Samsung BD-P3600 is one of the fastest BLU-RAY players (June 2009 review link)

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Samsung BD-P3600 Blu-ray Player

(June 2009 Home Theater magazine review link)

The Samsung BD-P3600 overall is an excellent BLU-RAY player with full advanced audio decoding and 7.1 analog audio outputs for legacy audio equipment. The Panasonic DMP-BD60 has a better picture quality compared to the Samsung when playing 1080I BLU-RAY discs like concert videos (It's too bad the BLU-RAY format specs does not support 1080p/25 and 1080p/30). The Samsung BD-P3600 has faster startup and load times compared to the Sony BDP-S360 and Panasonic DMP-BD60. The Samsung BD-P3600 was faster or just as fast as the fastest BLU-RAY player that Home Theater magazine has every tested. Like the Sony and Panasonic players the Samsung players no longer offer legacy 480I S-Video support for people that own old CRT type displays. With several HDTV's under $1,000 now many people are now upgrading all of their old TV's in every room in the house.

For those that do not have a 100% wired home network, Samsung includes a USB dongle to attach to the rear USB port to offer wireless Wi-Fi internet.

Another awesome feature of the Samsung BD-P3600 is that it includes 1GB of memory built in for BD-LIVE. The USB port can be used for adding external memory (I prefer the SD card slot on the Panasonic since it looks better cosmetically when memory is inserted).

Quotes

" Samsung has delivered some solid Blu-ray offerings in the past. The company hasn’t been shy about including high-end video processing, and it’s quick to adopt new features for its lineup. The new BD-P3600 is no exception. It comes with $100 tacked onto its price tag compared with the other players in this roundup, but you may find some interesting features that are worth the investment. At $400, it’s the most feature-laden player of this group and includes onboard decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, 7.1-channel analog outputs, Netflix streaming, and Wi-Fi connectivity."

" You’ll find no buttons on the player’s front panel at all. There’s a small door on the far right that provides access to one of the player’s two USB slots."

"The back panel is where you’ll find some big differences compared with the other players in this roundup. The Samsung has a full complement of connectivity options for both newer and legacy systems. This includes a full 7.1-channel analog audio output. On the digital side, you get a TosLink output and an HDMI 1.3a output. Analog video connections include component video and composite video. Samsung excludes S-video and digital coaxial audio connections."

"For connectivity, Samsung has finally incorporated a feature that we’ve been longing to see here at Home Theater. The BD-P3600 is BD-Live compatible and includes a dongle for Wi-Fi Internet connectivity. The dongle attaches to the rear USB port. There’s also a standard LAN connection if you already have a wired setup. I’ve been hoping we’d see Wi-Fi from Blu-ray manufacturers soon, and kudos to Samsung for stepping up to the plate on it!"

"Samsung also includes 1 GB of internal memory. This alleviates the hidden cost and additional hassle of needing external memory to take advantage of the BD-Live features that new-release Blu-ray Discs frequently offer. Most manufacturers still require you to buy your own, which is disappointing considering the rather cheap cost of internal memory."

" The Samsung powers up incredibly fast. When you turn on the player, an onscreen display instantly greets you."

Video Performance

"In the past, Samsung’s BD players incorporated high-end video processing solutions, including the HQV Reon-VX solution. Unfortunately, this time around, Samsung relies on its own onboard decoder processing. While this solution doesn’t equal the HQV’s impressive performance, it also didn’t do too badly in our testing."

" The BD-P3600 failed our 2:2 cadence test for HD material. But this will only affect the playback of a few concert discs available on the market today, such as Nine Inch Nails’ Beside You in Time Blu-ray Disc. This concert was shot in 1080p/30, but the Blu-ray is encoded as 1080i since Blu-ray doesn’t support native 1080p/30 video."

" The BD-P3600 was by far the fastest player in this bunch. From startup times to disc loading and response, the BD-P3600 was as good as any player I’ve used in the past. It actually gives the PlayStation 3 a run for its money. Even difficult titles like Ratatouille loaded almost instantly. I wish all the manufacturers offered level of performance."

" Despite its extremely fast load times, the player was slightly sluggish with chapter skipping compared with the lightning-quick PS3. This wasn’t much of a distraction, but I was hoping for the same level of speed with all operations."

" The BD-P3600’s Blu-ray playback was outstanding. The player offers internal decoding for all of Blu-ray’s advanced audio formats, plus bitstream support if you prefer that route. I love the attention to detail that Samsung provides for the average user. By including wireless connectivity and built-in internal memory, it takes the guesswork out of making the most of your Blu-ray library."

"Samsung’s BD-P3600 delivers some compelling features, making it by far the most feature-laden player of this group. However, keep in mind that this player comes in at $400, and both the Sony and Panasonic offer models that have similar features for the same price, including Wi-Fi Internet from Sony and multichannel analog audio from Panasonic. I was a bit disappointed that Samsung abandoned the high-end HQV Reon-VX video processing solution, but its standard Blu-ray playback was still outstanding. I hope Samsung continues to push the envelope with new features and load times in the future."

http://hometheatermag.com/discplayers/samsung_bd-p3600_blu-ray_player/index.html