Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-N501 Nuon DVD Player

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I really like this DVD player. Not only for what it is, but what it can be. This is the first DVD that I know to have the ability to update the BIOS. What does this mean? My DVD player had a problem with skipping. I...downloaded software to fix it. Problem solved. How sweet is that?

This unit can also play MP3 and regular music CD's with a great animated screen.

You can make changes to sound, subtitles and other features while you are actually watching your movie. Great feature.

There are two problems I have with this unit.

1. I found out about the BIOS upgrade through a newsgroup... I heard many people had returned their units because they thought it was defective. That's VERY silly. If they simply notified the stores and users they'd have that many more customores...

2. MP3 Player needs improvement.
a)Song titles are not displayed completely. This is a pain when you are trying to select which of Steview Wonder's songs you want to listen to.

b)Songs can only be played in sequential order. Trust me.. this is very annoying when you make a CD of over hundred songs.

c)Song titles are not displayed, even briefly, during the animated screens...

All in all, I recommend this unit. If you agree with the faults I've identified write a letter and send an e-mail. I think they can fix the MP3 features with a BIOS upgrade ( I hope).

I hope this helps..

I have been very interested in the Nuon technology since I first heard of it. The added functionality it claimed sounded interesting, as did playing games. I waited for the N501 to let the first generation units get the bugs out, so to speak, and I have been amazed by the N501.
DVD playback is very clear and crisp. The Nuon chipset allows for a very unique feature, namely watching the movie play while the menu is on the screen! While this doesn't sound very important, it is helpful when tweaking settings and seeing how the system responds. It has some very nice options allowing for ultra-smooth zooms, screen fit (ok, that's useless as it kills letterbox which is there for a reason), etc.
It also allows you to play audio CD's and MP3 discs, while showing an AMAZING light show. It absolutely must be seen to be believed. Moving patterns of light react absolutely in time with any CD you put in, and every CD behaves completely differently. The fact it can do all this with MP3s is equally amazing. MP3 playback seems very clear, although will only show 13 characters of the filename. It has played every MP3 disc I have put in it with no problems.
The games are also very good, somewhere between N64 and Dreamcast level. Don't get this unit if you're really looking for a game machine, but it's a great plus. Tempest 3000 is amazing and must be seen to be believed. Merlin Racing is also very fun. The unit comes with 1 game, Ballistic, which is a fun puzzler with great gameplay (very addictive!) but with poor graphics. If you plan on buying any additional games for the unit, be sure to get a control pad, as the remote is useless for playing games with. The only reason I give it 4 stars and not 5 (upped to 5/5 on Sept. 1, see below) is I have noticed some slight sync issues sometimes on some discs. It is easily fixed by pausing the playback for a split second and restarting, however. I am not sure if this is just my unit being slightly out of spec, or something Samsung can/will fix in the future. Overall, this unit is HIGHLY recommended. Samsung has put together an incredible unit. I have been absolutely blown away by mine, it surpassed all of my expectations and then some! Granted, at the price it won't compete with [$]+ units, but it's not meant to. For a mid-level player with high-end features, this is the one to get. (.....)

The guy who says that there is no firmware upgrade should actually go to samsung's website, click electronics, dvd players, nuon enhanced, then at the bottom click the link on the N501 firmware upgrade. I burned this upgrade to a cd and popped it in my dvd player, and since then, I have had no problems at all with the unit. It performs flawlessy, and it even plays video games! But, at first i was a little depressed because of the audio sync problems and such.... but it is easily fixed with the aforementioned upgrade. Great picture and sound quality for the price.

I have to warn you that this great DVD player does have some problems with older firmware revs, but you can download new firmware and install it from a CDR. Once updated the N501 works like a champ, and delvers great audio and video quality. The Virtual Light Machine (VLM) feature alone makes this a great DVD player for listening to music while being memorized by psychedelic visuals. The VLM feature works with both audio and MP3 discs. I think the best feature of this unit is one that is hidden, the multi-region DVD playback capability. You can learn more about this "region free" mode by heading on over to the Nuon Dome.

THIS IS ONE GREAT PLAYER!!..... Just bought Samsungs new DVD player the N501. This has got to be the best player on the market! The on screen graphics are great and easy to adjust. The owners manual is easy to read and decipher. Although the addition of some graphics in the text would make the manual much quicker to understand. A small negative for sure! I've tried a few Nuon players including the 'much praised' Toshiba 2300 but it can't 'hold a candle' to this baby! I found this one to be a little less expensive than the Toshiba and easier to own and operate! I suggest to 'buy it' I know you'll be well pleased as I am with your purchase for years to come! It's that GREAT!! (and it plays CD-R's and MP3's too!)

Thinking about buying a DVD player? Why not get a Nuon-enhanced DVD player for the same price as a "normal" DVD player? With a Nuon DVD player, you not only get to watch movies, but you can play Nuon games, MP3's, and Video CD's! The N501 is excellent...with the Nuon processor, fast forward advancing is smooth, you can zoom in without any artifacts up to 15X, you can fit the picture to screen and so much more! The N501 works flawlessly and reliably. The remote control is comfortable and will also work with your TV. You get quite a deal for your money and the included puzzle game, Ballistic is highly addictive and fun to play! Great picture, awesome sound and tons of extra features, all for the same price as a regular DVD player. You'll get quite a lot for your money with the Samsung N501! Highly recommended! For more info on Nuon technology...

This is an amazing little player from Samsung, which can now be found right around the $100 mark. Aesthetically speaking, the player's brushed aluminum casing is attractive and smart, and the angled face is quite stylish, a big improvement over the DVD N2000 (though I do miss the jog/shuttle dial).

The picture is very crisp, and although it lacks progressive scan for those with high-end televisions, most consumers will be more than satisfied by it. Sound is also quite good, though the lack of an internal 5.1/DTS decoder might turn some away (not a problem if you have a DTS receiver thanks to its DTS compatible optical and coax digital audio outs). With built-in HDCD decoding and the Virtual Light Machine (which pulsates and illuminates to the many aspects of whatever music you may be listening to), this is one of the better players for the audiophile as well.

As far as the gaming aspect of NUON is concerned, it may very well have fallen flat, though a couple of the games released, Tempest 3000, an extremely addictive and compelling update of the classic arcade game & Freefall 3050 A.D., an extremely unique, if difficult shooter of sorts, are well worth playing. That aspect taken as it is, the multimedia aspects of NUON are still compelling. Aside to what it allows you to do with any DVD (the 20x ZOOM with image filtering and smooth forward/reverse are the best on any player), the NUON Software Development Kit has opened up quite an underground development core, and there are quite a few applications already available, from the shareware version of DOOM, to Pac-Man, with more on the way. It's not going to replace your Playstation 2, but it's a nice diversion from your standard DVD watching, and a great bonus to one of the best values in DVD (the released games can be had for $10 by the way, with controllers at $10-$15.

This player takes everything that was great about the Samsung DVD-N2000 and improves upon it. The user-interface is better, the features are implemented smoother and even offers new features that include CDR support and MP3 playback. Picture and sound are crisp and clear, the NUON features are great, and the audio sync problems (as another reviewer mentioned) are eliminated using the Firmware Update available on the Samsung website...

I bought this as a high-end DVD player about 2 years ago, and I regret it, in addition to the other woes that are mentioned above, it doesn't play DVD-R's or DVD+R's!

I have only viewed a few DVD's on the 501 but have already experienced some frame-lockup and skipping on one DVD. I contacted Samsung and requested the firmware upgrade mentioned in previous reviews here on this site. The Samsung rep told me that there was no such upgrade available and that I should return the unit.

The unit is easy to hook up and use, although the remote is not always intuitive especially the joystick.

The picture is excellent although only a basic analog RCA cable is included. The sound volume , played through my TV, is much lower than regular TV viewing.

The DVD playback functions all work well and most are useful.

Overall, although I am pleased so far, I will need to experiment with more disks to find out if the lockup problem is a nuisance or a deal-breaker.