Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi

Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi
  • Premium Design & built-in Wi-Fi with superior range and strength
  • 100+ streaming apps: Netflix, HuluPlus, Amazon Instant Video, Pandora & more
  • Full HD 1080p Blu-ray Disc 3D playback with 2D to 3D conversion
  • Throw content to your TV from your tablet with TV SideView
  • I/P noise reduction helps eliminate excess noise for a better viewing experience

This is a full featured BD/DVD/Network player.

The player uses the same XMB (Cross Media Bar) interface as last years players. All the same services are on this player as last year, including all the popular ones Netflix, Amazon, VUDU, Hulu and Crackle. The Netflix interface supports the new Super HD (5800kb/s) stream, with Dolby Digital + audio. Amazon also supports Watchlists and Dolby Digital 5.1 bitstream. I mention this, because its one of the few players out there that does.

New for 2013 is the Youtube app, that gets a serious facelift, and supports HD streams and a new look.

Disk start up times have also being improved over last year by at least 10 seconds (compared to the top of the line BDP-S790 from 2012).

A lot of folks complained about text input on last years player, as the onscreen keyboard used a numeric keypad to provide the input. This year, Sony replaces it with a full QWERTY style onscreen keyboard, which is certainly easier to use.

What else is there. Well again the Sony player is very good for supporting local media playback through DLNA. This bluray player supports more file formats and codecs that most, and is best used with the Serviio DLNA server.

Also new for 2013 is the players ability to work with Sony's new 2nd screen app called TV Sideview. This gives folks the opportunity to interact with the player using a iOS or Android device. You are able to search across multiple network services (Netflix, youtube) and local content too ... although i've not had much luck with search ... the system seems to have a few bugs in it right now. Early days though.

One other new capability over last year is the built in Opera web browser. It has being improved and will support "some" HTML5 video streams ... such as youtube, within the browser. Again, my experience with it wasn't ideal, and I really wouldn't recommend using this blue-ray player to browse the net! Its just too slow to render the pages.

Visually, its a nice looking player, and has a semi metal case, compared to last years all plastic one. Its suppose to have improved WIFI reception too ... although I only tested it with a wired Ethernet cable.

If you're looking for a solid disk and network player, the BDP-S5100 is well worth a look. Is it worth upgrading from last years BDP-S590? ... well, only if you are a heavy youtube user would I consider it. The BDP-S590 was already a excellent Bluray player, and Sony has only done a few incremental improvements here.

Final thoughts ... note that this player has no analog outputs; not even for audio .. so if you have non HDMI equipment, don't even consider this player. No Digital optical output either (Only Coaxial) Also this player won't come with a HDMI cable, so plan ahead !!

I can't comment on its 3D abilities as I don't have any 3D displays.

Thanks for reading.

Buy Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Now

With the release of these three updated Sony bluray players in 2013 I have put together a quick overview of the main differences between the three to help you decide. I went with the middle of the road S3100 and so far have been very pleased. It pretty much comes down to whichever features you need in your player as all three from a playing bluray perspective are the same. When you are ready to put your big boy audio/videophile pants on, check out the Oppo high end player at the bottom.

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The Base Player BDP-S1100 Replacing the Sony S185

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWX6EYQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AWX6EYQ&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

No WI-FI Wired Ethernet only

Does NOT support DLNA

There is NO internet browser

Does NOT support Super Audio CD

There is NO analog video or audio outputs whatsoever

There is only one USB input (on the front of the player)

There is NO optical digital audio output on any of the three players. In addition to the HDMI there is digital coaxial audio output only.

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Middle of the road BDP-S3100 Replacing the Sony S390

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWKC0EC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AWKC0EC&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

All the previous plus...

WI-FI support (2.4GHz)

Internet Browser with Opera TV store

DLNA support

Gracenote "lookup" support

TV Sideview Android and iPhone App support

There is NO optical digital audio output on any of the three players. In addition to the HDMI there is digital coaxial audio output only.

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The High End BDP-S5100 Replacing the Sony S590

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AWKC0JM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AWKC0JM&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

All the previous plus...

3D support

Extra USB port in rear

2D -> 3D conversion ability

There is NO optical digital audio output on any of the three players. In addition to the HDMI there is digital coaxial audio output only.

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The Sony Flagship player BDP-S790 Not being replaced by anything this year yet

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006U1YUW2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006U1YUW2&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

All the previous plus...

4K Video Upconversion

Internet Picture Enhancer Pro

Super Bit Mapping

3D Streaming

Skype

Additional HDMI out in the rear

Composite Video output in the rear

Analog Audio output in the rear

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And for those that didn't know that high end bluray players existed out there, check out one of the most popular ones on the market.

The Oppo BDP-103

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009LRR5AQ/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009LRR5AQ&linkCode=as2&tag=stupisms-20

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Here

It is lightweight, extremely easy to install, has a lot of bells and whistles, and performs as advertised. My only problem, and it is my problem, is connecting it directly to my sound bar, which only supports 'optical' audio. It has built-in connection to Amazon and Netflix, all you need to do is log into these apps from a device with internet access and enter the code which is supplied by the player during installation. Blu-Ray discs work great, and I can control the TV functions I want from the BDP-S5100 remote. If I would want anything additional from this player it would be an 'optical' output port, but that is my issue. Highly recommend and it is hard to find a better product at the Amazon price.

Want Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Discount?

Pros: Great Picture quality output

Cons: Remote should be backlit

Great Picture quality output, excellent wifi connection speed, simple intuitive user interface and fast disk insert to play time. The remote should have been backlit and not ideal for web browsing. I'm trying to figure out the TV sideview app..can't seem to locate the player.

Save 1% off

I bought this player to replace a S580 BD player that was garbage (unreliable streaming for Netflix, Amazon, etc.). Well, this is probably being returned. There is no support for the media remote! The support site tells one how to do it and the description says you can control this from a phone, but it's not true. Here's what Sony said when I asked on chat with support:

My own fault for not checking this very carefully and assuming that newer players would not remove features that previous versions had. I will probably return this and buy Panasonic which does support using a phone to control the UI which I find much more convenient than the supplied remotes (especially for text entry).

Note to Sony: Your support website clearly told me how to set up my phone when I entered this player's model number. So your website is wrong, too. Your support has gone way down hill over the years and I'm done with you. trying someone else, now.

EDIT: Unlike Sony support, folks here told me about SideView which is the new app for controlling the latest Sony equipment. It works, but no text input for searching wiht Netflix, for example. The player is fine (which ones aren't these days, however). The real selling point was being able to do what I've always done: searching with my phone's keyboard. That feature is gone so this device is OK. Makes it hard to search for content on the device, but I often use my PC for that, then add items to my pick lists so this might be OK. I'm looking at other vendors, now, however. Could be someone else does this right and then goodby Sony. Sony has gone backwards with this "update" and it seems silly.

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