Customer Reviews

Samsung HT-DB600 5-Disc DVD Home Theater System

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I decided to take a chance with the Samsung and save a lot of money. I also doubt I'll be in my small condo for more than a few years so why spend $900 on something I'll probably want to replace in a few years anyway.
Positives: The sound is great with plenty of thump from the sub, satellites look good, DVDs look amazing on my Sony HDTV and the 5-disc changer comes in handy with a NetFlix account. I replaced a nice Sony system with this and the sound is just as good. I have a 12x12 living room with hardwoods and I have had to turn it up higher than my old STR component but I have never needed more than 75%.
Negatives: The unit did overheat after about 2 hours of watching the first movie so I just cut a larger hole in the cardboard in the back of my TV stand and haven't had a problem since. The blue light around the volume is annoying if you want to watch a movie with all the lights off but the remote has a dimmer button where you can turn down the intensity of the light or off completely. My only complaint about this is that it always turns on with the light on full intensity no matter what state it was in when you turned off the receiver. My biggest complaint is the connectors you must use to connect the speakers to the receiver. I already had Monster Cable run so I just stripped and crimped the wires just before the connector but I would have much rather just run my wires directly into the receiver.
Overall I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to get a great product at a great price for a small to medium sized room. The cost savings are well worth the few complaints I have above and I'm not even sure I'll try to replace it if I move into a larger place. A true audiophile may be able to point out negatives in the sound quality but I haven't heard anything that I didn't like.

First, Samsung could pack it much better. I had to return the first unit because of a huge dent on the DVD chassis. Amazon sent a replacement next business day so I wouldn't complain much about this. I didn't expect it perform as $1000-HTSystems when I placed my order. But I have to say it performs pretty well considering it's a sub-$250 system.

Pros:
1. Adequate power to accommodate a small/med-size living room or a bedroom. (80watts x5speakers and 100watts x 1 subwoofer, total of 500Wrms)
2. Progressive scan and 3-2 pull down. PQ is really good.
3. Multi-language support for MP3 discs. Not sure of what languages are supported. So far i was able to use cdr's in Japanese, Korean and English.
(MP3 GUI could be better.)
4. Chassis fan to cool off the unit.
5. Customizable Menu Background.

Cons:
1. No Coaxial Digital Audio input. (it does have an optical input.)
2. It cuts off signals from other sources whenever disc eject button is pressed even though you're not watching DVD movies.
3. No component cable? i wouldn't use theirs but still...
4. Remote control has a lot of room to improve.
5. Proprietary speaker connectors and wires.

Despite it lacks some of features; DB600 is a definite keeper for me. You can't simply beat the value, performance and features of this HTS.

***Update***
After a month of use, i'm loving it.
i don't know if there's any other HTS(under $200) does everything DB600 does. You will love DVD movies with DTS. It brings a theater-like experience to your living room. yet i still think their remote control is worst thing i've ever seen. it probably has a range of 15 degrees off of any axis otherwise it'll not work.

the reviewer above said there's no audio output. well, there "IS" one. a headphone jack is located in front of the unit. so with a right cable, you should be able to output audio to any device. but then why would you want to copy a DVD to VHS? not to mention Macrovision will prevent you from copying DVDs anyways. if you still need copying feature, you might want to check out Zenith XBS344 HTS. it has a DVD/VHS combo player and costs about the same.

We Purchased the Samsung HTDB600 system several week ago. Unfortunately, the DVD function seemed to be malfunctioning. We contacted Samsung customer service, and reported that each time we tried to load a DVD, the system would read "no disc." The service rep curtly told us that the system was in fact malfunctioning ( we got the impression that he was very familiar with the problem) and told us to send the entire system back to a location in New Jersey for service or replacement. Samsung did not offer to pay for or assist in shipping, and could not give us an estimate of how long it would be until our system was returned. We would have been stuck with a huge shipping charge, as the system weighs in at 55 lbs. Needless to say, we were pretty dissatisfied with Samsung's handling of their defective merchandise. So instead of going that route, we instead contacted Amazon.com, who we had purchased the system through. Amazons' rep apologized for the inconvenience, and arranged to have the system picked up from our home by UPS the next day. Two days later, a replacement system arrived via UPS Priority AIR. Now, there's a company who knows the meaning of the words CUSTOMER SERVICE. The replacement system has been functioning flawlessly for some weeks now. The overall sound is very good, and the subwoofer is amazing. The functions are really pretty simple to navigate once you get them down, but the print and pads on the remote are pretty small, and unlit, which makes operation a bit difficult in a dim room. Otherwise , we are satisfied with the system, and just hope we never have to deal with Samsung customer service in the future.

This system worked great for a couple months. Then it started having trouble loading, reading, and playing discs. Finally , about a year later it won't play anything at all. There is a physical problem with the changer that actually puts scratches on the discs because it can't load properly. I've ruined a couple brand new discs. I've seen similar problems with other multi-disc players, so now I will only get single disc players.

Well.... I'm here to retract my 4-star rating for the Samsung DB600 Home Theatre System. I figured it was cheap enough to invest my money in and give it a shot... and well... I was wrong.

The digital optical-in DOES lag behind the video... most people probably don't know this because they just buy it for the internal DVD player. But it is true. And Samsung has horrible customer service for it. I called them like two days after I found out it happend and they told me they've been working on it just recently(read through some reviews below... it's been a problem since about Aug 2003)and one of the techs even had the nerve to tell me they'd never heard of it before. They then consulted the head tech and told me that it was a major problem with all the systems and that they were working to fix it immediatly.

They then called me back about a month later, put me on hold for ten minutes, and told me they hadn't figured out what the problem was yet (???). So... they called me and put me on hold to tell me that they hadn't made any progress. Thanks Samsung!

The DVD player is having problems playing my Family Guy DVDs with the "play all episodes" button. They freeze right before a new episode is about to load. I highly recommend NOT buying this system and to use another DVD player and buy the Sony HT-DDW750 Home Theater System. I have since become tired of dealing with Samsung and sold the junk on eBay. Maybe someone else with less expectations will find a better use for the system.

But seriously... releasing a product with Dolby optical-in that doesn't even work? What's the point of having surround sound if you can't get Dolby Digital?!

I got it as a gift a few months ago and, at first, everything was fine. Then it started freezing on one DVD after another. It began with LoTR, then the Princess Bride, then occasionally on LoTR:TT and now on HBO's Band of Brothers. The DVDs play without a problem on other DVD players.

The system still has a few months of warranty left so I will try talking to Samsung. But given some of the online comments I've read, it appears to me they will want me to ship, at my expense, a 55lb DVD player.

I have had this system for a couple weeks now and am loving it!
This was a very easy hookup, I didnt even have to read the directions. The sound is amazing, the picture is amazing and the price/performance ratio is amazing! There are 2 things that the reviewer before mne had said, 1 I do agree with, the other I do not. There is infact a fast forward feature! You have to hold the chapter skip button down!!! I do agree that the remote not have a glow feature is annoying, considering I watch the movies in the dark.

I bought this item for a week now and I love it, used to have a Kenwood and returned because it was too bulky and it overheated to much. The Samsung has way more EQ settings to create different sounds effects you can even put your favorite JPG foto or movie still as a wallpaper when the disks are loading. The remote is nice it controls your TV's power and volume and channels, it has programmable FM/AM radio stations, and the built in fan keeps the unit cool. The speaker are great too for being 3 1/2" deep and the gray on crome is especially nice, there is also plenty of speaker cable to reach all the speakers in the room. My living room door rattles with the 100w bass the subwoofer provides, The sound from all 6 speakers is really awesome. The only bad thing is that it is about 17" deep with the fan and I have to cut out an opening on the back of my entertainment center for it to fit properly. Other than that I highly recommend it without a doubt. 5 stars

Samsung seems to have done the job with this system. Plenty of power going through the speakers for a bedroom-size area, although I was close to having it turned up all the way when I was watching my Family Guy DVD's... it did a great job with my movie DVD's like Ocean's Eleven and Pirates of the Carribean and with my Gamecube and Xbox.

Soundwise, the system is great. 5.1 Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic II makes everything I hook up to it sound crystal clear and gorgeous. It's almost as though my ears are throwing a little party... it's just that good.

The system also comes with a 5-disc DVD changer. Working great for me so far, I haven't had a single skip or anything. Although I have come to the conclusion that the screen is flickering a little (I'm using normal composite video hook-ups), and it is not my TV, because my Xbox does not have this problem. I've turned down the brightness on my TV and the flickering is not quite as noticeable, but it is still there. I'm just very technical about these sorts of things...

Picture-wise, I'm going to have to say that my Xbox puts out a more clear picture for DVD's, but my Xbox doesn't have to control power over speakers while it puts out the picture. So it's understandable with the DB600. Perhaps the DB600 just isn't getting enough power, I don't know.

In conclusion, the DB600 is a great system for a small budget. It puts out sound like a pro, as long as you don't need to fill an entire living room with sound. It's perfect for a bedroom, which is what I am currently using it for. Don't buy this system for the DVD player... as it is only adequate. But don't be disheartened by that, as the sound quality makes up for it in a heartbeart.

I have currently owned this system for a week. Noticing all the problems that have been reported by other users, I will make sure to write an updated review later in my ownership. Good luck, and enjoy the system.

Admittedly I am a novice at home theater setup, but I found the Samsung HT-DB600 fairly simple to set up and use. I got it...at the same price Amazon.com's offering, and it's worth every penny. The first unit I bought, though, quit playing DVD's after a few minutes but the replacement is working fine so far. I couldn't help smiling by the time I got it hooked up and had Lord of the Rings running. Anyway, here are the Pro's and Con's:

PROS
1. Very affordable compared to Sony
2. 5-disc carousel (pretty handy for those couch potatoes out there)
3. Plays nearly every disc format most people use
4. Progressive scan capability makes for excellent picture quality when watching DVD's; I could actually see the pores on Liam Neeson's and Ewan McGregor's skin on Star Wars Ep. I
5. Compatible with most decoding formats
6. 1-year warranty
7. More than adequate 500 watt power - can wake your neighbors up if you wanted to

CONS
1. No fast forward or rewind button, only chapter skip, though it does have slow-motion and repeat
2. The sometimes irritating blue front panel light, which you can dim
3. Remote control doesn't light up (you have to fumble in the dark if you like watching movies with the lights out)
4. Actual unit is on the hefty side because of the carousel; make sure your shelf system will accomodate it

Overall, Samsung gives you more bang for the buck compared to similar products by Sony and Panasonic. I've only had the system for less than 2 weeks, but so far so good. Netflix here I come!