[Billy Patterson]

I work at a certain electronics store that lets the employees get items at cost. The samsung player is only $637.00 at cost. Do you think I should go for it or am I better holding out for something else? I'm not huge into the PS3 idea for a Blu Ray player

[Dave_P.]

I think the Samsung is a damn good player, especially after the firmware updates. I have no regrets spending the $1000 I did, so at $637 I would consider that a steal.

[Larry Sutliff]

I agree with Dave, the latest firmware makes the Samsung into a very formidable Blu-Ray player. The only problem I have with the unit at this point is that it won't play the advanced audio codecs like Dolby TrueHD, but as far as the picture is concerned, the Sammy is very good, and a bargain next to the other standalone players.

[Jim Douglas]

I almost bought a Panasonic last weekend but just could not do it for $1,000.00. I've seen the refurb Samsungs for $575.00 and have been very tempted by those. From most accounts on different forums people with the updated Samsungs are very happy with them. I have an A1 and a A2 coming so I can almost get the A2 and the Samsung for the price of a Panasonic or upcoming Sony.

Still in the thought process and haven't pulled the trigger yet

Let us know what you decide and your thoughts after getting it.

Jim

[Hank]

I picked up my Sammy at Circuit City a couple of weeks ago for $799 and I love it, the newest firmware does improve things big time. I was also thinking of returning it and going with athe Panasonic from Tweeter but I couldn't justify the added $500 for the Panny, even if it will update to the newest audio codecs. I also own a Toshiba HD-A1 and fine the Samsung more enjoyable to use. It's faster and more repsonsive with commands but I still prefer my A1 for SD DVD's and of course HD DVD's rock.

[Ron Z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hank

It's faster and more repsonsive with commands but I still prefer my A1 for SD DVD's and of course HD DVD's rock.

So you think the A1 does a better job of upconverting SD DVDs?

And with the Samsung, is SD DVD upconversion only available from the HDMI output?

[Steve Schaffer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Z

So you think the A1 does a better job of upconverting SD DVDs?

And with the Samsung, is SD DVD upconversion only available from the HDMI output?

The A1 is a better upconverting player. Neither the A1 or any of the BluRay players will upconvert any copy protected SD dvd over component--only via HDMI or HDMI to DVI with HDCP.

[Dan Hinson]

How does the Samsung compare to the other BD players in terms of PQ over component video? I was considering getting a BD player, but I have no HDMI connection, so the 1080p issue for me is somewhat moot.

With that in mind, I thought the Samsung might adequately serve my purposes, while being significantly less in cost than the other BD players.