Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-P230 Progressive-Scan DVD Player , Black

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This is a simple, robust unit. I've rented tons of dvds; it plays them all fine, even the ones with surface marks. There are no real bells and whistles. It shows you jpegs, and plays mp3s. It will not play mpegs, or any of the computer-movie formats, which would be a very nice features to have. I have it connected using the simple yellow-white-red cable, so I can't comment on the fancy new types of connections it offers. If you're looking for a reliable, basic little dvd player that is easy to use, this is a good one.

Got this about a week ago and am quite impressed. The picture and sound quality are excellent, menus and setup are easy to use (I bought an open-box model, missing only the manual, and have had zero problems), and this puppy does just about anything you ask of it.

In addition to progressive scan, this will play not only MP3s but also Windows Media files from CDs. There's also an Easy View feature that will let you watch the film in pan-and-scan if you so desire (GASP! heretics!!)

And not only does the DVD-P231 work quite nicely, the titanium finish is far more attractive than many of the generic-looking black boxes out there. I don't recommend buying a DVD player solely on the basis that it matches your TV, but in this case it's just the icing on the cake.

I went through two DVD players (Panasonic and RCA) that were very bad about playing a disc with even the hint of a scratch. I am very pleased to report that this player is fine even with some pretty bad scratches (hey, I have kids, what can I say). This is a good, solid player with few bells and whistles that most people never use anyway. Just ignore the nerdy folks giving low ratings because it doesn't do everything imaginable.

Unfortunately I had to send the first unit back to Amazon, as it couldn't read disks. I really wasn't too happy about that, but then Amazon was very quick to respond and sent me a new unit by two-day post. The new unit has performed without problems, and I'm happy with the image quality and performance so far. Pluses: a one-button 10 second "review" mode, in case you missed something, and (very ununsual) a programmable cd mode where you can set it to play cd songs in random order. I also appreciated the titanium finish and overall look of the front panel, different than all the other rubber-stamp designs. The remote is a light grey, which distinguishes it easily from my other black remotes, although the most-used play/pause button is really too small. Overall, it's a really outstanding value.

I bought this DVD player to replace my Panasonic RV31 because it had progressive scan out and I just got a new HDTV set, so I wanted to see if there was an improvement. At $75 at Best Buy, the gamble was pretty low.

The first movie I watched was Enemy of the State. I liked the EZ View button which can alter the aspect ratio the DVD player puts out so you don't have to alter the TV aspect ratio. However in the first couple of scenes, there's a picture of the front of a restaurant where there's a black car with silver trim sitting in front. Immediately I noticed that this silver trim had a very distinct jagged quality to it. Out of curiousity, I put the disc in the old player, and it played it without any video noise.

I continued to view the movie in the new player, and the video noise was "unsettling" to say the least. It's almost like when you set a PC monitor to interlaced it was so bad in some spots.

And the final straw was that the player froze on the ending credits like it was starting to overheat. I brought the player back to Best Buy the same day I got it, and bought a cheap JVC progressive scan instead.

To tell you the truth, I hardly notice the difference between progressive and interlaced. Maybe the TV is doing a good job of 3:2 pulldown conversion.

Anyway, I would not recommend this player due to poor video quality.

I purchased this player about a week ago, to hook it up to my newly acquired 26 inch HD widescreen Samsung tv set. The component output and progressive scan made a big difference! Very noticeable improvement over the first-generation Pioneer player I'd been using. This player has played every disc flawlessly. It also has a great feature that allows you to adjust the size of your tv screen to keep fullscreen dvds in the proper perspective. On my widescreen tv, I used the "vertical fit" mode which put black bars on either side of the screen. Tonight I played a rental disc that had many surface scratches. The player handled it perfectly. There might be the odd player out there that has a slightly better picture, but for what this player cost, and the fact that it has "vertical fit" and can play even scratched dvds flawlessly, makes it a winner I can highly recommend!

I have noticed most positive reviews for this are from customers who just started using this DVD Player. And up until a few days ago, I probably would have written a good review. There seems to be a trend with this unit. Mine worked flawlessly for a little over 1 year, probably played 50-75 DVD's. It has been treated like a "baby". Still looks as new as the day I opened the box.
All of a sudden it will not recognize DVD's or CD's.. The display says "Loading" for a few minutes, then reads: "No Disk". I am sure it is out of Warranty, so it will have to just be trashed. Might just have to go back to Sony or RCA for something more reliable. Now Progressive Scans are $30. Cheaper to buy new than to have this repaired.
Good thing AMAZON does not have anymore of these in stock.
Congrats to those who's still work, but it could just stop working 5 minutes from now.
I believe Samsung should recall these or at least give customer's $25 Gift Certificate for a new DVD player.
Thank you.

This DVD worked great when it was new. The line resolution and progressive scan worked great. The color was clear and audio was sharp. CD wkd ok too. I paid extra for progressive scan at the time for the sharper picture. Now 13 months, one month after the warranty expired the DVD mechanism stops reading DVDs. According to Samsung, there are two lasers one for the CD and one for the DVD. I probably used this player 20 times in 13 months and the DVD laser died. Samsung suggested I clean it. I did. No luck. Now I'm having to go buy a new DVD player. Stay away from Samsung. I usually get at least several years of product use with electronics. I used to sell electronics. Spend the $ on a better product, or be happy with one year of good use.

I've owned this DVD player for a while and the more I use it, the more I'm disappointed with it.

First, the front panel is poorly designed. It's impossible at first glance to distinguish the chapter number from he elapsed time. One has to count out the 6 digits of the time to figure out how far into the movie you are. Also, there is no way to display the time remaining in the movie. I feel the remote is poorly designed as well. Many commonly used buttons like fast forward and chapter skip are very small. If there is an order to the layout of the buttons, I haven't discovered it. The remote has a number pad, but you can't use it to go directly to a chapter you want to jump to.

All these personal gripes are excusable and I'm sure that others like the remote and the display. What really bugs me about this DVD player is that it reads DVD's poorly. I've gotten used to the fact that the smallest scratch or smudge causes this machine fits, but what inspired me to write this review is that I bought two new DVD's and this so-called DVD player is showing all kinds of digital artifacts on the very first play. These discs have no problem playing on a friend's Sony DVD player. The machine also frequently freezes on the disc menus requiring me to eject and reload the disc. I am quickly approaching the point where I chuck this machine out the window in frustration. Save yourself the aggravation and get another brand.

I'm about to head back to the store with my unit, and I thought I'd see if anyone else had the trouble I had. Well, I'm glad that you all had such good luck with your units. Ours was awful! Perhaps it was a bad apple.

There was essentially only one problem with our unit, which is that it freezes while playing DVD's. I can't tell if it is due to scratches, because after ejecting the DVD and playing the same portion again, it sometimes works fine. At any rate, it won't play any movies without freezing, choking, skipping and generally making us miserable.

I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend and was HIGHLY EMBARASSED when it refused to play properly with DVD after DVD after DVD! When I saw all the good reviews, I felt like I should add my two cents.

Make sure you keep the receipt.