The Samsung BD-P1500 Review Thread

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by timer00

Went back to Wal-mart today and saw the 1500 again its actually selling for $348. I need a new blu-ray player to replace my crapped out PS3 so I am getting the Samsung tomorrow. Don't have much need for high def audio just yet so DTS is good for me and my wife for now. And at $348 compared to even the Panasonic BD30 at 499 its a pretty good deal.

You mean the BD1400 right? To my knwoledge the 1500 isn't out yet.
Following this, your comprison to the BD30 is a bit off, the BD30 being superior to the BD1400 in its capabilities

Which doesn't make the 1400 a bad choice in itself (for a profile 1.0) though

[Scoob]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

You mean the BD1400 right? To my knwoledge the 1500 isn't out yet.
Following this, your comprison to the BD30 is a bit off, the BD30 being superior to the BD1400 in its capabilities

Which doesn't make the 1400 a bad choice in itself (for a profile 1.0) though

There are actually some players out in the wild. (walmart) A couple of members here have purchased it........we are just waiting to hear their findings.

[Mr. Cinema]

I checked Best Buy's product description, and it says the player decodes TrueHD, but only 2.0. That truly sucks. This is a 4th Generation player, and they only offer 2.0 decoding? I hope a firmware update will upgrade it to 5.1.

[mulliganman]

OK Guys. I couldn't help picking one up at my local Wal-Mart. They had two on display. Just so you know where I'm coming from, I've owned Sony and Panasonic players and now own the PS3. Here are my initial thoughts on the Samsung 1500 after playing with it for about an hour.

I can confirm that it does bitstream Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA to my Yamaha RX-V663 receiver. The picture is gorgeous. I do not have a Blu-ray test disc to actually look at resolution patterns, but it looks very sharp with great colors.

The biggest surprise? The disc loading times are much faster than I expected. I did not actually time them, but the discs I put in loaded at least as quickly, and perhaps more quickly, than what I remember the Panasonic BD30 load times were. I was especially surprised at how quickly Ratatouille loaded.

Again, these are just my first, early impressions. I'm going to put the player through its paces for a few days. If it continues to perform as well as it has, it's a keeper.

I'm looking forward to someone else verifying (or nullifying) my observations, especially about the load times.

[mulliganman]

Nope, sorry, it does NOT have 5.1 connections. I'm not sure what you mean by 2 channel True HD. It also has component video, composite video, left/right analog audio out jacks and a digital optical output jack. Also, there is no

[Mr. Cinema]

Originally Posted by mulliganman

Nope, sorry, it does NOT have 5.1 connections. I'm not sure what you mean by 2 channel True HD. It also has component video, composite video, left/right analog audio out jacks and a digital optical output jack. Also, there is no

Uh...2 channel TrueHD as in....if you have the unit decode TrueHD audio, the receiver outputs it in 2.0 sound only, NOT 5.1. Just like 1st Gen Toshiba HD DVD players before the firmware. And I believe the newest Samsung combo player still does the same thing.

[timer00]

Got my 1500 2 days ago for $348 + tax. Watched The Descent, MI III, and Juno so far on it and it works wonderfully. Load up time on those discs were on par with my old PS3 maybe give or take 5-10 secs. Only has two channel analog as already discussed but with a hdmi true-hd receiver you can get the high def audio via bitstream as already discussed. Its very simplistic in the menu system and look and feel which is good. I don't need complicated to get my hd experience.

I am glad I bought it we'll see how it holds up.

[Elandyll]

The outlook is very promising so far.

But how come the availability of two very awaited entry-level players like the 1.1 Magnavox and the 2.0 BD1500 at such affordable prices ($288 for the Mag, $348 for the BD1500) isn't making a bigger splash in news ?

[texas1824]

Hi. I'm new. I've decided to enter the BD world with the 1500 when it's available. I have one question. Does the 1500 have coaxial digital audio output or just optical toslink? Everything I've been reading so far has siad it had both. However when I looked at the Best Buy Website it didn't mention it and I didn't see it on the photo of the back?

[Woody]

Originally Posted by timer00

Got my 1500 2 days ago for $348 + tax. Watched The Descent, MI III, and Juno so far on it and it works wonderfully. Load up time on those discs were on par with my old PS3 maybe give or take 5-10 secs. Only has two channel analog as already discussed but with a hdmi true-hd receiver you can get the high def audio via bitstream as already discussed. Its very simplistic in the menu system and look and feel which is good. I don't need complicated to get my hd experience.

I am glad I bought it we'll see how it holds up.

2 things

1. If you have it connected via HDMI, does it give you an option to output DVDs at 480i?

2. Have you personally tried bitstreaming THD and DTS HDMA? If you have are all 5 speaker playing when bitstreaming both codecs?

Thanks

[darkpoet25]

I just saw the player this evening at work. It will be put out next week and will be selling for $348.99. Don't know if all stores will carry these, but I thought it was nice to see these coming in.

[timer00]

Originally Posted by Woody

2 things

1. If you have it connected via HDMI, does it give you an option to output DVDs at 480i?

2. Have you personally tried bitstreaming THD and DTS HDMA? If you have are all 5 speaker playing when bitstreaming both codecs?

Thanks

1. Why would you want to output DVD's at 480i? I don't think it will let you though

2. I just got a new receiver that can do play Dolby True-HD from the Samsung I'll let you know by tomorrow. DTS-HR that people have been mentioning is like a middle ground between Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby DTS-MA.

I just played a DVD "Inside" (horribly disgusting horror movie haha) in the Samsung last night via HDMI from the Samsung and it looked great.

[timer00]

I found this under the Audio forum which will help simplify things.

http://www.idoblu.co.uk/page2%20Blu-ray%20Players.html

Scroll down the the Samsung BD-P1500 and you'll see it bitstreams DTS-MA and TrueHD as mulliganman has said.

[Woody]

Originally Posted by timer00

1. Why would you want to output DVD's at 480i? I don't think it will let you though

2. I just got a new receiver that can do play Dolby True-HD from the Samsung I'll let you know by tomorrow. DTS-HR that people have been mentioning is like a middle ground between Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby DTS-MA.

I just played a DVD "Inside" (horribly disgusting horror movie haha) in the Samsung last night via HDMI from the Samsung and it looked great.

1. 480i output via HDMI for standard DVD is the optimal way to transmit the information for external scaling.

[timer00]

Originally Posted by Woody

1. 480i output via HDMI for standard DVD is the optimal way to transmit the information for external scaling.

ok thanks for the tip.

[mel2]

my wal-mart just got these in along with the magnavox NB500's. I sure would like to replace my sammy 1400 with the 1500. i love the looks of it.

[bootman]

I'm hoping Samsung gets this one right.
We need more inexpensive (and working!) blu players out there.

[timer00]

Just watched Eight Below last night to get a sample of uncompressed 5.1 PCM and that works great. Been stuck in 5.1 Dolby for 7 years with my old receiver.

Samsung 1500 takes the uncompressed audio passes it over HDMI to my new Sony DG720 and the 720 can play up to 7.1 channels of LPCM. Have the 1500 set to send audio via LPCM instead of bitstream of course.

I guess I am stuck with the core track for Fox titles o well at least I can enjoy the uncompressed PCM tracks

[Edh63]

Originally Posted by timer00

Just watched Eight Below last night to get a sample of uncompressed 5.1 PCM and that works great. Been stuck in 5.1 Dolby for 7 years with my old receiver.

Samsung 1500 takes the uncompressed audio passes it over HDMI to my new Sony DG720 and the 720 can play up to 7.1 channels of LPCM. Have the 1500 set to send audio via LPCM instead of bitstream of course.

I guess I am stuck with the core track for Fox titles o well at least I can enjoy the uncompressed PCM tracks

So, are you saying that you like the 1500 thus far? Is it meeting your standards? Would you recommend it? Have you had to update any FW out of the box? Are you pleased with the aesthetics? How loud is the load tray when ejecting the disk? How many seconds does the tray take to load?

Do tell.

[rubberghost]

Originally Posted by ajc68

sleek and clean.