Bought this last time it was up on woot. I will tell you what I love about it for $40 - you can plug in an external hard drive and it will play most any video file you have on it. I have hundreds of movies and with this player you can easily scan through the files with the remote and it will play videos flawlessly. Plays blurays great as you would imagine. I don’t know about the apps but these features are enough to warrant 40 bucks…
I have the slightly larger, more feature-rich Samsung BD-F5900 and have been happy with it.
I can’t speak for this one specifically, but two features you might consider holding out for the 5900 for are: Full web browser, Amazon Prime Instant video streaming.
That said, if you mainly just want it for discs, $40 is hard to beat.
“In typical woot customer service fashion, they made little effort to help and a big hassle to solve the problem. I still an out the $ and have a dead unit.”
I have bought a number of things from Woot with few problems. The ones I did have were resolved pretty quickly. I woul dhave to say you had an atypical experience with Woot.
No ethernet, only WiFi. Just don’t do it unless you enjoy constant frustration. We have one of these, and I am actively searching for a replacement.
Most Blu-ray movies are region free. As to DVDs, looking at Page 4 of the Manual, I’m gonna say not region free for DVDs.
I could be wrong. I’m betting there’s a wooter or three out there that can explain it better.
I bought one of these last year and have regretted not returning it. As was said earlier, it plays discs just fine. It also plays many video formats off of USB drives very well. However, the WiFi is total junk. It frequently loses its connection to Netflix and other streaming services. The best part is that sometimes this will cause the device to lock up completely and it can only be turned off by unplugging it.
Before you return it - try upgrading your firmware on your wireless router.
If you still get the same results, then the routers FAQ on tips and tricks.
GK
Try tweaking the router. upgrade the firmware and check the website FAQ. Sometimes it actually fixes it.
GK
Before I ever purchase a piece of electronic equipment, I must - and I do mean MUST - see the back panel so I can see the connections for myself.
I paid a visit to Samsung’s support page for this model found here: Support Home | Official Samsung Support US
Per the manual, this includes HDMI out, and a USB port. If you were looking for anything more or had hopes it would have a LAN connection you’ll need to look for a different model that does offer that option.
The manual also shows what the remote control looks like - which you will probably like if you have a Samsung TV since you can control the input, power and volume right from the Blu-Ray remote.
Based upon the lack of connection options, the so-so reviews found elsewhere, and the fact that you can find this exact model refurbished on numerous websites I’m going to have to pass on this one. The extra $30 or $40 it would take to get a better more feature-rich unit would be worth it in my view.
Edit: I originally didn’t think this would link to my other Samsung equipment, but it turns out it does have Anynet+ so it will pass remote signals through the HDMI cable to your Samsung TV or Home Theater etc. Not enough to change my mind about the unit… but a nice feature if you have other Samsung equipment.
Absolutely agree, Discs are fine, but Netflix over Wifi is another matter and that is why I bought it. Several times it has locked up on me (while watching Netflix) and I have to physically unplug it. I’m not sure if this is a signal issue or whether the chipset just hangs. The one I bought was a Factory Reconditioned one from Woot for $50. I would not buy this for $10 since it doesn’t work well with Netflix. For $50 its a good DVD/Blu-ray player though.
Oh yeah…I forgot, I had to turn my Router Firewall off for it to work at all with Netflix. Not too happy about that.
No huluPLUS!? No deal!
I had to do that too for my father-in-law’s LG surround sound system. http://www.walmart.com/ip/LG-LHB326-1100W-Wi-Fi-Ready-Blu-ray-Home-Theater-System/15773576
Unbelievable this is not tested by the manufacturer beforehand.
Ended up in for one. Even the negative reviews said this was the device I was looking for. Was intending to get a sub-$50 no frills blu-ray hopefully from a Black Friday sale. Now I get it a few weeks early and $10 cheaper, so I can buy another movie.
Rock!
@thurdl01, smart buy. You know what you need rather than what the marketing hype tells you to want. This is a good price for a reputable brand DVD/Bluray player - ignoring the “smart” stuff.
Having memberships to both clubs, I chuckled just a bit seeing this. It fits.
I’ve had great luck with Samsung products; phones, tv’s, etc, but I have the older, larger version of this unit (I can’t remember the exact model number), and I’m not impressed. Very slow interface, (press a button and wait 3 seconds for a response) the anynet feature is rather obnoxious because it automatically switches the tv on, and changes the input to the Blu-ray, but this is mostly annoying because the player is CONSTANTLY turning itself on, or randomly opening the disc tray. Again, this is a previous model, and this might not be indicative of all Samsung players, but by the reviews I’ve seen here, it might be.
@jmied01, regarding the evil device randomly turning itself on, you might try closing the drapes. Your neighbor is messing with you.
I just did this and it seems to be working! Thanks for now. Time will tell