Sony 2D/3D Multi System Zone All Region Code Free Blu Ray and DVD Player - WiFi

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BDP-S5500 has a 3.8Mbps connection speed on network tested at 72Mbps I had issues streaming on the first show I tried to watch, within 5 minutes. Instead of just complaining I also visited Sonys website to try and resolve the issue. After updating the software (it was already up to date) I came up with the following simple procedure to test the network in my home. Using multiple devices do the following: 1. Connect device using the same ethernet cable or using wifi. 2. Use fast.com to record connection speed. Results: Device, Connection Method, Internet Speed BDP-S5500, Cable, 3.8Mbps Win10 Laptop, Cable, 72Mbps (test completed within 60 seconds of the BDP-S5500 test) BDP-S5500, WiFi, 3.5Mbps Win10 Laptop, Wifi, 39Mbps Mac Laptop, Wifi, 45Mbps All tests executed within 10 minutes of each other. Conclusion, I am highly confident the DBP-S5500 is the device throttling the internet connection. Where as 3.8Mbps is seems slow for a network that can reach 72Mbps, we still have to ask ourselves, "Is that enough to stream?" Referenced on the Sony site is Netflixs streaming speed recommendations: 0.5Mbps Required for broadband 1.5Mbps Recommended for broadband 3.0Mbps Recommended for SD quality 5.0Mbps Recommended for HD quality 25.0Mbps Recommdended for Ultra HD quality Conclusion, BDP-S5500 is unable to meet recommended HD quality streaming. I have check Netflix and I do not have the option to downgrade to only SD quality (which I really do not want to do, but according to the recommendations might work). Conclusion, this BDP-S5500 is physically incapable of providing a pause, wait, stutter, buffer free Netflix viewing experience. I am returning it. The tragedy is I bought it to replace a BDP-S590 that I have been using for ~4 years. It has been great, which is why I was willing to pay the $179 for this one. What a disappointment. My guess is this unit works for some people because is that all commercially sold devices have variance. Chances are the problem is in the chip (or chipset) that talks to the internet and they just happen to have on that can go beyond the 3.8Mbps I am throttled at. Good them! I wish them continued success. P.S. I really hope that no one reading this review can tell I am an engineer...

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Good player BUT the instruction manual is awful and Sonys tech support is even worse. I could not figure out how to make it play blu rays other than Region A--until I looked here at Amazon and figured it out. So to help anyone in the future, heres what you do: turn the player completely off. To play a Region A blu ray, with the player still off press the small red button on the remote control. Now turn the player on, open the tray and put the disc in. It will now play that disc. To play a Region B disc, do basically the same thing: turn the player completely off, press the small blue button on the remote, turn the player on, open the tray, place the disc in, and it should play now with no problem. I spoke to 2 different tech support people and both of them were "very sorry" to inform me that the player only played Region A discs, but that is definitely not true--it plays all, but as someone else commented it is kinda strange the way you have to turn it completely off and press the appropriate colored button on the remote. I could not find any of this on the instruction manual. Sony should be ashamed of themselves. Good player though.

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We have been using this a week now and hopefully this will last like other Sony products. It really does do everything! Picture is great, sound is great, 3D is amazing, streaming is flawless, Amazon, Netflix and others work extremely well! It plays every disc from every region I own with no problems. Updated firmware thru wifi and it was good to go! A few months later!!!!!! It still plays fine but streaming is mediocre at best and the unit wont turn off at times so it must be unplugged. Now this is my second multi format universal player and they all suffer from these problems eventually. I have bought 2 different players from 2 different manufacturers and they both have the same problems. I think its because of the modifications made to these players that cause the problems. So if I did buy another unit I would buy the cheapest!

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I am happy with the Blu Ray Sony I have bought from Bombay Electronics via Amazon. I bought it because I wanted to see European videos which use the PAL system, a system not available in the USA. I found your product very comparable with the Blu Ray Samsung, which I was using before to watch USA videos. It is hard to find out for me any noticeable difference between the two machines. Perhaps I would say that the color I see may be slightly better (for my taste) on the Samsung. But this perception may be a matter of pure teste, or the fact that for years I was watching only USA formatted videos. But this product, as said above, is very good, it does not weight much, and it is very easy to use. I will recommend it to people who want to have a way to watch European PAL videos, plus the American formatted ones, with quality in the video and the sound. Best regards Raúl Serna-Laignelet Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA Sent from my iPad Raul Serna-Laignelet

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First impression. Very easy to set up. As for a couple of comments about instructions on changing region for blu ray I don’t see how they could have made it easier. Instructions are clear and simple as the photo shows. I purchased 2 of these to replace my LG players although they still work great and have been using them for the past 4-5 years. Bottom line my initial impression is these Sonys do what they claim and anyone could have this set up and playing 5 minutes out of the box. If anything changes I’ll update the review but as of now very satisfied.

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I bought this bluray player in December of 2017 because the wifi on my Smart TV was not working. I specifically bought this Sony device so that I could connect to the internet so my husband could watch Youtube on our television instead of on his desktop computer. It is daily and repeatedly crashing with the message ""Cannot open this application because it is too large." any time he tries to view a video more than five minutes or so in length. I thought we needed more bandwidth, and we cant afford it, so we put up with it. Now I learn that it isnt our bandwidth, or our router, or our powerline extender, all of which I invested in so that he could watch Youtube. Its Sony. I bought a $189 Sony device, so I wouldnt have to buy a new TV. Now its too late. I should have spent the money on a TV... ...but not a SONY.

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Item arrived well and multi region DVD works. However, the Bluray function didnt work at all and although seller was responsive to queries and suggested that it could be the AC power supply issue, he didnt send out a new one despite promising to do so 8 weeks ago. So basically Im unable to watch bluray with this unit.

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I bought this player because I owned two Samsung Blu-ray players both of which sometimes malfunction while playing 20th Century Fox Blu-ray discs. This Sony player plays all manufacturers Blu-ray discs. However, on occasion the machine stalls when you insert a disc to play. To make it work, you have to unplug and replug the power cable into the power outlet. This stalling doesnt happen often, but enough to be annoying. On occasion the Sony player also stalls while playing DVDs and returns to the Main Menu screen. I have owned three Blu-ray players--two Samsung and one Sony-- and all of them have some kind of glitch. Im wondering if the Blu-ray format has turned out to be a disappointment. When Blu-ray discs and players work as advertised they provide improved picture and sound quality. But the occasional performance problems are a disappointment. DVD discs may not have theatre quality picture and sound, but they work all of the time in all players--even the $30 DVD players you find at Target and Wal-Mart. I sometimes consider going back to DVDs because of their performance consistency. Just calling them as I see them!

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This product opens new doors for video entertainment and possibly pays for itself. I have found multiple popular, albeit hard to find Blu-ray titles from Amazon.co.uk (England) and Amazon.de (Germany) that are bargains in comparison to their U.S. products that have limited availability. The current strong dollar also makes the purchases attractive. I have found many excellent travel and documentary titles that are not available in NTSC format. I enjoy travel videos and have found professionally produced titles from those sources that are far superior to similar videos available in the U.S. For anyone who seeks quality videos at affordable prices, this product is a true asset for providing a means of viewing DVDs and Blu-Ray discs for all zones and regions.. .

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Easy to set up. Missing the old fashioned red/white/yellow connections, so be sure you are HDMI ready. Does standard DVD regions automatically and a simple press of the "B" button (or what the guide says for the region you want) on your remote, before starting the Blu-Ray discs. I had auto start turned off, but it still started so I had to open & close the drive door while pressing the region button. Piece of cake. I was even able to connect it to our surround sound with a simple RCA (red) plug. I still need to test the 3D mode, but I dont expect any problems. The only thing missing on the remote is a "source" button to switch from the DVD to TV/Cable Box. Bonus! It connected easily to my wireless and streams Amazon, Hulu, Netflix (there is even a Netflix button on the remote) plus others. Great purchase!

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