Which to buy and why Sammy 2550 or Sony 550?

[timmyvie]

Does anyone know which one is better!? I want to buy a blu ray the is either a samsung (same as my tv) 2550 from Best Buy with netflix built in. or the Sony 550? Any help would be great

Thanks

[bruss01]

I just bought the 2550, my first blu and first HD product. Not using it to full advantage right now because the 1998 CRT tv will not display any more than 480i. Still, it works beautifully on the 4 blu and 1 dvd we have watched so far. I chose it primarily because we have a sizeable DVD collection and it has hardware upconvert which supposedly produces near-HD quality when upscaling DVD's. I'll have a more complete opinion of it after we upgrade the tv (hopefully within the next month). Good luck in your quest!

[callas01]

They are both pretty close to the same specs, the Sony 550 has onboard decoding of DTS-HD MA, and if you need the onboard decoding then it would be a better option. Depending on your receiver, if it only has analog in's or if it accepts HDMI may swing you to get one over the other. The sammies in ability to internally decode dts-hd would mean if you have a receiver that cannot decode HD audio, then you would have to send the sound out over the analog outs then the sony would be a better fit for you.

As far as PQ or anything else I would say its subjective. Sony BDP's are considered a better buy given they have been doing blu-ray players better in the past, I don't know much about this sammy to give you a review as to which is actually better. Also, all blu-ray players will upconvert SD dvd to 1080p.

I believe you can get the Sony for a little less money, so I would in that case given the onboard decoding and the lower cost go with the Sony in this case.

[Cortiz]

I would recommend you to go through the Samsung players thread on this web site and the AVS forum. Samsung Blu-Ray palyers have a bad reputation and they are full of operational glitches. Their customer service sucks and their product support is awful. Now, I don't know about their newest generation players, but I've owned in the past the Samsung 1200 and 1400 (both returned within 30 days) and there was always something wrong with them. Lots of freezes, movies that did not play, audio drop outs, you name it. Hope this helps make your decision.

[JadedRaverLA]

Buy the Samsung 2550 (or 2500) for the upscaling prowess and a Sony 550 for the fact that it will work (and be supported) two years from now.

To choose between them... decide which is more important... great upscaling (the 2550) or reliability (the 550).

Personally, I love the upscaling on the 2550 but am loathe to EVER buy another Samsung product again after the AWFUL experience I've had with one of their DLP sets -- and their BD players haven't fared much better overall. Take that for what its worth...