Like other Blu-ray players we've seen, this one definitely makes your HDTV sing: Images pop, colors dazzle, details emerge brilliantly. But Sony charges way too much for it — the same money could buy you a Blu-ray-equipped PlayStation 3 — and leaves out too many desirable features. While we're loving Blu-ray, we're just barely liking this player.
WIRED: Convenient top-mounted Eject button. Upconverts standard- def DVDs to 1080p and makes them look terrific.
TIRED: Painfully slow to power up and load interactive disc features. No Ethernet port for downloading firmware updates. Doesn't decode Dolby TrueHD. Non-backlit remote hard to see in the dark.
$500, sonystyle.com
