Samsung BD-P2500 Review – First Impression
November 29, 2008
As the manufacturer to first release a Blu-ray disc player, Samsung has enjoyed the status as one of premier manufacturers when it comes to Blu-ray disc player. Most of us don't need introduction to Samsung as they make great consumer electronics. The korean company has come very far in reaching and perhaps surpassing Sony as the most recognized consumer electronic brand. As such, we come to expect solid, if not great players from Samsung. Their previous main consumer player, BD-P1500, has been pretty popular player with solid performance at a great price. This player builds on the success with added features such as Profile 2.0, ethernet and USB connectivity, and added audio supports.
The player looks pretty identical to the BD-P1500. You have the tray on the left side of the player. The LCD display is positioned in the middle with basic playback function buttons on the right side. The glossy finish welcome change from the BD-P1500's finish. Other than that, it is pretty similar player with different connectivity. The player comes with ethernet and USB connectivity. This is handy for updating firmware as well as enjoying the BD-LIVE feature on the new blu-ray movies. One thing that is missing is the SD card reader. The SD card reader would have been nice little addition as most consumers have digital cameras.
The video quality is just amazing on this player. All the blu-ray discs played without any flaws. No jaggieness, motion blur, or choppy sequences were detected in any of the blu-ray movies I played. I played the entire Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy on the player and detected no artifacts. If there is any defects, I doubt anybody can notice it without trying. The audio options are great. It has your standard analog 7.1 channel audio ports should you not have a receiver. It can natively decode DTS-HD, Dolby digital Plus, and Dolby TrueHD. Rest of the high definition audio formats can be bitstreamed to your receiver for decoding. If don't have receiver for your audios, this player might be pretty good choice.
Overall, this is solid successor to the BD-P1500 player from Samsung. At this time, this player can be pruchased at less than $400.00 in various retail outlets as well as internet. There are no visible flaws with this player in terms of video or audio quality as well as solid construction. Highly recommended!
Click here to buy Samsung Blu-Ray Player and save $$$
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The ultimate interactive experience is here. The Samsung BD-P2500 is BD-Live 2.0 Ready so you can enjoy special interactive features, download extra content from the internet and more. You'll also enjoy bold color and crisp details with full 1080p resolution. Movie night just got even more exciting with the highest-quality audio and an incredible picture.Get ready for the ultimate interactive film experience. The Samsung BD-P2500 lets you take full advantage of interactive features like downloadable video content, ringtones, games and more. Download additional content from the internet or even chat with friends when watching the same movie.You're in full command with the BD-P2500. Anynet+ delivers streamlined, one-touch control over all your Anynet+ compatible devices such as the TV, AV receiver, and home theater. You can operate all of them with a single remote control. A true "plug and play" product, it comes with a Consumer Electronics Control feature that lets you operate Samsung HDMI products with one remote control.
Samsung's BD-P2500 is BD-Live 2.0 Ready with an ethernet port so you can enjoy special interactive features, download extra content from the internet, and more. It has 1Gb of onboard memory and a USB port for memory expansion. You’ll enjoy bold color and crisp details with full 1080p resolution. The BD-P2500 also offers breakthrough enhancements such as Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processing and 7.1-Channel analog audio outputs creating a powerful HD audio-visual experience. Plays Blu-ray discs, upscales standard DVDs, and is compatible with BD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R (V mode only), DVD-RW (V/VR mode), Audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and AVCHD discs. Movie night just got even more exciting - with the highest-quality audio and an incredible picture.
Key Features
Total BD Profile Compatibility right out of the box, lets you instantly enjoy the latest interactive features available, including BD Live (Profile 2.0) and Bonus View (Profile 1.1)- Lots of Memory and Easy Upgradeability: The BD-P2500 comes with a built-in, wired Ethernet connection, 1GB of internal flash memory, and a USB port for memory expansion
- Full HD 1080p
- HQV processing chip for the highest quality viewing of Blu-ray discs, upconversion of standard DVDs, and viewing of JPEG images
- HDMI 1.3 output with xvYCC Deep Color support, and a 24fps film mode, exhibiting smoother, more natural playback of film-based material.
- 7.1-Channel Dolby TrueHD Sound and dts-HD Master Audio capable of decoding the latest high-resolution digital multichannel audio soundtracks
HQV Video Processor
In a perfect world, every disc’s image that passed through your Blu-ray disc player into your HDTV would offer immaculate 1080p video with flawless color, impeccable detail, and nary a bit of pesky video noise. In the real world, though, pristine source material isn’t available for every Blu-ray disc—due to age or neglect of the original elements—and there are plenty of movies and TV shows on DVD that you’ll still want to watch on your Blu-ray player. HQV video processing is a great way of elevating those less-than-perfect video sources to a new level, and ensuring that you’re getting the most out of your beautiful high-definition video display.
To do this, the HQV video processors built into better Blu-ray players employ sophisticated algorithms to alleviate the problems that often plague less-than-perfect video sources. HQV processors analyze multiple video fields at once to determine where frames match up and where they don’t, and even which objects are in motion within those frames. In analyzing the video signal over time, the processor also determines the proper frame rate or refresh rate of the original video signal—whether it’s a 24 fps film source or a 30 fps video source, for example—and makes sure that it is dealt with properly. HQV video processors are also great at minimizing video noise without scrubbing the image of all its fine detail, as well as restoring some of the detail that’s lost as a result of aggressive video filtering during the Blu-ray or DVD mastering process. And unlike some competing video processors, HQV processors boast enough processing power to keep up with the multiple video streams (picture-in-picture and split screen) found on many new Blu-ray discs.
Stream Netflix Movies Right Over Your Player
 | Netflix, the world’s largest online movie rental service, has a library of more than 12,000 movies and television episodes available for streaming. You must be a Netflix subscriber in order to receive streaming video service. For Netflix customers you simply need to activate your new BluRay player to your existing Netflix account. Non-Netflix customers must first sign up for Netflix in order to utilize this feature-there is a monthly cost. |
BD-Live
 BD-Live is a Blu-ray feature that enables you to access special content via an internet-connected Blu-ray player. Because it's not coded into the disc, BD-Live content is always updated, always fresh. With BD-Live, your Blu-ray disc is different every time you view it.Check out the latest previews, download special scenes, exclusive features and ringtones, and participate in online communities or games. As BD-Live continues to grow and expand, even more features will become available, customizing features and content to your location or preferences. Now, your disc k |
Bonus View
| Blu-ray Disc has 5x more storage capacity than DVD, which allows more content to fit on the disc. The extra storage capacity also means more room for special features like inline navigation, Bonus View, interactive games, deleted scenes, director commentary and more | |
Navigate to special features, other scenes, or settings without leaving the content you are watching. | Bonus View lets you watch special features and commentary inline without leaving the movie. |
High Definition Soundtrack Support and Output
Providing a truly immersive HD home theater experience, Samsung's BD-P2500 is capable of decoding the latest high-resolution digital multichannel audio soundtracks available. Out of the box, the player can output Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and dts as an uncompressed PCM signal, as a bitstream, or via the 7.1 analog outputs for cinematic sound that is comparable with the latest movie theaters. Additionally, dts-HD HR (High Resolution) decoding will become available with a firmware upgrade in the fall. The BD-P2500 will also pass these and dts-HD MA (Master Audio) as a bitstream output to a separate, external surround sound decoder.
HDMI Features
x.v Color
 RGB Color Range |  xvYCC Color Range | Thanks to the adoption of a newly approved international color standard called xvYCC (an option in the HDMI v1.3 spec, the color space has been greatly expanded. All Sony XBR HDTVs support the xvYCC color profile (Extended YCC Colorimetry for Video Applications), or "x.v. color" for short. Standard RGB color space allows the display of a portion of the colors that are viewable to the human eye. The next generation "xvYCC" color space actually offers an available range of colors that exceeds what human eyes can recognize.
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Deep Color
 | So, where x.v. color expands the available range of colors your HDTV can display, Deep Color increases the number of colors your HDTV can display within that range, for smoother transitions from color to color.
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Specifications
Design
- Piano black with chrome accents and touch pad controls
A/V Features
- Compatible with BD Profile 2.0 (BD Live), Profile 1.1 (Bonus View), and Profile 1.0 interactivity features
- 1GB internal flash memory for BD Live
- Award-winning Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) processing
- 24fps film mode
- xvYCC Deep Color
- Selectable DVD upconversion (720p / 1080i / 1080p)
- Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD decoding
- dts-HD HR decoding via firmware update in the fall
- Dolby Digital Plus™, Dolby TrueHD, dts-HD HR / MA bitstream output
A/V Connections
- 1 HDMI version 1.3 output with CEC (Anynet+)
- 1 component output
- 1 composite output
- 7.1-Channel analog audio outputs
- 1 optical digital audio output
- 1 Ethernet connection (for interactivity features and firmware upgrades only)
- 1 USB connection (for memory expansion and firmware upgrades only)
Playable Media
- BD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R (V mode only), DVD-RW (V/VR mode), Audio CD, CD-R, CD-RW, AVCHD disc
Answers to Basic Questions About Blu-ray
What is Blu-ray?
Blu-ray is a new optical disc format with over five and a half times the storage capacity of a standard DVD (25 GB versus 4.5 GB). A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can hold up to 50 GB of information. With that increased storage, movie studios can finally provide movies on disc in high definition, offering 6x the resolution or image detail of DVD and up to 8 channels of lossless (better than CD quality) digital sound. The new format can also provide interactive features that go well above anything ever offered before.
Is Blu-ray different than HDTV?
HDTV, or high definition television, is a new broadcasting format that offers widescreen, high resolution images offering 6x the resolution or image detail of DVD, with up to 5.1 channels of digital audio. Until now, the signals were only available through over the air transmissions (via an antenna), or through digital cable and satellite signals. You can not get HD signals from a standard video tape or DVD. An HDTV is a high resolution video display that is capable of receiving and displaying these HDTV broadcasts or images. Blu-ray is a complement to your HDTV. It's a disc media format that has enough storage to include an entire movie, plus soundtracks and bonus materials, recorded in the high definition format. You can play Blu-ray discs back on your HDTV and see the same, if not better image and sound quality as you do from HDTV broadcasts.
What kind of TV do I need to enjoy Blu-ray?
You can play back Blu-ray movies on any TV with composite video or better inputs (not RF), but to get a worthwhile benefit from the format over DVD you'll want to have a high-definition television, or HDTV, with a vertical resolution higher than 480p, and preferably higher than 720p. Most Blu-ray titles can deliver an image with a vertical resolution of 1080i or 1080p. The more horizontal resolution the TV can reproduce, up to 1920 lines or pixels, the better.
How are Blu-ray discs different than regular DVDs?
Blu-ray discs are the same size as DVD or CD, but use a blue* laser to store and read data as opposed to the red laser used in DVDs and CDs. The blue laser's shorter wavelength, combined with a smaller aperture lens and a thinner cover layer on the disc makes it possible to create a smaller beam spot size capable of storing and reading much more, smaller information on the disc. A single-layer Blu-ray disc can hold 25 GB worth of data, compared to 4.5 on a standard DVD. A dual layer BD disc holds up to 50 GB. This translates into the ability to store a full 1080p HD image. This has a resolution consisting of 1920 by 1080 progressively scanned pixels, compared to standard DVD's 720 by 480 pixels. In addition, Blu-ray has much wider bandwidth than DVD, delivering signals at speeds up to 48 Mbps, six times faster than DVD's 8 Mbps, and nearly 2.5 times the data of an HDTV broadcast's 19.2 Mbps. *technically, it's violet, but who's keeping track?
Will Blu-ray discs play in my current DVD player?
No. You will need a Blu-ray player to be able to read the smaller, denser information found on a Blu-ray disc.
Will I be able to play standar DVDs on my Samsung Blu-ray player?
Yes. Blu-ray players are backwards compatible with your standard DVDs. They can also play CDs.
Is Blu-ray the same as HD DVD?
No. HD DVD was a competing format with less storage capacity than Blu-ray. With Toshiba, its primary champion announcing on February 19, 2008 that they would end production of HD DVD products, the few companies that were supporting the format announced that they would instead create products for the Blu-ray format.
What does up-conversion mean?
Consumers have over 50 years worth of material in standard definition formats. Up-conversion is the process of taking that existing, standard definition material and converting it (lines and pixels are copied to some degree) to the higher resolution needed to display those signals on an HDTV. When done well, the process can often improve picture quality, though it can't increase actual resolution. The quality of the up-converter, included in everything from up-converting standard DVD players to Blu-ray players and HDTVs, can often determine the quality of the picture.
What kind of cables, connections do I need to have to make Blu-ray work?
You will need either a 3-wire analog component (typically labeled Y, Pr and Pb) or an HDMI digital video connection between the BD player and the TV. The HDMI connection is preferable. Not only will it provide better image quality, but it will pass along higher resolution audio and control information, as well. You may get limited up-conversion options with standard DVDs when using the component connection.
What is firmware and do I need it?
Firmware is like computer software, or the instruction set in the player that tells the hardware what to do under various conditions. Insert a disc, and the firmware tells the player to read the disc. Press the Play button and the firmware tells the player to play the movie. Generally speaking, the firmware is invisible to the end user. But Blu-ray keeps evolving, and new features keep being created. With each new feature that a movie studio comes up with, hardware manufacturers have to release new instruction sets, or firmware, to deal with it. Samsung's ability to easily update the firmware in their BD players makes them one of the best in the business.
Who supports Blu-ray?
At this point, nearly everyone supports Blu-ray. All the major movie studios have announced that they would support Blu-ray with both new and catalog titles. Thousands of movies and music videos are already available. Most major electronics manufacturers have been supporting Blu-ray since the format's beginning.
Can I rent movies on Blu-ray?
Yes. Blockbuster, Hollywood Video and Netflix, among other places, offer Blu-ray titles for rent.
Are my regular DVDs obsolete?
Not by the definition Merriam Webster would use. You can still play your regular DVDs on your Blu-ray disc player, so they're still useful, but you'll want to replace them with Blu-ray versions as they become available in the new format so that you can enjoy the improved image and sound quality.
Is the only benefit to Blu-ray the video quality? Why should I upgrade to Blu-ray?
You will probably upgrade because of the video quality, but you may also appreciate the improved sound quality available on some players as well as the advanced interactive features. Blu-ray offers the latest generation audio codecs that can play back up to 8 channels of surround sound with improved audio quality over that of standard 5.1 digital soundtracks. This includes Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS High Resolution and DTS Master Audio. Blu-ray also offers advanced bonus features that can include interactive game features or picture-in-picture commentary tracks, not to mention additional features that could be downloaded after the disc has been produced.
Do I need to buy a new home theater system?
You don't need a new audio system, but you should at least have a surround system (five speakers and ideally a subwoofer) with Dolby Digital or DTS audio decoding to hear the theater-like audio experience that is available on Blu-ray. Some BD players offer more advanced audio codecs that provide even better quality sound through up to 8 channels of surround.
What do all these audio formats mean?
You can hear better-than theater-like audio at home. As George Lucas has said, sound is 50% of the movie experience. With the right audio equipment, you can hear up to 7.1 channels of sound that is no different than what the recording engineers heard in the mixing room.
What's the benefit of 24p?
Movies are recorded on film at 24 frames per second (fps). Video is recorded and played back at 60 frames per second. Movies must be converted to 60 frames before being played back on your TV. Blu-ray discs record movie content in the original 24 frame format, and convert the signal within the player to output at 60 fps for standard HDTVs. Some current HDTVs, like Samsung's Auto Motion Plus 120Hz models, and undoubtedly more future ones, can accept and play back the 24 frame signal without the intermediary conversion to 60 fps, which can offer a smoother, more natural-looking image.
What does Profile 1.0, 1.1, 2.0 mean?
Blu-ray's specifications for video are broken into three profiles, each with its own set of hardware and software requirements. Profile 1.0 gave hardware manufacturers a grace period to create players that were capable of Blu-ray video playback, but didn't need to meet the final standard profile requirements. This grace period ended October 31, 2007. These players, while not able to take advantage of all of Blu-ray's promised extra content, will provide full 1080p video playback.
Profile 1.1, also known as BonusView, makes certain requirements mandatory: picture-in-picture, secondary audio mixing, a minimum of 256MB of memory (built-in or removable), and the incorporation of a virtual file system. Players created and sold after October 31, 2007 are required to meet the Profile 1.1 specification, and therefore will take advantage of 1.1-enabled bonus materials on certain BD discs.
BD-Live (Profile 2.0) makes mandatory all parts of Profile 1.1, but increases the memory requirement to 1GB and adds the hardware requirement of a network connection. This specification enables the even-more interactive web-based bonus material found on discs that provide such content.
- Full HD 1080p
- BD Live 2.0 Ready
- Ethernet and USB for firmware upgrades
- Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital True-HD
- DTS-HD upgradable
Dimensions
- Height: 2.3''
- Length: 10.7''
- Width: 16.9''
- Weight: 6.8 lbs
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A great ADD-ON to my viewing system
I think my Online search really paid off, and I am proud of the ‘homework’ I did. I have been following the ‘bluRay’ tech for quite
sometimes and the different players from Sony, Samsung, Panasonics etc.
(visited electronic stores merchants and Online sites too). My final
decision was indeed an easy one as I have the ‘perfect match’ ( the Samsung LN 46 A950 and the Samsung BD2500.)Not forgeting the better deal, order process, and delivery made possible by Amazon where Reviews
of the other Players were available too. To date I can’t still get over
how much I am enjoying this new Tech!(View the’Planet Earth’ with this player, what an ‘Amazing Education’ deligh !
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BD-P2500 Samsung BluRay Player
Excellent product! You can’t beat the streaming feature with your NetFlix account, and the ability to update software from the web is very helpful. A quality Samsung product with plenty of features and adds dramatically to your entertainment experience.
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Excellent Blu-Ray Player with Video Store Built In
I was planning on purchasing the Samsung BD-P1500 but decided to go with the 2500 instead when I found it at a electronics retailer that was going out of business for substantially less than retail. After using it for a full month and had the decision to make over again, I would not hesitate to spend full retail price for this player.
I was not expecting to be able to take full advantage of the Anynet+ function but it works well with my Onkyo 805 receiver and my Panasonic DVD recorder/VHS player with HDMI out. I thought it would only work if connected directly to my Samsung 550 LCD tv. But the TV “sees” the 2500 through the Onkyo 805.
The Standard DVD upconversion is excellent. Enough so that I cannot see spending the extra money to upgrade most of my DVD library to Blu-Ray.
Connection to the internet took just a couple of minutes, my firmware updated with no problems. Downloading the firmware did take some time though so be patient, with a 5mbs connection it took close to 15 minutes.
Blu-Ray Disks do take a little while to load but given most players take a similar amount of time it is nothing to complain about. If you can’t wait 45 seconds for a disk to load you probably don’t have enough time to sit down and watch a movie anyway.
Saving the best for last…The Netflix player is the crowning jewel of this player’s features. I live in a rural area (Nearly an hour to the nearest Video Rental store) but am fortunate to have a 5 mbs internet connection. This player streams the HD content from Netflix with no problems, I have had no dropouts, pauses or bobbles after watching around 20 movies from Netflix online. I have the $8.99 plan which allows 1 disk out and unlimited streaming. It is a great deal for me considering it would cost more just to drive to the video store than the plan costs. The Netflix streaming video service allows you to explore and seek out hose hidden gems that you wouldn’t necessarily find in a video store. They have lots of Indie and foreign films that you might not want to spend $4.50 to rent at the local video store, but cost you nothing but time to watch via netflix streaming. I have discovered a few hidden gems that I never would have taken the chance on in a video store. (Also a few dogs as well that I would have had severe buyers remorse had I rented them!)
If I was forced to say one thing bad about the player, the only thing I would change would be to make the remote a bit more substantial, it does feel light and not up to the build quality of the rest of the machine. I wish it was lit for controlling the player in the dark. The Remote from the Samsung 550 LCD TV can operate the 2500 as well.
I am very pleased with the 2500 and very glad I went ahead and purchased it over the 1500. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a blu-ray player with excellent DVD upconversion, Anynet connectivity, and wants an in-home, on-demand video rental store via Netflix streaming.
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Works as advertised…streaming Netflix is awesome!
The quality of Blue-rays vs. DVD is definitely noticeable, and Samsung does a great drop capturing this quality. Add the ability to stream Netflix videos from over the internet, and you’ve got one great machine.
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Perfect Blu-Ray player
This blu ray player is perfect! I’m upgrading my old home theater and I was convinced I needed to get the $1500 Model 3808 Denon blu ray. Well, I researched every blu ray player on the planet. This one won due to the HQV chip, the onboard analog decoder, and the Netflix interface. The picture quality of blu ray discs is flawless. Just PERFECT. We get Netflix and often times regular DVDs are scratched and my old DVD player (first generation upscaling Samsung DVD player but works great) would often lock up. Not this one, it seems like it could actually play a broken disc – just amazing at the robustness. We’ve watched about 20 movies with it so far without a hitch – everything from Batman to Star Wars to Wall-E. Upscaling of regular DVDs is amazing and blows away my old unit on every level. Optical output to my older Yamaha receiver is perfect. No lip sync issues or anything. It took about 1 minute to hook up the HDMI cable and the optical cable and voila, up and running. I don’t know what people are complaining about load times – this player loads and starts playing pretty quick – like by the time I close the tray and walk 15 feet to my couch it has already started playing. Tray is a bit noisy on opening and the machine vibrates a wee bit when it first starts spinning, but in operation cannot be heard. In contrast, the Denon is wisper quiet all around. I have not interfaced Netflix yet as I am waiting on my wireless bridge to arrive. This is serious bang-for-the buck player. I could afford almost anything I want, and I am very critical of my video and audio, so this has exceeded my expectations. I’m an engineer and a musician, so my eyes and ears are rather picky and critical. I also have a Sammy 67″ LED DLP that rocks and this is a match made in heaven – turn the player on and it starts up the TV and selects the blu ray input – nice. No complaints what so ever from me on this. At this price point you cannot go wrong. Save your money buying $1K+ blu ray players – when played through an HDMI cable you will not ever ever ever be able to tell the difference either in audio or video. 1080p is what it is, decoding over optical is what it is, and the HQV chip is just amazing for DVDs. I have not tried the analog output but I believe this unit has high end DACs in it so you should be OK going analog to an old receiver. Very happy with this unit. Good luck. (I think the Panasonic 55K is a good unit too, but I did not like the skinny form factor – plus no Netflix).
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Awesome Blu-Ray – BDP2500
The main reason I bought the Samsung Blu-ray was because it got great reviews by consumer reports, I already had a Samsung HDTV, and I have a Netflix membership.
This blu-ray player has exceeded all expectations. It integrates seamlessly with my Samsung TV and Home Theater System, and the streaming Netflix option is great! I used to use an S-video cable and audio cord to plug my computer into my TV to play netflix movies, but NO LONGER!! I’m very happy with this purchase.
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Great player but NetFlix feature sucks!
Great Blu-ray player. Lots of great features for the price but Netflix feature would not work. Wot a load a rot!
Samsung taking such liberties with me! Seemed to be a problem with the ethernet connection as it would not connect to the internet. Done the sofware upgrade to DVD drive and uploaded, still no joy. Bollox to that! Dissapointed because that was the main reason for purchase. Contacted Samsung to troubleshoot, no help!. Bunch of wankers! Contacted my internet provider, very helpful told me my best option was to contact my net router manufacturer. Netgear then troubleshot it with me and we finally discovered that it was the ethernet port or software from the blu-ray player. not my provider or the internet router. Solid! Sent it back to Amazon and ordered the identical model. I am willing to give Samsung a second chance. My overall view of this player is that one should be able to take it out of the box. plug it in and PRESTO! the damn thing should work on all features including Netflix. You shouldn’t have to go through the liberty of downloading new software to a disk or flash drive. That’s daft! It should connect to the net and download any upgrades through the remote. Hopefully I won’t have any issues with the replacement when it arrives. Better not! or I will not be happy if Samsung try to take liberties with me again…
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Great Blu-Ray Disc Player – Super Easy to Use, Slow to Load
Just received the Samsung BD-P2500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player. Connection through HDMI is a breeze. The user interface is intuitive. Discs are a somewhat slow to load, but the quality is superb. Up-conversion of non-blueray discs also results in a quality image. I watched my entire collection of Planet Earth regular DVDs and was blown away by the color depth and smooth motion. Pixelation was minimal considering. Some reviewers have complained of having to upgrade the firmware to get Netflix working. My unit came with the latest firmware (even higher number than the one offered on the Samsung Website) and netflix was waiting as an icon on the startup page. Signing up couldn’t be easier if you have connected the device to the internet.
Pros:
- Quality 1080p image
- 7.1 channel audio
- Excellent Upconversion of DVDs
- Netflix onboard
- Stylish finish (though picks up fingerprints easily)
- Quiet performance
Cons:
- Slow to flip through menus and chapters
- Slow to load a disc
- The remote is a bit uncomfortable to use as the shape is odd.
- Construction of the remote feels cheap compared to the quality device.
I would highly recommend this Blu-ray player for the price. If you watch the prices for a couple of days you can even catch it for $299. Shipping was fast and the device was well-packaged. If you are looking for a netflix capable device this is the way to go. I do not have 7.1 channel audio available, so was unable to test this feature. Nice to know that it is here if I upgrade!
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Good Blu-Ray player with a few minor issues
WHAT I LIKE:
1. I am pleased with the quality of video and sound when I play Blu-Ray discs, DVDs, and CDs. The video quality of standard definition DVDs when viewed on my HDTV seems very good to me, much better than I expected, and much better than on a standard definition TV.
2. I like the Netflix client application, and it is working well so far. But it would have been nicer if this feature had worked out-of-the-box; instead, I had to install a software upgrade before the Netflix feature became available. (From reading other customer reviews, I expected this.)
PROBLEMS:
1. When playing a disk, I can not find a way to get the front panel of the player to display the track number. The front panel displays the elapsed time of the current track, but not the track number. This is especially a problem for audio CD’s, because I usually do not have the TV turned on, so it can be very hard to figure out the current track number.
2. I find the remote control buttons to be organized in an inconvenient and difficult-to-use way. The most commonly-used buttons (Play, Pause, Stop) all have a similar shape and size and are hard to distinguish in a dark room from some infrequently-used options (fast, slow, next track, previous track, etc.) Overall, I find the remote control much harder to use than the remote control for my Sony Bravia TV, even though the TV’s remote control has far greater functionality in the breadth of its command repertoire.
3. It would be nice if the player would play MP3 files and JPG files on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM disks. However, I knew before I bought it that this feature is missing.
4. Blu-Ray disks take a long time to start up. I don’t think that this player is slower than others in this respect, but it is still annoying. From what I have read, this is because of intellectual property safeguards built into Blu-Ray players. The industry needs to change some cryptographic standards, or the manufacturers need to start installing some faster computer chips in their players before we’ll get relief from this problem.
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Awesome Player
I already have a PS3, but I wanted something that could play blu-rays in the bedroom. I’d been waiting for quite a while, as there weren’t many good blu-ray players out there other than the PS3. After reading reviews for this player I decided to make the plunge…and I’m so glad I did. The player plays blu-rays wonderfully and it also plays all my AVCHD’s (update your firmware for AVCHD functionality). The Netflix abilities are great (I have yet to see it need to rebuffer while watching a video). The fact that this player has 1 GB of memory built in is icing on the cake.
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Samsung BD-P2500 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
I was hesitant to purchase this DVD player at first due to the cost and wasn’t sure I wanted a Blu-Ray Player. I finally decided to purchase it and got it when it was on sale for $240.00. I like the fact that you can upgrade this player easily. It has worked flawlessly since I purchased it. Set up was simple and easy. However, Samsung should provide a high speed HDMI cable with the product, it is not provided and to get the best quality picture and sound you need one. I think this would be a great selling attribute for them. Overall I am quite satisfied with this product and would recommend it.
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Movie Heaven with netflix and the 2500
I have had my 2500 about two weeks now. I paired it with Samsung 67″ I worried for the ten days it took to get to me,about the hook up to netflix on the internet,I went to at lest five computer geeks and none knew anything about netflix or the 2500, a day or two before my 2500 came I found on line the book to it, it said I would need a router I picked a cheep wireless one. I used wire from it to my 2500 about fifty feet and had it on stand by, just to be sure I had a geek standing by to. The 2500 came I plug in my ethernet cable to it, the tv came to life with out me turning it on. The 2500 put on the screen just what to do, it did the rest five min I was watching a movie from netflix Oh!! yes the best picture I have ever seen on a tv in my sixty five years. Don’t be like me and wait till you are sixty five get one now.
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Good product
So far I have no complaints. Easy to operate and preforms as stated by producer.
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Outstanding BluRay player
we were amazed from the moment we turned it on. Our kids were yelling,”wow”, “Oh my!!!”. They were standing up yelling at the TV because they couldn’t believe how good the picture was. Definitly worth the purchase. You do have to look for the blu ray dvds. There don’t seem to be many in my small town.
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Component Video Problem
We received the Samsung BD-P2500 yesterday. Installed the firmware updates. Tried to play the Blu-Ray with component video cables but monitor had fifties era diagonal lines. (The component cables worked on another DVD player.) Composite video worked, but why use a lesser video quality on a blu-ray. We reset the player per the instructions. No joy. Tried to contact Samsung customer service. Not able to get a person. Read the online trouble-shooting guide. No help. Re-installed firmware again. Still no joy. Read blogs and online reviews to try and find a solution. No help. I’m grateful for Amazon’s return policy. Printed out the UPS return label and returned the unit. I’ll just have to buy another device to play NetFlix on our TV.
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Everything I Asked For
The load times are a little slow, but that’s expected with all blu-ray players currently. The Netflix streaming is excellent and loads relatively fast. The setup was self-explanatory. Really you just plug it in, run a firmware update, and you’re ready.
The one down fall I’ve had is some of the remote controls seem to act weird at times. Be sure to realize that you can use the “Title/Popup Menu” button while playing most movies. There were issues with some discs where I didn’t figure out how to get back to the disc menu and would have to go back to the Samsung welcome screen and start over. Otherwise it would just give me an error that I couldn’t use that button at that time.
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I love this thing…
Normally I write a long review, trying to detail all of the flaws so that a potential buyer would know about them…but in this case I will not as I feel this product works exactly as promised straight out of the box!!
I had originally tried the LG BD300 and was I disappointed, but this has enough internal memory to stream Netflix in HD even with network glitches this thing does not have problems. And Samsung does truly “upscale” my DVDs, making them look great on my HDTV.
Not to mention the ‘hidden’ usb port, that is it is located on the back so that I can leave a cheap drive attached all the time (unlike the LG that had the port on the front, which made it an eye sore).
Buy this, you won’t be disappointed!
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Amazon is excellent.. brand new and arrived earlier than promised
Amazon gave a complete and extensive profile of the Samsung blue ray mdl 2500 and I will continue to purchase all of my electronic needs from Amazon regardless of any small price difference.
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Everything I expected and more
I first began looking at blu-ray in oct/nov of last year, and I haunted these reviews and online AV forums for the next three months looking for the best player. Since I received a lot of information through Amazon (from whom I evenutally purchased this player), I felt it was the least I could do to return the favor.
If you have been searching for a player for any length of time, you know that no single model or brand is without its detractors. At various times I considered Sony and Panasonic, and came very close to buying the Panasonic DMP-BD30K 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. In the end, I went with the Samsung for two reasons – the other items in my home entertainment system were Samsung also, and the streaming Netflix feature. I can’t compare the Samsung BD-P2500 with other blu-ray players, but I can describe my experiences after three weeks.
I ordered this player on a weekend, and it arrived on the following Wednesday, using the cheapest shipping offered. The item was well packed, nestled in some formed styrofoam inside the manufacturer’s box and then the entire thing placed in another box and padded with air packets. There is no assembly required, and installation takes less than five minutes.
Right or wrong, I felt that if all the components of my AV system were the same brand, I’d have fewer compatability problems. And according to my research online and in stores, Samsung had the best customer satisfaction. After nearly a month with television, home theater audio and blu-ray player, I’m extremely happy with every piece. I don’t know if my original reasoning bears out, but I do know I haven’t had any problems with interoperability between components.
Samsung also features a communication option called Anynet+, which will allow different components to talk with one another, and allows me to control multiple pieces with one remote. It works, but I’d give this feature a C grade. It has taken me three weeks of experimenting to get comfortable with it, and I suspect I still haven’t gotten it down completely. At some point, I’ll probably look into buying an all in one remote anyway, because even though the components all work together, when you add cable or satellite, you still have another remote to juggle. If you were leaning toward this player over another based on the Anynet+ feature alone, I’d look for some other criteria by which to judge them. In my experience, it doesn’t add that much value.
The value comes out in the picture, which is literally eye-popping. At the time of purchase, I also bought 6 blu-ray discs (Iron Man, Transformers, King Kong, Sleeping Beauty, Meet the Robinsons, and Encounters at the End of the Word), and they have played without a single hitch. No sound drop, no loading problems, no stuck discs – just a beautiful picture. I’ve read reviews that complained about the load time for blu-ray players, so maybe my expectations were lowered, but I don’t think this player takes any more time to load than a conventional DVD player does. (If you use the Anynet+ feature to power up and load, it will take a few extra minutes). I’ve also read about this player not being able to read certain discs. So far, I haven’t had that problem either, and aside from the discs I own, I’ve also rented others.
The upconversion capabilities of this player are unreal. I popped in a regular edition of ‘Master and Commander’ not long after getting everything set up, and while I could tell that, yes, it wasn’t a blu-ray disc, I couldn’t see enough difference in picture quality to justify replacing my old disc. Not all DVDs are as impressive as that one was, but I doubt there will be any need to double dip as older titles I already own are released on blu-ray. Especially films from the seventies and earlier. The only exceptions I can think of are films that are noted for the cinematography as well as the storyline (Apocalypse Now, Lord of the Rings, Etc.)
I have only used this player while hooked up with HDMI 1.3 cables, so I can’t compare to other methods, but I know that 6-Foot Gold-Plated HDMI v1.3b CAT 2 Cable Male to Male for HD HDTV High Definition Digital Multimedia Audio / Video (Retail, RoHS, UL Compliant) are a ridiculously cheap and easy way to connect this player to other devices. These are the cables I use, and though I haven’t tried any others, I can’t see how the more expensive cables could make a difference. The picture I get right now is better than some store displays I’ve seen.
If I were to knock anything about this player, it would be its tendency to forget the resolution setting once you turn the unit off. Sometimes when you turn it back on, the resolution is set to 1080i instead of 1080p. I’ve not timed it, but to reset the resolution takes approximately 1 minute, so for me, it isn’t a big deal. I also can’t be sure it’s not my fault for this instead of the machine’s.
The other reason I went with this player initially was its ablility to stream Netflix movies, and I’ve found that this feature has become more important to me than I would have thought. I’d not had a Netflix account beforehand, and I set one up specifically to see how well it would work with the player. To do this, I ran an ethernet line from my modem to the player (about 60 feet, strung down and across the basement ceiling and back up again – a real pain), though I’m still not sure if I couldn’t have found a way to do this wirelessly. Since I already have the line ran, it doesn’t matter to me anymore, but if your set-up and house are configured in such a way as to make hard wiring difficult, it may be worth checking into.
Back to the service itself, though. I doubt I’ll ever buy another DVD again, (which is something Amazon probably doesn’t want to hear). Not all of their titles are available for instant streaming, but I think they’ll end up offering more and more as time goes on. Even what they offer now is impressive, and easily keeps me in movies while I’m waiting for others to arrive in the mail. The way we racked up late fees from our local video store, I know in the short time we’ve had the service we’ve already come out ahead. I would suggest though that you ask around first and found out how well the area you live in is for streaming movies. I know that some areas have bandwidth hogs and even though you might be hooked up to a broadband service, you won’t always be able to stream high quality.
In addition to streaming Netflix, as soon as I hooked up the ethernet line, the player prompted me with a firmware update. I was nervous at first – everything had been working fine up to that point, and I’m a big believer in ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. But after the update, everything is still working just as advertised. All in all, I’d highly recommend this player. I do think there are a few glitches, as I’ve mentioned above, but not nearly enough to downgrade its rating. If anything, the ‘glitches’ only apply to some of the bells and whistles. As far as doing what it’s supposed to do, which is play blu-ray discs and upconvert regular discs, then it’s everything I expected and more.
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Pretty Good Unit
Seems like a pretty good player so far. My only big complaint is that it won’t play a DVD+RW disc unless it’s been finalized, and we like to record to disc on another unit and play it back on our home theater system where the Blu-Ray player is installed. My previous DVD player (not Bly-Ray, mind you) had no problem with that. Boot up and Read times are just a bit slower, but nothing to complain about. The Remote Control buttons are fairly small and very hard to tell which one is play, pause, etc., so folks who need reading glasses will find it a pain to deal with, but once you learn which is which, you’ll get over it quickly. All in all, it’s a nice unit and fairly priced.
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