I was excited to get this Blu-ray player! It's vintage enough to have all of the different possible hookup connections you could ever ask for (composite, component, HDMI as well as optical and coax digital audio output connections...It works perfectly and looks awesome! I like the fact that there's a display on front to keep track of viewing time or audio track numbers....thanks so much!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This a used item and I understand that. Issue 1, is that at times audio and video are out of sync, that is a problem. Issue 2, if I stop the dvd disc without using pause, I have to restart the dvd from the beginning, not from where I left off. Most of my other dvd player/recorders let me do that, even my 20 year old Protron dvd recorder. And the final issue is the disc tray closes too quickly. I sometime I don't have time to place the the disc in the tray before the it closes and my disc get hung up in the tray. Also,I bought this dvd player because it was suppose to ignore the Cinavia protection issue that copying for your own use Blu-Ray disc. I have not tried that to see if it works. Overall this a so,so blu-ray player, with a few issues.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
These units were about $500-600 when new back around '09 and I liked then so much I have three of them. Outstanding 1080p Blu-ray picture with incredible up conversion of DVD 480p. Surround sound is amazing and even two channel stereo kicks but. They handle the latest DTS Master Audio HD and TruHD Dolby Digital and I have them linked to a 7.2 system in the living room, a 7.1 system in the studio and a 5.1 bedroom system and not a hiccup out of any of them over the years. What else do you expect from the inventors of the medium?
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The haphazard regulatory process and proliferation of formats has kept me from joining the blu-ray community, until now. The Sony S550 has enough features that I want at a price I need. The upconverting feature, the multiplicity of formats, the 7.1 audio outputs, the internet connectivity, and the overall quality made this unit a powerful draw. Getting a good price via eBay made the purchase possible sooner rather than later. The unit is now integrated into my system and is performing admirably. Any drawbacks? Sure. It is a bit complicated to set up and operate. It loads slowly. But otherwise it performs great! I had done lots of homework for this purchase, shopped hard in person and on the internet, and found the best price on eBay.
Had one before. The best DVD player ever (no hassling with the internet!). This was a used item but works perfectly, even handles bootlegs with ease! If I could find a brand new one I'd snatch it up no questions asked!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
The Sony BDP-S550 is a great 'universal' Player, minus the SACD ones. It has analog outs, that are getting a bit hard to find, as well as the 'regular' Digital ones. (HDMI, SDIF) This is an older generation BluRay, but loads very quickly, looks amazing, and sounds very nice.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I still have a CRT TV (picture tube) as the main set. Our DVD player died. With component output (which many modern Blu-Ray and DVD don't have) I am able to still watch our DVDs at a better picture quality than coaxial or yellow RCA (which is what most DVD players now offer). And, I can play Blu-Ray (at a lower picture quality than HDMI) through the TV. The only drawback I found is, in set up, I needed to access the 'home' and 'settings' screens but its default output and resolution was HDMI. The instructions did not state this. I eventually pulled out my desktop computer monitor (has HDMI input), connected the player to the TV and the monitor, was able to follow the instructions on the monitor until I was able to adjust the output and resolution permitting me to see it on the TV. Annoyance but not a problem. In addition, I was able to connect it to my router and update the player's software. Good deal. Very happy.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
This is an excellent machine, and the sound is great. I have not compared it to other blu ray players with high end sound, but it is very clean. I suspect that you wold have to spend a thousand dollars or more to get better sound. I am not happy with the way it plays regular DVDs, though. They look too contrasty by comparison to my old Denon DVD player. The skin tones look to dark and a little reddish. The blu ray picture is superb, however. It also decodes the new uncompressed (High Definition) audio formats on-board so you can hear them on older receivers provided you have HDMI inputs. (You can also hear them if you don't have HDMI, but you have to use analog outputs, which means a separate interconnect cable for each channel) There is definatley an audible difference between say Dolby 5.1 surround and the new Dolby True HD. I wasn't shure what to think about this before I bought the machine, but the diffence is readily apparent. It's worth taking full advantage of this feature. Be sure the machine you are buying has the latest firmware update that came out at the end of January, 2009 A lot of machines still sitting on dealer shelves may not have it. I had to get the CD sent out from Sony customer service and update it myself. Not difficult, but a just an extra headache you can avoid. An excellent machine overall, and you can't beat the price.Read full review
As I write this review of the BDP-S550, the player model is fairly "old"--two model generations at this point. For picture and sound, it's a top-notch unit, by all accounts/pro reviews. The two mainstream 2008 models of Sony BD units, this and the BDP-S350, were nearly identical in form and function, other than the fact that the S550 has multi-channel analog outputs. And this is really the key for many buyers of the S550. (The S550 also had a few other things like the illuminated remote and included 1GB flash drive). In the previous generation (the S300 and S500) both models had multi-analog output; then in the Sx50 generation (this player), they removed them from the S350 as cost cutting. In the next generation (the S360, S560, and S760/S1000ES) they removed the analog outputs from the "5-series" player as well. The S760 (called S1000ES in the US) was created for an even higher cost and the only things it really features over the S550 are wi-fi, a headphones jack, and faster loading. The PS3? Also a great option for many people but again that has no multi-analog outputs either. For someone that has an older receiver w/o HDMI but with analog ins that they don't want/need to replace, a player with multi-channel analog output is a must for the HD soundtracks (multi-PCM, TrueHD, DTS-HD HR/MA). In comparison with the older generation the Sx50 units are faster to load and have new Profile support for BD, other than 3D. In comparison with the newer generation, the Sx60 models, the S550 only suffers from longer load times as they got a bit quicker. However the S550 is not "slow" per se, but there will be some waiting for some discs as mentioned by other reviewers. **Tip: Discs that have BD Bonus View or BD Live features will access the flash drive when loading. The included 1GB MicroVault Tiny is not that fast of a flash drive. If you replace it with a faster one of 1GB or more, you can speed your load times a little for such discs.** The problem with the S760 was that it sold for a relatively high price in Canada; and, in the US the S1000ES sold for even more at first, being an "ES" branded player (that player can now be had for ~$250 on clearance at many US retailers though). If you need analog output and want a Sony player, your main choices are likely these two (S550 and S760/S1000ES). However if you don't care for wi-fi and don't care for the headphones jack, I really recommend the S550 because of how cheap you can score one on eBay. Compared to spending $250 on an S1000ES, I got an S550 complete with remote and flash drive for ~$85 shipped and it's in excellent condition! (Buyer's note: many eBay sales of this player are missing the remote and/or flash drive items so buyer beware. The flash drive is not so important but the remote is rather pricey--at least $35 on its own.) Sony has released their 2010 models of course (Sx70 models), most of them with 3D. However again Sony has removed analog outs! So even the top-level (before ES) S770 no longer has analog output! So your only choices will be a very expensive ES player, or another brand (like Oppo), or if you don't need 3D, an older model--just like the S550 which you can pick up for a steal these days! For the price this "old" model BD player cannot be beat if you need analog outs. The S550 is definitely a price/performance leader for BD players, even if it is a couple years old. Highly recommended.Read full review
I bought it mainly to get HD experience with DVDs. The picture/sound quality is excellent. But the blu-ray player is relatively slow to operate for some basic things. If you press eject, you might have to wait for upto 30 seconds for the player to open up and the disc loading also takes time. This, I heard, is common with all blu-ray players in 2008/2009. But once you started playing you would not see any difference in speed of playing, fast forwarding or rewinding. The picture quality is excellent with all the blurays I rented.
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