Sony BDP-N460: The PS3 Replacement
This player is everything the PS3 should be, just without the games. The PS3 was a constant annoyance with the Bluetooth remote, poor game choice, and the lack of any service such as Netflix (the PS Network seemed to have a rather limited selection)… So I decided to liquidate the system and get back in the blu-ray player market.
When this unit loads up, you might think that it is a PS3–the menu is almost exactly the same. The relevant difference is the video options. This is where that laundry list of online video service providers is found. What a list! If all this player could do was play Netflix, it might not be such a compelling player–but it does a lot more than that. What convinced me to buy this unit was it’s ability to play Amazon On Demand. It seemed ironic to me that this was not originally an advertised feature on Amazon’s website. I had to do some research to verify this capability. In fact, it was a deal-maker for me.
If the PS3 did everything this player does, then I would say to pay a little more and enjoy the near-zero load times and wireless–but it doesn’t. Not even close. The PS3 is currently locked into Sony’s limited first-party services. This player hopefully signals the future for players, by adding every provider available.
Pros:
- Bravia sync (if you have a compatible Sony television)
- TONS of providers
- Load times are nominal
- Firmware updates were quick out of the box
- Excellent up-conversion of DVD titles
- Lights on player are not at all distracting (and can be adjusted)
Cons:
- Even though I am 1080p resolution, the xcross (system) menu looks low-res.