Sony BDP S490 issue with DEMAND 5 built in software?

[daknightuk]

My BDP S490 is now out of warrany. 

I bought it 2 years ago.

It has a strange fault. When watching DEMAND 5 it freezes up straight after the 2nd lot of adverts. 

Fastforwarding it makes no difference, I have to press stop and then go back into the program and Fastforward it to after the adverts.

As you can imagine its really ANNOYING!! I thought initially it was my internet service provider or a demand 5 issue but demand 5 plays fine on all other devices except the Sony BDP S490.

I have also connected the player to different networks, routers and ISP's and the fault is repeatable every single time and its not just restricted to the one program, its ANY program.

I have read about a fix for iplayer on the BDP S490 but it doesn't affect the issue I am experiencing.

I have the latest firmware which was updated online and there is no newer version

[Anonymous]

Hi there

I used to have a 2011 NX723 TV of which 5OD used to occasionally do the same - I believe its a fault on 5OD side - but could not proove that - but then it would miraculasly work fine the next day.

Anyhow, I would recommend that you perform a factory reset of the S490 as it should clear any issues (if present).  See page 30 of the manual : HERE

Cheers

[daknightuk · Accepted solution]

Hi thanks for your reply. The dead giveaway was when I went to the Opera store and it came up with a message saying my device was not compatible!!

After doing factory resets and exhausting all avenues including speaking to demand 5 and trying alternative network I have concluded that this issue is a software issue with the player which has come about due to the players age.

So after 2 years I was fortunate enough to have bought my player from a decent reseller, my arguement was under the sale of goods act as the player had been advertised as being able to support the "smart features" and clearly the age of the player and Sony's lack of support culminated in the device not being fit for purpose.

The reseller did point out a clause on all the new players around "smart features not being guaranteed". I think because the S490 was one of the 1st to support this the manual did not include the clause.

This aside I changed the player courtesy of the reseller for one of the latest Sony blu rays to which this lasted just 12 hours in my lounge before I noticed random problems with the software (I do use my kit extensively!).

This was promptly returned and the reseller swapped for a Samsung which if i'm honest beats the Sony hands down for performance and features.

Sony really need to do something about their product support and software updates, I've had issues with the new waterproof walkman (water getting in) had that swapped 3 times. Sony Xperia with a freezing issue which I put up with for 6 months before getting rid and this blu ray was just the final nail in the coffin.

I've found the product support to either be poor or non existent and when I've had to use their warranty service for the smaller items they have either gone missing or I've had to wait an inordinate amount of time. I remember my minidisk player had to go to italy for repair a few years ago!!!

I used to be a real fan of Sony products because of their reliability (my DVD player & reciever lasted over 10 years! with no issues). I feel that trying to keep up with competition has driven build quality down, no longer do you get a nice solid metal chassis and a feeling of reliability.