Customer Reviews

Sherwood BDP-5004 Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It makes a little noise when loading a disc, So Be It! It takes a little time to load, Oh My! It's tempermental and doesn't want to play discs all the time, Really?!

Let's address the complaints first and then I'll tell you why you need to get this player as soon as possible. First ALL players make noise loading discs and Blu-Ray discs take a while because you are loading up software. If yours doesn't do either of these thing well, Burah! You have a unique player. As for not playing discs all the time, Huh. The only problem I had with playback of my entire library were a couple of imports and I think that was in the mastering.

So now that that's been settled let's get on to all the reasons you should buy this player-----This is a region free Blu-Ray player, PERIOD. I shouldn't have to say anymore than that. Unless you've just had your decapated, cryogenically frozen head thawed out after 20 years, you know all about the region debate. Distibuters have markets and in order to keep those rights DVDs got regionalized. Funny thing though, European players have had the capablility to play NTSC all along and multi-region, while the US has been stuck with our region only. Hmm. You even have a major company like Disney buying up the rights to the domestic distribution of Asian properties and puting a great company like Tai Sung out of business by theatening to sue them into the ground and then not releasing these movies in favor of crummy remakes instead. But I digress.

Foreign special editions have been around forever and I've been region free since players first became available (I even have a VCR that will play PAL tapes) because I just wouldn't settle for what the US companies had to offer. So when an out of the box, region free, PAL - NTSC converter Blu-Ray player hit the market, I got it. Yes I did wait to see if the price dropped and it did, still dropping as far as I can tell.

There are only two features missing from this player that would want them to fix: Zoom and playback from last point in movie when you turn it off. That's it! These aren't a major concern and I don't miss them that much. Everything else is outstanding. Upconverting DVDs so they are sharper, an easy to use set up menu and Region Free.

And about the region free feature, here is the skinny. It will play DVDs from all regions and also convert PAL to NTSC. My Malata would too but had some problem with progressive scan so that moire and edge jumping was common. Not so here, seemless conversion most of the time. Just two DVD had problems, Eureka's M SE and MGM's Moonstruck. The latter will not play in the correct ratio, it squeezes it to full screen no matter what setting. Like I said, it's got to be in the discs, not the player. I haven't any "B" or "C" region Blu-Rays yet but look forward to it. If you appreciate World Cinema you have just been handed it.

Now how to make this region free. You will have to program it and it reverts back to "A" region on Blu-Rays when you turn it off, but the programing stays for the DVD.

Codes are:
8751+0+1 is all DVD and "A" Blu-Ray regions
8751+0+2 is all DVD and "B" Blu-Ray regions
8751+0+3 is all DVD and "C" Blu-Ray regions

8751 is the program, the first number after is the DVD region and the second is the Blu-Ray. You can set to play all region DVDs by putting in a 0 after 8751 but need to specify the Blu-Ray region. And like I said, the Blu-Ray will default back to "A" (that's us) but DVDs will stay. There are, however, DVD that demand you have it set up for that region. Had a Disney refuse to play until I set it to "1" (once again, that's us) and a Japanese disc to "2". You have to have the tray empty and closed to input the code.

An alternate code is 9735 before the regions. They both work.

Maybe I come off as a little harsh but when you're handed the world and complain about it I don't think you deserve it. A little too hot, a little too cold. Hey, Goldilocks, stop your sobbing! Kick back, relax and save the complaining for your cel phone provider.

*** The Sherwood 5004 is a reliable Blu-Ray player. It performs excellently and is very similar to the Momitsu 899. I have set up my player to take advantage of all BD-Live 2.0 features. I am pleased to report that the player performs these functions very well indeed. It loads and plays BD-Live content much faster than does my older Panasonic BDP-35.

Using the HD Bitstream setting sent through HDMI cables to my Pioneer VSX-91TXH Receiver, I have found Dolby True HD and DTS Master Sound to sound splendid whether the movie/music is encoded at 7.1, 2.0 or 1.0 channels. Immediately prior to the install of the player, I re-calibrated the room and speakers using Pioneer's built in sound analyzer.

The upconversion of pictures appears to be of a higher quality than my older Panasonic, however, I am not certain I can state the same thing about the Oppo DV-981 and will need to look a while longer. At any rate, the Sherwood certainly loads much faster than the Panasonic. This was examined after I reset the various levels on video display on my Samsung 46" monitor using two separate video programs.

That said, I heartily recommend the Sherwood, especially given that I have repeatedly switched it from Region A to Region B and back again. The machine handles each very well.

*** Since I wrote this review, an update to the firmware came out. Save yourself the trouble and DO NOT UPLOAD THE NEW FIRMWARE!! It removes the ability of the player to play Region B/C Blu-Rays - the reason I purchased the machine - and renders it a Region A player only. Continue to use it with the original firmware which works just fine.

I bought this player for what I understand are its multi-zone/region capabilities. While I haven't tested that yet, the unit is quick to start and load a disc. In addition, the quality of the picture seems to be as good as my Oppo 83 and Pioneer BDP-51FD. Upconversion of DVDs also seems to be quite good. All for about $170 delivered from Amazon. Good deal. What would make it a five star? More connectivity options. Great deal for the money.

3-3-2010: Update to original review. I've now purchased two of these units through Amazon. The original from [...] and the second unit from Ritz Camera. I am very pleased with the multi-zone capabilities. The unit plays anything I've gotten my hands on as well as several multi-zone/region discs. Most recently the unit played a European bluray of the Hurt Locker without a hitch and I should note that I didn't have to enter the secret remote codes that one can locate on the internet.

Kudos to Amazon and Ritz Camera for refunding me the cost of the second unit and shipping me a new player when the unit that was shipped had problems with going to a green screen after several minutes of use. It took about three weeks for the refund to process and I am happy with the replacement. If you are wondering when the problem occurred, it was immediately out of the box and did not develop over time. It was a factory defective product so please be sure that you hook up the unit immediately and test that it plays before you start throwing out the packaging material. I called Ritz Camera immeidately for the replacement and Amazon processed the refund. Ritz Camera covered the cost of shipping the defective unit back to it. Good customer service.

PROS:
+ blu-rays look awesome and sound great
+ upconverted DVDs look great
+ so far, it's played all my import different Region DVDs that I have tested.
+ nice slick controller

NEGATIVES:
- as I read previous reviews of a slight buzzing, high pitched sound, my Sherwood does have this sometimes (it comes and goes), but it's not that annoying.
- when playing dvds, there is a totally annoying chirping sound that pops up within the first hour of play and then eventually goes away. Now that's pretty annoying. I'm really considering only playing my dvds in my old dvd player.
- Some blu-rays won't play but will eventually play if you keep trying (For example, GLADIATOR and PONYO didn't play at first, but the next day, they both played fine. What the hell is wrong with this Blu-ray technology? Why is it so inconsistent?
- the scratching noise when the dvd/blu-ray loads is sort of irritating. As long as that noise is normal, then I'm okay with it.
- it would be nicer if this Blu-ray player came with two HDMI holes, instead of one.

I've been spoiled using my totally consistent multi-region Malata player for 8 years, which has never given me one problem. So, I give my Malata player an A, but this Sherwood BDP-5004 gets a B-. I can understand that some blu-rays may or may not work or may or may not work right away, but the sounds that come out of this player is inexcusable. And concerning imports, I don't trust this technology yet to spend money on Blu-ray imports, especially when some Blu-rays don't work for technical reasons and also if firmwares are going to prevent import blu-rays from working. So basically, i'm just going to stick with import DVDs and local Blu-rays for now.

I have had this player for a few weeks and I love it. I bought it because of reviews I had read on Internet A/V forums, and also because of its 5.1/7.1 analog outputs, since I could not afford to buy a new A/V receiver with HDMI ports. I have the Sherwood hooked up via HDMI to a LG 47LH40 LCD, and the picture is extraordinary. The upconversion of standard DVDs is near-perfect, Blu-ray looks phenomenal, the analog outputs work great and the front and rear USB2 ports work flawlessly. The manual is pretty basic but serves its purpose. For $157, I'm not going to complain for this kind of quality!

I had read much about this player on multiple cinema forums for its noted region free capability. All of the claims in the reviews here I tend to agree with as it is a good Blu-Ray player but I have some issues that have been difficult for me to get around.

First, when this Blu-Ray player is playing a disc it emits a high pitched hum that is moderately loud. This hum is incredibly distracting while I am trying to watch films that have quiet moments. If you think that such a hum would disturb your viewing enjoyment, I would strongly discourage you from purchasing this player.

Also, this Blu-Ray player can be rather "moody" as it will sometimes not be able to read a disc on one day, showing an error message, but play it without issue on another. The player will also have some problems reading a disc during playback where a flawless Blu-Ray disc will start skipping or have breaks in playback.

For those of you who are purchasing this player for it's multi-region ability, an interesting note. This player is not able to play a PAL disc via a HDMI cable where a format error will appear on your HDTV. However, PAL discs will play via component cables without any problems.

I am incredibly unhappy with this Blu-Ray player and would strongly discourage people from purchasing it.

Given the few alternatives out there for multi-region DVD and Blu-ray players, it is hard to beat this one, inexpensive as it is. The picture is sharp and clear, and the loading mechanism is no louder than some of the other DVD players I have. The machine works great. The only thing to add is that, as noted on other forums, one has to have the HDMI setting at "1080P" rather than "Auto." Otherwise, the picture will not display. Once that setting is in place and the codes are in hand, you are ready to go for region-free viewing of regular DVDs and Blu-rays!

The Multi-Region DVD players were very expensive and almost impossible to find in USA just a few years ago. That has changed recently - you can now get a decent Multi-Region DVD player for under $40-$60 at most of the major US retailers, and you can get a good one from about $60 and up. However, inquiring about the Multi-Region DVD Players at your neighborhood store would be useless, since most salespeople are unaware about them, even though their stores do carry such models.

Also, some of our buyers may already own such a model, without even knowing it! Here are a couple of places where you can check if your DVD players is PAL compatible and wether it could be easily coded to be Multi-Region:
w w w . v i d e o h e l p . c o m / d v d p l a y e r s (please remove the spaces) - this will allow you to check if your DVD player is PAL-compatible
w w w . v i d e o h e l p . c o m / d v d h a c k s (please remove the spaces)- this will allow you to search for the sequence of codes (hack) to make it Multi-Region (Region-free).

Please note that we do not endorse the information provided at the website above, nor are we affiliated with it in any way.

Although we do not sell Multi-Region DVD players ourselves, we can recommend a few:
Philips DVP5990 , available for under $60 from Amazon.com . It is PAL/NTSC compatible right out of the box, and could be programmed to be Region-free by executing the following instructions:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Turn on the player with no disk in it.
2. Press the "setup" button and select the "Preference" Tab .
3. Press the following buttons on the remote:
1 3 8 9 3 1
4. Press up/down key to select "0".
5. Press "menu" button to exit.
6. Your player is now region free! Put in a DVD and enjoy!

You can find a lot more of similar models by clicking here: Amazon.com Multi Region DVD Players.

You can also find other models at BestBuy, Walmart, etc, by searching for "multi-region dvd player" or "multi format DVD player".

For multi-region Blu-Ray DVD player, there are several Momitsu clones that are sold in different countries under the different brand names. The one sold in USA is Sherwood BDP-5004. While none of the Blu-Ray DVD players at this moment offer the ability to play different zone Blu-Ray DVD players just by putting another DVD in, this is the only one quality affordable Blu-Ray DVD player that allows you to play any Region regular DVD, and as well to play any Zone Blu-Ray DVD by putting a six digit remote control sequence before playing it. You can buy the Sherwood BDP-5004 at Amazon.comAmazon.com for under $160.

To change the code on Sherwood BDP-5004, make sure there is no disc loaded and enter 9735XY on your remote, replacing X with the Region code you want for DVDs (0-6) and Y with the Zone code you want for Blu-Ray Discs (1-3 -note that 1 stands for Zone A, 2 stands for Zone B, 3 stands for Zone C). There is no single Region-Free setting for Blu-Ray Discs, but you can change your player's region coding at any time within seconds.

For example, here are probably the only two codes you will ever need:
973501 -sets the unit to Region Free mode for DVDs and Zone A mode for Blu-Ray DVDs. This should be the factory default setting.
973502 -sets the unit to Region Free mode for DVDs and Zone B mode for Blu-Ray DVDs.

These are probably the only two codes you will ever need to use, but here are a few more settings just for your reference:
973532 -DVD Region 3, BIu-Ray Zone B
973522 -DVD Region 2, BIu-Ray Zone B
973541 -DVD Region 4, BIu-Ray Zone A Etc.

You can read more about Sherwood BDP-5004, Momitsu BDP-899 and others at DVDTalk Forums and elsewhere.

You can buy the Sherwood BDP-5004 at Amazon.com for under $160.

I saw this Blu-Ray player in a local store on clearance, and thought I hadn't seen a Sherwood Blu Ray player and was leery of the quality of it. After reading the reviews, and that it was multi-region, I went back to the store and tried one of my region b blu ray discs and a pal format region 2 dvd, both played immediately without a hitch. The price was right, so I ended up purchasing two of them (one for myself and one for my brother). The picture is comparable to any other blu-ray player, set up is easy, and it does have capability to do blu-ray live. It appears to play all the dvd's and blu rays I have tried in, including the disney ones. After playing with this more, the firmware is identical to the Curtis Blu Ray (dvd1102) players I purchased for my mother in law and friend about a month ago. The only diffrence is that this is region free out of the box, the Curtis's are not. I have a trednet wireless N gaming adapter set up to utilize the BD-live features, works great. Again, as the other reviewer says, if you want to keep it region free, do not update the firmware, but apparently some have had issues using new bluray disc formats, so if region free is not a big deal, upgrade the firmware to play the newer discs. Again, I have tried many discs just released in the last month, and all play fine. For my house, this is my second "back up" unit, and my PS3 is in my main entertainment center. If it wasn't for I want the gaming features on the PS3, this would be my main blu-ray player in the house, and would serve excellent in a household as the only blu-ray player. As a side note, it is a bit loud on loading, but playing, it isn't any louder than any other player. An excellent investment thus far.

I don't wanna pay 400$ or more to get something I can have with this Blu Ray Player for 150$. It works just fine and I don't think it's loud. But don't update the firmware yet couse you'll lose the region free option.

Picture and Sound is excellent.