Sylvania NB501SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player

by Funai

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 13 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B001BQOZFS
• Item model number: NB500SL9
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,132 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Enjoy high-definition movies on your HDTV with this Sylvania NB-501SL9 Blu-ray DVD Player. The NB-501SL9 delivers greatly enhanced video performance with standard DVDs by upconverting their video resolution to HDTV-compliant 720p, 1080i or 1080p via the HDMI interface, adding a new layer of realism to your old favorites. This player also supports a wide variety of disc formats, BD Video, BD-RE, BD-R, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW, Auido CD and more.

Full high-definition video playback

Watch movies in the highest picture quality available for your HDTV. This unit offers full high-definition video playback up to 1080p resolution for an amazing viewing experience. A highly detailed picture and increased sharpness delivers a more true-to-life picture.

Upconvert DVD for enhanced picture quality

Your current DVD will look even better than before thanks to video upconversion. Upconversion will increase the resolution of standard definition DVD to high definition up to 1080p over an HDMI connection. The picture will be less jagged and more realistic for a near high-definition experience.

Enjoy your content on different kinds of media

Full backwards compatibility with DVD, CD ensures that you can continue to enjoy your current audio-video collection. Additionally, you can view JPEG.

Listen to the rich multi-channel surround sound

Multi-channel surround sound, which realizes real-to-life sound and makes you feel that you are really there.

Easy and simple connection to your HDTV via HDMI

Connect this unit to your HDTV with one single HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) cable. It is recommended to use High Speed HDMI Cable for better compatibility. The high definition video output signal will be transferred to your HDTV without conversion to analogue signals, so you will get an excellent picture and sound quality, completely free from noise. Thanks to other multiple outputs, you can also easily con

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Blu-Ray Player, February 15, 2009

By 

Jeffrey Liss (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sylvania NB501SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

This is the Rodney Dangerfield of Blu-Ray players: it gets little or no respect. Most people don't even know that this player exists. They would prefer to spend the extra money and buy a Sony/Panasonic/Samsung Blu-Ray player. But this player does a comparable job.
Set up was simple. I just connected a high powered Mediabridge HDMI cable (which I bought through Amazon) from my Sony Bravia Z series 40" HDTV to the Sylvania 501SL9 and then connected the Sylvania adapter from the back of the player to a wall outlet.
Initially, I had a problem getting the remote to respond. But once I put in the included Panasonic batteries properly, the remote responded well. Load times are quick (10 to 15 seconds). I pressed the set up button on the remote to configure the player properly for audio and HDMI resolution (1080p24). It is important to go into the settings and make this change as the default HDMI display resolution is 720p. I also changed the audio to deep surround sound, which I like better.
The only thing I did not like about the Sylvania remote was that I had to use my Sony remote to change the sound volume. I could not find that feature on the Sylvania remote.
It should be noted that this player does not have an ethernet or USB port so if you need to upgrade the software, you will have to call customer service at Sylvania to send an upgrade disc unless you already possess some advanced CD burning software for a bin file.
I've only had the Sylvania Blu-Ray player for 4 days, but I've already watched 2 blu-ray movies and loved it; it was a tremendous experience with no problems whatsoever.
So, if you want to pay considerably less than the name brands and get a great Blu-Ray player, consider the Sylvania 501SL9.

Update 5/19/09:

I've watched about 15 Blu-Ray movies over the past 3 months and this player has performed flawlessly. Moreover, I finally was able to update the firmware (1.108) for this unit. The program that allowed me to do this was gBurner. I downloaded the bin file from the Funai web site and burned it to Disc (DVD+R) and couldn't believe it when it worked. I followed the instructions from Funai (on the web site) very carefully. Prior to gBurner, I tried so many different programs, but just got error messages. Very few programs support burning bin files and the ones that do are so complicated. At one point I had given up. But I finally did it, thanks to gBurner.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Well...it was nice while it lasted., June 13, 2009

By 

SG Jamison "medwriter" (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sylvania NB501SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

This was my first (and only) Blu-Ray Player, which was purchased last December (2008). Overall, I was very pleased with the picture and sound quality. It was easy to use and other than the occasional "skip" on a dirty disc, it worked fine. The time to load a Blu-Ray disc was quite good for a low-end player (at least from what I can tell compared with the specs and reviews of other players).

The SD slot was a nice additional feature and since my DSLR uses an SD card, I was able to quickly show high-def slide shows.

Unfortunately, just after 6 months of use, it stopped reading discs. Initially it would say "no disc" after loading a CD, DVD, or Blu Ray disc. Eventually, the problem changed and after saying "Loading" for a long time it would display a disc error with a message the disc might be unplayable. Note that the parts warranty for this player is a full year, but for labor it is only 90 days.

Oh well. Perhaps I just received a lemon or had bad luck, but I'd be reluctant to buy this again and will stick with a more well-known brand next time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, But...., March 20, 2009

By 

Nigel Bailey (Deltona Lakes, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sylvania NB501SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player (Electronics)

I have had this player now for 3 months, it works well. Excellent picture and Sound, very good up conversion. No problems, until I tried to upgrade the firmware. This unit is made by Funai. The Funai site asked me to check the upgrade version. No number, Funai said that I needed an upgrade. So I downloaded the file, unzipped it, burnt it to a cd, it did not work. I had also downloaded the upgrade instructions and followed them to the letter. So I called Funai, I was told that I had probably made an error. I tried again, same result. Called again, told that I had to burn it to a DVD, I explained that the site said I could use a CD. This was wrong, DVD only. Once again I tried, didn't work. To cut a long story short, I was told to change the CD burner, CD burning software, CD + R, CD -R, and so on. So after 5 CD's, 2 DVD's (+ and -0), it still will not up grade the player. If anyone else has had this problem please let me know. ([e-mail]) I'm still trying to make the file work