Sony Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi BDPS3700

As my BDP-BX110 was showing a black screen about a third to half the times a blu-ray was started and with the great black friday deals, I decided it was time to replace it. The question was with what model. I looked at several standard blu-ray players in the $50 range and 4k blu-ray players in $150 range. Considering the price difference of the players and the fact that 4k blu-rays cost more, those players were quickly eliminated. After looking at the online reviews from other users, I decided to go with the Sony BDPS3700.

TLDR: 4/5 stars

Pros

• Small size and design
• Remote can turn on TV
• HDMI-CEC can control player
• Includes Netflix and Amazon Prime Video

Cons

• Occasional noise of spinning disc
• Sometime takes a while to recognize there is a disc in
• Brick style transformer plug

Design

I was was happily surprised by the fact that this player is smaller than my old one. The player is only about 9 inches wide, 1.5 inches tall, and 7.5 inches deep. I am also pleased that it has a flat top which makes it better for putting the dvd case on top of the player.
However, I was disappointed to find that it now uses a rather large transformer style plug, but at least the wire detaches from the back of the player to allow for cable routing.
The fact that the entire front plate aside from the buttons drops down when the dvd tray pops out is a cool factor. The only thing that would have been slicker would be if it was a slot loading.

Remote

The remote has shrunk quite a bit and the buttons feel a little bit crammed, but at least they fixed the creaking battery cover from the BX110.

BDPS3700 remote on left; BX100 remote on right

Wi-Fi

The wi-fi setup was fast and straight forward. The connection is strong, but I also keep it near the router :-)

Noise

Occasionally, the player makes a large amount of noise when spinning DVDs. It sounds like the disc is not quite balanced. I have not been able to pinpoint the cause. If I find more information, I will update the post.

Update 2018-08-23

I was able to source the noise to the blu-ray player running into a small plastic bar next to it. The player does seem to walk a tiny amount with use.

Review Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110

Review of Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110

Here is my review of the Sony Blu Ray Player BDP-BX110. The only difference between this model and the BDP-S1100 is the inclusion of a HDMI cable. Also similiar are the BDP-BX310 and BDP-S3100 which include Wi-Fi and the BDP-BX510 and BDP-S5100 which include 3D playback.

Pros:

• I got it for $40 refurbished from Newegg (about the price of a new DVD player)
• DVD playback is very quick to start
• Blu Ray playback takes longer to start, but is still fairly fast
• Internet apps include: Amazon Instant Video, Netflix, and Hulu Plus (among others)
• Amazon Instant Video works well (don't have Netflix or Hulu Plus account to try) and is easy to navigate on the TV using the remote
• Nice looking small enclosure
• Only the power button lights up in a non-obtrusive white 

Cons:

• Ethernet Only. I really wish I shelled out more cash for the Wi-Fi version ($78 on Amazon new)
• Had to sign up for a Bravia account to use Amazon Instant Video - however, it easily allows you to sign up for a free account right through the Blu Ray player
• Battery door on remote squeaks when pressing buttons for me (my wife does not have this problem)
• Remote is not universal, but can turn on the TV and adjust the volume, it just does not allow you to scroll up and down through the channels

Other Thoughts:

• Includes a quick start mode that increases the start up speed, but requires more power when "off" (I do not use this mode)
• Did have to apply approximately 100MB of updates before the internet apps would work