If it's eligible for the $100 Best Buy card and $100 towards Disney movies, I might bite.

Neutral

Wonder Boy @ Jul 1st 2008 4:16PM

not +1

Neutral

FreshJulius @ Jul 1st 2008 4:23PM

Even Sony seems to miss the obvious retort to a $400 Blu-Ray player: a PS3.

I know I'd rather have a second multi-media hub for the same/less money!

PS - GO STATE!

Neutral

WebDev511 @ Jul 1st 2008 4:40PM

If the next rev PS3 runs cooler and has an updated hdmi chip which allows it to bitstream DTS-MA and TrueHD I'll opt for it instead.

I'll pass until we get some concrete info on the fall PS3 refresh.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Jul 1st 2008 4:29PM

I'm definitely sticking with the PS3, but this should be an excellent option for those who don't want to use the PS3 for some reason. Of course, if you just don't like Sony in general you'll have to look to Panasonic or Samsung for your BD-Live goodness.

Neutral

Achilles @ Jul 1st 2008 4:35PM

Roger that Ghostrider!

I'd rather have a Sammy or Panasonic. Just waiting on a complete iteration, preferably a Samsung.

Neutral

Jeff N. @ Jul 1st 2008 4:32PM

This player does not internally decode DTS HD Master
Dolby True HD correct? It's the S550 that does that.
Correct?

Neutral

Aaron Smith @ Jul 1st 2008 4:38PM

Yes, that's correct.

Neutral

Achilles @ Jul 1st 2008 4:41PM

On board decoding for Dolby TrueHD is here, also the ability to send out the bitstream for Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD (Master Audio & High Resolution) as well.

So to answer your question,

1. Yes, Dolby TrueHD will be done internally and can also be bit streamed.

2. No, DTS HD Master can be bit streamed only to a receiver, will not be done internally.

Neutral

Jake @ Jul 1st 2008 4:57PM

I don't give a skunk's butt about profile 2.0, so I'll hold onto my Sony BDP-S300 until I can save up the requisite coin to move into Sony's ES level player. I sold a Sony DVP-S9000ES to get the Blu-Ray player, and I've been missing the ES quality ever since.

Low Ranked

Truth Teller @ Jul 1st 2008 6:01PM

$400

As funny as ever on the pricing there.

So much for them reducing prices.

Neutral

Mr. E @ Jul 1st 2008 6:50PM

Yeah, because $400 is not at all less than the $1,000 the original BDP-S1 cost, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/21/sony-puts-up-blu-ray-player-bdp-s1-for-pre-order/

And it's even more than the $600 the BDP-S300 originally cost.

http://www.engadget.com/2006/04/21/sony-puts-up-blu-ray-player-bdp-s1-for-pre-order/

"Truth" Teller--bringing the lies since at least 2007!

Neutral

Truth Teller @ Jul 1st 2008 7:57PM

Tell us how long $400 or so has been the Blu-ray entry level price then E.

(seasonal vouchers or one-off offers aside)

Neutral

DrXym @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:26AM

$400 isn't the entry level baby.

Highly Ranked

Truth Teller @ Jul 2nd 2008 5:35AM

The floor is yours then Dr Sad.......

......which current, not stock clearance on an older dead Blu-ray model, other Sony standalone Blu-ray player is the Sony entry level model that is cheaper then, eh?

IIRC even the cheapest version of the PS3 game console also retails at $400.

You're hilarious.

Anything to rush in & 'defend' your beloved, even if your haste does show you up for the blinkered fanboy you so clearly are.

.....and btw it's very funny to see you pinned on your own ludicrous hook with that tragically feeble little jibe.
I guess you can't back down now.

LMAO

Neutral

DrXym @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:43AM

Well baby, you can walk into any Walmart and pick up a Magnavox player for $298, or a Samsung BDP1500 for $349. Does that answer your question?

And as the holiday season kicks in, there will be further discounting on top of that.

Grow up baby, your precious format lost.

Neutral

Truth Teller @ Jul 2nd 2008 2:43PM

LMAO

Yeah of course, how could I not guess this one?

Your answer is that the entry level Sony Blu-ray player is......
a "Magnavox player" (whatever the f **k that is) or a Samsung.

Genuinely comical moment......

....only matched by your continuing to be hung up on your own pathetically feeble cat-call.

Dr Sad-sack indeed.

Too funny.

Neutral

mugatu @ Jul 2nd 2008 10:21PM

@Truth Teller

What is your deal with a $400 price point? It's $400, not $4,000. Do you make minimum wage or something? $400 is 5 tanks of gas or 4 trips to the grocery store, or 4 rounds of golf, etc ... Normal people with jobs have no problem with it.

I'm sorry your ridiculously priced $100 Toshiba's made you think you could decorate your house with HD-DVD players. Get over it. $400 is not that much for an HD item in the HD market. Toshiba was dumping players at prices way under the production cost, everyone knows this except you.

Neutral

Truth Teller @ Jul 3rd 2008 7:11AM

Predictable as ever........

'Blu-ray.com tactic number 4:
When claims that prices have continued to fall hugely or are about to fall enormously are exposed for the BS that they are
(when we launch new players still at high prices)
move on to complain that prices are probably already just right or even getting too low for the CE industry to support the BD tech properly'.

'Blu-ray.com tactic number 5:
Sneer and abuse anyone who points out how ridiculously high a $400 price point is in a world where quality upscaling players can be had from $75 - $120.
Bring in the HD DVD history (but ignore the fact that they only really took off when they got down to $150 - $99)'.

You guys are hilarious, if way too obvious.

You are game console & format fans, not genuine movie fans.
That's why Blu-ray is about the dumbest way to get HDMs into the mass-market and it's going to fail and stay game console niche.

$400 (or even the new Samsung @ $340) just helps guarantee that.

The public will never go near it until they have well known brand name single (non-confusing) spec players in the $140 - $99 range.

Wake up fanboys.

Neutral

DrXym @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:31AM

Sorry baby, you didn't say Sony players specifically. BD players are cheaper and will continue to get cheaper.

Grow up your precious format lost.

Neutral

Truth Teller @ Jul 3rd 2008 9:17PM

Grow up dreary & laughably feeble Dr Scat.

Your precious format isn't going anywhere and has also lost
(and you got the shaft on the prices you paid).

LMAO

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/07/03/sony-talks-future-of-oled-blu-rays-chances-against-dvd/#readercomments

Neutral

Franssu @ Jul 1st 2008 7:01PM

Why would I buy another player when I have a perfectly fine PS3 ?

I'll wait for the region-free BD players to hit 100$ before I buy one.

Neutral

burndive @ Jul 1st 2008 7:58PM

Blu-ray players ought to cost $200 by now. The best option at the moment is to get a Blu-ray drive for a PC and hook it up to your HDTV. They're about $140 on Newegg, and they come with playback software.

If you don't already have a PC hooked up to your TV, buy one with Blu-ray and a tuner (my Dell cost me $573) and use it for Blu-ray and Vista Media Center.

Neutral

Jimmy @ Jul 1st 2008 10:39PM

Please explain how and why blu-ray players should be $200 right now? If I wanted the noise of a hair dryer in my entertainment center I would happily put a PC there. Until they become passively cooled -- no deal.

Neutral

HTPCer @ Jul 2nd 2008 1:35AM

Here is the problem with the HD HTPC: There is no way to get a 7.1 DIGITAL signal to the receiver. 5.1 digital yes. 7.1 analog yes. 7.1 digital ...almost. The problem is that you need 3 things:
1. An HDMI path to sync up the video with the audio
2. A protected HD audio path
3. Playback software to work with the above 2 so the audio is not downsampled

I am still waiting for the Asus HDMI-equipped Xonar HDAV1.3 sound cards to appear that apparently will work with Arcsoft’s BD player. If this plays out like it is supposed to, it will be the Holy Grail of HD HTPCs.

And to the "hair dryer" comment above, the noise of computer is based upon the quality of the components. If you are that concerned, look into liquid cooled components. My HTPC is on an in-wall rack. The wall backs to a crawl space under the stairs. I have my 5 SATA hard drives on 36" SATA II cables outside the case in the crawl space. I think my TivoHD has more noise than my HTPC.

Highly Ranked

Maxx @ Jul 1st 2008 8:08PM

I have been telling people here and on the forums that it isnt clear whether the 350 will decode MA internaly or not. Since it uses the same chip at the 550 it is possible that they both will. As a matter of fact Sonys site claims that they both decode it all internaly and that the only difference is the 7.1 outs and the on board memory.

Lets wait and see.

Neutral

dj496 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:43AM

They'd better surprise us with decoding for DTS-MA, or av a firmware update for it soon after release. C'mon Sony, It's your format, it's summer 2009, and this player is a very full-priced 400 bucks.

Neutral

dj496 @ Jul 2nd 2008 6:49AM

whoops, why I thought it's summer 2009 I have no idea.

Highly Ranked

Michael @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:14AM

You probably thought it was summer 2009 because entry level BD players are STILL $400

Neutral

Mike S @ Jul 2nd 2008 7:06AM

All the new entry level blu-ra players are dropping analog 5.1 output which is what I was planning on using with my Receiver. I only have one coax and two optical and I really don't want to replace my receiver if I add a blu-ray player.

Neutral

Truth Teller @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:19AM

This is why the Blu-ray fanboys clutching at the audio straw is and always has been so ridiculously meaningless to the a/v mass-market.

Highly Ranked

Mike @ Jul 2nd 2008 8:48AM

OH BOY another $400 bd player....sure glad the $150 HD DVD players aren't still out.

Makes you wonder if BD will ever get to $100 or if they will just come out with BD2.5 in a few months at $400.

Neutral

bergstsm @ Jul 2nd 2008 11:14AM

Correct me, but doesn't profile 2.0 require an ethernet AND a hard drive? I was looking at the SonyStyle site, and there appeared to be no hard drive in the configuration.

I am using the HESV1000 and 2 playstations in my home now, but I was looking for a non-PS3 for my guest room setup, and require some connectivity. Was the spec shhet incorrect, or does this thing have no drive space?

Neutral

Mark @ Jul 2nd 2008 4:25PM

It doesn't need a hard drive. It needs 1gb of local storage but most players will use flash. The exception will be the PS3 of course.

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