Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player

The basics

Sony's BDP S470 Blu-Ray Player lets you enjoy movies in glistening 1080p full high definition. Its Quick Start/Quick Load system lets you play movies faster, while its web skills let you connect to the Internet to access movie extras, updates TV shows and music. A downloadable BD remote app even lets you use an iPhone/iPod Touch or compatible Android handset as a remote control.

The good

The BDP-S470 is one of Sony’s 3D compatible players, so provided you hook it up to a 3D TV (and pop in a 3D Blu-ray movie) you can look forward to some spectacular three dimensional images – and make no mistake, 3D looks the business with this player. 2D picture quality is also lovely (although if you’re only interested in traditional two dimensional entertainment we’d recommend you opt for the cheaper, non-3D Sony BDP-S370). We also love the Bravia Internet Video feature, letting you watch BBC iPlayer, Demand Five and movies from LOVEFiLM, as well as the multimedia video player which is compatible with MKV files.

The bad

There’s only one HDMI output on the BDP-S470’s backside, and no analogue 7.1 surround sound outputs, which means 3D watchers will have to forego high resolution surround sound in favour of old-fashioned 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS. It’s hardly a dealbreaker, and it clearly helps keep the cost down, but it’s definitely a minus point.

The bottom line

An excellent all round 3D Blu-ray spinner that delivers pretty much everything you could want (with one notable exception) at a good price.