Sony BDP 360 v BDP 350

[admin_exported]

A friend of has decided to buy his first blu ray player. He has the Sony 40W4500 LCD and he wants a Sony BD player. He has narrowed it down between the BDP 360 or the BDP 350. I believe the 360 is about £40 to £50 pounds more. He has a Sony 820 amp,so decoding of DTS MA onboard the player is not an issue.

 

[matthewpiano]

Given that you can get the 350 for around £148 now and that it can easily be updated to profile 2.0 I would be inclined to go for the '350. At current prices its a bit of a bargain.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. Don't expect a significant jump in quality from the 360 over the 350. Case in point - DB35 vs DB60.

 

[carter]

cant speak about the 360 as i havent sean it yet but ive had the 350 since it was first relesed(amazon £190 pre order)and ive been very happy with it easy to upgrade to 2.0 and ive had no issues with it.its got a great little picture and looks very tidy.

in these early days of blu ray i think pound for pound it offers the best value for money especialy as a first player ive got about 70 blu rays now and i wont upgrade it till i get at least 150 titles.

i guss it all depends how well off your friend is i usualy can only afford one blu ray a week so it didnt seem worth spending £400 + on a player and only buy one movie a week at that stage

i think rs are doing the 350 for £139 and thats great value .so if your friend gets that in 12 months hes built up a collection of films he could see whats out then,probably a bd 370 that might be a bigger leap than the 350-360 and then it wouldnt be over the top to move the 350 upto a spare room or bedroom(or probably sell it on for about half the money paid)

mind you its probably worth taking a look at the 360 first.

 

[professorhat]

ValianTX:I agree. Don't expect a significant jump in quality from the 360 over the 350. Case in point - DB35 vs DB60.

But then the latest WHF issue docks the Panasonic BD60 a star specifically because it didn't move on that much from the Panasonic BD35, whereas the Sony BDP-360 receives 5 stars because it has moved on from the 350.

I haven't seen the 360 to say it's worth the extra, but as nodnarb4444 says, I would check them both out before deciding considering this verdict.

 

[Big Aura]

professorhat: I haven't seen the 360 to say it's worth the extra, but as nodnarb4444 says, I would check them both out before deciding considering this verdict.

The problem with that is, the Sony (either) is a budget machine, and no-one is gonna be bothered to allow you audition it properly. It's an argos purchase.... and on the off chance anyone would allow you to view / hear it, it would be a fair whack above what you can get it for on-line.

Do any of the WHF-S&V testers have a view on the comparative merits of the two budget Sonys??

 

[Sliced Bread]

I viewed one in the Sony Centre, however it is in "showroom" conditions (bright lights) and the screens set to full dynamic contrast with every processing feature they can find turned on.

 

[Big Aura]

but did you do an A/B comparison with the 350?

 

[Sliced Bread]

Nope. I was just pointing out where one can be viewed.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go for the 360, if you do a bit of searching on google then you will be able to pick on up for about £160.

I have the 350 and it is a fanstastic player, but for the sake of a few more pounds then I'd go for the newer model because according to WHF it is the 2nd best player that your money will get you for under £400 - if you want the best then you'll have to pay £350 for the Pioneer bdp-320 (More than double the cost)

 

[Garth Man]

I would of advised top go for the 350 as they were going for £99 at PC world and some tesco stores.

but as this is not the case anymore, you might as well go for the lastest model, though I wouldn't of thought there would be a big leap in quality over its predessor. They are for more the £500+ players

 

[Anonymous]

They're actually going for £79.99 at pc world which is unbelievable value and I agree this would be the better buy at that price ... But you try getting hold of one!

Just tried to buy one for the bedroom on the pcworld website (As I couldnt afford not to get one at that price) but I can't get hold of one due to the high demand!