REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

is usually around 7-10 minuutes, waiting for shutdown, power up, loading the DVD and finding where we were. By then, one has almost lost interest in watching the movie altogether.
In researching the web, many have the same issue, no one has the solution other that what we are already doing.
But this problem isn't unique to just the Sony Blu-Ray. Our Toshiba HD-DVD player does the same thing, fixed by the same process.
Some DVD's play all the way through, most don't. We have returned and replaced a number of HD-DVD's only to get replacements that reproduce the same problem.
I'm almost thinking that the commercial Blu-Ray and HD DVD's are dual layer, as both units freeze (when they freeze) at about the 1 hour timeframe. It almost appears than when they try to begin reading the second layer, they lock up making that transition. When you stop, reboot and reload, you usually go past the layer shift, thus playing the second layer all the way through, along with missing segments of the movie.
I have contacted both manufacturers concerning this, neither have responded.
I never had much experience with Toshiba products, and based on the lack of their customer support (even though it's a discontinued product, it should still be supported under their warranty), it is doubtful that I will ever look to them for consideration of purchasing any of their other products. As far as Sony is concerned, I am genuinely surprised at their lack of support to a problem which is obviously becoming more and more prevalent on a product line that is becoming more and more popular.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

too long. There are other features which are also poorly designed and take too long to operate. For instance, if you want to eject a disc in the unit, it will power on (takes about an entire minute), then, will take about another 15 seconds to eject the disc. You are stuck waiting in front of it for over a minute, waiting for simple functions like eject, load and play to activate.

Often, the wait time is so long that you will find yourself repeatedly pushing the remote control to make sure the machine has received the command. The result is that once the machine (about a half minute later) begins to respond, it will serially execute all of the cumulative commands. The point is, you don't know if the remote is working, or, whether the IR remote received the commands, until after a long time. I found myself cursing this machine, and, continuing to curse its non-responsiveness.

The command response is so slow that I find myself walking away from it waiting for a disc to eject. Then, when I get back, the tray will have automatically closed, making it necessary to sit in front of the machine until it opens again and grab the tray and hold it so it doesn't close automatically before you can manipulate the discs (remove and replace). This is a collosal waste of time when you are trying to relax, and, takes much of the enjoyment out of having a machine like this.

Response time on remote commands such as play, search, skip, etc., are almost as bad. The unit requires sequencing of commands to accomplish even simple operations such as fast forward or reverse and the operating system of the unit responds so slowly that you can easily spend a couple of minutes trying to get the right sequence of commands.

This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user, and, obviously, to avoid the expense of testing on real consumers before it was marketed.

I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.

With absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please.

On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.

I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).

Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow

Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.

I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising.

They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. The result is that the unit "ate" the DVD last night.

It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.

Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).

There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.

The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.

This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.

I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.

The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

designed to give SONY (and DISNEY (Sony's principal trading partner in Blu-Ray) (together they control over 80% of the world's film copyrights)) absolute software control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.

Second, with absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs - at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please, and, place the new limitations on your viewing "privileges" in the updated firmware.

On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.

I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).

Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow

Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.

I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising. This isn't a DVD player, it is a proprietary SONY controlled device for viewing THEIR proprietary discs under their variable terms.

They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. I don't want to have to spend my valuable time updating a machine I purchased. I didn't realize what was going on until last night. Last night, because I didn't update the firmware, the unit "ate" the Blu-Ray DVD of "Patton" that I had acquired from Netflix.

It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.

Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).

There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.

The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.

This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.

I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.

A sony upscaling DVD player is manufactured with hard-wired eject and play buttons, has a simple remote operation schemata, offers superior picture and sound (via HDMI) (cable included) and you are purchasing your expected DVD "rights" instead of Sony and Disney's DVD Blu-Ray "privileges."

Sony DVP-NS601HP 1080p Upscaling DVD Player with Bonus HDMI Cable, Black

The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

designed to give SONY (and DISNEY (Sony's principal trading partner in Blu-Ray) (together they control over 80% of the world's film copyrights)) absolute software control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.



Second, with absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs - at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please, and, place the new limitations on your viewing "privileges" in the updated firmware.



On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.



I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).



Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow



Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.



I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising. This isn't a DVD player, it is a proprietary SONY controlled device for viewing THEIR proprietary discs under their variable terms.



They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. I don't want to have to spend my valuable time updating a machine I purchased. I didn't realize what was going on until last night. Last night, because I didn't update the firmware, the unit "ate" the Blu-Ray DVD of "Patton" that I had acquired from Netflix.



It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.



Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).



There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.



The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.



This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.



I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.



A sony upscaling DVD player is manufactured with hard-wired eject and play buttons, has a simple remote operation schemata, offers superior picture and sound (via HDMI) (cable included) and you are purchasing your expected DVD "rights" instead of Sony and Disney's DVD Blu-Ray "privileges."



Sony DVP-NS601HP 1080p Upscaling DVD Player with Bonus HDMI Cable, Black



The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

designed to give SONY (and DISNEY (Sony's principal trading partner in Blu-Ray) (together they control over 80% of the world's film copyrights)) absolute software control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.





Second, with absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs - at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please, and, place the new limitations on your viewing "privileges" in the updated firmware.





On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.





I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).





Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow





Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.





I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising. This isn't a DVD player, it is a proprietary SONY controlled device for viewing THEIR proprietary discs under their variable terms.





They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. I don't want to have to spend my valuable time updating a machine I purchased. I didn't realize what was going on until last night. Last night, because I didn't update the firmware, the unit "ate" the Blu-Ray DVD of "Patton" that I had acquired from Netflix.





It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.





Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).





There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.





The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.





This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.





I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.





A sony upscaling DVD player is manufactured with hard-wired eject and play buttons, has a simple remote operation schemata, offers superior picture and sound (via HDMI) (cable included) and you are purchasing your expected DVD "rights" instead of Sony and Disney's DVD Blu-Ray "privileges."





Sony DVP-NS601HP 1080p Upscaling DVD Player with Bonus HDMI Cable, Black





The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

designed to give SONY (and DISNEY (Sony's principal trading partner in Blu-Ray) (together they control over 80% of the world's film copyrights)) absolute software control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.







Second, with absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs - at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please, and, place the new limitations on your viewing "privileges" in the updated firmware.







On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.







I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).







Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow







Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.







I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising. This isn't a DVD player, it is a proprietary SONY controlled device for viewing THEIR proprietary discs under their variable terms.







They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. I don't want to have to spend my valuable time updating a machine I purchased. I didn't realize what was going on until last night. Last night, because I didn't update the firmware, the unit "ate" the Blu-Ray DVD of "Patton" that I had acquired from Netflix.







It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.







Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).







There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.







The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.







This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.







I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.







A sony upscaling DVD player is manufactured with hard-wired eject and play buttons, has a simple remote operation schemata, offers superior picture and sound (via HDMI) (cable included) and you are purchasing your expected DVD "rights" instead of Sony and Disney's DVD Blu-Ray "privileges."







Sony DVP-NS601HP 1080p Upscaling DVD Player with Bonus HDMI Cable, Black







The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.

REFURBISHED - Blu-ray Disc Player BDP-S301

...

designed to give SONY (and DISNEY (Sony's principal trading partner in Blu-Ray) (together they control over 80% of the world's film copyrights)) absolute software control over anything and everything you view on Blu-Ray discs, how you view them, and, how much you pay for what you view.









Second, with absolute software control over the discs you watch on Blu-Ray devices, in Blu-Ray format, and SONY's tremendous market share of film copyrights, SONY can ultimately control all of your disc entertainment in your home, and, increase its charges for viewing discs - at will. They simply do this by requiring you to update the firmware for the OS in the unit whenever they please, and, place the new limitations on your viewing "privileges" in the updated firmware.









On the required updates, they can change all of the viewing privileges for your discs WHENEVER THEY WANT, AS MUCH AS THEY WANT, UNDER WHATEVER CONDITIONS and PRICING THEY WANT.









I invite you to think about this for a minute. That means that SONY can program into their software and firmware an expiration date on the playability of your Blu-Ray discs (and anything else in Blu-Ray format).









Although they are not doing it now, history shows that there is nothing to stop them from allowing discs you purchase to only play on their Blu-Ray devices for a limited period of time (from one showing to any number of showings). "History repeats itself . . . That's one of the things wrong with history." - Clarence Darrow









Abosolute power corrupts absolutely. One would have to be very naive to think that SONY and DISNEY aren't going to use this technology to maximize their profits at the expense of consumers. With this player and Blu-Ray technology, you no longer have any "Rights" when you buy a disc, you have only "privileges" which are limited at Sony's whim.









I have had this player for several months. Last night I had to use a stone chisel and a machine hammer to get a NETFLIX Blu-Ray disc out of it. $400 down the drain. I plan to sue Sony in small claims court for false advertising. This isn't a DVD player, it is a proprietary SONY controlled device for viewing THEIR proprietary discs under their variable terms.









They changed their Blu-Ray format so that any Blu-Ray disc manufactured after about April of 2008 ("Patton" for instance) will not play on this player without THEIR modifications to the unit's software and firmware. I don't want to have to spend my valuable time updating a machine I purchased. I didn't realize what was going on until last night. Last night, because I didn't update the firmware, the unit "ate" the Blu-Ray DVD of "Patton" that I had acquired from Netflix.









It attempted to load it, but, after several hours of "loading" appearing on my high resolution screen (in spectacular 1080i) I had to give up. I tried re-booting 7 or 8 times. The new (non-conforming disc) just sent the OS into an infinite "loading" loop. Without hardware to override the defective OS, the machine became absolutely useless.









Without any hardware control to override the OS in cases of mistake, something as simple as wanting to terminate the loading process and retrieve the disc from the tray is impossible. To be able to send the disc back to NETFLIX I had to use tools to get the tray open to remove the DVD (ultimately destroying the unit).









There is no question that the upscaling to 1080i is worth the time, effort and money.









The increased definition (whether from Blu-Ray discs or upscalilng old DVDs) provides at least double the resolution of old players. It is like watching your DVDs all over again for the first time. So much more of the background details in the film appear at these high resolutions it is much more enjoyable.









This machine was not designed with the consumer in mind. It was designed to accomodate a cheap operating system with little responsiveness to the user. It is also designed to give SONY a dominant share in high resolution DVDs. SONY will dominate with absolute control (through copyrights and licensing agreements) ANYTHING that uses Blu-Ray format.









I regret spending the money on this machine. I should have just bought a Sony upscaling DVD player (about $80.00) and blown off the Blu-Ray. Blu-Ray doesn't offer a lot more than simple upscaling in the way of features and definition.









A sony upscaling DVD player is manufactured with hard-wired eject and play buttons, has a simple remote operation schemata, offers superior picture and sound (via HDMI) (cable included) and you are purchasing your expected DVD "rights" instead of Sony and Disney's DVD Blu-Ray "privileges."









Sony DVP-NS601HP 1080p Upscaling DVD Player with Bonus HDMI Cable, Black









The down side of having to purchase SONY's "privileges" instead of "rights" when shelling out $30+ for a Blu-Ray removes Blu-Ray from all of my entertainment. I instructed NETFLIX not to ship me anything more in Blu-Ray format and will NEVER purchase anything involving Blu-Ray again.