VIZIO VBR100 Full HD Blu-ray Player

by Vizio

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11 x 17 x 5 inches ; 8.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B002LF19KM
• Item model number: VBR100
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,717 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

VIZIO's VBR100 High Definition Blu-ray disc player places you in the center of the action. Featuring full HD 1080p playback, you get razor sharp, life-like picture quality you never thought possible. It also features 7.1 multi-channel audio via HDMI that delivers a surround sound experience that's so crisp you'll feel as if you're sitting in middle of the scene. Owners of the VBR100 get all this packaged in a sleek design with an illuminated touch panel that disappears when the player is off and includes an easy-to-use, intuitive remote control.

Technical Specifications

Compatibility

Add full 1080p high definition playback and 7.1 multi-channel audio to your home theater experience.
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• Plays Blu-ray Discs (BD-Live* & Bonus View)
• Plays DVDs, Audio CDs, MP3s and JPEGs
• Built-in Audio Decoding for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD, DTS
• Multi-Channel 7.1 Audio Output via HDMI
• Playback and Enjoy Media via USB Input (JPEGs and MP3s)**

Outputs

• HDMI Version 1.3 with HD Audio Bitstream
• Component (YCrCB) and Composite Video
• Coaxial and Optical Digital Audio
• Stream Audio (24 Bit, 192KHz)

HDMI, component, Ethernet and USB connections at the rear panel.
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General Specifications

• Unit Dimensions: 16.929" W x 2.441" H x 10.925" D
• Box Dimensions: 21.654" W x 6.102" H x 14.370" D
• Net Weight: 6.944 lbs.
• Gross Weight: 8.818 lbs.
• Power Input: 50HZ/60HZ
• Voltage Range: 100V~240V
• Power-On Consumption (AVG): <25W, <1W Standby
• Remote: VIZIO VBR100 proprietary remote
• Power Cord: Attached - length: 1.8M
• Signal Cable: Composite RCA + RCA Audio R/L - 1.8M

VIZIO proprietary Blu-ray remote included.
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What's in the Box

VIZIO VBR100 Blu-ray disc player, remote control (w/batteries), users manual.

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More Picture

6 Times the Picture Data on DVDs

See everything your HDTV can show you. Blu-ray Disc's Full HD 1080p resolution produces over 2 million pixels per frame to produce a razor-sharp picture with unmatched depth and clarity that takes full advantage of the capabilities of today's 1080p HDTVs. That's six times the picture data contained on DVDs, which are encoded at only 480p.

24p True Cinema Video Output

Most Hollywood movies are shot at 24 frames per second, and Blu-ray Disc movies are mastered at 24 frame per second, so it is only fitting that Blu-ray Disc players can output your films at 1080/24p for a true film-like experience at home. Blu-ray disc players can also output at 1080/60p for more traditional HDTV sets on the market. Either way, you covered for the best picture possible in Full 1080p.

Backwards compatible and Upscaling

All existing Blu-ray Disc players will play your standard DVD collection without a problem. And with built-in 1080p video upscaling, they'll look even better.

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More Sound

This VIZIO Blu-ray player is compatible with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby's next-generation lossless technology developed for high-definition disc-based media. Dolby TrueHD delivers tantalizing sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, unlocking the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs. When coupled with high-definition video, Dolby TrueHD offers an unprecedented home theater experience that lets you enjoy sound as stunning as the high-definition picture.

• Delivers studio-master-quality sound that unlocks the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs
• Offers more discrete channels than ever before for impeccable surround sound
• Compatible with the A/V receivers and home-theaters-in-a-box (HTIBs) of today and tomorrow

*Requires internet connection
**Separate use memory drive required

Product Description

Product Overview Maximize your high definition experience with the VBR100 Blu-Ray Disc Player! The full 1080p high definition playback gives you razor sharp images incumbent in a sleek design with an intuitive, easy-to-use remote control. Illuminated touch controls disappear when the player is off for a clean, lustrous look. The 7.1 digital audio with built-in Dolby Digital* is sure to provide the ambiance any home theater enthusiast is looking for! Tech Specs General Specifications: Unit Dimensions: 16.929-Inch W x 2.441-Inch H x 10.925-Inch D, Box Dimensions: 21.654-Inch W x 6.102-Inch H x 14.370-Inch D, Net Weight: 6.944 lbs.Gross Weight: 8.818 lbs. Power Input: 50HZ/60HZ, Voltage Range: 110V~240V, Power-On Consumption (AVG): <25W, <1W Standby,Remote: VBR100 Proprietary Remote, Power Cord: Attached - Length: 1.8M, Signal Cable: Composite RCA + RCA Audio R/L - 1.8M Compatibility: Plays Blu-Ray Discs (BD-Live** & Bonus View) Plays DVDs, Audio CDs, MP3s and JPEGs, Built-In Audio Decoding for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TruHD and DTS, Multi-Channel 7.1 Audio Output via HDMI Playback and Enjoy Media via Input (Jpegs and MP3s)Outputs: HDMI Version 1.3 with HD Audio Bitstream, Component (YCrCB) Composite Video, Stream Audio (24 Bit, 192KHz) Coaxial and Optical Digital Audio,7.1 Digital Audio via HDMI only,Separate Use Memory Drive required; requires internet connection

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars VBR100 Review, October 23, 2009

By 

Peter Jagielski - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: VIZIO VBR100 Full HD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

Purchased this unit as my first BluRay player after waiting more than 2 years to purchase one due to the BluRay/HD battle and general lack of stability in the hardware and playback quality of existing units. I'll keep this short. The VBR100 has performed flawlessly for me. I've watched 6 BluRay movies thus far, including Australia and a concert video by the band Rush (Snakes & Arrows - MUST HAVE for you Rush fans!). No problems whatsover. The 6 BluRay discs I've tried all loaded up in less than a minute. I've seen other units over the years take 2-3 minutes, which is just ridiculous. Like the prior reviewer, I actually bought mine at WalMart too since it was cheaper than Amazon's price. I've since done a firmware upgrade, which was a piece of cake. Highly recommended!

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the best performer, December 17, 2009

By 

Jeffrey Morse (Oroville CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: VIZIO VBR100 Full HD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

I bought one of this when they first came out early last fall from a large discount store. I was really impressed as I unboxed it - it looked very nice and had a nice "hefty" feel to the case (unlike so many other players). I hooked it up to a 37" Vizio 1080p TV. The Blu-Ray quality was decent - nothing to write home about though. While it was better than an upconverted DVD of course, it didn't have the crispness to the image that I was expecting. I ran about three recent movies through it and all had the same result - good enough, but not great. Then I tried upconverting standard DVDs. That's where it really fell down. The image quality was much worse than my upconverting DVD player. No depth, fuzzy, stuttering in fast motion. Other disappointments were the weak sound quality with both DVDs and Blu-Rays and a very short range for the remote. I literally had to be in front of the player to activate it. The DVD player or TV had no issue with the same angle. All in all a weak effort from Vizio (and it went back).

Black Friday I grabbed a Toshiba BDX-2000 from Amazon. It has more or less the same specs as the Vizio but its performance is like night and day better. Sharper Blu-Ray, better upconverting (still not as good as my DVD player though), much better sound and greater remote range. I thought maybe I was being too harsh on the Vizio, but after having the Tosh for a few weeks I can see that I wasn't.

66 of 83 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok player though former price advantage is getting squeezed, October 21, 2009

By 

terpfan1980 "Barry" (Somewhere near Washington DC, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: VIZIO VBR100 Full HD Blu-ray Player (Electronics)

If you are a hardware manufacturer that wants to capture market share based on pricing you have to take advantage of your own lower pricing while you can because your competition normally won't want to let you keep that advantage very long. Eventually those competitors will drop their pricing into the same area you've targetted and that competitive advantage will be gone as customers opt to up sell themselves on competing products with better features, better reputations, etc.

Such is the problem that would seem to be facing Vizio with their 'entry level' VBR100 Blu-ray player. Well, that problem and a few others as well. Read on for a run-down of my thoughts about the player (at least the thoughts that I had at the time I wrote this review, early October 2009).

First, I'll about guarantee that these players will drop in price, just like their competition, over the not so distant future. For one, a price drop is guaranteed since I just bought myself one of these players a few weeks ago. No, sorry, not purchased through this particular web site, as a local mart that is loaded (wall to Wal) had the best pricing for the product and offered instant gratification if I wanted to pick up the product in store. As I did want the product in hand asap, I opted to buy in store rather than mail order, so I was able to take the device home the same day and start setting it up.

Setup was fairly simple, but I would note that the box doesn't have an HDMI cable in it, nor does it have a Component video cable. Nope, there was a composite video cable (Yellow connector with the Red and White audio cables tied in) but if that cable is used the video output quality suffers as NO upscaling is done unless the connection is HDMI or Component. Considering how inexpensive HDMI cables are, it would have been nice if Vizio had included an HDMI cable in the box. At most, I'd expect the inclusion of such a cable to add a few dollars in cost per unit, even if you factor in additional shipping weight on pallets of boxes. It seems that in this area Vizio has gone instead for keeping their own costs low. Granted, many people might not be able to use HDMI anyway, or they might prefer to buy the cable separately so they get the right length or a better quality cable, etc., but it still seems silly not to have the cable in the box.

On the other hand, I have to admit that HDMI cables is one area that the big box stores love to gouge customers on when selling them HD gear. Consider the costs of buying a cable here at Amazon versus buying a cable that you would find at one of those so-called Best places to Buy from, or one of those marts of Wal's, and you realize quickly that you can easily pay a small fortune for an HDMI cable with little or no difference at all in the audio/video quality of the end product no matter which cable you use.

Some cable manufacturers will tout their own specifications and claim that their cables are capable of carrying more data or something like that, but there's no real difference, or at least not one that justifies paying 4 to 25 times more for the cables.

Sorry about that detour about cables and such, and admittedly, I must say that the lack of inclusion of the HDMI cable in the box is something that many other competing products has the same problems with. Just about all of the products in this category would have that problem.

The VBR100 player is a decent player but not without some nits to pick. First, it claims BD Live compatibility. Well, sure, but only if the user adds (their own, not included) USB memory stick to the unit. If you don't add a USB flash drive with 1GB or more of RAM to the unit and properly set the unit up to use that stick for BD Live then you'll never get BD Live working on the unit even if you hook the unit up to your own WIRED network.

That's another of the potential problem for this product -- wired networking only. Sorry, no wireless network built-in. It's nice that the unit has a network connection available, but many customers may find that they don't want to hassle with pulling a network cable to a location by their HDTV equipment. You can add a wireless bridge or power line adapter to your network (perhaps), but that makes the cost of using this unit considerably more expensive and puts the price into the neighborhood where you'd find the LG BD390 Wi-Fi Network Blu-ray Disc Player or even the PlayStation 3 120 GB. On the other side, if you don't need/want BD Live features, then you don't need to hook up to the network at all -- not even for firmware updates.

Firmware updates are something that anyone using a Blu-ray player will be familiar with, as the never-ending security and content protection schemes and other 'features' of Blu-ray discs may require that you update the firmware on your player. In this area the lack of ability to upgrade the unit's firmware over the wired network is a mixed blessing, though I prefer to label it primarily a failure (especially when compared to the PS3, as an example). Going back to the HD DVD players, I had a Toshiba HD-A3 720p/1080i HD DVD Player that I used (and liked) and found it very easy to upgrade firmware on. Simply use the menu option and off you went checking for, downloading, and then applying the downloaded firmware. Alternatively you could download the firmware to a memory stick or to your computer and create a 'firmware update disc' and be all set to upgrade the firmware with that. This last method is basically what Vizio is doing with the VBR100. Customers will have to download the firmware to their computer and then create a CD that contains the firmware. That process isn't too difficult, but it is an added burden for customers. I suppose, though haven't yet experienced this, that Vizio may mail out firmware discs to customers so that the customers don't have to create their own. I doubt that will happen though as doing that would add support costs that would eventually become too expensive. (They may make the firmware available for some small 'support fee' or something like that, but again, I know of no current plans for this to happen.)

Upgrading the firmware to the most current version, once downloaded, is a fairly simple process and only takes a few minutes, if that. If there is a problem, the system is smart enough to detect that the firmware on the disc is not good and the unit will automatically revert back to the last firmware version so you don't break the unit by failing to complete an upgrade.

Owners of Vizio TV's get an added benefit from these units in that the remote control will also control the volume for the TV, but otherwise the remote control that is included is for control of the VBR100 and not for controlling other devices. Owners of other TV brands are out of luck, as are owners of home theatre sound systems. (Sorry, you'd need to continue to use your own remotes for those products, or buy a Logitech Harmony or similar product.) The remote control is ok, though seems to be sluggish in responsiveness at times, and/or seems to have to be 'aimed' at the unit much more than should be needed. It is possible that Vizio's design for the unit is to fault, with the shiny black face filtering out more of the infrared remote control signal than Vizio expected. Whatever the issue is, the responsiveness of the remote is somewhat lacking.

The face of the unit is, as noted directly above, a shiny black plastic. There are no buttons on top of the unit, nor for that matter even on the face of the unit. There are instead touch sensitive areas that are used to control the unit. The 'power button' area is marked, but not terribly easy to see when the unit is powered off, and most users will likely be looking for the remote control to turn the unit on or off with. Once the unit is powered on the other touch sensitive areas light up brightly enough that they are easy to find and make use of. Additionally, when the unit is powered on the Vizio logo will be lit as well as the unit having a blue light bar above the drive tray that lights up to let you know that a disc is loaded in the drive. When the unit is powered off the Vizio logo turns orange, though the color is a bit different than the muddy orange that is used for the logo on Vizio TV's.

Getting back to the use of USB Flash drives on the unit, users are not limited to just using such drives for BD Live storage. Users may play content directly from a connected USB Flash drive if they wish, though using a drive for such purposes opens up another apparent design flaw: the location of the USB port (which is on the back of the unit). Given the mixed use for the USB port that port should have been located on the front of the unit. Certainly users can buy their own USB extension cables, but that shouldn't be necessary and again adds costs to the unit that shouldn't be there. If the port had been located on the front of the unit instead it would be very easy to swap flash drives on the unit at any time.

One last comment about the use of the USB flash drives -- if you wish to use the drive for BD Live support you must run the unit without a disc in the drive (or with the drive bay open) then select USB, and finally select the option for BD Live where you tell the unit that you want the flash drive used for such purposes. If you don't do that you'll never get BD Live working as you have no storage for BD Live purposes. That information can be found in the manual (somewhere), but for those that never read manuals, the entire process could be more intuitive and/or simpler.

Whew,... Read more ›