Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Player Review

March 21, 2009

Samsung introduced number of new Blu-ray players at 2009 CES. They range from entry level models to high end model BD-P3600 and BD-P4600. The high end models received much of the attention for its design and form factor as well as the WiFi capability. Getting lost in the mix was the Samsung BD-P1600, the entry level Blu-ray player for Samsung. Companies like Samsung usually count on entry level/mainstream models for majority of their sales. So, it is important for Samsung to produce a great successor to the BD-P1500 and BD-P2500, both great players. Now, the BD-P1600 is available at most retailers for $299.99. The BD-P1600 packs a lot of features for a sub $300 Blu-ray disc player.

Features

For an entry level model, the BD-P1600 includes many of the features usually found on high end models. This is good news for Blu-ray as it moves into mainstream from early adapters. More and more features found only on high end expensive models are finding their way into the lower priced models like BD-P1600. BD-P1600 is Profile 2.0 player with full support for BD-Live. The most notable additions to the BD-P1600 are the high definition audio decoding and content streaming capabilities. On the audio side, BD-P1600 is capable of decoding Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby digital Plus, DTS HD, and Dolby True HD. The content streaming consists of Netflix and Pandora streaming. With Netflixsubscription, you can stream over 12,000 titles straight to your Blu-ray player. With the Pandora service, you can stream latest music straight to your television.

Design

The BD-P1600 is really a slick looking player. The player sports a glossy front panel that covers the disc tray on the left and playback function buttons on the right. The LCD screen in between the two. The player itself about 17 x 8 x 2 inches. The back panel contains all the connectivity. The connectivity includes USB, HDMI, composite and component video, S-video, optical digital audio, and Ethernet port. The player does lack 5.1 or 7.1 analog output connectivity.

Remote Control

The 47 button remote control is fairly standard remote control. The dedicated subtitle and audio buttons are pretty useful. If you like to watch foreign movies with subtitles, the dedicated button is nice addition. The audio button gives you direct access to the audio menu on the fly. The numeric buttons are at the top with playback function buttons right beneath it. The channel and volume buttons are in the middle of the remote, which is better than placing it at the top or bottom. The directional and BD-J disc buttons are placed at the bottom. The BD-J buttons consists of red, green, yellow, and blue. These buttons are used for special features on some discs. Overall, the dedicated buttons are quite nice for convenience. You can program the remote to work with various other components. However, it is not as extensive as the after-market universal remote controls.

Picture Quality

The predecessor models, BD-P1500 and BD-P2500 variants, had no discernible defects in video processing. The BD-P1500 did have some specific defects in some pattern testing but these did not translate to defects in real world movie playbacks. Overall, Samsung models have great video processing. The BD-P1600 is no exception. To compare the video and image quality between other players, Batman Begins and Matrix Blu-ray movies were played. There were no noticeable jaggies or moirés during the playback. The action sequence showed no traces of blocking or other artifacts. The real improvement over the previous models is the loading time. The average loading time was between 8 and 14 seconds compared to almost double for the older models. This held true for newer Blu-ray movies with fancier menus and BD-Live contents as well as the extras. The video quality of Netflix streamed movies are DVD quality at best. The quality depends on your internet connection. For good quality, you will need broadband connection that can handle high bandwidth.

Audio

The audio quality is on par with previous models. The onboard decoding support for the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA is nice addition for people looking for out of the box decoding of these formats. The lack of analog 5.1 or 7.1 channel support out of the box might be problem for people that need those set ups. Otherwise, the audio options are excellent. The Pandora is a nice added bonus. The streaming internet radio is pretty nice if you want to listen to certain song on a spur of the moment. The audio quality of Pandora is pretty good compared to regular CD playback. If you have high end audio system, you might notice some degradation.

Overall, this is one of the best Blu-ray disc player for any price range short of buying PS3 or something lot more expensive like Pioneer or Marantz. At $300.00, it is feature packed player. If you want standalone unit, this should satisfy most users.

Rating:

Samsung BD-P1600 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player
List Price: $199.00
Sale Price: $147.98
Used From: $135.99
Average Rating:

Description

Plays Blu-ray high-definition discs (selectable output resolution: 1080p signals available through HDMI output only; 720p/1080i signals available through HDMI or component video). There is selectable 720p/1080i/1080p video upconversion for DVD (upconverted video available through HDMI output only) and built-in audio decoding to PCM for Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential * Netflix video and Pandora music streaming (subscriptions to these services required). There are 2 USB ports (1 front, 1 rear) for storing downloaded BD-Live material.

Features

Experience vivid, crystal-clear visuals that are more natural, more realistic and simply stunning with Blu-ray's full 1080p HD resolution
Stream Blockbuster, Netflix, YouTube & Pandora
Multi-format playback lets you enjoy Blu-ray Discs, DVD, CD, MP3/WMA, JPEG, AVCHD and more
Enjoy BD-Live support for accessing fresh content
Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD MA technologies for high-definition audio

Reviews

I got the player last week, connected it to the internet via cable. It discovers that there is a firmware upgrade after communicating with the mothership and asks if I want to upgrade. If you say no, the same screen comes up at the next power on. I gave up and upgraded the firmware. Now there is blockbuster and youtube on the selections (who cares? all I need is netflix that's the reason I purchased this model). I decided to watch a dvd. The movie starts but after may be 5mins, the scene freezes and there is a high pitch noise coming from the tv with the frozen image. It did not matter if I had hdmi or component connection. After a couple of power cycles and upgrading the firmware (again) using a usb drive (rather than over the internet) now the machine does not even turn on. There is the blue-black initial screen and bands of salt-pepper noise. After five-six power cycles it comes up. I started watching the moving after apprx. 2 hours of frustration for starting the machine and unfortunately at a certain point needed to pause the movie. Hit the play button, two minutes later, the screen froze with the high pitch sound. I will probably return the player, my recommendation is against wasting money on something that does not work properly.

I purchased this product on 5/09 it stopped working on 11/09 and I thought I was under manufacturer warranty , after calling Samsung they told me that the warranty on labor and parts expires after 3 mths and that I have to take it to a local repair guy mind you I paid full price 250$ from 6th avenue electronics store.I will never buy a samsung product again, I never had a problem with Sony.

Bought Samsung BP-1600 from Best Buy two weeks ago. Same price as Amazon and saved me the waiting time for shipping. So far so good. Play both Blue-ray and regular DVD movies. Uploading time varies from a few seconds to 10 seconds maybe. Read a lot of review complaining the firmware update causing the player not functioning properly. Well, updated mine this morning and did not encounter any issue. I used Powerline adapter to connect the unit to internet via a ethernet cable. The downloading process took approximately 15 minutes and the whole updating process maybe 20 minutes. I tried both Blue-ray and regular DVD afterwards and did not have any functional problem with the player. Registered for NetFlix right away and now I am watching a movie instantly on my TV via BP-1600. Good picture quality. The only downside I experienced so far is the synchronization of my tv remote and the blue-ray player remote, both of which are from Samsung. Not sure it's because of my Fios TV DVR. Verizon tech programs the DVR remote so it controls both my TV and the DVR. But it's not a big issue to me I have to use two separate remote when I play my BP-1600 and TV.

I've had mine for a few weeks now. Seems to do a pretty respectable job playing DVDs and Blu-ray DVDs. But BE AWARE: If you want to play your music CDs on this player, it would be a poor choice of players. About 1/3 of my CDs won't load: Tray slides back open and screen (TV) says: "This disk can not be played." (These are store-bought CDs, not home-burned. Actually home burned seem to work better.) I tried upgrading firmware. Nope. I tried online chat with Samsung support. Nope. I've even exchanged the unit for another one (from my retailer). Same. My guess is that it's a firmware issue. I haven't yet tried Pandora, Netflix, or Blockbuster because I don't have a network connection in that room...yet. So as I said: If you want to play movies: OK. If you want to also play your music CDs: NO.

My sad experience began on mid August 15, 2009. I ordered a Samsung Blu-Ray BD-P1600 Player from Andrew Electronics. It arrived in a few days, but did not work properly through the HDMI connection. I spent several hours making sure the problem was with the player and then contacted Andrew who promptly E-mailed a shipping label to me so that I could return the unit. Andrew sent a replacement that arrived within a week. However this unit had more problems with the HDMI connection than the first. Again I spent much time speaking to Samsung Support and LG support (LG is my TV brand) as well as testing the unit myself to make sure the problem was with the unit. I probably could have sent it back to Andrew again and received another unit or refund, but chose to send it to Samsung for repair even though I would have to pay the shipping costs. Samsung "repaired" the unit and returned it to me. It was now mid September. The repaired unit was worse than ever. Nothing worked through HDMI, not even setup. I took the unit to a local dealer who tested it on several brand TVs and it did not work on any of them. A BD-P1600 that the dealer had for sale did work so I sent the unit back to Samsung on September 27. On October 12, I received notice that the unit could not be repaired and would be replaced. However no unit was shipped. I made several phone calls to Samsung and was told that nothing would happen until the department responsible entered information into the computer system and there was nothing I could do about it until it was. The Samsung representatives were not helpful and some were in fact arrogant. I finally made contact with a Samsung representative who was friendly and willing to help. A replacement unit was finally ordered and arrived on November 13. It is trouble free. Note that all this took Three months! Lessons learned: 1. I would not buy again from Andrew. While he was most cooperative I am suspicious about the quality of the product he sells. 2. I would not buy again from Samsung. Their product may be fine if the one you receive is trouble free. However, if you have to send it in for repair you have a good chance of it not being properly repaired, and/or getting tied up in a bureaucratic system that seems helpless if someone does not enter the data into their computer system. In addition most of their representatives are arrogant and seem to delight in insulting your intelligence. 3. I will buy electronic equipment locally from now on. It is faster, much easier and less aggravating to deal face to face with a local dealer if there is a problem than to do it via E-mail, phone and UPS shipments. The price difference is not worth it!!!

Priced to Sell! Click here to buy Samsung BD-P1600 and save $$$