Samsung Blu-ray Issues - Beware

[alaninsea]

Hi - new to this forum. Starting looking around to see if I could find any helpful information.

Bought the Samsung BDP-1000 when the blu-ray / HD battle begun.

Recently bought X-files (released 12/2), but would not play. Called Samsung for the latest firmware update (V1.9) after just updating it a month earlier (unfortunately, BDP-1000 did not come with an ethernet connection, and Samsung only supports PC and not Mac for firmware updates).

X-files still would not play after finally getting the update on 1/12. Called Samsung help desk, but were no help at all. They said I had to wait for the next firmware update, which Samsung did not know when it would be released for the BDP-1000. Told them it is ridiculous not to be able to watch recently released blu-ray movies - now a month and a half after it's been released! Samsung said there's nothing they could do since the player is out of warranty.

I read on the Samsung website today that some players are not upgradable to the new version of blu-ray 2.0, which is what the industry decided to use for the format. They would not mention which players are not upgradable, but since I figure the BDP-1000 was the first player for Samsung out, I guessing this is the one they are talking about.

So basically I spent all the money on blu-ray technology that will not play blu-ray disc manufactured after Oct/Nov of '08.

I have major issues with the whole industry changing the blu-ray format and bailing out on the people who bought early into it.

The Samsung player was not abused in any way. It plays DVD and blu-ray fine pre Oct 2008. For a company the size of Samsung to come out and say they are not going to do anything for early owners of blu-ray is a bunch of CRAP! A blu-ray play that only plays a few selected titles.

If I own a blu-ray player, I should expect it to be able to play blu-ray movies, just like my old DVD player that still plays new releases! Samsung and any other company should held responsible to update an existing blu-ray player to PLAY BLU-RAY! The machine is only 2 years old.

Plan to continue to pursue this issue with Samsung.

Even though I have enjoyed my Samsung products I own, I find it hard to recommend their product to my family, friends, and co-workers and longer.

Definitely not planning on buying another blu-ray until this issue is resolved.

[swingle007]

+1....i bought and still have my bdp-1000, but got tired of the hassle of everything not playing in it, battling with samsung for firmware, etc. and ultimately spent another 400 bucks on a ps3.....sad that for the price we paid to them (1000 bucks) not that long ago that they just sweep us under the rug.....never gonna buy any of their players again for sure.

[HDPlasma]

Profile 2.0 is not needed to play movies.

I have the Samsung BD-P1200, which is a profile 1.0 & it doesn't even support PiP.
So, I'm in the same boat as you.

Anyway, regardless if these player can be upgraded to profile 1.0 or 2.0, Samsung should get off their @ss and release some FW updates to resolve player issues.


You can pick up a Panasonic profile 2.0 player for about $200 in the next couple of months when they are released.

There's also the BD35 & 55 if you can find them.

I'd stay away from Samsung blu-ray players though since their support is horrible.

[alaninsea]

I bought the extended warranty at Best Buy. Another avenue may be to return the player to them. I believe when I bought the warranty, they said they would replace the unit with whatever is comparable at the time.

If it's not play any of the new releases, I think I would consider that a playing issue.

Still going to continue to pursue the issue with Samsung. Checking also on BBB policies.

If Best Buy takes exchanges the player, may be they could also pursue the issue with Samsung. I'll tell Best Buy strait out why I want the unit exchanged.

[bootman]

That is a first gen player.
Same thing would have happened with a first gen HD-DVD player.

[alaninsea]

I believe regardless if this is a first generation player, the blu-ray technology is too new to be changing formats. Fine if I don't have all the capable features, I expect a blu-ray player to be able to play blu-ray movies. I just want to watch movies in high-definition, and figure I would start on the blu-ray collection early instead of having to replace my DVD collection.

It would be the same today as the industry saying they are moving on the blu-ray version 3.0, all early models of blu-ray are obsolete. You can still watch the movies you currently own, but if you want to see any new releases you need to go buy another blu-ray player...I DON'T THINK SO!

So those of us who now entered the blu-ray market early are SCREWED! Thanks for your money and getting the blu-ray format started.

[Miller Lite1]

I had a samsung issue with an upconverting DVD/VHs player in the fall. 3 weeks after I bought it it stopped playing DVDs. Samsung said i had to send it in for repairs (after only 3 weeks omg) pissed me right off and took it back then got a ps3. Best move ever( to date).

[Dust]

I spent $650 on my Samsung BDP-1000. Watching movies on it was like playing the lottery, I never knew if I had a winner or not... Firmware updates were far and few between. Even when they did come out, it didn't necessarily allow me to play all my blu-rays. I finally gave up and purchased a Panasonic BD-30. I never have any issues playing any blu-rays.

We had a white-elephant gift exchange at my work last month. Guess what generous gift I brought? Now one of my co-workers are "enjoying" it.

[swingle007]

I understand and appreciate that hardware/software get more advanced over time, but I bought this player for a grand in like Nov. '06, and we're barely past Nov. '08 and it can't even do what it was made to do (play blu's). I mean after just 2 years it's an absolute paperweight as it plays very few of my blu's, and I'm out a grand in just 24 months! Not too many electronics out there that go from a 4 figure price tag to unuseable in that amount of time......pretty pathetic!

[Mr. Joshua]

Get a Samsung BDP-2550 I've had no issues with mine. Every firmware update my BDP-2550 gets more and more powerful... When you purchase early these things will happen.

[shooter3295]

I had the same thing happen with the Phillips BDP 9000,...which is the same player as the Samsung BD-P1000. A first gen profile 1.0 player. I was able to install the Samsung firmware on it to get it to play some of the movies, (Phillips stopped support back in April, 2008), but I finally gave up and bought a new profile 2.0 player,... a Samsung 2500. So far,...it has performed great,....and played everything thrown at it. These company's need to understand "support",....they have forgotten. It can't be that hard to publish an updated firmware for these machines. What irritated me most about Phillips,....was that they lied consistently to me,....promising to provide update,...promising to call me back,etc. They did neither for several months,...until I just gave up on them,...which is probably what they wanted all along.

[bootman]

Originally Posted by alaninsea

I believe regardless if this is a first generation player, the blu-ray technology is too new to be changing formats. Fine if I don't have all the capable features, I expect a blu-ray player to be able to play blu-ray movies. I just want to watch movies in high-definition, and figure I would start on the blu-ray collection early instead of having to replace my DVD collection.

It would be the same today as the industry saying they are moving on the blu-ray version 3.0, all early models of blu-ray are obsolete. You can still watch the movies you currently own, but if you want to see any new releases you need to go buy another blu-ray player...I DON'T THINK SO!

So those of us who now entered the blu-ray market early are SCREWED! Thanks for your money and getting the blu-ray format started.

This is the price that early adopters sometimes pay.
This is true regardless of the technology.
If you want to be "the first", there are some risks.(unfortunately)
Hardware and software develop at a rapid rate. (especially during a format war)

If you own Apple products, then this should be nothing new to you.

[Thundarr]

Originally Posted by wsciv123

Get a Samsung BDP-2550 I've had no issues with mine. Every firmware update my BDP-2550 gets more and more powerful... When you purchase early these things will happen.

I love my 2550 and it does a great job upconverting. I spent 2500 on a LD player from Pioneer top of the line Elite a few years back and it broke and needed $800 in repairs a year later and I tossed it because LD was doomed. I would never buy anything from Pioneer again. I also bought a Sony 707 CD player that broke and Sony trashed at their factory service center. I still like Sony but things happen with mechanical products. Samsung has come a long way from making junk to making great TV's and their DVD players are coming along as well. I remember when people wouldn't buy a Hundai because they were junk but they have come a long way too. Blu ray is evolving and the players are getting better and cheaper too as is normally the case. Buying a Sony Blu Ray or TV is a safe bet but in my opinion Samsung is a better value and in a few years there will be much better TV's and Players so why pay a fortune for 1 now.

[HDPlasma]

Originally Posted by wsciv123

Get a Samsung BDP-2550 I've had no issues with mine. Every firmware update my BDP-2550 gets more and more powerful... When you purchase early these things will happen.

Oh just wait. You'll run into a movie that does not play in the future and Samsung will drop the ball because they have a new player available.

Samsung kept up with FW updates on the 1200 until the 1400 came out. Then they slowly extended the time to release FW updates.
We waited 3 months to get a FW update to resolve POTC3 playback issues and other titles. The only reason they released a FW update was because someone was going to sue them and it made headlines.
There are a long list of titles that will not work on the 1200 today and Samsung is ignoring their customers.

Now that no one is beating the Samsung bush to intimidate them of legal repercussions if they don't fix the issues, they sit quietly and hope us 1200 owners go away and buy another POS player from them. I believe the same is occuring to 1400 owners.
I enjoy their HDTV(with BestBuy warranty for faster/immediate service) but I will never buy another type of Samsung electronics again.

[alaninsea]

I understand taking a risk when entering new technology. The battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray was still out there.

Without us who bought into the technology early, the product would never have taken-off.

I would have understood if I had purchased an HD DVD unit over Blu-ray, and would b stuck with the unit. But I purchased a Blu-ray unit, and now in the same predicament as if I would have purchased an HD DVD unit.

It's like PC and Mac. I bought a Mac with the understanding I will be limited in the products available. But that was my choice and I understood what I was buying.

Blu-ray 1.0 and Blu-ray 2.0 is a completely different format if they are not compatible.

I was never told that the Blu-ray player I purchased would not play ALL Blu-ray movies - as any consumer would expect.

The industry is not even saying which movies are version 1.0 or 2.0. We are just expected to buy the move and cross your fingers.

Hope the industry doesn't elect to advance to Blu-ray 3.0 a just quit the support of everyone who has 2.0 players!

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by alaninsea

Hope the industry doesn't elect to advance to Blu-ray 3.0 a just quit the support of everyone who has 2.0 players!

A couple of comments. BD profile 3.0 is an audio-only specification - it is not for video. It is intended for hi resolution music applications.

Profile 1.1 (also called Bonus View) is considered the "final" BD video profile and all BD players released after November 2007 are required to be profile 1.1 at least. Profile 2.0 (also called BD Live) is an optional specification though it seems that most CE companies will be releasing profile 2.0 players. In any case, all Blu-ray discs are specificed to be compatible on ALL BD profiles (1.0, 1.1 and 2.0).

In order for some new releases to be playable on some older BD players, the player manufacturers must issue FW updates. If the player maker doesn't issue FW updates (because they are dropping support for an older model) then people with that model will suffer. It's an unfortunate consequence of early adoption that some who jumped in early will find that they will need to buy a new player sooner than they may have wished.

I bought into Blu-ray before the battle with HD-DVD was over. I got lucky in selecting Blu-ray but I knew the risks of early adoption going in. I now own three BD players. I expect BD technology to stabilize to the point that no more FW updates will be needed after 2009. We shall see.

[MoviesandSGs]

I just had to post in this thread. Samsung is the most unethical company in the Blu Ray field. I owned a BD 1500. Did a Firmware upgrade probably my 8th one and it left my machine a Brick or rather just useless. Conveniently past the 3 month labor warranty so I would have had to pay them. Completely unethical.

Here is a good example of good ethical hardware sales for example Computer Video card companies EVGA and BFG. They both offer upgrade options. Rather trade ups. So when your piece becomes outdated they will let you trade up for a fee. Samsung is not allowing that for a $1000 dollar player.
What a complete ripoff. God. I stayed on the phone with some thieving girl at Samsung and I had to basically yell to get a manager on the phone. Either way I had to send my player back. They tried very hard to make me pay to get another chip put in it. Hell I could have probably taken the thing apart and put the new chip in myself. Motherboard companies like Asus will do that and they also have serious problems with Bios updates.

I would say serious measures need to be taken in regards to Samsung if I was in the boat again. Fortunately I got very lucky and was able to trade it back to my retailer for a Sony player which hasn't needed an update yet. I buy DVDs all the time and they all play.

So that tells you something. Samsung has no reason to have to constantly update firmware. Now I am talking about the BD 1500.

Here is the main thing. Samsung is incorporating their own selling points like Netflix and Anynet and just screwing the owner when they have not implemented these features correctly and then they try to fix these features with firmware commonly leaving the owner a useless player.

DONT BUY SAMSUNG BLU RAY PLAYERS. THEY ARE AWFUL.

There are far too many threads on this forum complaining of failed firmware updates. I feel your pain believe me.

[eric0923]

I recently puchased a samsung BD-P1500 and everything was great I purchased Horton Hears A Who for my girlfriend and it would not play. I thought that i somehow I got a bad disk so I rented one from B B and got the same thing the menu would come up but when you hit play it would load and then go back to the main menu so then I new there was an issue. I went on samsung's websit downloaded the firmware and now it works great. Also I just purchased it two weeks ago its pretty bad you already have to uprage it. But I think its a good buy I got it at Costco for $179.00

[alaninsea]

Filed a complaint with the BBB yesterday about the issue concerning their product and Customer Service. We'll let you what happens next.....

[The Bear]

Samsung should take back all the BDP-1000 & BDP-1200 as part exchange for the NEW BDP-2500 plus 100 Pounds know that would make there customers happy any one agree with this.