Review on 📀 Samsung BD-P1500: 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player (2008 Model) - Top-notch Performance and Exceptional Clarity by Nick Tucker

This is my first Blu player. I bought it because the price wasn't too high (got it for less than $225) and I trust Samsung. Having sold Samsung at a previous job I know it's a quality product at a decent price and I'm not paying too much for a name. I've had several of their products as well, as have a few of my friends who have had no problems. I found that when I connected it to my TV via HDMI (sold separately), the sound quality improved significantly compared to the previous connection method. Connecting the receiver to the digital optical output of my old DVD player. The upconversion was not noticeable with pictures on standard DVDs. But after watching 2 or 3 movies that I had already seen, I started noticing a little bit different in things. I started to wonder why it suddenly looks better and noticed a clearer image than before. I wouldn't call it as clear as day and night, but it's a big improvement in quality that I've started noticing over time. The big difference is what it was made for. BLUE RAY MOVIES! WOW, they look great when connected via HDMI. I recently saw Pirates of the Caribbean and it was like watching a brand new movie. The remote control is pretty easy to use. Good size simple buttons. I like that I don't have to hold down the 4X+ fast forward button within a chapter like I would with a remote control for my old player. One night I turned off the player because I felt tired and the next day when I returned to it where the movie left off, a definite plus. No more chapter surfing. Also, several people have commented on the grinding noise when loading the disc. Having sold electronics in the past I have to say it sounds fine to me. Yes, it's a bit noisy for a DVD player. It's more like a PC at boot, but I don't feel like there's anything mechanically wrong with this item. My Xbox 360 makes the same noise. Keep in mind that this is new technology and will work differently. Things I Don't Like Well, that's silly, but the display on the device's face isn't bright enough to see clearly at 6-8 feet away. It's still difficult to read even with maximum lighting. It also doesn't tell me what chapter I'm in on the faces of the units I have to check on the screen with the remote. to 5.1 DTS or turn on subtitles to lower the volume when watching at night. I need to finish the movie, go to the main menu and choose the language or sound from the DVD menu. However, when I play Blus, there is a button on the remote called "Popup Menu" that allows me to change the audio track and adjust the subtitles during playback. I would like this feature to be enabled for playback on standard DVDs. Finally, this remote doesn't have the backlight or glow-in-the-dark functionality that I was used to from my previous remote. As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons. It's a good little player that will keep me going until Blu players show up in the 5 disc changer, which is what I really wanted. In any case, I hope this helps you decide if this player is the right one for you. ***UPDATE 4/29/09*** This remote does indeed seem to have the features I was looking for.1 The remote is glowing but needs a lot of light to work. It just doesn't glow that well in the dark. The glow on my watch shines brighter than this. I also found out that the resume playing option mentioned above is encoded on the disc, so some discs support it and some don't. However, when you remove or open the disc, it doesn't remember like my old DVD player. Another bug was the ability to change audio/subtitles while the movie was playing. Apparently I misread the remote control. Buttons under txt switch language/audio track from playback mode. oops lol also the price of this item has gone down since i bought it. I highly recommend this item!