 Good value player |
| Review Date: March 17, 2009 |
| Reviewer: tmark, Columbus, Ohio USA |
This is a good value for a blu-ray player with the new online features available such as Netflix, Pandora, and BD-Live. It is small and easy to install and setup. I use the HDMI output to my Samsung HDTV and the Optical Digital Audio output to my AV receiver. The Anynet+ feature is convenient which helps the Samsung components work together reducing button pushing. I hooked up an ethernet cable and easily got it online and setup with my pre-existing accounts with Netflix and Pandora. I've read BD-Live requires a USB 1GB flash drive. I have download cable modem speeds in 6MB/s range so the picture quality is very good from Netflix, I'd say equivalent to upconverted DVD quality. Audio quality from Pandora is also excellent and the commercial-free music service is supreme. Blu-ray DVDs look fantastic and upconverted standard DVDs look great too. This does not have the higher-end HQV chip to my knowledge. The face pushbutton interface is cool and has a high-tech feel to it. Load time is very fast - about 8 to 10s. The menus look good and are easy to navigate. No complaints here. I'm very pleased getting all these features for entry level money.
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Finally a FAST stand alone
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| Review Date: March 24, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Shane Bushman, Palm Beach, FL USA |
I bought one of these to replace a PS3 because I hated that it looked like a wart in my setup, had a loud fan, and could not bitstream. Finally there is a small blu-ray standalone that is fast, has a great picture and can bitstream advanced audio. It looks great in the rack and the netflix/pandora features are a nice bonus. I won't be missing the PS3 at all.
BTW, it is known that a 1GB usb drive is needed for BD live enabled titles. If you do not have one installed, and are not internet connected BD-live titles will not play unless BD-Live is disabled under the settings. I don't know why it is enabled by default, but the couple of guys that had unplayable discs could have fixed that problem my disabling BD-Live or inserting a 1GB flash drive. A little research will yield a lot.
Since the player is brand new (almost pre-release) there may be hiccups, but expect firmware to address them as they are found. As is, the player is playing all my blu-rays spectacularly. This is a great player. Don't hesitate if the features meet your needs. |
Excellent Blu-Ray DVD & Netflix Device
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| Review Date: April 5, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Rico, |
I got this unit to replace an aging DVD player, relieve some stress from my PS3 and replace an older Netflix streaming video player. The price point for this unit makes it affordable to anyone wanting to enter the Blu-Ray market for the first time. The additional features such as Netflix make it a no brainer in my opinion. If you are already a subscriber to Netflix, why not watch the Instant Movies on your TV instead of your laptop or computer? The biggest issue I see people having is that the wording by Samsung about "wireless" is confusing since it does not have "wireless" access out of the box. They offer a dongle you can purchase separately (not yet available), but I found that for the same price you can buy an Ethernet Bridge Linksys by Cisco WET610N Wireless-N Ethernet Bridge with Dual-Band and just used the wired port. The advantage here is that the bridge can be used for any device, so if you change out the player with something else in the future, your investment in the bridge is protected. I also got the added bonus in that my TV is a Samsung so with their "Anynet" system I could do away with 3 remotes now (TV, DVD Player, Netflix Box) and just use this one.
Bottom Line: The unit is priced to sell and is a great value when you consider the included Netflix streaming video application (requires Netflix subscription). You don't have to worry about firmware updates if you utilize the network port since you can just have the system download firmware updates as required in the future.
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I love this player more than I love my own family *Updated*
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| Review Date: June 15, 2009 |
| Reviewer: John Lemut, |
I was very tentative about buying either of the Samsung Netflix-streaming BluRay players currently for sale on Amazon (BD-P1600 and BD-P3600) based on the negative reviews I read about them. Horror stories of firmware upgrades gone wrong, DOA units, bad tech support, players suddenly not working, and so on had me ready to buy an LG player with Netflix streaming (because I really wanted that streaming).
A killer deal from Amazon settled the debate and I got the BD-P1600 and four BluRay movies for just under $200. If the deal doesn't come around again, don't feel too badly about it, this player is worth the current Amazon price of $250 all by itself. In fact, if Amazon said, 'Hey, John, we want you to pay us the difference that you saved,' I'd be like, 'Well... okay... but just this once.' (Note to Amazon: Do not do this.)
I have a simple setup: Samsung 32-inch LCD television (LN-T3253H) connected to the BD-P1600 with a $7 HDMI 1.3 cable. Yep, that's it. The player worked with very little setup, part of this has to do with connecting it to a Samsung TV. There are little Samsung fairies that live in the devices that talk to each other, but they won't communicate if you hook up a non-Samsung product.
I can't really speak to how much better the picture is over other BluRay players, or vice versa. My TV is *ONLY* 720p. Hey, the player plays movies. The movies look excellent. I've not had a problem with any discs: standard definition or BluRay. I have not needed a firmware upgrade yet: I've watched a couple BDs that were released in March and April of 2009 without a problem. (At some point, I'm sure I'll have to upgrade the firmware. I will post an addendum to this review then.)
I'm using an ethernet cable for the internet connection. The biggest difference between the BD-P1600 and the BD-P3600 is the wireless USB dongle included with the BD-P3600. It costs about $80 on its own, last I checked. You don't need it unless you have some issue preventing you from running an ethernet cable. A cable is more reliable and transmits data faster anyway.
Netflix streaming was easy and fast to set up. I was watching an episode of the original BSG in, like, five minutes. It wasn't very good, but I was really excited just to be doing it (how many times have I said that?). By the way, Netflix recommends a minimum internet connection of 3Mbps to stream content to a standalone player - my cable company tells me I have 7Mbps. To date I've had no issues with Netflix streaming: no skips, pauses, out-of-synch video-audio, or pixelation. Obviously you need a Netflix subscription for this to work. It has to be the $9 per month plan or higher.
If I were European, Netlix would be my mistress and the BD-P1600 would be my wife.
Also available through the internet connection is a music service called Pandora where you type in the name of a single song or artist you like, and this station you create (you can set up lots) up will play songs that are musically similar to whatever you entered. You can give a thumbs-up or -down vote to songs to further refine your station. It's free to set up an account. It's cool. I wouldn't pay for it, but I like.
The only con I have found to date is the player does hum louder than other players I have had when playing a disc or Netflix content. The flip down faceplate to access the disc tray and front buttons is a little odd, not a con, just an oddity.
(By the way, people: a one star review means you hate it, not that you like it a little bit. 'Stupid Amazon won't let me rate it zero stars.' Shut up.)
**Update**
I installed a firmware update on July 2, 2009.
Hey, guess what? Everything still works just fine. I tried the Pandora music service, Netflix streaming and playing a few BluRay discs. Actually, there has been a noticeable improvement in the time it takes BluRay discs to load.
The update took between 10 and 15 minutes, which was lengthy for my tastes, but the on-screen guide does a good job of keeping you appraised of where in the update process you are.
Man, why can't I rate this thing, like, seven stars?
**2nd Update**
I installed another firmware update today (September 5, 2009). This update has added Blockbuster and YouTube streaming like the previosuly available streaming for Netflix and Pandora. I'm not a fan of Blockbuster. The YouTube streaming is a feature the LG Netflix BluRay players have had for a while. I don't have a YouTube account, but if I did, I'd be able to popluate the searches and favorites for retrieval on my BD player. Even without an account, I can still watch whatever random stuff is most popular at the moment.
Everything else is still working just fine. I have not had any issues with any discs: currently Band or Brothers on BluRay is keeping me in front of the TV. The Netflix streaming is amazing and they are contantly adding more content: there aren't a lot of new releases put up. I use Pandora more than I thought I would: I'm digging the Tom Waits station I created as I write this.
I see the current price is $230. What are you waiting for? Add it to your cart! |
Works for me.
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| Review Date: March 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Dick Danger, BILLINGS, MT United States |
Had this for a week and no issues so far. That could change, but so far so good. Paid $279.99 at a big box store and couldn't be happier. Blu-ray looks great and streaming Netflix is a great bonus. If I was a gamer I probably would have paid the extra for a PS3, but I'm not. And I still would have had to buy something else to stream Netflix. Not being a phile of any kind I love it. I could have spent more, but this little unit does everything I need it to do, and it does all of it very well.
Time for an update.
After reading a couple reviews about discs that wouldn't play I tried enabling BD-Live without the required 1GB of memory plugged in. When I tried to play a disc that supported BD-Live the disc would not play. This is easy to fix, either plug in a 1GB usb memory stick, or disable BD-Live. It's important to note the BD-Live feature is enabled by default. Otherwise this player has played every disc I've fed it. |
Best buy for " ", Lowest Price + Free shipping. Get Now! |
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