Samsung - Blu-ray High-Definition Disc Player with 1080p Output

All right, I've had this player for less than 24 hours. So, if after my honeymoon period, I need to come back and provide updates I will do so. But, so far, I am wowed enough to review right away! Honestly, I had no interest in getting a Blue Ray player at all. After finally replacing my ancient 19" TV last year with a Samsung 32" LCD, I didn't think that TV viewing could get much better. And it isn't as if I'm a huge fan of action films where the clarity of Blue Ray really shines. I was perfectly content with my $ 39.99 no-name DVD player. Then, my tower PC croaked and I was forced to buy a new laptop (a great deal for HP G60-235DX at Best Buy... geez, I sound like a commercial... I promise that I don't work for Best Buy). And this introduced me to Pandora. Ruh roh. A new addiction that sent me looking for other ways to listen. Standalone players seem to range around $ 299.00. So, for about $ 50.00 more, the BD-P2550 gives you Blue Ray, regular DVD upconversion and access to NetFlix streaming video. Cnet reviewed the BD-2550 pretty well, so this felt somethng like a no-brainer to me. I was a bit concerned, after reading some of the reviews, that setup would be a huge problem. I'm just not very proficient at this sort of thing. However, I took the "no guts, no glory" approach and decided to go for it and dive right in. And, setup was incredibly easy - whew! Thanks to Samsung AnyNet, which provides Samsung-to-Samsung recognition, and a single HDMI cable, I was testing a DVD in minutes. Getting connected to the network was a bit more problematic. I do wish that the BD-2550P was wireless. After trying to move my router to the living room, I discovered that the phone jack there was not functional. This was a glitch that I hadn't anticipated. So, back to Best Buy for an ethernet bridge. And I was connected to Pandora and Netflix in short order. Eventually, the BD-2550P recognized that there were firmware updates. This took about 20 minutes. I started watching a Netflix movie and was NOT thrilled with the resolution. Probably some tweaks that I need to make. Plus I'm in the process of upgrading my DSL, so this may provide some improvements. Upconversion on the regular DVD's that I tested provided more clarity than I anticipated. Very nice. Then, I watched a Blue Ray of "The Dark Knight" (not my typical genre - but I actually loved it : >). Wow. I mean really. Wow. So that's what all this fuss is about. Stunning. One of the reasons that setup was so easy was that I didn't have to route anything through a receiver, something that seems incredibly complex to me - all those wires! This upgrade to home theatre did include the purchase of a set of Bose Cinemate speakers. They connect directly to the TV and don't need to be routed through a receiver or any of the other stuff, a perfect and simple solution for a very clean and uncomplicated look for a smallish apartment where I wouldn't be able to blast the plaster off of the walls with a large stereo system anyway! If you think that you may have an interest in this unit, then I suggest that you pick one up right away. I understand that they are being discontinued. Web sources reflect prices in the $ 600 range - so even though Best Buy's price of $ 349.00 seems a bit pricey, it is still a great value. Over the course of a few days, while I was researching this product and trying to make a decision, it became unavailable at the stores closest to where I live. I wound up placing an order for store pickup at the store in Frisco, about a 12 mile drive (and in Dallas, driving more than 5 miles for anything is considered a big deal!)

Ok looked at a lot of players before deciding on this one. I went with the BD-P2550 because it had the Reon HQV chip mainly; secondary to this was the ability to stream Net-Flix. I was unsure how much I would actually use this feature. To be clear to all of you I want to state that this player decodes all of the Hi-Def Audio formats now. This means that you do not need to have a receiver that is HDMI 1.3 to play all of the HD Audio Codecs. If you have a receiver that is HDMI 1.1 compliant and it can receive Multi-Channel PCM over HDMI (Most all name brand receivers with HDMI inputs can) or a receiver that has analog inputs you are set. This player will decode the new Hi-Def audio and send it to your receiver via HDMI or analog out. To be fair so will the upper models from Panasonic (DMP-BD-55) and the Sony (550) just to name a few. As we have a very large selection of DVD's and a very good Yamaha up-scaling DVD player I wanted to be sure that we were not going backwards in video quality. I am extremely satisfied with the video performance on standard definition DVD's. I have watched many movies on this player and I can say that it exceeds the video quality of my Yamaha that has the Furudja Chip in it. Animated movies look simply stunning with standard DVD's. Blu-Ray is obviously exceptional as well. I have done two updates via cat-5 connection straight to a network switch and both were completed without issue. I have streamed many Net-Flix movies as well with excellent results. Just a note on this, you will need to add the movie you want to see to your "Watch Instantly Queue" on a computer, you can not "Surf" movies on this player through Net-Flix. It is a simple process as you register the BD-P2550 with Net-Flix and you are set. Once this is done you add a movie to your Watch Instantly" queue and it will appear on your TV Display screen in a matter of seconds, you hit the enter button once it appears and the movie streams for a few seconds and you are watching the movie, it is that simple. A good (high speed) connection is best, I have very good connection speed and HD Material streamed from Net-Flix is excellent. It is not Blu-Ray quality but it is very good still. I had absolutely no interest in Pandora before I bought this player, but let me tell you it is an awesome feature. It was a very nice surprise. You can actually search for your favorite artist and it will find them and actually create a channel for them that you can always go back to. It was a really pleasant surprise. The audio quality is MUCH better than I expected it to be as well. I see several comments about load times for these players. Yes the BD-P2550 is slower than a conventional DVD player as is all the other Blu-Ray players currently available. The Blu-rays have Java on them this data has to be loaded, this does take some time, but this player is significantly faster than the first Blu-Rays and HD-DVD players that first came out. This player is really not much slower than my Yamaha. For the picture quality you receive the wait for boot up is a non-issue. This player is one of the most feature rich players on the market today. For the money I feel it is unrivaled. I narrowed my decision down to this and the Panasonic DMP-BD-55. I really wanted to like the Panasonic more. I compared both players on the same TV, a Pioneer Elite Kuro Plasma. The Panasonic was an exceptionally good Blu-Ray player, at least as good as the Samsung to be fair. But it simply was not nearly as good on Standard Definition DVD’s. With the current pricing I feel that this player is in a league of it’s own right now and you will not be disappointed. Enjoy.

After much research I chose the Samsung BD-P1500 BluRay player initally. Mainly due to the ethernet port ability to upgrade firmware, not to mention I own pretty much everything Samsung makes (washer, dryer, microwave, fridge, Bluray, DVD, LED DLP, etc). The previous player was easy to use, updated itself and required no work after the initial setup. After a visit to BestBuy I saw the new (P2550) player on the shelf way before I expected. The setup was simple, and it went right in where the previous player was positioned. The first test was "Bank Job" (Mainly due to 7.1 DTS Master HD audio format. It ran like a champ. Quick load, no glitching, sounded incredible. Second test was Rush Hour 3 (Also due to 7.1 DTS Master HD audio). Again, no glitching, skipping, NOTHING. Even in all the action sequences. Disconnecting the speakers one by one allowed me to ensure channels were being decoded individually. Now I have a VERY recent TV (Samsung LED DLP 67'') Biggest LED out right now. That may have something to do with the seamless use, but the signal was strong and clear. I could control the Bluray player with my tv remote via the Anynet technology. (I dont because I have a harmony remote). In the end, I know its alot to pay. But with the USB and ethernet ports, the firmware and hardware abilities are endless. 7.1 decoding from the player, many new color formats and video options. Bluray live will allow all kinds of great info once it starts up, and in the end, all the options on this player will begin to be standard on other players, however for now... This is the one..

I have no other Blu-ray players yet to compare it to but so far there are no complaints about the sound and video, which of course depends on your other a/v compenents as well anyway. The Netflix and Pandora additions are what sold me on this product. Pandora is just THE way to listen to music and it sounds great through your stereo system. On the minor negative side, just be aware that mine runs really hot even while on its own shelf, which worrys me a bit. It seems to take awhile longer to load than my previous DVD players. Also, the ethernet connection for using Netflix and Pandora (and firmware updates) is NOT wireless. You'll need to either run a cable to it or puchase a $70 ethernet bridge to connect with your wireless router. Unless you know something about this stuff, it may not be easy to setup the wireless option. I had to play around with the configurations for both the bridge and 2550 for quite awhile before getting lucky. As usual, it's worth it once you get it all figured out. Now I have three entertainment options just from my DVD player - clear crisp DVDs, streaming HD movies from Netflix, and great music from Pandora. I may never leave the house again. Oh my...what I have I done to myself?

In the preceding weeks we researched the Samsung 1500, 2550 players, Panasonic 35 and 55 and Sony's 350 and 550 players. We settled on the 2550 for several reasons; the analog outputs matched our older AVR that does not have HDMI inputs, ability to link with our Samsung TV, it decodes nearly all audio formats, improved SD DVD picture quality and the firmware update will give us access to Netflix movies and Pandora music. Brought home some Blue-Ray movies same time as the player and it has played them all glitch free. And playback of regular DVDs shows it to be an excellent upconverting machine. As we also have a Toshiba HD player we knew what to expect for HD picture quality but now hearing the HD soundtracks really is the icing on the cake for our modest home theater set up. From power on to show time - about a minute or less. Not near as fast as our old Sony DVD players but notably faster than our Toshiba HD player. The front panel design is clean and simple and compliments our Samsung TV and other AV gear. The rear connections are laid out in an uncluttered fashon which made hook up a breeze Any peeves? So far only a few; Our Samsung TV came with an illuminated remote, this player should've come with one as well. Fortunately the remote's basic playback functions are white and our TV remote, which lights up, can also be used for basic playback functions - Ships with only the inexpensive red, white and yellow AV cables. So be sure to come home with the right type and number of cables for your set up - The front panel display can not be made brighter. So, 4 stars for price because at this price point it could've come with an HDMI cable and 4 stars only for the remote peeve, the machine it self is great. All in all we are very satisfied with our purchase

Well, all the good things about this player have already been mentioned by previous reviewers, so no need to repeat. Just a few "issues" you should be aware of - not a deal breaker, but just some things to consider: 1: The most annoying aspect to me is the fact that this player often does not pick up where you last left off when playing bluray discs - when you stop playing and restart, it will play from the beginning. Also, on some discs, if you press Pause and leave it for more than a few minutes, it will automatically stop, then restart from the beginning. This issue only happens with bluray, not when playing dvd. I read that this is a Bluray issue, not the fault of the player, but it's nevertheless annoying. 2: Netflix movies take a long time to load - much longer than when using a PC or XBox 360. With the Samsung, it'll take about 30-45 seconds for my movie to start - the other devices take about 15 seconds. Also, sometimes the movie I want just won't start - I get a message that this movie is not available now - try again later. I don't know if this is a Netflix or player issue, but it has never happened while using my computer or XBox. In case you're wondering, I am using a direct wired connection to my router. 3: When playing DVD, the FF and Rewind functions are a bit anemic and picture is choppy. 4: Unit has freezed up occasionally when trying to access BDLive features, requiring a Power off and restart of the player. Again, the pros greatly outweigh the cons, but hopefully, these issues can be resolved in future firmware updates.

Ok, so seriously people this player is the greatest thing since the polio vaccine!! Set up was a breeze and didn't take more than 10 min. I have seen where there were a lot of customers that had a problem updating the firmware. I used my USB memory stick and it uploaded on the first try, and I had "The Dark Knight" playing in no time. Then to my surprise there is this program called PANDORA that's integrated into the unit...I had never heard of this but I saw that it was FREE, yes FREE, so I looked into it. Well, ladies and gents, this is a feature that streams internet radio straight through the player and into your surround sound system or tv! The player gives you a code that you go on line and activate it, set up your playlist (that you can also do on the tv) and get ready for the tunes!!! It's great!! I have read that load time on these blue ray players were longer than regular dvd players; however, this really didn't seem any longer than a regular player. Oh yes, I have also read that many people were upset that this unit doesn't have wifi capabilities, well to all of you that do not know, YOU CAN USE A WIRELESS NETWORK ETHERNET ADAPTER. If this doesn't fit your fancy, then pick up one of those ethernet cables systems that plug RIGHT INTO THE WALL OUTLET. I decided to utilize the later, and let me tell you...I have not had any problems with loading or streaming the radio or the BD LIVE feature. So all in all, I am so glad that I decided on this unit instead of the LG BD-300 model, which by the way was my original choice.

Recently purchased the Samsung BD-P2550 to fully take advantage of the HD component on my Samsung 61" DLP (HL61A750). I've been very happy with the picture and audio quality after 15 SD and 5 HD movies. I haven't experienced any video or audio dropouts as previously reported. The upconvert quality is significantly better then my Sony DVPNC800H/B. I also enjoy the ability to control the DVD player with the same remote as my TV through the Anynet technology...works seamlessly. Would purchase again!!