Sony's $400 Profile 2.0 BDP-S550 Blu-ray player now shipping

by Darren Murph, posted Oct 10th 2008 at 10:43PM

Now that Sony's BDP-S350 is all taken care of with that BD-Live-enabling update, the focus shifts to its mightier sibling. The BDP-S550, which was announced way back at a Sony event in late February, is finally shipping. Granted, it's still hard to find in some places, but Sony's own website has 'em in stock and ready to ship within a few business days. $399.99 will get you full 1080p BD output, DVD upscaling via HDMI, 7.1-channel analog audio outputs, Dolby TrueHD internal decoding, BD-Live / BonusView support, BRAVIA Sync and a swank Discovery Channel Blu-ray Disc. Can't beat that with a stick, huh?

[Thanks, Ron]

Filed under: Blu-ray, Players, Sony

Tags: bd, bd-live, BDP-S550, blu-ray, blu-ray player, Blu-rayPlayer, now available, now shipping, NowAvailable, NowShipping, profile 2.0, Profile2.0, ship, shipping, ships, Sony

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Highest Ranked

Scott @ Oct 11th 2008 12:19AM

Well, we all knew this was gonna happen:

$261.24 on Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/4shdta

Neutral

Byrdman @ Oct 11th 2008 1:12AM

thats the s350 not the s550

Neutral

adam @ Oct 11th 2008 12:52AM

If I've said it once, I've said it 1000 times... Why would someone want this, rather than a PS3? Get the prices below $200 and the game slightly changes, until then I see no point. Adam http://www.hdupdate.com

Highest Ranked

britboyj @ Oct 11th 2008 1:37AM

7.1 Analog Outs and probably an infinitely better upscaler than the PS3, which does no better job than a mid-range upconvert-DVD player.

Do analog outs mean something to everyone? No, not at all. Most Home Theater enthusiasts go for HDMI if they can (because having your player decode audio AND video is... meh, not what it's supposed to do!) but there are always analog purists out there and there a few players that decode so well and have the right connectors, right cables, etc. and it sounds AWESOME.

You'll never get that from a PS3. Is it for everyone? No, but neither is the PS3.

Highest Ranked

comptr @ Oct 11th 2008 1:37AM

some people want standalone players. I have a ps3 but for someone like my family and friends I am going to tell them to get a standalone player since it integrates well into a ht system and you can use universal remotes with out a dongle.

Highest Ranked

shawnmos @ Oct 11th 2008 3:35AM

7.1 ANALOG OUT

Neutral

h0mi @ Oct 11th 2008 8:04AM

What the other people said. Plus the ps3 runs pretty hot, is hardly quiet and requires a proprietary remote that is not backlit, or uses a game controller to play back discs. There are some kludgy solutions to the remote problem but require you to manually turn off the ps3 (nyko) or are difficult to get & can stop working with future firmware upgrades (ir2bt). I've been waiting for another chance to order the ir2bt device and they haven't shipped any in a while.

Highly Ranked

Balloondoggies @ Oct 11th 2008 9:58AM

VERY NICE!

I just ordered one, I am getting it for the 7.1 analog out. Can anyone recommend any high quality cables to use? I haven't used analog cables in a long time so I need to get new ones.

Neutral

nathan @ Oct 11th 2008 12:39PM

Although I recommend monoprice for digital cables, for analog I think they fall short and recommend Blue Jeans. High quality, no hype, and cheaper that you can buy the raw parts and tools (unless you amortize the tools price over dozens of cables).

Neutral

Balloondoggies @ Oct 11th 2008 2:55PM

cool, thanks Nathan, I will check them out.

Neutral

shawnmos @ Oct 11th 2008 2:57PM

Just get 4 pairs of these: http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10218&cs_id=1021803&p_id=2864&seq=1&format=2

They also come in 3ft if you don't need to run them very far. They work as well as monster cables that cost 20x as much.

Neutral

hd fan @ Oct 11th 2008 11:48AM

Take a look:
SONY BDP-S5000ES under first in the world test in POLAND !!!

http://hdtvpolska.com/index.php?showtopic=13050

Neutral

anseK @ Oct 12th 2008 1:24PM

I'm torn between this and the Panasonic BD55K.

Neutral

demon @ Oct 13th 2008 7:17AM

Unfortunately I was going to buy this player, until I found out about the fact that it doesn't do DTS-HD MA/HR decoding in-player - only TrueHD (and DD+, I think), after Sony had promised it would. At least the Panasonic DMP-BD35 will be shipping soon...

Neutral

D But @ Oct 15th 2008 6:47PM

Could someone explain to me the benefit of analog outs?

Neutral

jwilsher @ Oct 15th 2008 10:45PM

It lets you have high res audio without having to have a receiver decode it for you.

Neutral

D But @ Oct 17th 2008 2:44PM

Is the high res audio that's output considered to be "better" than the decoded digital audio? Is the difference significant?

Neutral

Tarheel72 @ Oct 17th 2008 6:48PM

It has been verified by many people that is DOES decode DTS HD MA 5.1/7.1 internally and send it out via HDMI and analog. Some early Sony documentation indicated that it might lack that feature but apparently they corrected that prior to production. Many people on AVS Forum and BluRay.com forums have verified the internally decoding capabilities.

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