This is an older article which originally appeared in the Register-News.

For almost a year, I have been trying to squeeze a Blu-ray player out of our budget to go with our LCD television. As always seems to be the case a car would need an oil change, new tires, or some other expense that stopped me from getting a Blu-ray player. However this Christmas I managed to squeeze enough dollars together (about $190) to get my precious Blu-ray player.

Since I have been wanting one for so long my research was already done about what brand, model, and features I wanted with my new player. In my research, LG and Sony kept rising to the top with the reviews and value (price versus features) comparisons that I performed. For my house, the machine must have wireless Internet access built-in, Netflix access, and decent loading time.

Most, if not all, Blu-ray players are ‘Internet ready’ or ‘Wi-Fi ready’. Unfortunately most people do not realize that ‘ready’ can mean a lot of different things. Internet ready usually means it will connect to your Internet connection using a wire. This can be a pain if you have to run wiring from your router to the Blu-ray player. That is why I chose to get a wireless (Wi-Fi) player – to avoid having to run a wire from my router to the living room. Beware of units that say they are wireless or Wi-Fi ready – this means that you may have to buy a wireless connector to connect to your wireless network.Since the BDP-S570 has wireless built into the machine, I knew it met my wireless requirement, and it has Netflix built in as well.

In addition, this Sony has very good reviews of the load times for Blu-ray discs. The reason this is important is because Blu-ray discs can have MUCH more data (special features, etc.) on the disc than regular DVDs. This is one of the reasons Blu-ray can provide a much clearer picture than a normal DVD. Less-expensive players can be cheaper because they often have slower chips in them that makes them take longer to load with the extra content.

When it came time to make my purchase, the Sony model was surprisingly cheaper than the LG model. So that day I left the store with my Sony S570. Upon getting home with the Blu-ray player, I connected it with the HDMI cable (not included – make sure you pick one up), turned it on and then went through the setup to connect it to my wireless network. This information is all included in the handy ‘Quick setup guide’ in the box with the player.

Once the player was connected to my wireless network, I performed a software update. This added to my available Internet video choices. The choices now include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Qriocity, YouTube, and more. Hulu Plus is offering a 3 month trial, so I’m giving it a shot. With all of my updates complete, I tried out the Netflix streaming service. Netflix seems to work fine with no hiccups, including the past 2 weeks of use. Very convenient with snow outside and nothing on TV. Hulu Plus has also been working without any problems as well.

Of course the real test of the player is watching Blu-ray movies and DVDs. I have to say that ‘The Matrix’ movies looked good on DVD, but look superb on Blu-ray. If you want to see how beautiful a movie can look on Blu-ray, go rent ‘Avatar’. I didn’t care for the movie much, but the color and details on the Blu-ray through an LCD television are spectacular. I cannot wait for more movies to take true advantage of what these new Blu-ray discs can show us.

In my opinion, the Sony S570 Blu-ray player is fast, performs well using wireless, and is quite easy to setup. For the money (now $150 at most retailers) you will not find a better powered and feature rich next-generation player. You can find details about this player at http://www.sonystyle.com .