Samsung BD-C6800 1080p 3D Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)Got the player a few days back. Initial setup was a breeze. Got connected to the internet over wifi very easily. It downloaded some apps and things were up and running. I tried things like netflix, pandora, youtube, accu-weather, google maps, sudoku etc and it was just amazing. Then I got to the real deal - playing a BD and it was quick, fast and fun. I had trouble doing the firmware upgrade (optional) over the network but then I read on some forum that usb upgrade was easier, that turned out to be true and things were done in no time, the procedure for which was available on samsung's site. So far i'm quiet satisfied by the video and audio performance along with the elaborate apps and games that work on this.
I've used it via hdmi with my lcd tv and hd projector. I've tried both analog and optical audio out with the tv and the 5.1 receiver respectively. The remote is easy to use and has good range (bounced signals worked great, never had to point it to the player). Of-course it takes time to punch in the user id etc for the internet apps, but that is a one time setup.


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Turn your living room into a full-fledged 3D multimedia center, with the Samsung BD-C6800Blu-ray Disc' Player.

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Sony BRAVIA W-Series KDL-40W5100 40-Inch 1080p 120Hz LCD HDTV Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been waiting for quite some time to buy a new tv. Originally I planned on getting the 40" Z series last year. But when the new models came out this year, the 40" W series offered everything I was looking for a little bit cheaper price. It has a good looking profile and was a snap to set-up. I used the Cheetah tilting mount that I also purchased from amazon. Don't let anyone fool you. The Cheetah mount is just as good or better than the expensive mounts. I already had a ps3 so the XMB menu system was very familiar. This is a great tv for the money.
The only con I can think of is that the remote doesn't have a 1 button sleep timer. You have to go through the menus.
BTW: Amazon did a great job. I order TV on a Thursday and the following Wednesday the tv was hanging on my wall. Nice Service.

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Samsung BD-C5500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I have had the Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray player for about a week now and I absolutely love it. It was very easy to setup and worked perfectly right out of the box. It's smaller in size than the DVD player it is replacing but noticeably heavier. It starts up quickly and loads Blu-ray discs quickly too. The buttons on the front of the player are touch sensitive and don't give the user any tactile feedback so sometimes it's hard to tell if you have pushed them or not but at the same time they are cool and have a cutting-edge appeal. Some people have mentioned that they don't care for the remote but I find it to be very adequate and easy to use. I like the larger size of the buttons since I have big hands. The remote seems to work well at different angles and distances as well. When I first hooked up the player it did a firmware update and about a week later it notified me that there was a newer firmware and again did an update. It's comforting to see that Samsung is actively working to improve the device's firmware by releasing updates frequently if needed. I didn't know what issues/features the firmware updates were addressing because the UI on the player doesn't really tell you but Samsung does list what the firmware updates change/fix on their website. The device didn't have any problems connecting to my home network using a CAT-5 cable. It doesn't bother me a bit that this player doesn't support wi-fi out of the box. In my experience wi-fi is very susceptible to interference from other devices such as microwaves, cordless phones, and other wi-fi routers so using it to stream a high-definition movie could be problematic when you decide to pop some popcorn during the show or if someone calls you on your cordless phone. You'll always get better streaming performance from CAT-5. Plus, it's a lot cheaper than the players that do have wi-fi built in.
I have used this player to stream Netflix content from my Netflix instant queue. Before having this player we watched a lot of Netflix streaming content on our computer but watching it on the HDTV using this player has been a lot more convenient and sounds better on the home audio system than on the computer speakers. Streaming works very well and I haven't seen it skip frames or stop to re-buffer the stream. It takes a little longer to buffer the stream at the beginning of playback than my computer does but after a 15-20 second wait it's good to go so it's not a big deal. I have spoken with people who stream Netflix through the PS3 or XBOX and they have told me it takes about the same amount of time to buffer on those systems and I would imagine other Blu-ray players that stream Netflix would have similar performance. Some of the Netflix streaming content will stream in 720p resolution which looks and sounds great. One thing to note is that this player will only see titles you have added to your Instant Queue on the Netflix website. You cannot use the player to browse for different content and add it to your queue. This has not been very bothersome to me but it might bother some people. I actually like the fact that I can put titles in the Instant Queue for my children to watch and they can't browse around Netflix on the player and find adult content accidentally in the process.
Streaming music through Pandora has been great too. The Pandora app works well and has a good interface. You can give songs a thumbs up or thumbs down but only while the song is playing. It would be great if you could go back through the list of songs that have recently played and give them the thumbs up or thumbs down after they have played like you can on the Pandora website but that's not the way it works sadly. The quality of the audio seems very good and the time it takes to buffer the music is not even noticeable. We have really enjoyed having a device capable of using Pandora connected to the home audio/theater system.
I used the Blockbuster service to rent a movie for my kids. The video/audio quality was excellent and I had no streaming problems but the price was a little absurd. The movies cost about $4 to rent and you only have access to watch the movie for 24 hours from the time you first start playing it. At that price I would expect that you would get to watch the title as much as you want for 5 days just like you would do if you physically rented a movie from a Blockbuster location. I don't think I will be using the Blockbuster service very much unless there is a movie I really want to watch and I'm too tired/lazy to physically go to a Blockbuster and rent it.
Overall I feel like the device does a lot for how much I paid for it and is definitely worth the money. I have already recommended it to numerous friends and co-workers who have been looking to get a Blu-ray player. This is the first Blu-ray player I have owned and might possibly be the last since it's so feature-rich and works so well.
Update 4/14/2010:
I have had this player for over a month now and I have received 4 firmware updates I think. With the firmware updates the device has only gotten better. The updates didn't appear to add any new features but they have made the player more stable so it is less likely to freeze-up or stop working in other ways. Everything has been working flawlessly for me.
There is a new service called Vudu now that this player supports. I have not tried to use it yet but it appears to give you one free HD rental so that you can try the service. It looks similar to the Blockbuster streaming app. Most movies appear to have options to rent/buy the title in 3 different formats. HDX (1080p 5.1 Surround), HD (720p 5.1 Surround?), and SD (Standard Definition 480p and I'm not sure on the audio). I have watched a few trailers on Vudu and they stream fine but I haven't tried actually streaming a movie from Vudu yet.

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The BDC5500 can also wireless LAN ready (wireless LAN adaptor not included). Add to that AllShare™, which enables content to be seamlessly streamed between DLNA® devices, allowing you to play files stored on your PC through your Blu-ray player.

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Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)I already own a Sony BDPS-360 downstairs as our main Blu-Ray player, but wanted a streaming player for upstairs (an Xbox360 takes care of that downstairs). Since I won't have a 3D TV for quite some time, and have wired ethernet running to the appropriate room, the 470/570 offer me nothing over this player, so I bought the 370.
Blu-Rays are very quick to load. Checked out Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and the biggest delay in getting to the movie was skipping the previews up front. Menu was up in just a few seconds, and the movie launched very quickly after that. Maybe 30 seconds from putting the disc in until I was watching the movie.
The remote does have an Open/Close button on it. That was not a big deal for me with the 360, but others complained about it so I thought I'd mention it.
Streaming takes a bit of setup, with the biggest item of note being that you need to register your Blu-Ray on internet.sony.tv before activating the streaming features. I had fits trying to create an account directly on that site, but creating a SonyStyle account first and then activating here worked much better. This works similar to Netflix activation in that you get a 4 symbol code from the player, enter it into your account, and now the Blu-Ray is activated. I then needed to go through the typical Netflix activation, getting another code from the player and entering it into my Netflix account. Amazon VOD linked directly to the Sony account and was then available on the player. Instructions for each of these are included in the screens on the Blu-Ray player, where it will provide the codes and the website address, and you then go the computer and finish linking from there.
Netflix works only off your Instant Queue, so you need to add movies to that queue on the website (or from the Xbox360 or other device with a full browser). Amazon VOD seems to have a fairly complete browser included. Netflix HD quality was reasonable, but most importantly about what I get on the computer or Xbox360; the player does not interfere in any way. This player was my first experience with Amazon VOD, and I must say the Sample HD clip (Superman Returns) was a lot higher than I expected, and actually better than most OnDemand offerings I get from my cable company (TWC NC).
So for Blu-Ray playback and Internet streaming, the box does a really good job. I wish the Netflix interface was more robust like the videogame consoles have, but actual playback and access to the Instant Queue works fine.
(Updates for this paragraph below) The big disappointment, and the one that keeps it from getting 5 stars, is that the SonyStyle page for the player lists DLNA as a feature. This is the standard for letting media devices connect to your computer and stream video / pictures / music over the network. Services like PlayOn also support this. DLNA, however, is not actually active on the player. From checking other sites, no one knows yet if this will be available in a future firmware update, or if the site is incorrect. If DLNA support is critical to your decision making, you may want to hold off until there is some answer on the DLNA picture.
Aside from that, I'm really happy with it as Blu-Ray player and Netflix/Amazon VOD streamer.
I have not yet tried a standard DVD, or any of the music streaming services. I'll update this review if anything changes as I use the player more.
UPDATE MARCH 1, 2010: Sony has updated the product page and changed the footnote for DLNA support. It is now due in a July 2010 firmware update. That's good news, and once the firmware ships I'll try to remember to report back on how well it works. If it works well the review will probably bump to 5 stars, as this is a pretty full-featured, fast, stable Blu-Ray player for under $200, especially if like me wireless and 3D are just not important to you.
One other bit of info for those who buy the player: if you have a Vizio TV, the remote code to use appears to be "04". It's not in the manual, but I tried this after a web search revealed others using the code for other Sony remotes, and this works for turning the TV on and off and changing the volume. The INPUT button does not work for me, though. The manual also seems to be missing the instructions for changing the TV code, but thanks to the manual for the S360 I have downstairs, the instructions are to hold the TV power button on the remote, enter the code, then release the TV power button on the remote.
UPDATE JUNE 9, 2010: The long-awaited DLNA firmware is now available for download. This is working great with my Windows Media Center (from Windows 7), with all my pictures, videos, and music available. One gotcha here is that the Sony has separate menus for all 3 categories, and you must play content from the correct category, even though all files show up under all options. So, for example, if you select your Windows Media Center server from the Video section, it will also have a folder for Pictures and Music, but every folder under those will show "no playable files". All the videos will play fine. It will be similar if you go to Music, except that only the music folder will have playable files.
However, at this time PlayOn is incompatible. The PlayOn server shows up, and you can browse and select videos, but all videos return a "This file is corrupt or unsupported". I've submitted a help request to PlayOn, and from the PlayOn forums it looks like others are as well, so we'll see if PlayOn can make a change, or if this needs to be reported to Sony. My Xbox360 streams the PlayOn stuff fine, so it's not a global issue with my setup.
On a different note, I've also since tried several standard DVDs and done some music streaming, and those features work fine. Others might be picky somewhere about DVD upscaling, but I've never really noticed an issue with this or any player, so I wouldn't worry about it. You do need to be aware that there are settings in the video setup to control the aspect ratio, so if you want a 16x9 picture (not letterboxed), you need to change the aspect ratio settings off "original". Aside from that, DVDs have played perfectly for me. And streaming music seems to work okay with the little I've done.
UPDATE August 9, 2010: PlayON has released updated software that fixes the streaming issues with this and potentially other players. Now that the DLNA support is working for all the stuff I want to stream, I've upped my review to 5 stars, as I have no complaints at all with it.

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Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD1080p and improve the quality of DVDs to near HD with the Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player. Play your favorite movies faster than ever and access a wide variety of movies, TV shows, and music streaming from the Internet plus turn your Apple iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control by downloading a free app.
Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies and DVDs or connect to the internet and access movies, TV shows music and more.

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LG BD570 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Review

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(More customer reviews)Having reviewed previous LG Blu-ray players, including the vaunted BD390, our expectations for the BD570 were pretty high and happily, LG does not disappoint. While some of LG's competitors (notably Pioneer and Sharp), think audio/video performance is the only thing that matters, LG embraces the idea that convenience and choice of media and distribution format are also important to many consumers. So the BD570 includes one of the richest media playback offerings of any Blu-ray player, including internet streaming from Netflix, CinemaNow, VUDU and Pandora. The player also supports DLNA networking so it can access audio and video files on a home network as well. For those who have a library of videos on their computers, the BD570 supports Divx, Xvid and MKV files as well as a number of other formats and codecs.
As far as load times are concerned, the BD570's are decent but not winning any speed records. It offers a 17 second overall bootup time (while it loads all of the aforementioned content options in the menu) - this makes it 3 seconds faster than the Pioneer BDP-320 which offers no multimedia options. Standard DVDs load in about 12 seconds, Blu-rays in 23 seconds, and BD-JAVA-heavy Blu-ray Discs like "Pirates of the Caribbean" in 32 seconds. This is pretty close to parity with the fastest models of 2009 (including OPPO's BDP-83) but it seems like they could have improved things a bit with this whole new generation of players.
In terms of performance, the BD570 delivers Blu-ray Discs in excellent audio and video clarity (as it should), and performs most of the difficult tasks of DVD upconversion right as well - excellent diagonal filtering and 3:2 cadence detection, for example. But it does not handle noisy source material very well (its noise reduction processing could use some work). Overall, as a DVD upconverter, it's very good but not outstanding.
What is outstanding is the built-in 802.11b/g/n WiFi wireless networking. For us this worked right our of the box connecting to our wireless router, and streaming VUDU's 1080p HDX movies like nobody's business. And although the remote looks almost upside down compared to many other BD player remotes, the button layout is actually quite comfortable with the most popular buttons in easy reach of your thumb, and transport buttons (play/pause/FF/REW) raised and angled for improved ergonomics.
Overall, with its built-in WiFi, DLNA networking, multimedia playback and internet streaming offerings, combined with solid Blu-ray playback, the BD570 offers a good blend of performance and convenience for a fairly affordable price. Our complete review of the BD570 is available on Big Picture Big Sound (dot com).

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BD-P, Netflix, YouTube, CinemaNow, BD Live, Advanced Audio, Quick Booting, 1GB Memory, Wireless 802.11n, DLNA, 7.1ch Analog Output, Instant Tray Open, 1080p up-scaling for DVD, USB Media Host

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Samsung UN40C5000 40-Inches 1080p LCD TV - Black/red Review

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(More customer reviews)Great TV for the money....Fast delivery works great out of the box, easy set up (in my case stand alone use)The TV I got was a "open box" special and so far I haven't noticed anythig wrong with it. I buy lots of "stuff" from Amzanon.com and trust them for the quality of the products and the service they offer.

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The Samsung LED 5000: Unsurpassed LED picture quality delivers utterly lifelike tones, from the whitest whites to the darkest blacks. And it looks stunning from any and every angle - thanks to Samsung's Ultra Clear Panel, which absorbs ambient light and virtually eliminates reflections for a more comfortable viewing environment.

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