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"Best blue-ray player with affordable price"
on by xiachePros Superb quality, 1080/60p resolution just blew me away. Absolutely satisfying by any standards.
Cons This is interesting. I was going to say no wireless connection, and no built-in memory. However, I don't want to say that anymore. The wireless connection for instant streaming (Netflix) at DVD resolution of 720p at this point is a joke.
Summary Highest performance-price ratio, wonderful 1080/60p resolution, you won't regret that you bought this one. You don't need to spend money on extra wireless connection, or 250 GB of memory. If you want to see streaming with a DVD player, go with a wire connection, no matter how long the wire is. I just bought a 75 ft CAT5e Ethernet cable. It cost me only $9 online. If you want wireless LG Blue-ray, add $100 to this unit. Which way do you prefer? To me, I would just use the cable. I don't mind to set it up every time when I watch Netflix DVD streaming.
After receiving my 75-ft Ethernet cable in the mail, I immediately hooked it up. Clicking on NetCast, Wow, you will see Netflix (equivalent to Blockbuster but with online streaming at lower price), Vudu (HD video that you can buy or rent), Picasa (free site with tons of beautiful pictures including your own if uploaded), Pandora (an online HiFi music site), YouTube, CinemaNow (similar to Vudu except loaded with new movies still in the movie theaters) and AccuWeather. I tried each of these except for Pandora (I am not into just music; I am more of a video-audio combo fan). The quality of these blew me away. I had to say this because I tried using Wii to view online streaming and not satisfied with that. The default Wii video cable is composite cables and resolution is not enough for washing movies. I ordered a component cable for Wii online for only $4.92, and it has yet to come from Hong Kong. When I get it I'll do an update. Wii can see Netflix and Weather. The sound is only stereo.
Updated on May 11, 2010
Updated on May 13, 2010I'd like to describe my Wii experience before I compare it to my LG BD550.
Finally got my Wii component cables. For those that didn't know, component cable comes in 5 connectors, red and white for audio, and green, blue and red for video. Replaced the original composite cables. Significant improvements can be noticed, although may not be that drastic, considering the source resolution is still 480i. The improvements are more noticeable on larger screen TVs or when watching movies. You will be happier watching a Netflix movie streaming using Wii with a component cable than a composite cable. However, the video quality is definitely inferior to DVD, but acceptable. Watching a streaming with Wii using a composite cable is unacceptable to me. Your best bet is still watching it with LG BD550, where the video quality is equivalent to DVD; the sound is still stereo (I wish I could tell you it's digital), although the sound is almost just as good, except there is no surround sound. -
"Great player for the money!"
on by egbert567Pros Bought this unit to replace a Vizio unit that I had for 2 weeks. There is no comparison between the performance of this unit compared to the Vizio!
Cons None as of yet!
Summary $30 dollars more and I recieve net connection and a unit that loads a Blu Ray in 1/3 of the time that the Vizio did.
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"Great, especially compared to the one it replaces"
on by kbrown127Pros Plays Blu Ray discs with ease
Decent Loading time
Great Picture
Many optionsCons None so far
Summary This replaces our Sharp Blu Ray player that we got for free with our tv. If the Sharp was not free, it would have been returned long ago. This player is leaps and bounds above the Sharp, simply because it plays all of the discs I throw at it so far, it upgrades the firmware over the ethernet connection, and it has many options to take advantage of being connected to the internet like netflix and pandora.
My old blu ray player would not do any of the above, so this LG was a breath of fresh air for sure! -
"Excellent entry level player with great bang for the $"
on by copanewbePros -Internet capable
-Easy to use Application navigator
-Zero problems with either DVD or Blu-Ray playback
-Sleek and simple designCons -Application navigation is somewhat laggy, almost feels unresponsive
-USB is behind bay door
-Power-on time takes a whileSummary This is my first Blu-Ray player. I was looking for something in a lower price range that was internet capable and performs playback without glitches. If you are in this category, you should consider this unit. After 3 weeks I have had no issues with DVD or BR playback. The applications are easy to use and manage. However, during application navigation the response time from the remote has considerable lag. Other than the lag time, I have had good luck using Pandora and youtube applications.
If you are someone looking to utilize internet features often, I would look elsewhere. If basic playback and internet usage are your criteria, look no further. For the price range, this unit is hard to beat. -
"Ok if all features; movie, photo, music, NETCAST, work."
on by oncebittenbylgPros If all features work, as advertised on the outside of the box it, (LG BD550) comes in,....no complaints.
Cons I bought two BD550's at the same time, (AT wal-mart) early December, 2010. The cashier told me I had 90 days to come back, if I decided to buy an extended warranty. I had given one unit to a friend, in early January, 2011. After the second day of his usi
Summary I bought the LG BD550 for the NETFLIX instant movie watching capability only. If it did not have the NETFLIX logo on the list of 'Netcast abilities' that it performs, listed its the box, I would not have bought it. I have plenty of DVD players, and can wait on blu-rays. In the middle of this month, (March, 2011) after slightly more than ninety days of being able to watch NETFLIX instant movies, that feature suddenly, completly stopped working....When I click on the NETFLIX logo, as I had done countless times before, when things were working fine, what shows, is a red screen, with a NETFLIX logo and a message that says ..."loading" for approximately 40 to 50 seconds,...then the machine completely turns itself off. I tried whatever the LG customer service had to suggest, (which was only de-activate and, or re-activate, and re-register) several times. Still, the only feature that I had paid my hundred, and two dollars for is not working. When I asked the LG guy on the phone, about the 'warranty',...he simply said,...send us sixty-nine dollars, and ninety-nine cents. I (very condensed version) told him that I would have to think about it. At this point of my story is the part that really raises a bigger question, or two.....After being told it would take $69.99 to take advantage of my warranty on the LG BD550, I went back to Wal-Mart to see if they had any more BD550'S and for what price. They had less than five left in one of the two local stores. Both Wal-Marts had taken down their display models of this model, and one had none in stock, I wonder why. Out of curiosity, as much as anything, I decided to pay $98.** for a new LG BD550 fresh in the box, rather than send a check to LG customer service, and wait for who knows how long... I got the new machine home, out of the box, all hooked up, guess what? It worked exactly as much as my first LG BD550, (it's less than four months old) so this brand new, right out of the box, LG BD550 played DVD's ok, in the 'Netcast' functions, it played Youtube fine, it ran the 'Accuweather' feature fine, (even let me select a city, and started to give it's weather)...the DIVX TV, works fine, just like on my'old machine', as well as the VUDU, and Cinema Now, pay to watch movie features worked...So both machines, one bought a few days ago, in what appeared to be an unopened box, and one that worked 100% for about ninety days, both appear to have good ethernet connections for all the 'Netcast' features except for NETFLIX, the only feature that i bought the machine for. At least I can get my money back on the one I bought last week, unless Wal-Mart changed their policy since then. So far the second machine that my friend got still works...When I talked to someone at NETFLIX today ,they were nice enough, but could not offer any real help, other than saying they were putting a 'feed' alert on it,or something like that....Needless to say, if you still feel compelled to get an LG blu-ray player, pay for at least two years extended warranty in your initial transaction. But that's not even fair, because I have had computers, DVD players, and other electronics devices longer than ten years, and they still work, completely...My conversations with LG, AND WAL-MART are to be continued....March 29th 2011...
I think the LG BD550's that LG sold to Wal-Mart,... came off of the LG 'TRAINEE' PRODUCTION LINE... Why do I think this?....Out of three of the LG BD550'S that I paid for new, out of a box since December, ('10)...all three lost, or never had the function of playing NETFLIX instant movies. Which was the only reason, I spent the $100.** for each machine at all anyway.
Updated on Mar 30, 2011
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