looking for blu-ray with WIFI for college living

[chrismartinique]

don't want the $49 special nor do I want the $400 model. I just want a simple to use blu-ray with WIFI that they can use in the dorms....no extra equipment, not a bunch of updates. Does anyone have experience?

 

[jrmasm]

I've been looking for one and I think I've settled on the Sony BDP-S580.

 

[Ahrizel]

Dh and I have 2 Insignia blu-ray players. Both were wi-fi ready out of the box and play the discs no problem. Also have netflix, again no problems. The only potential issue with them is no compatibility with a universal remote. However they are both 12-18 months old, perhaps that has changed. Price under $120. They are not fancy, but they have both worked well and are used alot.
Mary

 

[3boymthr]

I've been looking for one and I think I've settled on the Sony BDP-S580.

We have this one - bought it a few months ago. I like it but I did have to do some set up when I bought it to register it with Sony to get the online content to show up (only a few steps and took less than 20 minutes). It does call for an update every month or so (but the update is done just by clicking okay when prompted, waiting a few minutes and then clicking okay again when prompted.) I got it on Amazon and the price was pretty reasonable. Our online content shows up right away, we've had little to no trouble with streaming (we had one movie that kept freezing so we had to pause it so it could buffer all the way then resume but once it had buffered we had no more problems). And the picture quality is very good.

 

[JB2K]

I (and other members at blu-ray.com) have plenty of experience with these things.

If you are looking for a BR player with built-in Wi-Fi, they can generally be found at around the $129 price point (maybe even lower if there's a sale).

My experience is mainly with Sony products. Most of the major brands (Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung) are known to be solid products, while store brands (such as Best Buy's "Insignia") are manufactured by Funai (as is many of the $50 Magnavox players at Walmart).

Also, I know OP wants a Wi-Fi enabled player, but did you know that you can access the apps, etc. by plugging a $5.00 Cat 5 network cable directly into your internet router? And for AT&T U-verse customers, you can buy a $3.00 patch cable and connect your BR player to the U-verse box...

As for a "bunch of updates", it should be noted that Blu-ray is still an emerging technology, meaning occassional updates are still going to be necessary (though with many Sony models, once or twice a year seems to be the new "norm" as opposed to multiple times back in 2008).

 

[tavettava]

I've been looking for one and I think I've settled on the Sony BDP-S580.

That's the one we just got and its great.

 

[chrismartinique]

I (and other members at blu-ray.com) have plenty of experience with these things.

If you are looking for a BR player with built-in Wi-Fi, they can generally be found at around the $129 price point (maybe even lower if there's a sale).

My experience is mainly with Sony products. Most of the major brands (Sony, Panasonic, LG, Samsung) are known to be solid products, while store brands (such as Best Buy's "Insignia") are manufactured by Funai (as is many of the $50 Magnavox players at Walmart).

Also, I know OP wants a Wi-Fi enabled player, but did you know that you can access the apps, etc. by plugging a $5.00 Cat 5 network cable directly into your internet router? And for AT&T U-verse customers, you can buy a $3.00 patch cable and connect your BR player to the U-verse box...

thank you for the info. The dorm must have a central router. there is nothing in his specific dorm room. So thats why it must be simple because I have limited control. He is hours from me, so I cannot easily troubleshoot to adjust it if there is a problem. I am looking at a samsung that is around $129.

 

[dfchelbay]

don't want the $49 special nor do I want the $400 model. I just want a simple to use blu-ray with WIFI that they can use in the dorms....no extra equipment, not a bunch of updates. Does anyone have experience?

Have you considered a Slingbox? Hook it up at your house and your son just loads the software on his computer. Simple as that. He will get every channel you get at home on his computer. He changes the channel on his computer too.