Sony BDVE880.CEK 3D Blu-Ray Disc/DVD 5.1ch Home Cinema BRAVIA Internet Video

I don't know all of the technical jargon to confuse the masses about how wonderful this thing is so I'm just going to review it as a 'normal' person.

What can I say? I bought this based on reading some very positive reviews so I expected quite a high standard from this thing. I have to admit that even my high expectations were blown away. This thing is just incredible. It is so easy to assemble that even I could do it without swearing (blue to blue, red to red, HDMI to HDMI, okay, I can handle that). I even had to do a temporary bypass for the video out from my cable box as the HDMI out from it is broken, which seemed straightforward. By this point my girlfriend has left me to it probably thinking "Here we go again, I'll come back in four hours or so!".

After plugging it all together I went to turn it on, thinking to myself "and here's where I find out how big a botch I have made of this.", and to my surprise this beautiful (and it is a beautiful looking machine) comes on (a good opening sign). On goes the TV, select the right AV channel and woo-hoo, I have picture. It then guides me through an extremely simple setup 'wizard' which deals with everything from language settings all the way through to calibrating the speakers and sound. Amazing, I have picture AND sound. I'm feeling really pleased with myself so far.

I pop in a Blu-ray disc and the picture and sound quality are second to none, really crisp picture (even on my older Sony Bravia) and sounds flying round the room like you wouldn't believe. The Operating System is really easy to navigate your way around and I managed to get to grips with it really easily.

One of the best features of this unit (and one of the reasons that I bought it), is that it has an incorporated i-pod dock and this is next on my list of possible failures in the setup process that I need to test out. On goes my wee i-pod and the first thing that surprises me is that this dock actually charges my i-pod (It's one of the recent models where generally only Apple docks do that). Genius, A++ to Sony and :oP to Apple! Then I go to the top menu of the system and go hunting for i-pod. It doesn't (as I expected) just tune the speakers to what the i-pod is outputing, but it actually gives you all of your artists/albums/playlists, fully controllable through the system remote control and listed on your TV screen. You don't need to go near your i-pod, so it's a fully functioning sound system as well. I don't know why but I didn't expect this so it was a pleasant surprise. It's also got a radio, and can obviously play CDs and mp3 discs. This thing is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, I'm litterally jumping for joy.

Even my girlfriend is standing there now just saying "Oh wow!". She's blown away by this thing as well. We watch a couple of things (Planet Earth for starters, which is incredible on this) and I just can't find a single thing to complain about.

(Okay, I admit it, there is one little thing that niggles at me, it should have come with HDMI cable and/or coaxial cable, but luckily I had an old HDMI hiding in a cupboard, but it still annoyed me a little. On the plus side, I've not come across anything that DOES come with an HDMI cable, so again, why am I surprised.)

Unfortunately, I don't have a LAN cable at the moment. I am VERY excited to start online streaming with this thing though, and it certainly seems like it's not going to let me down on any front (I sincerely hope so anyway).

I'll continue this review once I've gone and located a LAN cable tonight, but all I can say so far is, if you're looking for a blu-ray surround sound system then YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS THING. It is The Dogs!!!

After searching the internet for a review of this product and to no avail, I decided to take the plunge and buy the Sony BDVE880. The system was simple to set up with all the speakers colour coded and an on screen step by step setup process, to my suprise the system came with a mic for auto calibration for the rooms accoustics, it instantly made a difference to the sound. The first Blu-Ray I played was Tron, the picture was truly crisp and beautiful it really brought my Sony HD LED TV to life, the sound was incredible, the down firing sub was hard hitting and very clear, the general sound overall was incredible and brought the cinema experience right in to my room, I would highly recommend this home cinema system, I seem to find new features on it every day.Sony BDVE880.CEK 3D Blu-Ray Disc/DVD 5.1ch Home Cinema BRAVIA Internet Video

Having not owned a home cinema style system before, i was expecting a step up in quality on my current sound. What i didn't expect is the extent of the quality differential. When i hooked this all up and whacked a blue ray in, my first reaction was WOW. Then my second was, why hadn't i done this before?

The quality of the system is clear throughout, from the clever colour coding scheme (so you know exactly where each wire goes), to the sleek black speakers and the weighty sub-woofer, i was impressed.

Getting it all started was a piece of cake. I put in my LAN and off i went. Software was upgraded instantly.

I also liked the nice little touch where the system calibrates the sound for you automatically by holding a microphone in the ear depending on your seating arrangement. Very clever.

And most importantly the sound quality, and this is where i was blown away. Don't be fooled by the slim speakers, they pack a punch and then some. I watched Tron legacy last night in full surround sound and it was superb. The Blu Ray player is excellent.

Other little touches, the inclusion of an ipod dock (and yes it worked perfectly i did check).

Btw as a little recommendation, i hooked this up to a Sonos Zoneplayer 90 and Spotify Premium and then the system really came into its own.

Very pleased with my purchase, this is a 5 star system no doubt about it. Well done Sony.