Strengths: Great 1080P picture, Easy firmware updates, Very good upconversion, unbeatable price

Weaknesses: Slow loading process, non-lighted remote control

Summary: This Blu-Ray player has it all for an unbeatable recently reduced price. Although the loading process and the power up process are slow I do believe that further firmware updates will improve that drawback. You also ge 5 free Blu-Ray DVD's with a mail-in rebate. Sony's firmware updates are more frequent than Samsung's and this is why I chose this Blu-Ray player.

Strengths: Great picture and excellent sound

Weaknesses: None for me

Summary: I bought this Blu-Ray player last July to watch movies and it has worked flawlessly for me from day 1. I am not a viewer who will use picture in picture (which this does not have)nor do I play any of the games which are on some of the discs. I wanted a Blu-Ray player which gives me full HD video and great sound. The audio sounds great on my surround sound system when I use it. Sometimes I just use the TV speakers and the audio is excellent. If you are interested in a Blu-Ray player with outstanding video and excellent sound this player is for you.

Strengths: great picture

Weaknesses: price

Summary: Blu-Ray movies need to come way down in price for me to buy all of my dvd's in that format. I usually reserve "keepers" as my Blu-Ray purchases. There also appears to be a few seconds adjusting up front when the dvd is first inserted into the player - perhaps set-up time? Overall though I am happy with my purchase.

Strengths: Nice user interface, plays movies without problems

Weaknesses: slow load times, sluggish response to commands, no decoding of TrueHD, DTS-HD MA

Summary: The BDP-S300 plays movies without problems. The picture quality is good.However, it's slow to load, and sluggish when responding to the remote. Also, the player does not support the high-rez audio formats, TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.

Strengths: Beautiful picture!

Weaknesses: must be very patient - a little faster after updating the system firmware with the online patch from Sony, but then the front panel stopped working, must use the remote - definitely needs future patch

Summary: Well the price was great and the quality and sound is extremely exceptional (the full 1080p gives it that extra edge!). Be aware if you plan to use this for your main theater; it is a little picky with the type of media you choose for making your home videos. Test it first.

Strengths: Great picture when playing Blu ray Disk. Connected all audio connections at once except Coax, and all worked automatically...Great sound.

Weaknesses: Sloooooooooooooow loooooaaaaad times, One Blu ray disk to 5 Minutes before i could start viewing. No ethernet connectivity,Pricey for what you get. Standard DVD's Looked Grainy.

Summary: Beware of 5 Star ratings, Since they are usually posted by electronics sales people. I Purchased the Sony BDP-300 at a local retailer for $418.00 including tax, 3/13/2008, Returned it and got a full refund 3/17/2008.Load times are to much to bare, Local Video rental very limited in Blu-Ray selection. After having it for 4 days i couldn't bare dealing with it anymore. My opinion for a player this disfunctional, it's worth $100.00 Paid to you by Sony Per day to test their new products.The next Generation of blu rays to look for will be coming out soon. Sharp BD-HP50 Blu-ray Player (2nd Q 2008) and Panasonic DMP-BD50 Blu-ray Player (May 1st 2008).Click below for upcoming Bue ray players.http://www.blu-ray.com/players/

Strengths: It is Cheap

Weaknesses: Everything else

Summary: Received as part of a Christmas offer from Sony for buying a 46 in LCD TV, so I've only had it 4 months. The thing no longer works. It powers on, but then turns itself off and then tries to re-power up. Only way to stop it is to pull the plug. The DVD tray will not open or close. So now it goes for warranty repair with me paying the freight to the repair center. One expects top notch products from Sony -- this unit doesn't fit that profile either from a hardware quality standpoint or an operations standpoint. Others have addressed the slow boot up time. Others addressed the grainy picture on non HD DVDs. I would say the picture for the typical non HD DVD is no better or worse than what one would see on a cheap DVD player. I haven't watched any HD DVDs so can't comment on that, but it would seem that unless one is going to spend a huge amount on HD DVDs, blue ray players aren't worth the price. Just glad I didn't spend any money buying this thing.