i have two of them, yes its slow to slow...

the first time you start it up, expect 90 seconds.... each time after that, about 30 seconds before you can open the tray, and 15-25 more seconds to actually get the discs to play.

other then that, its a excellent player... not sure where u are looking to buy, but best buy has it for 399 w/ 10 free discs (5 instant, 5 mail) till saturday.

you are able to pick whatever 5 movies you like, up to 34.99 each... which basically covers any movie that isnt a box set or tv set...

As far as the instore movies, you can pick any 5 that are $34.99 and under, which basically means any Blu-Ray except for TV Series and multi-packs.

My BDP-300 is a real dog. It takes 3 to 4 minutes, at least, from the time I turn on the power until I can open the disc tray. Then it takes another 3 to 4 minutes to load a disc and then I generally have to waste time skipping through a bunch of previews I could care less about. And the last 2 movies I watched, "Resident Evil Apocaplypse" and just last night "Sunshine", both just paused themselves about 2/3 of the way into the film and after a 5 minute wait, with nothing happening, I tried pushing buttons to play, pause, skip, scan, etc., but all I get is a notification that "I can't do that at this time".  I've had to unplug the unit and wait a minute or two and replug and then go through the whole 7 to 8 minute start up "procedure" all over again so I can work my way through the chapters and figure out where I was. I love that kind of experience, does wonders for the immersion factor. I've had this problem with more than a few Blu-ray titles.

And yes, I always update to the newest Firmware from discs provided by Sony service department, not from the internet, so I don't have to worry about corrupted D/L's.

The latest firmware update is supposed to improve BD-Java compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.

What's the point when the disc themselves won't play through without problems. Interactivity, that's an oxymoron, when it freezes up the player won't even accept commands from the remote so unplugging it and starting over is the only option, it won't interact anything.

Last night I just unplugged the unit and went to bed. Shame too, "Sunshine" was a very interesting story told well, only I haven't seen the last half hour so I can only guess at how it comes out.

Thanks for the tip on AVS. I took a quick look and may have some things to try to correct the malfunctions.

I notice some posters above have start up and load times of 2.5 minutes from turn on to start play, that would be fine by me. I've timed mine and it takes forever. My dog must be on its' last legs, and it's only 8 months old.

Your right, so much for early adoption of a new technology. Fortunately I've got 600 plus standard DVD's that look great on my Pioneer FHD1 through a cheap OPPO. I won't be replacing those titles with Blu-ray any time soon.

This player really is not worth the cost of box it comes in... Very frustrating...  Everything is slow about it... Movies are always freezing and SoNy does not stand behind the product.