Sony BDP 3700 region free player review

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Image result for sony bdp s3700





What? Buy a Blu Ray player? No 4k?


Now for those who are into streaming only, this might seem like an archaic thing to do. Especially since there's no 4k playback capability.

However many hobbyists still own a substantial number of Blu Ray discs, and require a disc player. And if you look online, Sony offers the most number of players that can be converted into region free players at a very accessible price. In fact just looking at Amazon.com, you will see about half a dozen offerings at least from Sony, ranging from basic to even those with 4k and Dolby Vision playback.

Image result for sony bdp s3700 review


The tech specs:
https://www.sony.com/electronics/blu-ray-disc-players/bdp-s3700


The 3700 sits near the bottom of the food chain, one up from the bottom, and offers built in wifi compared to the 1700. There is no 3D capability or 4k upscaling. But it is priced very affordably and provides a nice platform for modification to a region free player.

Notable features:
- has a coaxial out
- SACD capability
- built in wifi
- uses an external AC brick

This player has been featured in many reviews and has been known to give a pretty decent account of itself. Viewing Bu Ray discs on my 75" TV has been a joy. I choose this play since it links nicely to my Sony TV and allows me to control the system volume and turn off the TV from the same remote.

I've previously owned the BDP 6500 and it's pretty much the same, sans the 3D capability.

I have no complaints about it's picture and sound quality output. I rely on the video chip in my Sony Z9D, so I turn off the upscaler in this player, but that has been reviewed previously and shown to be impressive.

It's reasonably responsive and the interface is used throughout their range. It's alright but not particularly spectacular. The list of apps available will depend on your region. The remote is small, and not lit, and the player itself is light, but reasonably well built. There is some whirr from the drive, but you are not able to hear it during regular usage unless you put your ear next to it.

But I bought this player for it's region free capability and that's what I suspect most will want to know.

I had a whole bunch of Oppo players in the past, and many of them come with the region free mod. They were responsive and easy to use. But the Sony takes the cake for ease of use. The procedure to change region is very simple.

Out of the box, the player is code free for DVDs. Mine came with a free HDMI cable and an adaptor for European power sockets.

The procedure for changing codes involves:
- turning on the player- eject the disc tray
- then choose the region by pressing the colour button (Yellow for Blu Ray region A; Blue for region B; Red for region C)
- close the disc tray

Viola! That's it. The good news is you can still update the firmware with no fear of losing the mod.

Remember to switch off the quick start.




____________________________________________________________
 I have no financial interest or other interests in any of the items / events I write about.

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