Sony BDP-S570

Pros: Nice, simple DVD player that is compatable with my other Sony products

Cons: Absolutely horrible for Netflix streaming video.

Summary: Like other reviewers, I purchased this unit (actually, 2 of them) for combination of DVD and Netflix support and integration with my Sony LCD TVs. While I had little problem configuring the units for my Airport Extreme WIFI, Netflix streaming video pauses every 2-15 minutes and requires a reload of the video. Netflix blamed Sony who blamed Road Runner who blamed Netflix. I'm an electronics technician and understand troubleshooting. I eliminated all other drains on bandwidth by disconnecting all but 1 BDP-S570. I then connected it directly to the ethernet cable instead of WIFI. The problem persisted. I should note that Netflix streaming videos play just fine on both my hard-wired PC and my WIFI laptop.

I believe that the issue is inconsistent bandwidth. Because of Turbo Boost, my network speed will jump from 12 Mbps to over 20 Mbps. When Netflix sees my speed, they think I have consistantly large bandwith and size the video download accordingly. Then Turbo Boost drops off and lowers my internet speed back down to 12Mbps. While this speed is still quite fast, the significant change cannot be handled by Netflix. The video then freezes.

Because there's no hard drive in the S570, it cannot simply download, buffer and play video with varying network speed. I'm returning these 2 units (sadly) to Best Buy and looking for an alternative.