Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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60 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LG BD300 vs. Samsung BD-P2550 / 2500 -- a clear winner!!, December 3, 2008
I was sold on the LG BD300 since I first heard about it a year ago and have been waiting for it ever since. I was planning on getting it until I heard about the Samsung BD-P2500 and figured I should at least research it a little before buying the LG, and boy am I glad I did!! That's when I found out Samsung made a sister model to the 2500, the BD-P2550. The 2500 and 2550 are identical except except for one feature, the 2550 adds Pandora Internet Radio. A small difference, you might think, but Pandora takes the purchase to a whole other level of enjoyment! As you can deduce, I ended up buying the Samsung 2550 and absolutely LOVE it! But since the 2500 and 2550 are so similar, and I've encountered a lot of people trying to decide between Samsung 2500/2550 and LGBD300, I figured I'd add my 2cents.
The main things that turned me off LG and onto Samsung were:
1- Samsung BD-P2550 has Pandora. I wasn't sure if I'd use this service or not so went to the website to check it out. I have to say, I really like the service and have been making good use of it via the Samsung. Sure, you can listen to Pandora on your computer, and maybe even hook up your computer to your home stereo system. But having it there and ready to go on the Samsung has been great! I really love it and love that I can listen on my home theater setup. I also have TVersity streaming to my home theater setup via my DirecTV receiver, and its possible TVersity can pick up Pandora too, but it would be lacking the same interface available on the Samsung BD-P2550, and the menus look great on my plasma TV. The Pandora feature alone beats the LG BD300 in my opinion, and the little extra money for the Samsung is more than worth it to me.
2- LG has NO internal flash memory while the Samsung has 1gb flash. This is useful for BD Live features and makes the experience easier and more enjoyable.
3-Samsung's video upscaling of regular DVDs is SUPERB! I'm very picky about video quality and I thought the picture looked spectacular. This is due to the superior chipset inside the Samsung, which LG is lacking. And naturally, Blu Ray disks look awesome too.
I admit, I never tried the LG so I'm not making a true test-drive comparison here. All I can say is I was totally sold on the LG and waiting a year for its release, but in the end, I'm glad I picked Samsung BD-P2550 at the last minute.
A word about Firmware updates:
Updates are easiest if you hook up your player to the internet via the network port on the back. This is also the only way to get BD Live content, so you may want to hook it up that way if you can. The player automatically configures the network settings and connects to the internet automatically. My player did need a firmware update, but the process was very simple. Just select the upgrade from the player's setup menu and it takes care of the installation by itself. The upgrade only took about 20min, then the player rebooted and I was good to go. No issues. No hassle. No sweat.
I have to give the Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-Ray player top marks. It's truly awesome and I'm glad I got it. I bought a Toshiba HD player last year before the bottom fell out on HD-DVD and then returned to Amazon for a full refund. I didn't mind returning it since most the disks I tried playing locked up and wouldn't play. But I was disappointed HD-DVD died. But in the end, everything worked out for the best and I'm very happy with this Samsung. And no disk lockups as with the HD-DVD I tried last year.
Incidentally, Netflix streaming actually looks pretty good considering it's not HD. And soon they'll be streaming HD quality, so that'll be cool to try. Maybe I won't even need to rent disks anymore and will just stream everything. Also, the player's menus and interface are clean and easy to use and it was a breeze to setup the player with my Harmony 1000 remote.
So between Netflix, Pandora, superior DVD upscaling and superb Blu-Ray picture, it's hard to beat the Samsung BD-P2550. It's a giant leap into future technology and will remain cutting edge for years to come. It's awesome!! Go for it!!!!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Feeling Blu With This Player, November 19, 2008
This player is simply awesome. The updated firmware to get Netflix and Pandora comes with the system in a CD form. Just load it up and, wait a few minutes to update and your on your way. There are many pros to this player which I have mentioned above. The Netflix streaming is really good assuming you have a very fast (high bandwith) internet connection. I have DSL with 6MPS speed and can get all circles filled and movies play without any glitches. Very satisfied with the results. Pandora is great for what it is. When you want to listen to music, it will find any music you like and play it automatically. I have it installed on my computer as well and use it all the time. So far I have not had one issue with this player. Blu-ray playback is just fantastic. Not all BD discs are the same in picture or sound quality. Can not wait until Black Night is released next month. This will be worth the purchase alone. This is one movie you just have to have on BD to do it justice. Sound is wonderful as well from this player. It has an internal decoder for many of the formats with the exception of DTS MA. I can't figure out why Samsung left this one out? This player comes equipped with 7.1 analog output and just begs for DTS MA. So far this is my only complaint. If I upgrade my receiver over the next year or so this will not be an issue.
This is one great player and deserves your attention. Samsung has done an excellent job with this player to bring many outstanding features to a stand alone player at a great price point. I picked up this player at Best Buy for $349. Best buy has extended their return and price match policy for any player purchased until after the holidays. No excuse not to pick one up as they will refund if this player goes low on Black Friday. I have heard this player will probably go for as low as $249. With the extra $100, time to pick up some BD movies. Do yourself a favor and go out and pick up one these.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good product but can improve further..., January 5, 2009
One of the best blu-ray DVD players. BestBuy sells it for $350 so not sure why Amazon has such outrageous price.
Things I like:
- Netflix and Pandora interface works great
- Blu-ray and DVDs look great
Things I don't like:
- No Wi-Fi interface. Didn't want to run a 50 ft cable to connect it to the internet via my router (DI-624) at the other end of the room. Had to buy a $100 gaming adaptor (WGA600N) to work as ethernet to wireless bridge
- Firmware upgrade wipes out the device settings (timezone, clock etc.)
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