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Sony BDV-E370 Sony 5.1 Blu-ray Disc System [3D Compatible]

Sony BDV-E370 Sony 5.1 Blu-ray Disc System [3D Compatible]

Just got this all-in-one Bluray theater today. Generally it's a nice bargain (especially at the GoldBox deal from Thanksgiving). I take advantage of it inside our Family area to change the TV speakers, and so the sound is surely an improvement. I probably wouldn't use this in a true "home theater" because the subwoofer isn't powered. But for general Bluray listening inside the Family area and then for Netflix streaming, it sounds all right. It will what it claims and has a lot of good streaming options (Netflix, Pandora, etc). Display quality is great. Bluray player resembles Sony's BDP-S370 player.

However, unlike all of the reviews (on the web) with this unit i read before purchasing, this unit doesn't need DLNA support for streaming music out of your local network servers. In reality onpage 35 from the included manual inside the section "Playing files stores over a DLNA server" it specifically says: "Except for BDV-E370 U.S. models".

This really is extremely annoying. It's obvious to me this device *used* to possess this feature, which explains why every one of the older reviews mention it. My prediction is that it was removed inside a software update. Yes, I did so the network update and now it says that no other update can be acquired. I didn't determine if DLNA was available prior to the update. The related setup page for DLNA called "Connection Server Settings" in the "Network Settings" screen is also missing.

If you don't get yourself a great price deal about this, I'd recommend the BDV-E570 instead which has the DLNA support as well as includes the WiFi adapter. I had a wired Ethernet, so the adapter wasn't a big deal. However, if I needed known that this unit really didn't support DLNA, I might not have purchased it. Now that it's already installed and working, I'll probably keep it.

Maybe we could convince Sony to set DLNA support back into this product. It's obviously only a hardware issue and i am annoyed at Sony for not including this and am annoyed on the reviews that all say it's it when it doesn't. But that is why I'm giving only 4 stars.

Update #1: Since there is no HDMI input, to attach your cable box you should connect digital audio output of the cable box for the input on the E370. You use your TV to switch the video and employ the E370 to change the audio. The only issue using this would be that the Sony E370 does not support discrete remote codes for the different audio inputs. It only has a "NextInput" command. So you'll need a smart remote (just like a Harmony) that can remember what input is selected so it knows the amount of "NextInputs" to transmit to the E370 to get it to the correct channel.

 Best References
wireless speakers
home theater seating