Excellent Quality for the Price
I was looking for a relatively inexpensive Blu Ray player that would connect me with Amazon Prime for streaming (do check first, not all players will do this). I was able to score a fabulous Black Friday week deal with this one and am very pleased with the results.
The picture quality is, in a word - excellent (on my Haier LED HDTV). I have loaded, just to see, several Blu Ray movies (such as Hunger Games, The Matrix, GI Joe Retaliation, Jack Reacher, Batman Begins) as well as some DVDs (Avatar, Downtown Abbey, Bourne Identity) and there is full richness and detail of all colors in all of them. When connected to Amazon Prime, the movies are just as great and run, for me, at about 20Mbps, watching The Avengers. I am connected with a BlueRigger High Speed HDMI Cable].
Set-up is relatively easy, but does take a few minutes. First, there will probably be a patch update to download, that goes quick. Then you get the device registered, first with Sony, and then getting a code that you activate and register with Amazon (on your computer) allowing access to Prime movies. Note: this additional feature of Amazon's for Prime members, for me, puts the annual fee over the top. I do not belong to any of the others (Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, etc) but, based on the Amazon interface, I would assume it is equally as easy to access and utilize them.
The size and look of the unit is perfect, it will fit almost anywhere and the design of it looks good. Mine sits at the base of my TV and wifi connectivity is superb. I exclusively use the remote, but if you use the buttons on the unit itself they are easily accessible, at the top, in the front. I appreciate that there is a No Internet option, during set up (which, I believe, can be changed later), allowing you to select not to have to access the internet (and load BD live software) prior to getting to the movie, so you can do it either way.
If you are upgrading from a DVD player to Blu Ray, or need to replace an older BD player, or want to connect with Amazon Prime for free movies, this is certainly a viable option for not much cash.Read full review
