Sony BDPS790 4K Upscaling 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Disc Player

I received my player a short time ago, and so far I'm very pleased with the device. Setup wasn't totally painless, however. I currently own four optical-disk-playing devices (not counting computer drives). I have a five-disk Sony DVD carousel, a Samsung BD player(with wireless but with minimal features, mainly Pandora, Netflix, Blockbuster, and some news headlines), a slightly older Sony BD player(BDP-570) which has, up until now, been the main unit in my entertainment center, and now this. I'm reasonably pleased that the user interface is essentially unaltered from my earlier Sony BD device. The interface is still very easy to use, and very intuitive. It DOES, however, have the annoyance of lacking some configurability (I'd sure like to be able to remove the "Michael Jackson channel" from my list of video channels, for example, as I'll never... EVER... watch that.) It does have a few new features accessed from that media-resources screen... the Opera web browser, a pretty decent Skype client, and a few other items. But if you've owned a Sony BD device before, the UI will be totally familiar to you, as will most of the main configuration options. The remote control is also very similar to the older Sony remote, except that some of the special functions are now in a secondary, concentric ring around the nav-select pad... which is actually a BAD thing as far as I'm concerned, as I have found myself frequently accidentally hitting the outside ring when I'm trying to hit the inside ring, or vice-versa. Fortunately for me, I seldom use the provided remote, instead using my Logitech Harmony programmable remote... so this is not really an issue. But if you plan to use this remote as your primary control, I suspect you'll experience the same thing from time to time. Sony could have done better in this regard. Picture quality is gorgeous, of course, as played on my 240hz Samsung 3D LEDTV. I wasn't sure that there would be any visible difference, but the image quality is notable improved, especially on upscaled DVD images. It seems that the two fast processor cores in the machine are getting a pretty robust workout... they're not being wasted! 3D is impressive, too... though I suspect this is more related to the TV than the player. (Samsung's 3D TVs are the best on the market IMHO, right now, though Sony's BD players are the best, I think!) That said, the machine never so much as "hesitates a frame" in even the most action-packed 3D scenes... which is something you'll occasionally note on lower-end 3D units, as the data streaming through them can briefly get backed up in fast, moving scenes, being rendered twice-over for each frame (once per eye, in other words). I do not have access to a 4K display, so I have no idea if that's good or not. I suspect that 4K will tax the resources of this machine... then again, so few people have 4K displays right now, it's not worth quibbling about. Now... if you buy one of the first units (ie, the current batch, I think!), you'll likely have a few issues when you first obtain it. The machine is designed to be network-connected, and wants to be connected. But, at least in my case, and in the case of many others, the network functionality seems somewhat hobbled under the "release firmware." You need to update the machine's firmware... after which, my machine has worked perfectly. But the device, by default, will try to "web update" itself anytime connected. Which means that you need to manually update the device, using either downloaded media (from the vendor's website), media obtained from the vendor (for a fee), or at the very least, a hard-wired network connection, in order to do your first update. Prior to the first update, I had significant difficulties maintaining a connection... which could lead to an improper update, and a "bricked" device. Lots of other folks had the same problem. Post-update, my device works perfectly. Also pre-update, I couldn't manually enter my wireless networking info (the UI was there, but it didn't allow me to finish my setup). Post-update, that's no longer an issue. The receiver in this device isn't tremendously powerful, and a better antenna/receiver set would be a major boon. It's basically on-par with devices built into laptops and so forth, and (post-update) works about the same as any of those. But it would be well-served by having some improved reception, since it's going to be tasked with streaming a lot of data. The reception is better than you'll get with a Roku or the like, but not as good as it ought to be for the price, and if you're not near your router, you may have some connectivity issues from time to time. It does seem to be on-par with my prior Sony device, or the built-in wireless in any of my TVs. That's about all I can say about it right now. It's a terrific device, plays back flawlessly for any media I have access to, and just generally is the best device of its type out there right now, as far as I'm concerned. Just be careful about updating the device when you first receive it. I recommend downloading the update files and installing them without the network at all (see Sony's support site). After doing this, my network has worked flawlessly so far, and the device is separated from my router by a floor and four walls, and about fifty feet... and we have power lines nearby. I'm very satisfied with the device so far. If that ever changes, I'll be sure to update this review, though. ************* Edit: Well, I've had this for a while now and have fully put it through its paces. There's one thing I thought I ought to mention. This has the best DLNA interface I've yet to see on a consumer device. It's easy to use, functions well... but there's a problem. It only recognizes a tiny subset of my media, including very, very few of my video files... very few. And while it will recognize any MP3 file, most of my media is in WMA format, which the player won't recognize, either. So, the DLNA functionality is pretty hobbled, as far as I'm concerned. I'd love to hear the experiences of others in this regard. No support for windows media audio and video? No support for MKV containers? These are things that really should be present in ANY contemporary media-streaming solution. Hopefully Sony can implement something (it's not a hardware issue so it MUST be a legal-rights issue!) to manage file types better in the future. Right now, the only device I have which can make full use of my media server, with the exception of actual PCs, is my little Archos portable media player. I sure wish my Sony BD player had support for as many file times as my Archos does... ************* Another edit: I've now had two more firmware updates since posting the above. And yesterday, I decided to play around with the network DLNA mode again. I don't know which firmware fixed this, but as of yesterday, I can now play WMA audio files with no problems. I still can't see any of my WMV, DIVX, MOV, or other video files. The only things I CAN see, really, are the transport stream files taken directly from DVD rips, and I only have a handful of those, created off of disks I own, so that I could put those files onto my portable player (Archos 5IT, 500GB). So... it does seem that Sony is "fixing" the DLNA issues, but a step at a time. I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of my stuff... video files, etc... someday soon.

I use the player mostly for streaming movies from Netflix and Amazon using the built-in WiFi, and also a little for DVDs and Blu Rays. It works well for all four of those purposes. I'm happy with the usability and speed of response to commands from the remote. It seems to stream a little more reliably than the old PlayStation 3 (may she rest in peace) which sometimes had a little trouble with the variability of my internet connection speed. Before ordering this BDP-S790, I had ordered the Panasonic DMP-BBT01. I found the Panasonic unacceptable and returned it to Amazon (see my review on that product). The Sony BDP-S790 is a far better product from a user interface perspective, and seems much more reliable at streaming, too. One problem I encountered was some initial difficulty with the network connectivity of the BDP-S790. It reported success at WiFi connection but failure regarding internet connection. That report turned out to be not quite true -- I did have internet connectivity and could stream, etc., even though it reported failure, but it was flaky and would drop off the network in the middle of streaming. I also could not perform software updates over the network, and the error message had to do with failure to contact the DHCP server (in my Cisco Linksys E4200). So I quit using DHCP, assigned a static IP address to the device, and haven't had a bit of trouble since. (By the way, I've not had any other WiFi device in my household, out of a dozen or more, that failed on DHCP with my router.) Anyway, it now reports success on internet connectivity, and I can stream uninterrupted movies, and I can perform firmware updates over the network. It was a relief to have solved that problem so I could keep this player, and not have to return it and make a third attempt at selecting a decent player.

I bought this at roughly the same time as the Samsung equivalent, the BD-F7500 4K Upscaling 3D Wi-Fi Blu-ray Disc Player . The day after, a firmware update was installed and it has been reliable ever since. As the price of that Samsung has been volatile, but is currently selling at close to M.S.R.P , I assume the Gremlins met an appropriate fate. I retract the unreliable portion, but have not figured out how to bypass Amazon's carved in stone review rule. I hope this Sony Player will be supported by firmware installations for years to come. It supports Super Audio CDs as well as all functional Blu Ray and regular DVDs. It has a good buffer and can ride most waves in your high speed Broad Band ISP. I have seen it say that it is receiving HD Streams as high as 48 MB/S and as low as 0.3 MB/S. The ISP never lowers the price even to reflect their service. However if the low bit rate last more than a minute in HD, this Sony bookmarks where you are and politely brings up the Menu at Play a DVD! Nice touch considering it is an Excellent Blu Ray player. If there was one item to be added, it would be voice control. In general, Remote Controls for DVDs has shrunk in Size in direct proportion to their start up times. I tend to watch movies in low light, and even though Sony makes excellent L.E.D.s they are not to be found on this remote. I guess I could download an App, but speech is more civilized in First Class.

I would have rated this player 4 stars if it hadn't failed after 3 weeks. Picture and sound very good but not as good as my OPPO bdp-93. I have contacted Sony and am waiting for an answer as to why I can't stream Netflix and others. Customer Service was very competent and courteous. Now we'll see how it goes in getting the unit replaced. Things are not going well 5 days later. After spending approx. 90 minutes speaking to various offshore Sony agents, they admitted that there was a problem with all of these units and it would probably do no good to replace it. They told me to contact Amazon, which I did. Amazon had my refund ok'd and return label sent in less than 5 min. Thank you Amazon!!! I'll think twice before I order more Sony products. At least they admitted it was their problem.

What is it with these lame manufacturers these days? My router supports the AC band which is non-existent yet in today's devices. On top of that, you have manufacturers such as Sony who doe not even provide support for the 5GHZ band in their top of the line Blu-ray player in 2013?!?! What are they thinking?!?! This is like a 1990s player. This player is supposed to stream yet they cripple it with only the 2.4GHZ Wi-Fi band which is highly susceptible to Bluetooth, wireless phone and neighborhood interference due to the densely used 2.4GHZ band. That is one good thing I can say about the high end Samsung; at least they were intelligent enough to provide both bands in their player. It suffers from a multitude of its own issues though. Namely, a lame remote and remote app, and an extremely minimalistic approach to the player's settings. Additionally, the Samsung BD-F7500 will not play any Blu-Ray discs except for the originals and that is even with BD Live turned off and purged of data. I make iso copies for the grand-kids so the originals do not get damaged. This Sony plays them just fine but the Samsung freezes throughout and will not output audio. 2 Nov 13 Update: Sony obviously does not have a flipping clue what they are doing. Every time they send out an update my player goes haywire. Currently, it is making me login to Netflix over and over again. Their remote phone app is incompatible with being able to enter your logins and passwords so it is also useless. Also, the player regularly freezes and locks up. I have a 30mbps broadband service with absolute top of the line modem, router. The player constantly buffers. Steer clear of Sony. They are releasing junk and are not supporting it. I just tried to get tech support through my Sony Essentials access and after thoroughly describing all of the player's shortcomings I got a message saying that they were sorry but they were not accepting technical assistance messages at this time. It was a complete and utter waste of my time. Sony sucks, period. They took $250 for this piece of junk and now I am basically stuck with a paper weight since it is useless for anything else. Update 14 Dec 13: Player completely failed after a firmware update at only two months old. The player completely locked up and continuously blinked OFF on the display. It took 2 weeks and multiple calls to get Sony to send me the return shipping documents; then, took over about 5 weeks to get my replacement. I had to buy a Roku in the meantime just to watch TV. Sony is a joke. It's obvious after multiple conversations with their numerous tiers of customer service/tech support that they do not have a clue what they are doing. My advice, stay away from their goods unless you enjoy misery. Update 22 Mar 14: Although I have been afraid to update the firmware of the replacement unit, I can say that it has performed admirably. It has played nearly everything I have thrown at it, and Sony Homestream is a jewel of a home media server. Also, I absolutely love the remote control compared to the Samsung or Roku. Also, I might add that my Roku will not connect to a media server which is very lame for a $100+ device. Update 8 Apr 14: I have now found out that this player will not play .MKV files even though that manual says that it will. Also, the Sony Homestream server is useless since it constantly stutters (I only use extremely high end router, modem, etc.), and it intermittently does not update new folders/files. Additionally, it will not play most of my files on my new Western Digital Cloud media server or any other server for that matter. The best I have found is Mezzmo but it still cannot correct any of Sony's shortcomings. All of my other devices stream all of my media from all of my servers to include my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 cell phone. Maybe Sony needs to take some lessons from Samsung. Stay away from this player. It pretty much does nothing the specs say that it does. Oh, and it will not play any copied discs either. A cinavia banner appears on the screen which disables the audio during the movie. Goodbye Sony. This player will more than likely be in the trash soon, and it will be my LAST! Sony product. I stopped purchasing Sony products years ago for these very same reasons. I should have known better.

I wanted to get a blueray player for my 52 inch Samsung TV in our family room. But I also wanted to make that spot into an entertainment center. You know, movies, music, stream movies from Amazon, etc. This thing really got me connected! It plays bluerays and DVD's very well. I use the ethernet hard wire connection to link into my router , I did not want to use wireless for movie streaming. NOw we can enjoy music streaming from Pandora, movies from Hulu and Amazon. mY son gets a kick out of playing stuff from uTube. I linked my computers on my home network and we can play home movies and MP3 music that is saved on those computers. THis thing is great! FYI, the spot in my family room where my TV sits is in a very tough spot to run cables to. And that room would be terrible to try and get a 5.1 or 7.1 theater sound system in with all the speakes and what not. I found two other items that are really helping to me to make that room into an entertainment center. 1) I used the Netgear Powerline Nano500 to get iternet connection hard wire to the Blueray player. This lets you make a hard wire interet connection through the power outlets in your house. It is working really well. Fast enough to allow high definition movies to stream over th einternet. 2) Today I pick up and will try a ZVOX 555 sound bar (pedastal). It is a 3 inch high by 24 x14 inch sound system the TV sits on top of. I think it should provide sound that is light years better than the TV speakers. Will not be as good as surround sound, but is supposed to be very good. The Sony blueray player and these other products are allowing me to put a high quality entertainment center into a very small and tight space that is very difficult to run wiring to due to the configuration of the room. This set up is small, simple, easy to use and is working great so far! Will see how the speakers work out.

Ok. I rated this item 3 stars which is comprised of 5 stars for picture/audio performance (and other things, more in a bit) but 1 star for extremely flakey and down-right dangerous firmware (more on that in a bit). For for what gets 5 or 4-5 star ratings: The 'good' The image and picture quality of this Sony is the best to-date and rivals the best of blu-ray players at nearly any price. The available adjustments make for great enhancements and tweaks for any kind of display (plasma, lcd, led, projector (dlp or lcd or ...). The streaming options are fantastic with Amazon Video, Netflix, YouTube, and a host of other streaming services (including music/radio streaming services). The Sony Entertainment Network is also available and that adds a host of additional options for viewing/listening (however, I'm not a fan so I've not explored it too much). Netflix on this unit (at least after performing latest firmware upgrade ... more on that in the 'ugly' section of this review) give you truer HD performance with 1080p streaming and DD+ 5.1 surround capabilities. Watching Killer Elite on video was actually fantastic. For what gets a 1 or 2 star rating: The 'bad' I've updated to the latest firmware and when I put in a disc and then turn on my whole entertainment setup, the blu-ray players either turns off (which is ok) or worse freezes at the menu for some reason. When it appears to not freeze and simply hit play to start the blu-ray disc, the machine freezes and will not shut off and the soft-buttons keep flashing ... I have to unplug it to reset the unit. I may have a bad unit and I will probably replace it, but this should never happen. I've had so many dvd and blu-ray players and this is the worst behaving one I've ever had. I've had the unit less than 24 hours and had to unplug it 3 times .... ouch. As bad as this is, the worst is yet to come. The 'ugly' When attempting to setup the networking setting out of the box ... the unit would not connect when everthing else in my house was connecting fine. The wired connection would not work. So I tried wireless ... this is where the extreme ugly comes in to play. I used the automatic WPS networking setting where you go and push a button on your router and it auto-negotiates with the device and setup the blu-ray player's network settings. Well, instead of setting the player, the player when working with my router UNBELIEVABLY changed my routers SSID to gibberish and also change my passphrase to gibberish ... and then nothing in my house, including the Sony blu-ray player would connect to my home network ... UGGH.... so not being a techno-phobe noobie, I logged into my router withl admin rights and changed my SSID and settings back, but my router decided that I could not apparently just change it all back and all would be good ... Nooo ... I had to re-choose and rekey in the passphrase on every wireless device in our house .... which we have a ton, a few in nearly every room .... arghhh.... way to go Sony. Not only is this bad, it is ugly and down right dangerours .... Now I decided with such craziness going on that I had to update the firmware and perhaps that would take care of the wireless issue ... but because I could not get it to connect to my network nor trusted the darn thing to not screw up my network, I downloaded the firmware (396 or something...) and burned the files to CDR and then updated the players, which went ok. However, the player after ejecting the disc and my turning it back on, it strangely rebooted itself at least 20 times which made me think that I had a complete lemon on my hands. Eventually it stopped after about 15 minutes and now work fine except for the behavior in the 'bad' part of this review. I'd say to wait and see if Sony works out the firmware issues or quality issues or whatever the issue is with this player. I'm going to see about replacing the player as it is flakey. However, the audio/video and streaming options are outstanding.

I use the BDP-S790 with an XBR6 TV connected via HDMI through a Sony STR-DA5300ES AV Receiver. So, I cannot comment on 3D performance. This is a great piece of hardware that loads Blu-ray disks very fast and plays them well. It also does a very good job streaming video from my home network and reads and scrolls through folder and file lists quickly. It plays a good variety of media file types. Despite this hardware performance this product is missing a few media player features that it really should have such as the ability to read playlists and to define a queue of files (a temporary playlist) for later playing. In other words this product does not organize the media, it just plays them. I'm guessing this is a reflection of Sony design goals. I ran into a few glitches that may be corrected by future firmware updates. Some of my Blu-ray disks (Band of Brothers box set) would not play and would cause the product to power off or go into an infinite loop. The work-around was to set the Gracenote media identification to "manual". Also, my .mp4 files created by my Sanyo Xacti HD camcorder would play from my Western Digital My Book World Edition NAS, but not from my Western Digital My Book Live NAS. The former uses a Twonky media server, while the latter's media server was not branded but could be Western Digital software. I'm not sure what the cause for this is, but my Western Digital WD TV Live Streaming Media Player - WDBHG70000NBK-HESN plays these files successfully from both NAS sources. The BDP-S790 successfully streams .mp4 and .m2ts AVCHD files created by Nero Vision from both NAS sources. Photos are displayed at full resolution on my HDTV. This is now my preferred device for viewing my photo collection. I am very pleased with the variety and ease of use of internet services. In conclusion, this product is an excellent piece of hardware and does a great job playing Blu-ray disks and delivering internet content. It is very good a streaming media from the home network. It lacks media organizer features that are common to many media players. Overall I'm very happy with my purchase.