Sony BDPS5200 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi
- Full HD 1080 Blu-ray Disc playback with 2D to 3D conversion, stream over 200 services, high-quality TRILUMINOS display
- Mobile device mirroring on TV with Miracast, IP Noise Reduction Pro improves streamed content, quick Start/Load to watch movies faster
- Enjoy music, photos and video via USB slots, Socialize watching over Facebook and Twitter as well
- Stream photos, videos and music with DLNA, throw media from your Sony Xperia Tablet8 HD sound with Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD
This Sony BDPS5200 Blu-ray player features built-in Wi-Fi. To build a complete 3D home theater system, we recommend you purchase a 3D TV, 3D glasses designed for the TV, high-speed HDMI cable and an A/V receiver that is compatible with 3D products.
List Price: $ 139.99
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Real issues with 3D, connectivity and occasionally needs rebooting,
Pros: It has a nice HD picture. It has a sleek attractive design. The remote operates at a reasonable distance and is intuitive. Love the big red Netflix button for immediate connection to streaming Netflix without going through the menus. Lots of channel choices on their network. Boots up fast. Starts playing fast.
Small Cons:
There is no user manual, you have to download it.
After powering up, it looks like its ready to go. You can see all the streaming channel icons; however, it needs more time to get connected to the network. if you try to connect, you can get a connection error. Be patient and try again. It would have been nice if they put up an icon or some indicator that said it was now connected to the network instead of leaving us to guess.
Big Cons:
I, like many others (check Sony’s web site for reviews) have had problems with streaming 3D movies through Netflix. My bandwidth is 24.3Mb/S, additionally, I have had AT&T come out and check my service. There are no errors or dropped frames; however, when I launch a 3D movie, I still get the message “connection speed is too slow for 3D”. When I launch the 3D movie again, it may give the same message or it may play. When it does play, it can play right through to the end of the movie; however, sometimes it plays only for 20 seconds, then stops the movie to reload. This can repeat every 20 seconds, continuously. At that point, as advised by Sony, we unplugged and plugged back in the BDPS5200. Sometimes this worked but sometimes it did not. When it did not work, we loaded the same movie as 2D. In 2D it played right through to the end of the movie with no loading issues. It may have something to do with the fact that you must go through Sony’s network to get to Netflix. I and many others believe it is going through their network that may be the problem, regardless of which Sony player you have.
Further analysis of connecting to Sony’s network: Sometimes I get the message that the network is not accessible when launching Netflix. I am using wired Ethernet so I could eliminate any WiFi connection issues. Its a solid connection. To test the connection, I disconnected the Ethernet from the BDPS5200 and attached it to my laptop. No problem. Blazing fast. Connected back to the BDPS5200, “network is not accessible”. Pulled the plug on the player, plugged it back in, waited for 1-2 minutes, tried it again and it worked.
Could it be the BDPS5200? Consider this: I just returned a BDPS5100 because it had the same problems. For as many people that are complaining on Sony’s web site, Sony’s recommendations are text book solutions that are temporary fixes at best, like unplug and plug back in your player and a host of other suggestions that people have tried that either didn’t work or resulted in temporary fixes.
Another disappointment: I had a few people over and a friend brought a brand new (unopened package) Blu Ray DVD. The player said it didn’t recognize the DVD. I took out the DVD and put it back in. Again, the same message that it didn’t recognize the DVD. I turned it off and back on. No change, it didn’t recognize the DVD. Then I remembered the advice on their forum. Unplug the player and plug it back in. After unplugging and plugging it back in, it recognized the Blu Ray DVD. If Sony is advising this as a fix, I am having my doubts that a new Sony Blu Ray player is going to fix this issue. Where is their quality? I need to mention that I had all the software upgrades to the player and I still had the same problems.
In summary, connections issues appear to be associated with connecting Sony streaming players to Sony’s network when streaming with Netflix. Additionally, their Blu Ray player can have problems recognizing Blu Ray DVDs that requires powering it down, unplugging the power and plugging it back in order to again recognize Blu Ray DVDs.
June 29, 2014 Review update
I waited before updating this review to be sure I had given the NEW BDPS5200 time to show any latent issues. Keep in mind I still have the same fast internet speed of 45Mb/S and as Sony advised, there was a software update.
Results:
3D Movies:
Launching 3D movies resulted in the same error message “connection speed is too slow for 3D, would I like to view in 2D or try 3D again.” This error message occurred at least 50% of the time. When I elected to “try again” in 3D, it loaded every time flawlessly and played the movie with no problems. I have noticed this “connection speed too slow” message happens, at what I would assume, are peak viewing hours (Friday and Saturday evenings). When I tested during early morning hours or in the middle of the day, there seemed to be no issue and the 3D movie launched first try. Is this issue from Sony’s network, the BDPS5200 or Netflix? According to Sony, it’s not their network or their…
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|Sony BDP-S5200,
The only downside is that it takes a little while to boot up, but they have also partially fixed that with an option to put it in a sleep mode of sorts so startup is quicker. There is no digital screen display, but who really needs that when there is a button on your remote that can show you that right on your screen.
It plays discs well and certainly improves the quality of DVDs. The remote is small and lightweight, but has all the buttons you could want (possibly more) laid out in a logical way. All in all a great bluray player with tons of apps available and very user-friendly.
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|Kinda like a PS3 that can’t play games,
Some of the important points:
► BD and DVD playback are excellent, as expected.
► Video streaming (Netflix, etc.) is OK, but didn’t load as fast as Amazon Fire TV or Roku 3. Even on my high speed connection each video starts out a little rough-looking and then resolves to an HD stream after about 40 seconds. This doesn’t happen on the Roku 3 or Amazon Fire TV, which tells me the Sony’s a touch slower and doesn’t buffer as quickly.
► Support for local & DLNA video is better than on the PS3, but like most North American BD players, this device supports Cinavia protection and will shut down when the audio watermark plays. You can’t strip it out, and therefore you can’t play Cinavia-protected videos.
► Audio streaming is good, with a decent interface.
► Browser experience is average for set top boxes. Nothing special.
As I prefer using a dedicated device for streaming video and audio, my primary concern with a BD player is how well it handles disc-based media, and the Sony BDPS5200 handles it all very well. DTS-HD passed through perfectly, and the images were crisp and beautiful. The unit itself is small and takes up little space in the entertainment center. I also use it for CD playback, and this works great through my surround sound receiver.
Sony’s remote is a little clunky, but since the player uses IR it works perfectly with universal remotes.
Final Verdict: A worthy BD player that handles BDs, DVDs, and CDs (among other disc-based media) admirably well, while also functioning as a mid-level media streamer that runs a touch on the slow side by today’s standards. Still quite capable as a media streaming device, the Sony BDPS5200 would be a decent addition to your home theater setup if you were trying to get as many functions in one device as possible, as long as you recognize it as a “jack of all trades, master of few”.
Four Stars. One star was deducted for the slower streaming playback (and, in part, the Cinavia protection).
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