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Review: Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player

The first Google TV Blu-ray player on the market is the Sony NSZ-GT1 ($399) – available only at Sony Style and Best Buy. We were able to get our hands on one, and after a few days of playing around with it, a review is in order.

Setup

The physical setup isn’t difficult at all. In the box you’ll find the player, remote, quick guide, HDMI cable, and a twin IR emitter. The player will be connected to your TV or AV receiver with an HDMI cable; the cable or satellite receiver will connect to the HDMI input on the player; and the IR emitter will provide control signals from the player to the cable/satellite receiver and either the TV or AV receiver.

The remote/keypad connects to the player with Bluetooth, but it also has an IR broadcaster to control a TV. If you do have an AV receiver, you will connect the emitter to the receiver and use the remote’s IR broadcaster to control the TV.

Once it is all connected, there is a simple setup wizard to fit the image onto the TV (very cool), internet connection setup, and Google account set up. Once this is done, you’re ready to go.

I had issues with the setup, and I’ll explain them here because I’m sure other people have had the same issues. Best Buy had two “open box” returns in the store here, so clearly somebody had some problems.

First, it took a long time for the internet connection to work. I plugged in an Ethernet cable and when I selected Ethernet as the connection, it sat there “looking for connection” for a good 5 minutes before I gave up. That’s unforgivable. Next I tried Wireless connection, and that pulled up local networks. When I selected my network and put in the password, it too would “search for connection” for a long time. After a few tries, it finally connected and on to the next step, the Google account. However, I accidentally selected on the remote “back” (it’s an icon) instead of “backspace” (also an icon) and it took me back to the internet connection. After a few more tries to connect, I finally got the system set up.

Next up on the problems, the optical sensor for the mouse wasn’t working. It was weird because I would click the button, and I could move the mouse very slowly and awkwardly with the button depressed, but it frankly didn’t work the way it should. I got on support with Sony and after another 15 minutes they finally fixed the issue by re-pairing the Bluetooth.

For a lot of people, setup was quick and easy, but it took me a good two hours to get it set up all told.




Operation

To describe the initial use of Google TV in one word: Confusing. In the video, you’ll notice I say “confusing” a few times. For the first few hours of use, I and everyone else who used it was simply confused on how to navigate around the menus, and find what we wanted right away.

But, after a while, and particularly after the cable channels were added, the general opinion changed to “this is actually pretty cool.” I guess when you get used to some of the quirks, and customize a few menus to your liking, everything starts to come together.

I can liken this to Apple and Android. The beauty of Apple is it’s intuitive immediately, but you have to adapt yourself to Apple’s process. With Android, the process adapts to you, and becomes much more personal.

I mentioned in the video I couldn’t figure out how to turn the player on from the remote. When the player is off, the remote seems to be non-responsive. However, when the player is on and you wish to turn it off, the power button works just fine.

Conclusion

It’s an expensive Blu-ray player with a lot of cool features, most importantly the television integration. Most Blu-ray players have the other applications, but the ability to search for what you want at the push of a button is a very cool feature. However, if you don’t watch TV, a PlayStation 3 is $100 cheaper.

Netflix to go disc-free on PS3

Big news for owners of the Sony PlayStation 3! Starting Monday, October 18 the PS3 will offer Netflix through the menu – no disc required!

In addition to this great update, the Netflix user interface is also receiving an upgrade for a more advanced browsing experience. The startup and playback will also be sped up compared to the existing disc-based approach.



The good news doesn’t stop there! Some content will now be provided in 1080i resolution, with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Previously Netflix maxed at 720p with 2-channel audio.

I knew there was a reason I didn’t sell my PS3.


From the PlayStation blog

Sony releases details on Google TV products

Today, Sony released details of their upcoming Google TV product line. Included in the line are both HDTVs, and Blu-ray Disc players.

Sony Internet TV

The HDTV comes in four sizes: 24 ($599), 32 ($799), 40 ($999) and 46 ($1,399) inches. The LED side-lit LCD full HD 1080p HDTV availability will begin later this week.

Based on the Android OS from Google, the Internet TV will have access to the Android App Store, plus the standard Sony Internet Video. A handheld keypad with mouse will facilitate the internet browsing. WiFi is built in.



By now you should be familiar with Google TV, so I won’t get into the details again. This HDTV is fully-featured as a TV, and as a Google TV device. The TV will interface with Dish Network HD DVRs for live and recorded satellite TV.

Sony Internet TV Blu-ray Disc Player

The Blu-ray Disc player (NSZ-GT1) will also be available later this week. It will sell for $399. It feature all the same Google TV and Sony Internet Video services as the HDTV, but as a stand-alone package – plus a Blu-ray Disc player.



The Blu-ray Disc player has an HDMI input and an HDMI output. This would be for integrating the Dish Network HD DVR. It also includes three USB ports, presumably for adding a hard drive, keyboard, mouse, or other peripheral. WiFi is built in.

Both the HDTV and the BD player have support for smartphone control, both iOS and Android are supported. The software is upgradeable (it’s Android, remember?), so support for Windows 7 Mobile, WebOS and Blackberry are possible, though not confirmed.

Regardless, the remote that comes with either product is pretty sufficient, including control for the DVR even.



Both products look great! My only problem would be the cosmetics of the BD player; why is it white?

Here’s to hoping the cable providers and DirecTV jump on board!