Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-P401 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

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

 

 

Having just purchased a Samsung Digital TV (Tantus Dynaflat, 27"), I wanted to take advantage of the progressive scan and 4:3 pulldown ability. The logical choice was to purchase a Samsung VCR with these attributes (to maintain remote compatibility, etc.).

DVD players on the market are strikingly similar... and most often, you do truly get what you pay for. This Samsung has been a startling exception. [the money] for a DVD player with 4:3 pulldown and progressive scan? Amazing! However, enough about the theory... how did it work in practice?

After hooking up the player to the Digital TV and then via a switch on the back of the player enabling 480p, the 480-line progressive scan mode, the picture clarity jumped from the run-of-the-mill DVD we're all used to, to something more resembling film quality (See the explanation on 4:3 pulldown in the manufacturer's comments).

Putting this DVD player through its paces meant pulling out a DVD from my collection which looked like, on the playing surface, someone used it to sharpen cutlery. This copy of "The Matrix" has more scratches on it than a prison wall- which makes it a good test for the dual-laser pickup. Most DVD players skip badly on this DVD; my second-generation Sony DVP-S530D even refuses to play certain chapters. The Samsung DVD-P401 did not hesitate, skip, or give any indication it was not dealing with less-than-pristine media. As a DVD player, it delivers more than expected, and much more adequately than many other DVD players which cost twice as much. ....

This is a great little player at any price- and at [the price], the bang-for-buck-ometer is off the charts.

This is my first DVD player - looked long and hard for progressive because I have recently purchased Sony XBR-400 - 36" (WOW) and wanted to take full advantage of its capabilities. I agree that the load time seems slow, but what's 30 seconds when you're getting ready to watch a movie! Otherwise, the unit delivers, I've played many DVD's so far and none have had issues, Gladiator looks spectacular. For the money, I would highly recommend this unit. I have not used nor care for any of the other features. When I purchased (2 months ago) this was the only sub-200 true progressive player out there. (3:2 pull down and all). Worth the money considering the cheapest of the cheapest are only 80 dollars less! *****
*****Update, I now have had many issues with load time, It seems to take an increaingly long time to load a disk and sometimes even errors out saying that there is no disk loaded!!! All my DVD's are brand new out of the box and clean, I've had many problems with new Disney DVD's in particular. I'm debating wether to send it back.

Despite what one reviewer has said I have had success playing mp3s from a CD-R on this unit.

I've used this player for about 2 weeks. I compare it with other DVD players that I have and give it a 3-star rating. The reason is that it has a pretty slow loading time. And if you place a CDR into this player, the loading time will be even slower than that of the original DVD.

Besides I have a problem with its progressive scan mode. When I switch to this mode my Toshiba HDTV projector produces a long horizontal green line across the screen just below the 16:9 picture frame. I'm not sure the Samsung DVD player is the culprit or this is just an incompatible problem by the Toshiba???

Other than that this player works fine in both audio and video.

After the unit had more and more problems loading disks (new) it finally stopped all together. Had to send it back for refund.

i went to the samsung website to check mp3 capability , the 701 which i have since purchased , is supposed to support mp3"s , although on the box + manual it is not mentioned . the 401 is not mentioned on the samsung website to have mp3 capability, my only complaint is it doesnt display time left to play , it looks great on my hitachi digital bigscreen!!!!!

I first got this DVD player as a present back in September of 2003 and it still works great. I also bought new gold plugs for it last May and I must say with those you get the best picture and sound available for your tv when using this player. I always hook my Sony V600s up to the tv in order to listen to music and watch movies without any outside distractions. The way cds sound is absolutely fantastic almost the exact same way it could be heard in a studio it sounds so clear.I never knew I could get so much great sound and picture out of a little Sylvania tv and I have this great device to thank for it. I havent had any problems with it so far but if I do I'll clean the lens.

We bought this as our first DVD player. We thought Samsung was a reliable brand plus it had good reviews on a few sites.
At first it was great then slowly we started to have problems. Last year we started noticing pixelation on some scenes but we blew it off as just something on the disc (dust, dog hair, etc...). Then it started doing it on brand new DVDs & everything went down hill from there.
Now it skips scenes, freezes up and continues to pixel on scenes. Very frustrating! Sometimes it works perfect, other times you have to restart three or four times just to get the movie going.
Of course the warrenty is expired & there isn't anything we can do except take it to "an authorized dealer". (Yeah, right!)
We got 3 years worth of viewing out of it, but I was hoping for quite a few more.

I have owned a few DVD players since they became popular, others being Toshiba models and such. I have to say that especially for the price this is the best one I have owned so far. The progressive scan is of great quality, I love component output, and the menu seems self explanitory to me. It supports all the MP3s I've burnt so far, and VCDs for that matter. All you have to do is put them in, so I don't see what's so difficult, or what you'd need a manual for. I have owned my player for almost 2 years I believe (longer?) and have never had any problems. I noticed some people have had problems with it not reading disks, and I absolutely have to include the following: If your disks are NOT playing, make sure they are clean, and of the correct format. If this is not the problem, you must clean the lens on the DVD player itself. Yes, this is normal and should be done periodically, otherwise it will not function in time. This player does a great job of providing a smooth layer transition (that little glitchy part in the middle of some movies), and is quiet and doesn't tend to overheat like others I've had. I highly reccomend this player, as I've used others and know how good this one is compared to others of same/similar price. And just to let you know I'm not some bonehead on a computer either. I'm a CS major and have extensive knowledge of audio/video equipment. Of course if you don't believe me, you can just check it out yourself.

I've had my Samsung P401 for just a little over a year and in general I was pleased with it. It played most DVDs with no problems. The only disk it wouldn't play was a badly scratched DVD from the library. I bought it because of the Progressive Scan and component out features, thinking that I would still have it in a few years when high definition TVs became reasonably priced. Looks like that won't happen since just 2 weeks after the 1 year warranty expired it quit working. No signal at all.