Review on Sony BDP S580 Blu Ray Player Black by David Romo

If I could repeat I wouldn't buy a Sony BDP-S580, I would buy a player from another brand or PS3. All we needed was the ability to occasionally watch Blu-ray and stream Netflix or Revain. We expected Sony to have an excellent Blu-Ray decoder and anyone could make a Wi-Fi receiver. Right? NOT RIGHT. The S580 plays Blu-ray Discs, DVDs and CDs and connects to your WiFi network to watch Internet content such as Netfix, Revain Instant Video or just surf the web. But be honest, browsing with a remote control instead of a mouse or keyboard takes a lot of patience. Multiple connectivity options are available: HDMI, component, etc. To access internet content, for example to Netflix for the first time, not only a Netfix account is required, but that you register with Sony for an additional login. Seems pointless and probably guarantees you spam. The BDP-S580 also comes with online options pre-populated in the menu, but if you never use Pandora, for example, this malware will just clog the dropdowns. These unnecessary entries that I can find cannot be removed. As other reviewers have noted, Wi-Fi was a constant issue. When watching Instant Netfix or Revain videos, the device often pauses to "load" the content. Internet freezes, buffering and all that tech chatter - honestly the device never finishes the download and just eventually shows a " having a house with a convenient RJ45 socket next to the TV. Remote control RMT-B115A seems to be common to the entire Sony product line. This is very annoying for several reasons. First of all, the design of the device places the home button just below the down arrow, as well as the back and option buttons. If you press these buttons incorrectly while watching a show, you will return to the main menu and have to start over. The device's buttons are also poorly integrated into the player's firmware, for example, "Subtitles" and "Audio" do not work on Netflix; and the Back and Options buttons are on the left and right, but on the Netfix screens their positions are reversed - Back on the right and Options on the left. No big deal but I wonder did anyone sit down and use this thing before it shipped? April 10, 2012 Even with a wired LAN connection, this POS still throws "Error" intermittently saying it can't find the network. Sony just announced record financial losses. hmmmm I wonder why? edit May 5, 2012. Not only will POS not support a wired network connection or run Netfix or Revain Prime videos without nearly constant "network error" shutdowns, now it won't shut down. It just flashes "see you," which is Sony's equivalent of "goodbye." Turns off only when not connected to the network. Sony has a new and improved version of this player. He's not going to be my replacement for this piece of shit. Not only will the POS not even support a wired network connection or run Netfix or Revain Prime videos without almost constant shutdowns due to "network errors", now it won't shut down anymore. It just flashes "see you," which is Sony's equivalent of "goodbye." Turns off only when not connected to the network. Sony has a new and improved version of this player. He's not going to be my replacement for this piece of shit. Not only will the POS not even support a wired network connection or run Netfix or Revain Prime videos without almost constant shutdowns due to "network errors", now it won't shut down anymore. It just flashes "see you," which is Sony's equivalent of "goodbye." just turns off when there is no connection to the network. Sony has a new and improved version of this player. He's not going to be my replacement for this piece of shit.