Sony BDP-S590 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi (Black) (2012 Model)

After a bit of shopping around and looking at a number of reviews I decided to go with the Sony BDP -S series. I settled on the 590 because it seemed to have the most bang for the buck. The upgrade to the 790 did not seem worth the price: I don't have a TV capable of 4k resolution, and given the location of my TV I don't need an IR port. The dual core processor in the 790 sounds nice, but having used this player for about two weeks responsiveness is not a problem, so I have a feeling that it is only required for the 790 player.Setup was mostly automated by the device, and only took about 15 minutes. It is a little bit of a pain to type letters (wireless network names, passwords) using the remote. Numbers 1-9 are mapped to three or four characters the same way you would send a text message on older phones. Once you get used to it, things aren't that bad. Otherwise I had no problems connecting to my home network, Amazon video, Netflix, Hulu, etc.One of the big reasons I upgraded was for streaming content. Previously I'd been streaming content to a Wii and I wanted to finally see Netflix and Hulu in HD. Streaming on this thing is a dream come true for those of us who were previously stuck in standard definition. My town has a very speedy and reliable internet connection, so I have no trouble watching HD over the internet. Among other cool applications are the Amazon app for prime users and youtube. Previously I'd been stuck watching Prime only on my laptop because there was no Wii app. I haven't noticed the noise reduction feature, but I consider that a plus. If a noise reduction application is doing its job correctly you're not going to notice it running in the background.There are a number of other available apps, but I haven't had time to explore all of them. I look forward to getting to know them all. All of the apps on the Sony entertainment network have a similar look and feel, so its pretty easy to get to know new applications.I've also downloaded the remote control apps for both my android tablet and my iPhone. Both are very responsive, and contain more fathers than the remote that comes with the unit (including a simulated touchpad for navigation and a frame that gives you information on whatever disc is currently in the drive).Not surprisingly, Blu-rays look great. The box's dvd upscaling works well, so DVDs also look very clear on a 1080p TV. The player looks good on my TV stand. It has a very slim and sleek profile. My TV does not support 3D (its a feature that I'm not terribly interested in), so I cannot comment on the 3D quality.Yes, there are other players out there with more bells and whistles (there will always be something better available), but for the price this thing is a steal. If the feature set is compatible with what you're looking for I would highly recommend this player for your media room.

In April I decided that although I loved my LG blu-ray player for Netflix and watching blu-rays, I wanted a new player that would let me watch Amazon streaming and have an updated and easier to use Netflix interface. My old player worked perfectly for what it did, I just wanted something that did more.First, based on my great experience with my LG player, I ordered the LG BD670. I liked the interface, liked how it played blu-rays, loved that I could search Netflix from the blu-ray player itself (the old player would only let you view your queue and a few of the specific categories that it chose, you had to go to another device if you wanted to search or even browse beyond that) and I loved Amazon streaming. But it did not play Netflix well: during the course of pretty much anything I'd try to watch, whether it was a 2+ hours movie or a twenty minute tv episode, it would lose the sound and have stuttering picture for anywhere between a few seconds to several minutes. After less than two weeks I contacted Amazon and sent it back. I put my old blu-ray player back and it worked with no problems, for Netflix and blu-rays both.Then, based on glowing reviews, I tried the Panasonic DMP-BDT220. Initially it seemed great. I liked it even more than the LG. Then it started having connection issues. Actually, it started having connection issues the first day, but I didn't realize right away that it was going to be a *constant* problem. There was not one day that it did not lose the internet connection. Granted, where it was set-up is as far away from my wireless router as it can be while the two devices are still the house, so some connection issues are understandable, but it would lose connection when nothing else in the room it was in had lost their connection and beyond that even, it would not reestablish its connection until I'd cycled it off and on, sometimes several times. I really wanted it to work, since when it was working, I loved it. I did not contact the company, in fairness, so I cannot say if they could have helped me or comment on their customer service. I did check online reviews and message boards and found that I was not alone in having internet connection issues with it. I tried some fixes that were posted but nothing worked. I read more than one person complaining that they *had* contacted Panasonic and were told that the wireless in the player just wasn't that strong, and the only real cure for connections issues was to move the player closer the router. That wasn't an option for me so, incredibly frustrated, after almost a month of it, I contacted Amazon and sent it back. Again I put my old blu-ray player back and it worked with no problems.Finally, as a last resort, I tried this player, the Sony BDP-S590. Tentatively, hesitantly, I would say it *seems* I've found my player. I admit, I held off on the Sony because it was more expensive than the LG, and at least at the time I was first looking, the reviews weren't as good as for the Panasonic. But for me, it's working. It sits where the Panasonic sat (and where the LGs sat) and doesn't have any connection issues except when there is genuinely an interruption that is affecting everything else that's connected to the router--and even then as soon as the router is doing its thing again, all I have to do is hit "Retry" and the player is connected again, no turning it off and on repeatedly. It has no problem playing Netflix, or Amazon streaming, or Crackle, or Youtube, or good old blu-rays. I appreciate that it's got the only remote that actually controls my not-that-old Toshiba tv, which isn't a big deal, but it's nice. I'm not an audiophile or videophile or whatever, so I can't comment on the technicalities of the sound or picture; it sounds and looks fine to me. The loading times aren't long enough that I get impatient, but I'm not the sort of person who times those things as long as they aren't long enough to make me take notice.As far as I'm concerned, if you just want to watch stuff, it works. And if you have any sort of distance constraints on where you can place it (like if you don't want to/can't put it in the same room with the router) this is your best bet. I waited to write this review, paranoid after the first two blu-ray players, but after about a month of this, I'm still pleased with it.