Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi

Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi
  • Built-in Wi-Fi with superior wireless range and strength
  • 100+ streaming apps: Netflix, HuluPlus, Amazon Instant Video, Pandora & more
  • Throw content to your TV from your tablet with TV SideView
  • Full HD 1080p Blu-ray Disc playback & DVD upscaling
  • I/P noise reduction helps eliminate excess noise for a better viewing experience

Bought this player 10 days ago. Had the other top brand along with a not so old Sony bdp-s390. The Wi-Fi range is 10x better! Where I used to have buffering before..... NO MORE! (same cable provider and same exact place I had the other players) If you are having trouble only when straming, it is your network (cable provider) and not the player. The picture with streaming and dvd is even better then my PS3. As hard as I am to be happy with a product, I am blown away! This is my first written review ever. I had to let buyers know this is finally the way a blu-ray player supposed to work....PERIOD!

Buy Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Now

I purchased this Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-Ray Player to replace an LG BD390 player that had stopped reading discs. I selected the BDP-S3100 over the lower cost Sony BDP-S1100 for the DLNA support for media streaming over a home network and the built-in WiFi. And since I'm not interested in replacing my current television with a 3D capable display right now, I skipped the higher end BDP-S5500 player.

I enrolled in Amazon Prime with this purchase to gain access to Amazon Prime videos. The standard two-day shipping is also very nice. The Prime two-day shipping worked as advertised. I ordered the player on a Sunday and it was sitting on my doorstep on Tuesday.

Set-up was quick and painless. I plugged in the HDMI, coaxial audio (I predict a new receiver in my future), and power cables. After connecting to my home network, the player downloaded the latest patch and I was ready to go… to set up an account with Sony to enable the Amazon Prime, Pandora, Facebook, etc. access. Having a notebook computer right there was extremely helpful for entering the various access codes displayed on the television. Setting up the remote to control my television (primarily to turn it on and off) was simple.

I am pretty satisfied with this new player. Discs load noticeably faster than they did with my old LG player (which is to be expected with five years for player improvements). I'm enjoying the Amazon Prime videos and the access to the videos, photos, and music on my home network.

The only thing keeping this from being a five-star review is a persistent issue with the audio intermittently dropping out. I've consistently experienced this problem with DVDs, Blu-Ray discs, and streaming videos. Every 15 to 20 minutes, the audio stops and there's two to three seconds of silence. I'm hoping it will be fixed soon in a patch. But I'm monitoring some AV forums to see if other people experience this same issue to determine if I actually have a defective player.

Read Best Reviews of Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Here

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

Want Sony BDP-S3100 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi Discount?

This player is actually pretty great. When you set it for fast start up, they're not kidding. It loads a BD faster than most DVD players, and regular DVDs are near instant. Setting it up wasn't that big a deal since I'm used to the PS3 (same UI). I have it connected to a 30" TV so I won't comment on picture or sound. The device remote is small with unconfusing buttons (except I don't think anyone knows what the colored buttons are for). But despite the cons listed below, which are mostly one time issues, this device is a very reasonably priced player. My biggest criterion was load speed and it delivers exceedingly well. Load speeds of the video streaming apps (Hulu and Amazon so far) are as fast as the PS3 if that means anything to anyone.

I should also note, the ONLY outputs for this device are HDMI and digital coaxial (orange plug). I bought this for my master bedroom, so it gets limited use.

Cons:

1. As soon as I got it connected to my WAN (not difficult) it prompted me for a firmware update, which took about 20 min. I understand these appliances can be better serviced now with these updates, but it's just not what you want to be doing before you watch a movie. (RE: same problem with most video games these days)

2. In order to use ANY of the streaming apps (Hulu, Amazon, Netflix) I had to separately go online to Sony and create some BS account to register my device. I guess my PSN account serves an identical purpose on that device, but I'm not at all excited that Sony is likely tracking what I stream. Not to mention their habbit of intervening on folks' viewing habbits with DRM.

3. The remote only has "universal" codes for like 12 brands of TVs, and mine (Sanyo) is not on the list. There is little more annoying that having to keep a remote out for merely turning on the TV. I'll admit I'm spoiled with the blutooth media remote for the PS3, but I won't miss replacing the batteries every 3 months.

4. Unike the PS3 UI, they include ALL their streaming services in the menue (vs. adding the one's you use manually) and you can't remove them, so you may have to scroll around the menu more than you'd like.

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Replaces dedicated and almost brand new wifi Roku player because I can now watch my Blu-ray discs and Netflix, Amazon, etc on one device (love simplicity). Easy setup, but menu could use some layout improvement (kind of a quirky design). Wasn't able to get the Media Remote app on my iPhone to work which means I leave the door open to the cabinet for the Sony IR remote to see the unit. The small size is perfect for the bedroom and stuffed into a narrow shelf in a small armoire. Picture and sound so far are on par with older LG player in the other room. Love the price.

March-16. Wasn't able to get the Sony app on my iPhone to work and I had to juggle some files and folders around on our NAS so I could stream all my stored video. I think the menu layout could be better too. Still a great machine and I would recommend (especially for a small space or shelf).

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