Customer Reviews

Sony BDP-BX37 Blu-ray Player-BDP-BX37

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is the same model as Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player, made for costco; only difference between s370 and this model is you get a HDMI cable in the box.
Disclaimer: I bought BX37 model from Costco.
Just a brief review, as others have covered it: (AND A FEW TIPS for network setup at the end!)
PROS: Everything!
1. Great Blu-ray playing; fast start; just takes seconds to start playing.
2. Great standard DVD playing
3. Good functional remote but made better by the Android/iphone BD REMOTE app! it is great!
4. Excellent internet apps - Netflix plays so beautifully, browsing through my instant queue is better than in Roku! I retired Roku after buying this. Pandora and Amazon Video to boot.
5. DLNA Support: Great! I was reading some reviews that said things don't work. I can say it WORKS GREAT! I have a NAS box in my local network, and it is able to play the music (mp3 and wav), photos and videos out of that; and it is quite fast! (read the tips below). Sony player found my NAS box automatically and added it to its menu!
CONS:
1. No Wifi! I don't consider this as a big issue for 2 reasons:
- I have a wire running to the TV area from my cable modem, and I have a small D-LINK 1G 5 port hub near the TV to supply internet to all the devices in that area! The cable runs through the wall/basement for this.
- Even if you are using WI-FI, it is good to have a consolidator Wi-FI bridge router in the TV area providing wired internet to that area
- too many devices in a small area all talking wi-fi scares me (though I am technical enough to know it should work, I still feel bad!)
- If you put a lot of security settings in your wi-fi router (like me), then setting up each and every device becomes an issuue; in fact some devices have issues in dealing with wi-fi security! But wired internet always works!
- A couple of suggestions for wi-fi bridge router:
D-Link DAP-1522 Xtreme 4-Port GigaBit Selectable Dual Band Draft 802.11n N Duo Wireless Bridge/Access Point
Of course you can also use another 802.11n router with built-in gigabit ethernet ports as an access point.//
2. The BD REMOTE app: doing a fast forward/skip/rewind while playing Netflix is very difficult to manipulate; it would have been good, if Sony has provided a scroll bar like volume control for this also instead of pressing a forward button and correctly guessing when to stop and guessing when your button press will have effect!
3. No 3D support! If you have, or are planning to upgrade to 3D TV in the near future, you may want to consider the next higher models - BDP-S470/570/BX47/57 models. Otherwise, better save money now than future proofing!
4. Fast forward/rewind on Netflix is bad. Roku has an excellent interface for this - you will see frames in between while forwarding or rewinding. With this player, it is just a single time line bar that tells you how far in time you moved.

COUPLE OF TIPS ON NETWORK SETUP:
I have always found it better to keep the network setup in the house simple - by assigning static addresses to each device. For e.g. a typical setup can be done like this:
- Main wi-fi router's DHCP server set up for the range 192.168.1.x
- Router access is at 192.168.1.1 (you can login and administer that router by typing [...] from your browser)
- The DHCP range can be set to 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.100
- Other devices: NAS drives: 192.168.1.101
Network Player/Receiver: 192.168.1.102
Gaming device (PS3/Wii/xbox) 192.168.1.103
network printer: 192.168.1.104
Blu-ray player (THIS ONE): 192.168.1.105
TV: 192.168.1.106
This is a suggestion and one can modify to suit their needs/setup/devices.
One big advantage is sticking to static IP address? Other apps, like this BD REMOTE and Denon's remote app etc need not search every time and once registered they will continue to work without having to connect/sync up every time the dynamic addresses change. Routers are usually smart enough to give the same IP address to the same device but some time I do see changes with my D-link that surprises me once in a while. Using static addresses like this has eliminated those surprises for me.

I haven't used this much for Blue Ray DVDs, but so far no problems.
But there are a couple of issues that really compromise this player:
1) It doesn't come with wireless communications built in and so far I haven't found a generic usb wireless dongle that works with it. So if you need wifi and have to buy Sony's add-on communications device, then you might as well just buy a higher end model that already has wifi.
2) all of the above makes this especially important: BD Remote on your iphone or ipod won't control the unit unless it's connected to wifi.
To do over, I would have bought a model with wifi built in.

UPDATE 3/2011: I finally found a simple way to connect this to wifi in my particular system. I have an Apple Airport (handy device) plugged in behind my A/V rack and connected to my audio reciever so I can stream music wirelessly from computers on my home wifi to my A/V system. But the main designed purpose for the Airport was to serve as a bridge between wired network devices and wireless networks. So if you have an Airport, just run a network cable from the back of this BluRay player to the Airport and the player is networked! Even if you don't have an Airport, you can buy one for not much more than Sony charges for the wifi dongle specific to this player. And with the Apple device you get a lot more functionality.

I was a little wary of this player because it was being sold for so little money. I bought this player at Costco for $99.99 and I figured if it wasn't a good player, I could just return it due to Costco's great return policy.
Well, I've had the player for over a week and a weekend of heavy blu ray media usage and this player has been incredible.
Set up was a breeze. My house is set up with wired cat5 in every room, so I didn't need the wireless feature. After hooking up the HDMI, HD sound, and the cat5, I fired up the player and I did the easy set up routine. After that was done, I went to set up and the player told me there was an update available. Down loaded the update and everything was ready in less than 10 minutes.
Tested the player with Avatar and the picture and sound were incredible. Next, I went on Netflix, Amazon, Youtube and tested everything. All the sites worked fine after initial sign up. I only have a 6mbps dsl, but it seems to be more than sufficent.
All in all, this is an amzing player for the price and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. To be honest, I'm thinking of going back and getting another one for the bedroom.

Bought this unit at SAM'S CLUB for 99.99 on Black Friday.
My main interest was for high def picture quality, fast load, and the various high quality sound codecs.
The picture quality is very high. Blu Ray disks have lifelike detail. Regular DVDs are upgraqded in video quality.
The load time is fast.
The sound quality is VERY good.

The instruction manual is minimal.
The on screen GUI is well thought out and easily visible.
I avoided installing ANY new upgrades until I think I need them. The player does NOT need upgrades . . . . yet.
The build quality is good. It has quality plastic and the disk tray is strong enough to avoid easy breakage.
I can connect the unit to my computer via a USB hardwire through the included USB port when I want to access streaming on-line content.
There ARE instructions on the BOX stating that, "(wireless streaming requires wireless router and Sony's USB LAN adaptpter, each sold separately)."
At this price point, you get what you pay for.

Bought one of these units. Works fine as a Blu-ray player. However, I was excited about the DLNA support - and was hoping it was similar to the support Sony builds into their PS3 units. However, although the interface and functionality is similar to the PS3 (albeit "cheaper" looking), the BDP-BX37 does not .support the formats the PS3 does (or even the formats it claims it supports). Most common video format these days is .MP4 - but I was unable to get this player to accept any of the .MP4 videos I have (the PS3 plays them all fine). JPEG photos and MP3 music files work. But I'll be returning this unit, as this was one of the features I was purchasing the unit for.

I have read many mixed reviews about this model of Sony Blu Ray player and I was hesitating to buy it. Costco had a really good deal on this Blu Ray, so I decided to give a shot. Here is my full review to help everybody who is looking into buying this player. I waited for two weeks to do my full test before posting any reviews. I have tested most functionalities of this device and I am very pleased with the result. Here is:
1- Blu Ray picture and sound quality is very pleasant and I was happy with the outcome.
2- DVD playbacks are scaled up as it is advertised and I like it very much.
3- The boot time is fairly fast and disk load time is pretty quick compare to other player.
4- I had no problem watching Netflix movies and never had any of the issues that others have mention. The setup process was very quick and loading movie was a breeze. I should mention that this player does not have the search capability for the Netflix and it only shows what you have built on your queue.
5- Hulu plus is amazing on this device and it comes with its full function. You should sign up for its trial and enjoy it while it last.
6- There are many other video networks on this device and those I have tried were nice and feel the same as Netflix.
7- Even though many have complained about the DLNA connection on this device, I had no problem setting it up and running with it. It took me a couple of days to get myself educated with the protocol and learning how it works, but after that there was no issue using it. I should say this is nothing as close as Airplay from Apple, but it is a good beginning. These are a few things you should keep in mind when sating up DLNA:
a. Make sure your devices are connected to the same network.
b. Make sure you have a home group defined in your local network.
c. If your PC/Laptop/Media server is part of a global domain, you are not going to be able to setup DLNA on that machine and connecting it to the Sony Blu Ray.
d. Finally, check your firewall configuration and make sure nothing is blocking either device communication with one another.
At the end, I have read reviews where people have complained about the device not having the built-in WiFi. Sony has mention this load and clear on their website and the device itself specification that is WiFi ready and needs an adapter for being able to connect to a WiFi network. Please DON'T blame the teacher just because you have been a lousy student and haven't DONE your homework.

Bought this at Costco.

Hooked it up to my network, Wired. My U-Verse box is in my cabinet under my wall mounted Plasma so I was going to wire my BluRay anyhow. Short ethernet cable between BluRay player and Uverse box. I was connected.

I recently moved from DirecTV to Uverse in order to try to scale back the ever increasing costs of "TV"
I had been talking to my wife about the myriad of ways to watch TV and movies now by streaming. And had talked of dumping Cable/satellite entirely...Going antennae and streaming. But it is a hassle to use laptops to visit HULU, CBS, NBC... So, the many possibilities for streaming from the couch that this Player provides was a BIG reason we bought it. I'm really pleased with the world of easy to access streaming content these devices bring ya. I am again considering dumping Cable.. although we miss our TIVO, and the Uverse has a fairly decent DVR.. With on demand streaming.. do ya really need a PVR/DVR anymore?

How we use it
We use this mainly for streaming.. We do play BluRays. We moved from a Standard old DVD player to this when we replaced our 13 year old Toshiba tube TV this Christmas with a 46 Inch plasma Panasonic that my son "bought" for us! He said he couldn't watch our TV any longer when he comes to visit. And ordered our Plaasma from Amazon...funny kid..

NETFLIX
We have a Netflix account and have been steaming from a Wii which worked really well hooked up to our TV directly.
After installing the BX37 my wife immediately went to the Netflix menu and set it up without even telling me. Couldn't have been too hard, right? :-) You have to associate your Netflix account.
Here's a link she used.
[...]

As mentioned in other reviews, the Netflix browsing is limited to your Queue. The Wii has a far more robust Netflix app. Some disappointment there.

HULU
After seeing the options for streaming on this device we decided to give HULU plus a try. We have watched Burn notice and the like on Hulu before on our Laptops..
I signed up for it on the web and then activated it quickly on the device. Easy.
Hulu looks great. Lots of choices.

Amazon VOD
Since I am an Amazon PRIME member I saw that Amazon had just added Amazon VOD for free(some content) to Prime accounts the day we brought this home, So I activated that too.

The Amnzon VOD setup was tedious. If I recall, (i'm a bit fuzzy on it now a few weeks later) I ended up having to going to sonystyle.com, creating the account there. Then to Amazon. In the device activation area of my VOD settings, I ended up using the general choice for Sony BlurRay's which is BRAVIA, It wasn't clear on Amazon's page there at first, that BRAVIA is the choice you have to use.(Why is Amazon such a confusing site to navigate?)

BluRays play great. I'm using HDMI into our Panasonic Plasma TV directly. Pretty amazing how good they look and sound.. We also play videos that we have burned to flash drives, Mpeg's.

NOTE on NETFLIX streaming.
For those having trouble with Netflix buffering.. We did at first. I was really bummed when we started watching Netflix after activating it and saw the darned thing buffer every couple of minutes. We ended up going back to the Wii.. I was going to box it up and return it since I thought that all the services would be like that.. But we tried HULU and AMAZON VOD and they both played and still do, perfectly.. After some research here in the reviews I solved that on my 12 Mbps connection by changing the video settings on the device to 1080i from AUTO. If you take it off of AUTO then it works perfectly..

One last comment about people dinging the device for not being WIFI Enabled..

First I have to say that I did about 4 hours of shopping at Walmart a few days before Christmas to learn what was available in Internet Streaming Blu-Ray players. I'm not the savviest guy but it only took me an hour or so of looking at the boxes and display models before it was obvious that there is a difference in wi-fi capable/ready and Wi-Fi enabled players. If shoppers would actually read the boxes and display notes, look at the "Package Contents" and consider the price of the various players, it would be clear which have WiFi built in.
When I was shopping that day, I saw that it wasn't only the Sony's that have this confusing issue.. Samsung, Philips.. They all use the same kind of terminology,, You just have to read the boxes and the specs.. I'm no Sony FanBoy at all. This is the only Sony device Ive owned since the 80's, literally..

I bought this unit ($130 at Costco) hoping it would be a significant improvement over my 2nd generation Sony BDP-S350...and my expectations were greatly exceeded...and the S350 was a top player in it's time. Like the S350, this will play any Blu-Ray or DVD I put into without a problem...including those I create myself. Unlike the S350, this also plays MP3 CDs and DVDs...and does a pretty good job at it. But it's the improvements on the video quality that surprised even me...and I'm very picky. I have a 67" Samsung LED RPTV that is about as detailed and accurate as any of the new Edge-Light LCD sets...and just about as bright. And it's quite a bit bigger and so shows the flaws more easily. Not quite up with the best Plasma sets, but none of them are as bright. This player seems to have solved most of the complaints I have about most Blu-Ray discs. Particularly motion-blur (which by the way is not solved by the higher speed LCD sets that make films look like video games). Motion blur is most often introduced as a result of using Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) to clean-up somewhat dirty film from which the discs are mastered. I find it the most annoying artifact of any of the possible artifacts (and there are quite a few). And this player seems to fix nearly all of that. Not sure how, but it does...and without making the film look like a video game. It also greatly sharpens the picture and images (without any obvious Edge Enhancement). I think it does it by stabilizing the images and their borders. This is very noticeable. Plus, it pushes a color a bit while keeping it natural looking and improving the accuracy of flesh tones. It also firms up the contrast, without adding hardness. The images just pop right out. And it also does a job on Black Levels and low-light conditions. It's really obvious and there is so much more detail. At least to me. Quite a bit better than my old S350. About the only thing it doesn't have (or do) that I'd like, is provide analog audio outputs, so I can take advantage of the new lossless audio formats (on Blu-Ray) via my old Denon receiver.

And so what if it doesn't come with wireless streaming. I mean, why would you buy a Blu-Ray player if you're willing to settle for the HIGHLY COMPRESSED low-res (and artifact laced) images you get with streaming video at low bit rates.

I recieved this item for Christmas a few days ago and came on Amazon to read some reviews about it. I was shocked at the low ratings especially at the price point this sells for. I am a bit of an electronic junkie and for the price, which was 100 you cannot beat this item.

One of my main concerns was the DVD upconverting as a I have a large DVD collection. It took my old LOTR DVD's which were full screen format and made them look amazing, at least when comparing them to what they looked like through a standard DVD player.

The blu ray play is great as well. I have a 46 inch samsung LCD 1080p 120hz tv. The player brings out the best of the tv's abilities.

Downside... Yes it does not come with wi-fi capability included, and yes it is somewhat misleading that it says wi-fi ready on the box, however, I am an attorney and quickly read the fine print to realize what I was getting, a non wi-fi included unit. I hardwired the unit so it was not a big deal.

Other downside... The netflix software is crap when comparing it to what I can get on my xbox. I truly asked for the machine solely for the blu ray and dvd upconverting, since I had an xbox for netflix. I was shocked at the difference in software quality between the two.

Overall, great product and for the price does the job. Would definitely recommend this product.

I recently purchased this Blu Ray Player from Sam's Club. So far, I'm quite pleased with this player.

For those who do not know, this player (BDP-BX37) is virtually identical to the Sony BDP-S370 (the only difference is that the BX37 comes with an HDMI cable). It is merely the version sold by Sam's Club & Costco.

Pros that I have noticed so far: price, excellent picture, an elegant interface, small size, and fast loading times. I also felt that the setup was quick and simple. I cannot speak to the DLNA features, as I do not have this device permanently hooked into my network. However, I have seen other reviews that have said that any issues have been worked out through updates.

The only con that effects me is the lack of wireless connectivity. However, I knew this when I purchased this player and decided it was a feature I didn't need to pay for as my television already has wireless connectivity and netflix, so any wireless connection on a blu ray player would be largely redundant. Being unable to update the firmware can be a problem, but I ended up stretching a LAN cable across my living room to the device during setup, and it updated itself in a few minutes.

For those that want/need a wireless connection, simply don't purchase this player. As others have already pointed out, the Sony wireless upgrade is expensive. For another $20-$30, you can get the Sony BDP-S570 (or, at Sam's Club, the BX57), that has wireless built in. The S570 is well reviewed, and also happens to be 3D (if you're into that sort of thing.)