Viewsonic NexTV VMP75 1080p Network Media Player - Stream Netflix, Internet radios/videos & access to Twitter, Facebook w/free HDMI cable Review

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(More customer reviews)The ViewSonic NexTV VMP75 is a real mixed bag of tricks. At first glance, the device is feature packed. Not only do you get the typical features (like Netflix, internet browsing, etc), but you get playback of ISO files, which until recently has been hard to find. This device has many things going for it, but the negatives really take my excitement for the VMP75 down a notch.
This device is small and the size is great for mobility (if you choose) and for the fact that it can easily fit behind mounted TVs or stuck in a corner somewhere. Of course, no matter where you put the player, it will need to be visible for the remote. It's a nice, compact device that stays cool while running.
I loved the fact that the player would access ISO files, but in my tests the success was limited. Playback was slow at times, but that could have been my connection. However, sound would cut out and I would get a connection error at times.
As for Netflix access, it did a pretty good job. Connecting to Netflix would take some time (actually, many of features for this player took time to load and I would definitely call this device SLOW), but once Netflix was loaded up you could browse your instant queue and get going with your movie. There were a couple of instances that sound wouldn't work and I was forced to exit the Netflix feature and restart it.
Another negative to the device was that wireless was not included. I know many people have wired connections, but many do not. With most of my TVs I do have a wired connection and I tested this device both on a wired and wireless connection because I really wanted to put this in a room that had only wireless available. In this day and age, the manufacturer should include wireless. I had to buy one of the USB wireless dongles that was recommended by ViewSonic (and let me say their list was small and the devices were hard to find).
I hate to list so many negatives and not list some positive aspects, but for me, the negatives were a sore spot. For my particular purpose, this device was going to primarily serve up Netflix and it worked perfectly (minus the SLOW startup time) about 90% of the time. However, I think some better firmware from ViewSonic might fix some of the real problems. All in all, it's a decent NetFlix player, but there are too many devices on the market that can already play NetFlix well. Personally, I'd consider waiting for another model from ViewSonic.

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Streaming internet content is easy with the ViewSonic® NexTV® VMP75 Full HD 1080p network media player. Enjoy movies, videos, music and photos from your storage devices or accesscontent from YouTube, Live365, ShoutCast internet radio, Flickr and more. Now you can access the Netflix streaming platform with your Netflix subscription to access thousands of movies and TV shows instantly. The NexTV VMP75 supports a full range of the most popular video, audio and image formats and can be connected to your home entertainment system. With its web browsing capability (not available for rich Flash content) and custom RSS feeds, your connected TV experience is greatly expanded.
A full range of format support With the support of the most popular video, audio and image formats, the NexTV VMP75 offers an unrivaled and ultimate entertainment viewing experience. Additionally, with the support of DTS and Dolby, you can enjoy digital media in full surround sound with your home A/V system.

Formats supported include:

Video: MPEG1 (AVI/MKV/TS/DAT/MPG/MPEG/VOB), MPEG2 (MKV/DAT/MPG/MPEG/VOB/ISO/IFO/TS/TP)/M2TS, MPEG4 (AVI/MP4/MKV/MOV/WMV/ASF), DivX 3/4/5/6 Xvid (AVI/MKV/MP4/MOV), H.264/AVC (TS/AVI/MP4/MKV/MOV/FLV)/M2TS, VC-1 (TS/AVI/ASF/WMV)/M2TS, WMV9 (ASF/WMV)

Audio: MP3, MPEG Audio, Dolby Digital, DTS, WMA, WMA Pro, PCM, LPCM,FLAC, WAV, AAC, HE-AAC,OGG, MKA,VORBIS

Photo: JPEG,GIF, PNG, BMP,TIFF

Subtitles: SRT, SMI, SUB, SSA,IDX+SUB, IDX, AAS, TXT

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Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)[This is a long review warranted by the number of features of the BDP-S580. I want to try to provide as much relevant information as I can in an attempt to make this as useful to you as possible. If you only want a one line "this is great" review, I apologize, but some folks like details :) I know I do.]
IMPORTANT NOTE: I have added a number of updates and edits over time to keep this review up to date. Be sure to check those as they can show resolutions to earlier problems I experienced. Typically I left the original issues in place in the review, followed by an Edit with a resolution, so that other people running into the same problem may be able to find answers.
Some background...
This was bought to replace an older Sharp HP20U Blu-Ray player and some of the features of a DLink DSM-520 network media player. After also having owned the Sony BDP-S570 (the prior model to the S580) for a short while as a first replacement effort, I decided to return that and get this newer BDP-S580 model instead in the hope they might eventually fix or improve on a lot of the DLNA flaws in the 570.
Let me say up front that I do like this unit, but have some concerns.
I am running wired connection over gigabit LAN with CAT6, although this device only has a 100M ethernet connection, and use the fastest available Charter service where I typically get 15 to 28 Mbps download speed at any given time. I am using HDMI connections through a receiver to a Sharp 1080p TV.
First the good...
1) Blu-ray load times are far faster than many other devices out there. This was one of the main points I wanted to get with the unit. In fact the prior BDP-S570 release is still one of CNET's fastest ever loaders, even with the 'quick start' feature turned off, and this is comparable. I do recommend leaving the fast-start option off in general in order to save energy; the money cost of keeping the device in a kind of startup mode is not worth it if the player can get up to speed quite quickly anyway. As a load speed test, I used the "Avatar" BD, the worst loader by a long shot among disks I own. Avator took over 5 minutes to get to the main menu screen on my old Sharp, and on the Sony it gets to the main menu in around 2 mins 50 secs. This is still not quick, but remember that this is the worst loader I have ever seen. Other BDs such as "Master and Commander", "Cars", or "300" all got to their menus within around 30 secs, and by getting to the main menu, I mean it had to go through all the FBI copyright warnings etc.
2) The unit is quiet when playing a disk. Not silent, but seems better than the S570 and far better than the old Sharp. Note that when you leave a disk in while using other features of the s580, it still makes some noise as if it is always keeping the BD ready to go. I suppose this is no bad idea for a quick launch when you choose the BD from the menu system.
3) The BDP-S580 uses Sony's standard XDB interface that can be found on the PS3, PSP etc. I like it but some don't. In my opinion it is quick, clean, simple to navigate, and this particular device seems to respond very quickly when scrolling the icons/options (some have seemed more sluggish).
4) I had no issues with buffering, stuttering or pausing during playback of online video. I used Amazon Instant Video, Crackle, YouTube, and the Hulu Plus free HD video to test. No issues during playback of online audio either using Pandora, NPR, Slacker. However, please see notes below in the 'bad' section that relate to actually getting the streaming to start...
5) DLNA playback of Audio files is good and the interface is fast and responsive. Much faster than the Dlink DSM-520. All files have played great so far, and include .wma and .mp3 formats. Note that this comment is in regard to AUDIO FILES ONLY, see the 'bad' section for my thoughts on VIDEO files across DLNA...
6) Picture quality from BD is better than my Sharp player. I believe this is largely due to the deep color system that Sony uses. In fact there are several levels of color depth you can choose if you feel inclined to do so (I just left mine on the Auto setting)
7) Upconversion of standard DVDs is excellent. Most BD players that upconvert DVDs do it well, and this is no exception.
8) The "direct attach" USB drive option is improved in the S580 over the S570. This is where you use some kind of external USB drive - portable drive, desktop storage or even USB stick - and plug it directly into the USB port on the S580 to access files on it. There are 2 USB ports on the S580 which is helpful, one front, one rear. With the 570 you could only use FAT formatted drives which are generally not a great idea, but the S580 is now improved to allow use of NTFS formatted drives.
9) It has a general Internet Browser. This is useful but limited. I have run into issues where pages are not very navigable (msn.com) or where they fail with a reported 'page is too big' error (hulu.com). Where possible, using 'mobile' versions of the web page tends to be best.
10) You can pair this player to a compatible TV etc to allow one to control the other via HDMI. I turned this off to reduce 'overhead' since it will do nothing for me with my Sharp TV and receiver, but I wanted to note this.
11) Media types that can be played from a directly attached USB drive are numerous, and include the following (taken from the Sony BDP-S580 manual as of 3/25/11 - take note of the "*" numbers and check the info underneath!):
VIDEO File format Extensions:
MPEG-1 Video/PS*1*2, MPEG-2 Video/PS, TS*1*3 (".mpg," ".mpeg,",".m2ts," ".mts")
MPEG-4 AVC*1*2 (".mkv," ".mp4,",".m4v," ".m2ts,",".mts")
WMV9*1*2 (".wmv," ".asf")
AVCHD*2 *4
Xvid (".avi")
AUDIO File format Extensions:
MP3 (MPEG-1 AudioLayer III) (".mp3")
AAC*1*2*5 (".m4a")
WMA9 Standard*1*2*5 (".wma")
LPCM (".wav")
PHOTO File format Extensions:
JPEG (".jpg," ".jpeg")
What the *Notes mean:
*1 The player does not play coded files such as DRM.
*2 The player does not play this file format on a DLNA server.
*3 The player can only play standard definition video on a DLNA server.
*4 The player plays AVCHD format files that are recorded on a digital video camera, etc. The
AVCHD format disc will not play if it has not been correctly finalized.
*5 The player does not play coded files such as Lossless.Now the not so good...
1) I wanted this to be a replacement for my old DSM-520 network media player. I knew from bad experience with the s570 that this would not be possible, and you can see from the list of formats above with the *2 note against them that Sony does not expect those to play. Essentially MPEG2 and a subset of AVI are the only video formats that 'might' work. These notes here are to warn others, and don't directly affect my rating since I expected it, although I am hoping future firmware releases might improve the offering. While the s580 is DLNA certified, this means that it essentially only needs to be able to play a VERY minimum range of video formats, and even then, depending on things such as the specific codecs used, it still might not work. I have a number of video files in several different formats - none of which will even be seen to allow me to try to play. This includes .mp4, .vob, .iso, .avi, .m4v, .wmv all shared from a Iomega network storage device pushing out via a built in media server. [see edit below]
***
[EDIT 4/2/11] After getting a replacement unit, I am now able to see and play .mpg, .mp4(when renamed to .mpg), some .wmv, some .avi, all .vob. My original lemon would not let me even see these, now I can see and play. I am leaving the original note in place to help others who might run into the same problem.
***
Assuming you have a number of different format video files, if you want to be able to play ALL of your video files across your network to the BDP-S580, you will either need to use a media server that will transcode your files on the fly to something like MPEG2, manually convert all your media to a format that is supported (prohibitively annoying for most people) or get a different network media player instead of this.
(A reminder: the above note is really only regarding Video files on DLNA. My music files all behave beautifully so far, and include .wma and .mp3)
2) Playing of online video files. As I mentioned previously, playing online video files is great, but getting to them or getting them to start can be quite a slog. For some reason it takes ages (well, maybe 1-3 minutes) to get them to start. I'm not sure what the issue is. I'm running wired, not wireless. When I get the media playing I can see that I am getting over 18Mbps consistent download speed. When it runs, it can play high def files with no apparent issues. Its just connecting to the individual services, and in some cases opening the files when you get there, that takes so long. What's odd - again - is that I don't recall this being a problem with the BDP-S570 (the OLD model). I did set a static IP address and network info just in case it helped, as mentioned by another reviewer, but it made no difference for me. [see edit below]
***
[EDIT 4/4/11] This issue has been resolved by assigning a free public DNS server (8.8.4.4) as my primary DNS server in the network configuration. Originally I had this set to my local DNS server (my 192.168.x.x router). I don't know why this would really make a difference and I have never had any other issues with my DLink DIR-655 router serving as my DNS server before, however this does indeed resolve my problem. I no longer have any connectivity issues when connecting to the online video services like...Read more›

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This product is 3D-related. To help you get a great 3D experience, use the checklist below to ensure you have everything you need. 3D viewing requires:

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Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I already own a Sony BDPS-360 downstairs as our main Blu-Ray player, but wanted a streaming player for upstairs (an Xbox360 takes care of that downstairs). Since I won't have a 3D TV for quite some time, and have wired ethernet running to the appropriate room, the 470/570 offer me nothing over this player, so I bought the 370.
Blu-Rays are very quick to load. Checked out Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and the biggest delay in getting to the movie was skipping the previews up front. Menu was up in just a few seconds, and the movie launched very quickly after that. Maybe 30 seconds from putting the disc in until I was watching the movie.
The remote does have an Open/Close button on it. That was not a big deal for me with the 360, but others complained about it so I thought I'd mention it.
Streaming takes a bit of setup, with the biggest item of note being that you need to register your Blu-Ray on internet.sony.tv before activating the streaming features. I had fits trying to create an account directly on that site, but creating a SonyStyle account first and then activating here worked much better. This works similar to Netflix activation in that you get a 4 symbol code from the player, enter it into your account, and now the Blu-Ray is activated. I then needed to go through the typical Netflix activation, getting another code from the player and entering it into my Netflix account. Amazon VOD linked directly to the Sony account and was then available on the player. Instructions for each of these are included in the screens on the Blu-Ray player, where it will provide the codes and the website address, and you then go the computer and finish linking from there.
Netflix works only off your Instant Queue, so you need to add movies to that queue on the website (or from the Xbox360 or other device with a full browser). Amazon VOD seems to have a fairly complete browser included. Netflix HD quality was reasonable, but most importantly about what I get on the computer or Xbox360; the player does not interfere in any way. This player was my first experience with Amazon VOD, and I must say the Sample HD clip (Superman Returns) was a lot higher than I expected, and actually better than most OnDemand offerings I get from my cable company (TWC NC).
So for Blu-Ray playback and Internet streaming, the box does a really good job. I wish the Netflix interface was more robust like the videogame consoles have, but actual playback and access to the Instant Queue works fine.
(Updates for this paragraph below) The big disappointment, and the one that keeps it from getting 5 stars, is that the SonyStyle page for the player lists DLNA as a feature. This is the standard for letting media devices connect to your computer and stream video / pictures / music over the network. Services like PlayOn also support this. DLNA, however, is not actually active on the player. From checking other sites, no one knows yet if this will be available in a future firmware update, or if the site is incorrect. If DLNA support is critical to your decision making, you may want to hold off until there is some answer on the DLNA picture.
Aside from that, I'm really happy with it as Blu-Ray player and Netflix/Amazon VOD streamer.
I have not yet tried a standard DVD, or any of the music streaming services. I'll update this review if anything changes as I use the player more.
UPDATE MARCH 1, 2010: Sony has updated the product page and changed the footnote for DLNA support. It is now due in a July 2010 firmware update. That's good news, and once the firmware ships I'll try to remember to report back on how well it works. If it works well the review will probably bump to 5 stars, as this is a pretty full-featured, fast, stable Blu-Ray player for under $200, especially if like me wireless and 3D are just not important to you.
One other bit of info for those who buy the player: if you have a Vizio TV, the remote code to use appears to be "04". It's not in the manual, but I tried this after a web search revealed others using the code for other Sony remotes, and this works for turning the TV on and off and changing the volume. The INPUT button does not work for me, though. The manual also seems to be missing the instructions for changing the TV code, but thanks to the manual for the S360 I have downstairs, the instructions are to hold the TV power button on the remote, enter the code, then release the TV power button on the remote.
UPDATE JUNE 9, 2010: The long-awaited DLNA firmware is now available for download. This is working great with my Windows Media Center (from Windows 7), with all my pictures, videos, and music available. One gotcha here is that the Sony has separate menus for all 3 categories, and you must play content from the correct category, even though all files show up under all options. So, for example, if you select your Windows Media Center server from the Video section, it will also have a folder for Pictures and Music, but every folder under those will show "no playable files". All the videos will play fine. It will be similar if you go to Music, except that only the music folder will have playable files.
However, at this time PlayOn is incompatible. The PlayOn server shows up, and you can browse and select videos, but all videos return a "This file is corrupt or unsupported". I've submitted a help request to PlayOn, and from the PlayOn forums it looks like others are as well, so we'll see if PlayOn can make a change, or if this needs to be reported to Sony. My Xbox360 streams the PlayOn stuff fine, so it's not a global issue with my setup.
On a different note, I've also since tried several standard DVDs and done some music streaming, and those features work fine. Others might be picky somewhere about DVD upscaling, but I've never really noticed an issue with this or any player, so I wouldn't worry about it. You do need to be aware that there are settings in the video setup to control the aspect ratio, so if you want a 16x9 picture (not letterboxed), you need to change the aspect ratio settings off "original". Aside from that, DVDs have played perfectly for me. And streaming music seems to work okay with the little I've done.
UPDATE August 9, 2010: PlayON has released updated software that fixes the streaming issues with this and potentially other players. Now that the DLNA support is working for all the stuff I want to stream, I've upped my review to 5 stars, as I have no complaints at all with it.

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Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD1080p and improve the quality of DVDs to near HD with the Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player. Play your favorite movies faster than ever and access a wide variety of movies, TV shows, and music streaming from the Internet plus turn your Apple iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control by downloading a free app.
Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies and DVDs or connect to the internet and access movies, TV shows music and more.

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ZX100 Mini portable speaker with rechargeable battery Review

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(More customer reviews)I received these and they work great. The only problem is that the directions don't tell you to hold down the "power on " button until the light comes on. After you figure that out they work great and have great sound unlike the other set this company sell. Stick with this speaker, don't buy the SP100 mini twin speakers. Don't do like me and think twin is better than single!! The doubles did not work at all, but this speaker is a great little carry around speaker.

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Sony BDP-BX58 Blu-ray Disc Player 3D Built-in Wireless Review

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(More customer reviews)We tried and returned the preceding model. So we picked this one up with a bit of concern. The sales folk assured us that Sony had fixed it's failings, and they have a good return policy where we bought, so we gave Sony a second chance.
It works beautifully, even with Netflix. Video streams properly via wifi, and the unit has remained responsive at all times. On blu-ray the machine responds to commands instantly. The remote is well designed and easy to use. As I recall, one concern we had with this unit was that Amazon streaming video was not advertised on the box. However, the unit does in fact support Amazon.
All-in-all, the unit works as designed and desired.


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Sony BDP-S380 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just purchased two of these - one for myself and one for an out-of-state friend. I'm using mine with a Sony Bravia 1080p flat screen; my friend is using hers with an older 30 inch CRT TV (4:3 aspect ratio) until she gets around to taking her flat screen out of its box.
I was thinking about getting a unit with built-in WiFi, but before making the purchase(s), I did some research online and heard (read) some horror stories about streaming via WiFi that were, let's say, somewhat less than complementary (glitches, disconnects, freezes requiring reboots, etc.), so I decided to purchase this unit BECAUSE it didn't have WiFi (why pay for a feature that I'm not going to use?). I already have a Sony BDP-S370 (using it with a Samsung flat screen) and like it a lot; I would have bought two more of them, but they weren't available directly from Amazon when I ordered, so I got these - I prefer buying from Amazon for their returns policy. Also, the BDP-S380 supports 'vudu' AND it has an on-screen digital throughput speed readout (in Mbps) which appears when streaming is starting up - both welcome additions!
My setup took about 15 minutes from the time I opened the box until I was watching discs, Amazon VOD, and Netflix (the only ones that I've set up so far). I connected the BDP-S380 to my TV via HDMI, and my LAN via Ethernet cable and everything just worked (of course, I had to set it up for my Amazon and Netflix accounts, but that took less than five minutes each). After going through the on-screen quick start menus, the unit told me that there was a firmware upgrade available, so I told it to do it, and a few minutes later, it finished and turned itself off (normal when upgrading firmware).
My friend's setup took a bit longer, since she had never set one up before and I couldn't see what was happening while I tried to talk her through everything (from memory). She connected to her TV using the (supplied-in-the-box) AV cable. Because her TV was 4:3 aspect ratio, some of the menus didn't display legibly, which is probably what made things take a bit longer. Anyway, we got everything working properly within about 20-25 minutes.
One thing of note I would like to mention is this: all BD players manufactured after 01/01/2011 have DRM firmware which prevents HD signals from using any output other than HDMI. For me, that was no problem since I was using HDMI; since my friend was using AV, everything was displayed on her TV in SD (not really a problem since that is all it's capable of displaying anyway, and she'll be using HDMI if she ever sets up her flat screen *:^).
I'm very pleased with this unit (and so is she). Its outputs are crisp and solid, its user interface is staight-forward and easy to understand, and its physical size, shape, and appearance should fit in anywhere.
Definitely a 5-star device.
======
NETFLIX Note (04/15/11):
It seems that Netflix is no longer limiting selections to your Instant Queue! There is now a choice entitled "Top Picks For You" -- also, you can now press "Options" on the Remote and when you select "Categories >" you will be presented with a Category list from which you can search and select movies! Yay!!

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