Released in October of 2009, the BDP-N460 from Sony was an attempt to catch up with LG, Panasonic, and Samsung who all offered Blu-ray Players with Online Streaming Media Services. It is a Profile 2.0 player that comes with a range of streaming features and with a lower price than most Sony Blu-ray Players. This combination, along with the fact that it is Sony, so you know the Video and Audio quality will be high, makes for an appealing product.
The design of the BDP-N460 is slim with a front glossy black front panel. The front panel itself is a very clean and clutter free. To the right of the player there are the Play and Stop Buttons. Above this you will find the eject button. On the left is the power button. The LCD display is right center and easy to see with large white lettering.
The display is small but you should have no trouble seeing it. For those who do not like the display to be seen it has a nice feature where it can be dimmed or even turned off. The discs loading tray is found by flipping open the front front panel. A USB Port is located right below the controls on the right of the player. You should not have any issues access this USB Port. However, all other connections are located on the back of the player. This includes another USB Port, but this time the port is recessed into the player. It is encompass by black plastic and has just a small opening but probably will not allow for larger USB drives.
Video Quality: There is a HDMI output, a Composite output, and Component outputs to for video connection. The BDP-N460 supports both 1080p/60 and 1080p/24 outputs via the HDMI connection. This connection will give you the best possible picture when playing back Blu-ray Discs and DVDs. Playback of both Blu-ray and DVD disc is very good on the BDP-N460. Other, more expensive Blu-ray Players may produce higher quality images compared to the BDP-N460, but you will have to pay $300 or $400 more for these players. Considering this, the BDP-N460 performs very well and you should not have any complaints regarding video quality.
Audio Quality: Audio connection for the BDP-N460 are the HDMI Output, 2.0ch analog Outputs, and Digital Audio Outputs (Coaxial, Optical). The player has internal audio decoding for Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio. It can transfer these high resolution audio formats in their native bitstream form over a HDMI cable so your Audio/Video receiver can decode them. Unfortunately, the BDP-N460 does not have multi-channel analog outputs. Therefore, the only way to transfer high resolution audio formats is with a HDMI connection.
Beside video and audio connections, the player has an Ethernet connection found on the back. Once connected to the internet you can access a number of Online Streaming Media Services for movies, videos, music, photos, news, etc. It has an ever growing list of over 25 online content providers such as Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, Slacker Radio, YouTube and many more. While it does not have built in wireless capability, it does have built in software that will make it easy for you to connect the player to your wireless network. This requires purchasing a Linksys Wireless Ethernet Bridge (WET-610N). (Please note, even though Sony says it has built in software to make this process easy, installing a wireless bridge can be a difficult undertaking.)
An internet connection will also allow you to access any BD-Live content found on sound Blu-ray Discs. There is no internal memory on the BDP-N460, so you will need external memory in the form of a USB drive in order to download any material.
THE PROS: The Sony's BDP-N460 Blu-ray Player provides very good image quality on Blu-ray discs. It can stream online media such as Netflix, Amazon Video On-Demand, YouTube, Slacker, and NPR. It is Profile 2.0 or BD-Live compatible and has internal audio decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.
THE CONS: Unfortunately it has no internal Wi-Fi and no internal memory. Has the inconvenience of no eject button on the remote control. You can find outdated material on the internet content channels.
THE FINAL WORD: If you can overlook some missing features, Sony's BDP-N460 Blu-ray Player makes for a solid mid-range Blu-ray Player. It has a low price tag, online streaming media capability and very good image quality. -- Price you should look for when purchasing -- Under $200.00
