My experience with LG & the BD390

[OBXboy]

I purchased a BD390 on Labor Day (Sept. 7 for those not in the US). I got a great deal based on a Best Buy sale and a 10% Reward Zone coupon: $295! I set it up the following day and had no difficulty with it connecting to my Apple AirPort. I was able to access Netflix and YouTube immediately and the machine even found my server, though it listed none of the viseo files I know are there. There's a fix for this out there; I just haven't had a chance to set it up yet.

Here's the reason for that: shortly after getting set up and playing with the WiFi available features, I decided to put in a disc and try BD Live. I put in the Feature disc of WALL-E. The menu appeared with impressive speed and then...the remote stopped functioning properly. Like many DVD/BD player remotes, it has a 4 arrow circle on it for right/left/up/down, with the enter button in the center. All five of these buttons will only do one thing: down. So, I replaced the factory supplied battery with a Duracell and tried again. No luck. I shut the machine down, did some online research and read the manual. Found nothing. Turned the player on. The buttons worked again...for about two minutes. Long enough for me to access 'Set-Up' and authorize a firmware update (don't have the number handy, but I did it on 09/08/2009, so it should be the most recent update). The machine rebooted with the update, but no better response from the remote.

I called LG service after registring my player online. LG service gave me a human in very short order. The young lady asked some questions, suggested the battery change and put me on hold when her short list of standard fixes failed to produce a satisfactory result. Upon reconnecting, she gave me a 'case number' and a fax number and directed me to fax a copy of my receipt along with the case number and LG would send out a new remote. Didn't even want the old one back. I sent the fax in the wee hours of Tuesday into Wednesday, Sept. 8, right after finishing my phone call. Come Friday night, I had heard nothing from LG. I was expecting an e-mail, but nothing. So, I called. Got another courteous young person to whom I had to explain the entire story before he would take my case number. He looked it up and confirmed that my fax had been received, but no action yet. He stated that I should have the remote in '3 to 5 business days.' Today is business day #5. I have waited patiently, haven't bugged LG again. To date, no package from LG, which puzzles me as FedEx/UPS can make this happen very quickly if LG wanted it to happen that way. So, if there is no remote when I arrive home from work today, the machine is getting boxed up and returned to BB. I probably could've/should've done this sooner, but I was curious to see how LG would respond and I have a back-up BD player, so I was still able to re-watch Season 1 of Fringe this week.

ANyone else had a problem like this? I wonder if the issue goes beyond the remote as the remote has functioned BRIEFLY when I first fire up the machine. As I press the Enter button, I see a small dot flicker under the time readout on the player, so I assume something is being transmitted. I appreciate any feedback.

[djc11369]

I don't have this player so no help there. For curiousity sake you could program one of your other remotes to control it if it has LG codes to see if it still has the same issue but beyond that I'd box it up and take it back. It's one thing being at the mercy of "customer service" when you have to but when you don't have to it's not worth the hassle. Like all customer service centers I'm sure there's times when you'll get great customer service and then there's the rest of the time.

[JLant19]

Hey man i have the BD390 for about 2-3 months now and i have had no problems with it at all. everything has been quick and responsive. you may have just got a bad player. i have friends who have the same player and they are happy with theirs too.

[lobo81865]

It seems BD Live has caused so many disc playback problems for others that I don't even turn it on. I'd rather just watch the movie in a regular fashion any way.

[OBXboy]

I tried to program the 390 into my Harmony 880, but had limited success. Also, I paid enough that I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get the thing to do what it is advertised to do, so I gave up on that route. It's boxed and going back in about an hour. No remote delivered today.

[OBXboy]

Returned the BD390 and got a new one at Best Buy. Set it up last night and it easily connected to my Apple AirPort network. I know there has been some discussion about LG not supporting Apple networks. That appears to no longer be the case. Within minutes I was able to access YouTube and Netflix and watched Man on Wire via streaming Netflix. The remote functions perfectly. I just haven't updated the firmware. With the last unit, the remote gave up the ghost once I permitted the update. Am I being paranoid?

[djc11369]

Chances are you're going to have to update the firmware sooner or later. Better to do it now when you can return it then after the return period. Just my 2 cents.

[E55 KEV]

this player has 'roxio cinemanow'. anyone tried this feature yet? where can I find info on this? thanks.

[lionman]

the latest update sucks for this player I called LG and told them that blue rays don't play at all there is a glitch when fast forwarding and it turns off completely when pressing stop. So I called LG and they said that they would send me a disc withe latest update within 7-10 business days. Other then that I recommend the Samsung BD-D650-750