Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi (2013 Model)

Everything worked perfectly out of the box. Netflix / Amazon Prime /Pandora etc etc all worked fine with the codes the player provides during setup or when using the first time. Absolutely no problems. Old DVD up-conversion looks sweet. Hookup was a snap (does NOT come with any HDMI or any other cables in the box), and I had some minor kludging to do, as some of my other equipment has been around for quite a while - but everything went smoothly. My old receiver has, along with 3 Toslinks, a default "coaxial" digital audio input for DVD players, and since the hi-quality :D gold shielded "digital audio" cable I foolishly ordered from Monoprice hadn't arrived yet, I just grabbed a cheap video composite rca cable I had laying around and used that. I'm used to good quality (for digital) 5:1 optical audio, and for the life of me I can't tell any difference (no crosstalk, buzz, interference or drops) using this cheap workaround rca cable (a short 6' run) - so I'll swap out when my "good" one gets here, - but just so you know, a cheap yellow video composite, or ANY cheap rca audio cable will likely work in a pinch (for short runs). If you don't have a "coaxial" digital rca input on your receiver, just get something like this: C2G / Cables to Go 40018 Coaxial to Optical Digital Audio Converter The picture quality right out of the box was impressive - if necessary I can even convert the HDMI output to DVI (via converter cable) to accommodate an older DLP Samsung tv, and though when I do this it degrades down to 1280×720 it still looks great. I've seen no glitches, drop-outs etc so far, even when I hook it up to the older equipment. The icing on the cake was the network performance. I have a Netgear 802.11.N wireless router with wired gigabit ports, but even though the Sony player only has a 100baseT ethernet input (I did go wired RJ45, haven't tried wireless yet) the network speed is more than adequate - I have little to no download wait time for Netflix, Amazon Prime HD movies with 5:1 sound - and when I can dig up a good quality movie from one of those sites (full 5:1 / HD) everything looks and sounds great, with fast rewind / fast fwd / repeat over the network (Comcast "blast" testing at 50Mb+ down-speed) Lastly, what also impressed me was how painless it was to access all my multi-media from my PC with DLNA. My laptop saw the Sony player immediately on the network and vice versa - and with a few "share / permissions" tweaks on my laptop for security all my music, vids and pictures were immediately available on my tv. The only things the S5100 doesn't do that higher-end players do are 4K upscaling and "Skype on your TV" - but until prices for 4K come down a lot, I have no desire to shell out $$s for a 4K tv, and I Skype from my laptop. The included Opera browser imo is for me a waste of time - I use my laptop's browser. For $130 bucks, this thing exceeded my expectations in performance and literally painless setup. Easily worth the dough. As I try newer more tricky stuff in the future I may add some detail to this review, but honestly, after just a couple days and just the few things that I've done so far, I I have to give the BDP-S5100 my total recommendation for anyone looking for an affordable mid-range solution to media players.

I bought this blu ray player for one reason: to watch blu rays and dvd. All of the wifi stuff was really not important to me since my (Vizio) TV already has wifi. But this seemed like the best buy to me and I figured I could compare wifi systems. For the price that I paid ($77, I think), it seemed like a bargain. Of course, I had recently tossed a three-month-old Sony dvd player (a really cheap model) in the garbage, so I was wary of buying anything from Sony, but Amazon is great when it comes to returns, so why not. And the funny thing is, I almost returned this player the day I set it up! It stopped playing in the middle of a disc (and it was a funny movie, was killing me not to be able to finish watching it) and I simply could not get it to play. It was an older disc and I thought perhaps it needed cleaning, so I took it out and wiped it off gently: still wouldn't play. Finally, the next morning in desperation, I put in another dvd and it worked fine. Hmmm. So I got an idea and put the failing dvd in the sink and rinsed it in cold water--and it worked! The player has worked fine since then so I'm sure it was that disc (what are the odds that the first disc I would play on the machine would be flawed? Just my luck, no kidding). I'm very impressed with the play quality of the machine and, in particular, with the upscaling quality of dvds. Wow, unless you've seen a good blu ray player upscaling a normal dvd, you can't imagine the quality improvement. I watched Eddy Murphy's fine movie "Coming to America" on dvd and I couldn't believe my eyes: that film is spectacular when seen through this player (and it is a dvd I bought years ago, so was not enhanced). The wifi was EXTREMELY simple to set up (if I can do it, anyone can do it), but I haven't used it much. As a test I called up Youtube and while I got the site to work, the lag time of uploading videos was torture. I'll try my Amazon prime with it soon and update this review. But as a dvd/blu ray player this gets high marks. The set up was utterly simple and logical (someone really thought out this set up) and I actually learned a few things along the way. My Vizio TV has 3 HDMI ports, so I just plugged it in and had the player running in a few minutes. I hope this lasts a while--it would be nice to regain my confidence in Sony because I like the design and engineering of most of their stuff. The player is small and the remote is easy to use (to turn on subtitles, for example, it's just a quick press of a single button). I was late to flat TVs, HDMI, blu ray, etc, but I have to say, I'm a total movie junkie and this system has done nothing but feed my addiction. :)

I was upgrading a Panasonic blu-ray player (DMP-BDT300). I searched for quite a while for a good model at a good price. I could care less about 3D blu-ray, since I don't have a 3D set (wish this 3D fad would end…just leave it in the theaters). I decided on this Sony blu-ray due to its fast loading (most important to me), network stability, interface, and streaming apps). We have Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, videos on VUDU (after redeeming them from digital copies like UltraViolet), etc. I connected the blu-ray player to an Ethernet cable instead of WIFI (I do have WIFI, but I'm trying out a ZyXEL Powerline AV 500 Mbps 4 Port Gigabit Switch Wall-plug Adapter that uses your home wiring for Internet networking. So far, it works like a charm and is super easy to set-up (plug and play). The Sony connected to the network with no problems and I consistently get the maximum connection speeds possible. My Panasonic struggled with Internet connectivity at times (WIFI and wired), but this Sony has been rock solid. The Sony immediately prompted me to do a software update, and it worked super easy. The interface is just like the Playstation 3 … with things that scroll left to right, and options that scroll up and down. It works well but is not typical of most blu-ray player interfaces. There are a TON of streaming options on this player, compared to the Panasonic…and the apps are more refined than the Panasonic. The one feature the Panasonic had that I wish the Sony had was the "wave" feature on the top. Just wave your hand over the top of the Panasonic and it powers on and/or ejects the disc. Sony's buttons are black on black, and I can't see them in my entertainment furniture. I'm trying to memorize what each of the 4 buttons do because I can't see them without a flashlight! They don't light up. Sure, you can press the remote, but sometimes I'm right there at the player, so I wish it was easier to see the buttons. The player is not flat on top. It sort of has this prism-like design/coloration, and if I wanted, I'd put it on top of my entertainment unit since it is attractive to look at. However, I really prefer my components in the shelving area below the TV, and this device would have to sit on top of other equipment or on its own shelf…but nothing on top of it (which is not likely…this player is really tiny!). The Sony blu-ray remote is a disappointment. The buttons feel like they're going to stick (they haven't so far) and is really cheaply made, compared to the quality Panasonic blu-ray remote. Luckily, my Sony receiver can control the blu-ray player, so I'm going to use that. So how does it play? Discs load incredibly fast. The Great Gatsby blu-ray, famous for huge delays in loading on some players (Panasonic took 3 minutes to load it) took 10 seconds on the Sony. My Great Gatsby blu-ray wasn't quite flat, and it vibrated a bit in the player, but a player at this price-point isn't going to have features to reduce vibration, sorry to say. Video and audio quality was stunning as you would expect from blu-ray…going into my STR-DN840 receiver via HDMI. I tried streaming with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, and those apps were so much better than Panasonic apps (which rarely get updated). Connecting with my Netflix/Amazon accounts was easy (well, as easy as it can be with typing in letters with a remote…and a fairly mediocre remote at that) and playback was excellent. Of course, Internet connectivity is critical for any of this stuff to work, so your mileage may vary. But with all the devices in my house that use the Internet (iPads, iPhones, computers, blu-ray players, smart TVs, etc., the streaming from these services always played the top level video (I have 10mb/s high speed DSL). I downloaded the companion app for the iPhone and attempted to get it to work with the Sony. It did recognize the player on the network, but never let me control it (would have been nice, especially when typing in movies I was searching for on Amazon/Netflix). So I guess that app is a work in progress. Playing the music apps was just as nice. I tried Pandora and it connected to my account with no problem. It played music without hiccups and the interface was easy on the eyes. There were tons more apps there and I will experiment with them over time. One that looked really cool was the Berlin Philharmonic app, which lets you watch recorded and LIVE performances of this famous orchestra. I listened/watched some of the samples and it was excellent. Overall, I highly recommend this low-cost, but top performing player. I've been through my share of these things, and this one is the most promising one I've ever owned. Pros: fast loading time, even with problematic discs easy PS3-like interface easy network setup (especially with Powerline Ethernet); network stays reliably connected blu-ray and video/music apps play flawlessly. Cons: mediocre quality remote (spongey buttons, feel like they'll stick) mobile Sony app didn't work player does not have a flat top (don't stack anything on top)

I bought this to replace my Panny 210 and so far, it works well, with just a couple of complaints. Compared to the Panny 210, the unit is quieter and much quicker to load and play a BD. The UI is typical Sony and I like it, a lot. The wireless was easy to set up, and the firmware update was finished quickly.......... Make sure you turn the "BD Audio Mix" setting to OFF if you are connecting the player to an AV receiver that can decode DTS Master and Dolby HD signals, otherwise you won't get the best that Blu-ray has to offer. Now, as for the issues. The Pandora app takes much longer than I expected between songs. On my Sammy 6420 TV, it is no more than 5 seconds between songs and on my Onkyo 709 it is no more then 3 seconds, but on the S5100 it takes at least 15 seconds or more between songs........Pretty annoying. However, the YouTube and Amazon Prime apps both work great with no stuttering or buffering and I'm only on a 2.5mbps connection. The main issue: Today when I went to play Pandora it got stuck on the "Acquiring internet content 3/3" screen and would not load any smart apps. I turned it off/on and nothing, then I unplugged it for 5 minutes and plugged it back in, nothing, I rebooted my DSL ( even though the S5100 said that my connection was OK ), and still no joy. I read online that with some of its other players, Sony recommends to do a system reset to fix this, but I also read from users that a reset didn't do a thing, and they had to spend 20 minutes resetting up their player, so I didn't do it. I then got stubborn and tried to load Pandora again and let the machine idle on the "acquiring internet content" screen for 20+ minutes and it magically fixed itself. This would be a huge deal breaker if it becomes a trend. I will update with the results and adjust my rating when I get more time on the unit. If it happens again, it will be going back immediately, but if it was a one time fluke, then I will be more than happy to keep it. Hopefully Sony gets enough complaints regarding the Pandora app and sends out a firmware update to fix it. If that happens, and today's app issue never happens again, then this would be the perfect 5 star player......Time will tell. UPDATE 5/7/13: I read over on AVS Forum that it was recommended to disable the "Software Update Notification" setting (set to ON by default) to prevent the "acquiring internet content" freeze that I experienced. I did so the day I wrote this review and I have not had another issue since. The downside is I have to manually check for updates my self, but I personally prefer that as it's no different on how I handle Microsoft Updates for my computers. One check per month should be more than enough, but since it's so easy, you can do it at the end of every session as it takes under 15 seconds to complete. I could no longer take the Pandora & Slacker delays between songs, so I ditched them, and now just use my Samsung's Pandora app instead. If you have other smart machines in your home theater, then they probably have Pandora & Slacker on at least one of them, but if you're going to have to rely on the 5100's Pandora & Slacker apps, then be prepared to be frustrated. I raise my rating to 4 stars because of the simple fix for my main issue, and it only falls short of 5 stars because of the lazy apps. If Sony fixes them, then it's a 5 star machine......Overall, a very good player that (knock on wood) will live happily in my system for years to come. UPDATE 6/4/13 Today's firmware update completely fixed the Pandora app. Now there is only a 4 second delay between songs. I raised my rating to 5 stars. UPDATE 6/28/13 It's been 3 weeks since the firmware update that fixed Pandora and I'm happy to report that this is the only Pandora app that I use now. 3-5 seconds in between songs is awesome. Also, I re-enabled the "Software Update Notification" and I have not had the issue I mentioned above regarding the unit freezing on the "Acquiring internet content 3/3" screen, and I use it daily.............Typical Sony, find a problem, fix it........... I can't recommend this unit enough. UPDATE 9/1/13 We have been using the Amazon Instant app more than we ever have, and I am happy to report no issues. We are now on U-verse 6Mbps and that speed is fast enough to receive DD 5.1 when it's offered, also no stutters or freezes either and the video is above average for a streaming HD feed. The firmware updates have lessened as of late so it looks like Sony is happy with its current performance..........I know I am. UPDATE 5/20/14 It's been 13 months with many, many hours of use both as a Blu-ray player, as well as a streaming media player and I am happy to report there have been no major issues. Sure, there has been the occasional issue once or twice that turning it off/on resolves, but knock on wood, I have not had to do any type of soft/hard reset like unplugging or hitting the reset button in the settings. I would say that it gets used for 70% BD movies and 30% streaming as I now have a Roku3 that I rely on for streaming duties. I see no reason to pay more for the 2014 Sony when this model can be found for so much cheaper............... 5 stars easy.

This is the fourth and final Blu Ray I ordered. The Panasonic had a defect, twice, so I gave up. The Samsung had touchpad control, which meant I couldn't use it with my universal remote (you need KEYS for that, not a touchpad remote control). My LG was a piece of garbage, like ALL of my LG products have been (won't order their stuff again). Then, at $200 less than the others, I figured, "What they heck, Sony makes good stuff". Boy, do they ever. At under $100, I am in awe. The set up was super easy. Just plug it in, and use the HOME button to get to the settings. Go to NETWORK UPDATE, and follow the instructions. It will ask you for the network you want to latch on to, then the password/phrase, and that's it, you're on your wifi network. Now, that MAY sound like no big deal. But believe me, getting home electronics to latch onto your wifi network is possibly them most DIFFICULT task any home theater owner faces. But it literally took me under two minutes start to finish. And it has not dropped the wifi once since purchase. It latches and stays there. Last night, I watched a streaming video from Amazon (kind of expensive) by going to NETWORK, scrolling to Amazon, then choosing them movie I wanted. It asked me for my five digit passcode which I had entered when I registered with Amazon Streaming video my first go around when setting up the DVD. Amazingly, I can stream movies through my Blu Ray player, not my $4000 TV or $1000 tuner. My el-cheapo Blu Ray does the heavy lifting. No more plugging my laptop in through the HDMI port and streaming through the laptop to the tuner to the TV. That introduced picture degradation as the laptop's video output was suboptimal. The video output on the DVD player is very crisp and alive. This unit weighs about one lb. In fact, it's about as heavy as my TV remote. It's AMAZINGLY small and light. I thought the box was empty when I picked it up. I was shocked to see it in there when I opened the box. Not that weight matters, but being so light, I thought it would stink. Not the case. The remote is very intuitive, and translate to my Universal Remote very well. Overall, I'm blown away by this $80 player. And if it breaks? Sony has a great reputation. After a year, I'll toss it if needed it's so inexpensive (I don't use cheap to describe this unit). If others have had problems, I think maybe they haven't read the manual entirely, or are doing something wrong. Of course you're bound to get a bad unit now and again, but mine works better than expected, and now I can watch DVD's rather than shipping stuff back and waiting for the next one to arrive and put through the paces. This one is a keeper. Get one for yourself. And oh yes, 3D plays beautifully as well. Almost forgot to mention that.

I'm writing this review to to help folks make an informed decision as there are so many options. Wifi Connectivity: Set up was a breeze, very simple instructions to follow, it found the network immediately and after entering the credentials it connected right away. When you start the device it connects to the network immediately and it has yet to drop the connection. The connection speed is fast and sustainable (I haven't speed tested because there isn't the need so I can't give you the exact metrics), Amazon Prime streaming stays at 12.3-12.5mps. Blu-Ray Player: Disc read is very fast. Video and Audio quality are superb. The Sony blows away the immediate competition in just about every area; video quality, frame rate (we have yet to experience any pixilation), audio quality (true DTS & Dolby Digital surround, speed, network connectivity and color frequency/spectrum, definition. If you would like something better then you will most likely have to take a big leap to the $600+ territory devices by Harmon, Pioneer, Yamaha etc.. We haven't tried the 3D capability. Video Streaming – This is one of the device’s best features and the biggest surprise for me. Sony has proprietary streaming technology which they have incorporated in the S5100. When I heard the latter my reaction was to ignore it and brush it off as marketing jargon….Not the case. We’ve only used Netflix and Amazon Prime but where there’s been a clear difference between regular DVD and streaming (even with good devices like an Apple TV or a Roku box) it’s barely discernible with the S5100. In essence this device does away with the latter (unless Roku and Apple TV suddenly up their systems offerings). Menus – This was another surprise; the menus are simple (no fancy transitions or 3D effects, almost basic), fast, incident free and you can’t get lost or into trouble. When you setup your S5100, you are asked to create an account. Usually the latter is a tedious task, I held off for a day but bit the bullet only to find it was super simple/quick. The device wants you to visit a Sony website to enter a code. I used my mobile for the job, it worked and when I entered the code into the site, the S5100 authenticated about 5secs later. When you use Netflix or Prime, you will have to do something similar, the whole process is the most painless I’ve used, takes less than 1min and the device authenticates in less than 5 secs. It doesn’t get much easier and it works first time. Our TV is a Panasonic 50in Plasma and audio is played through an HK AVR.

Some days I love this thing, others I absolutely HATE it! when it works it's just awesome, but every now and then it seems to have a life of it's own and it just doesn't wanna do what every one of these things is supposed to do. You have enough reviews out there to get a sense of what it does bad. My gripes are simple and just two major issues: it suddenly stops working and won't respond at all; unreliable/unstable connection to my wi-fi connection. i've only had it for a few weeks and so far i'm chosing to keep it. It's cheap enough that I can almost live with it. I will saying that given Sony's reputation I'm disappointed but not surprised. I prevously had to return a similar unit by Sony. i was hoping their engineers had figured out how to make these things without problems. Seems not. i would not buy again nor do i plan to buy i again another sony DVD player. I would recommend Samsung or another brand. Sony just doesn't deserve loyalty like it used to. this is the only SONY product in my house, and that won't change. ***update**** After a few weeks with this thing I simply had to give up! you can only be so patient with something that simply fails to meet your expectations. It got to the point where it would drop the network connection every time I'd try to watch anything on amazon prime. It would tell me that no network was available, instruct me to set up the connection, and upon doing so would show that it was already connected. I was able to watch only two movies over the course of two weeks. I had no choice but to return this thing. There are too many reviews with similar problems to think i just got a faulty unit. it's just horrible execution by the folks at SONY. I'd encourage you to buy something else. i'm done with sony. this thing is very nice, but if I just needed a plain bluray player I would have bought that. Ironically, that is the one area where it excels. Very quick loading of blueray movies and no glitches in playback. I have something like 3 discs...most of my content I like to watch streaming, and that's where the unit falls short. no choice but to get rid of it and look for something else. Good luck to you.

Great quality. Good Price. Selected this model after seeing strong reviews in Consumer Reports. We have used the 3-D function - such fun! (Yes, you need a 3-D TV.) The remote is nice and compact and I find it very easy to use. The apps and wireless functions have been great. Our TV tends to lose the Internet signal (only because we have a very poor internet service living in a rural area with no major providers), but it never cuts out on the player, telling me it has a pretty sensitive receiver. We have used it for Hulu Plus, Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora and never had it cut out. Yes, it is not completely flat on top and I think it may be hard to stack anything on top of it. unless it has adjustable legs. Update: on exactly the 90 Day after purchase I had to send it back to Sony. It started having problems, getting disks stuck in the tray about 2 months after purchase (and about the 10th time used). But it finally stopped working altogether. Not even powering on. Amazon only warranties for 30 days, so I had to deal with Sony. I must say they were amazing and efficient. So, now just awaiting the replacement (under the 90 day guarantee) and hoping we don't have problems with that one. It is my understanding alot f the problem is the Bluray players are very sensitive to chipped edges on discs, which is a common problem with Netflix and Redbox disks. Not much we can do about that, since we are not about to go purchasing all our disks. Second Update: Three weeks later and we got our replacement from Sony today. It says it was an "exchange" in the materials, but I am guessing this is a refurbished device, as it is not in an original box and did not have the original nice plastic scratch resistant coating. So far it seems to be working fine - just plugged it in right where the old one went. We even used the same cables, so clearly the problem with the old machine was the machine itself and not the cables we were using. Will update again if we have any issues.

llego muy rápido y trabaja muy bien, muy practico si tu pantalla no es smart definitivamente lo recomiendo además fue el mejor precio del mercado