Good and attractive (mE better than the successor)

- USB ports: The S490, like the S590 and unlike the S390, two USB sockets. A forward, one back. Both are functionally equivalent and provide enough power for a 2.5 inch hard drive. The additional socket on the rear is a ight Plus, because of the permanent one plate / a USB flash drive (for example, for BD Live data because no built-in memory).

- Wi-Fi has the S490, S390 and S590 no different. The original Sony USB wireless adapter is approximately 60 Euro outrageously expensive and foreign-USB dongles, for example of Hama, the player does not accept.

Tip: There is LAN to WLAN adapter such as Netgear WNCE2001, for about 30 euros, which can be easily connected to the LAN port. This works beautifully and allows both USB ports free.

- TV Side View is an app for Android and iOS, with which the player when it is integrated into the wireless home network, can be controlled. Very handy, because the app will bring additional information about the TV program and media content from the Internet and a keyboard provides (saves the USB keyboard, for example, for the built-in Web browser.

- Media content: the player will play, also via USB, all popular formats including AVCHD and MP4 video.. In DVD playback from the hard drive, unfortunately the DVD menu is not supported, but the VOB files he will play and can be on the Audio button also select the sound channel.

- Design: The design is the reason that I'd rather have taken a "used" S490 instead a new S4100. In which the surface is flat and dull in "brushed aluminum" -Lock, it is 43 cm wide (fits for DVD recorder) and it has a numeric display front and more connections (coaxial and optical Ditialausgang and RCA for audio and video back). The S4100, however, is only 36 cm wide, the top "diamond-like" (You can not draufstellen) and the surface is (unfortunately) piano lacquer, which is not only dust and fingerprint sensitive, but also extremely scratch-prone (the demo at Saturn looked like a ice after the Ice Hockey World Championships). So if you wonder whether a switch is worth on the S4100: A clear answer: No, it would be a descent, especially the hardware worse S4100 also offers software-nothing new.

Oh yes: meirn S490 is virtually inaudible (from 3m distance), only the DVD tray is unusually noisy during extension, and so far all DVDs / Blu-Ray ran smoothly.