Samsung BD-C5500 user reviews

Pros Good image quality, good upconversion of DVD content, NetFlix support, WiFi-Ready (though I never plan to use it), slim form-factor.

Cons Limited cross-control of non-Samsung television with the included remote, no on-board BD-Live storage, no built-in WiFi

Summary For a sub $200 Blu-Ray player, it has quite nice styling and isn't intimidating for people to operate if they are not technically inclined. Loading times for Blu-Ray discs is a little slow for my tastes, but it's not excessive considering I've owned and experienced MUCH slower units. When connected via HDMI, the picture is very nice (I can't comment on the quality from the other ports, I did not try them). I also cannot comment on the Vudu service, or any other applications - as I didn't purchase the unit to use them - and haven't.

Pros Good Picture

Cons It's hard to tell "slow" from when it frequently malfunctions and stops.

Summary I can't believe this is on the Cnet list of best players - mine malfunctions all the time. Samsung says to reset the player if there are problems, warning that you will lose all user defined settings. I think that makes it about the same as getting a new player, which I plan to do. Why invest more time on top of everything I've already done which has made no difference. The player often freezes completely, many times at the "FBI Warning", but when it is working it is so slow that you're never sure whether it will run or not. Unbelievably, it never remembers or holds the last place you were on the disc - it always starts over at the beginning so you get to go through all the warnings, credits, menu, etc. every time you turn it on. I'm very sorry I bought this on the Cnet recommendation - it is just junk. My very old Oppo has none of these problems when using the same discs.

Pros Good replacement for my old dvd player
Bluray performance is good
Remote works with my Samsung tv
Netflix streaming
Stream avchd videos taken with HD cameras, photos too

Cons Internet apps needs work
Input method is painful, text9 method like old cellphones
Samsung PC software needs work
No music during photo playback
Netflix sign in every time
Region free hack code doesn't work

Summary This is my first bluray player so I can't compare to other players but it seems okay.

The player uses old cellphone text9 method...bad motorola razor flashbacks anyone? Hit number 1 once for letter a, hit twice for b, hit three times for c; number 2 for letter d, e, f, etc. This is a real pain when trying to use the search function in Youtube or Netflix.

You have to download the pc sharing software onto your pc so you can stream photos and videos to the player. The install is easy but to setup the share files takes a really long time (like hours for about 50gb of date.) I had a problem when I added more photos and videos to the pc. I could not get it to recognize the new files. The pc would go offline. I had to reinstall the software and reset everything again. Frustrating when the family was waiting to see the new videos we took yesterday.

Netflix streaming is good but everytime I start the app, it tells me a special code that I need to stand up, go to my computer, log in and enter this code so my player will stream. A little irritating. I wish it would just remember the code and log me in automatically. You have to create your playlist on your computer, cannot do it directly on screen with this player.

Photo streaming is nice but no background music or option to add any from your music collection.

The thing I liked most is being able to stream raw mts high definition avchd files taken with my HD camera (Sony hx5v.) No editing or converting necessary on the pc/mac. Just copy the video files to the pc and share that folder using the samsung software, search using the player and boom, beautiful 1080 hd videos on my big tv!

I ran a cat6 cable from my router, under my crawlspace, then up behind my entertainment center. My friend installed a wifi access point. Another friend moved the router to his entertainment center and installed a wifi card on his pc. Choose a method that works for you.

For those who watch foreign films, I found a region-free hack code on the internet but could NOT get it to work on the new firmware.

Bottom line: I bought my player on sale from a warehouse store $140. This player isn't the best nor the worst. i like it because it streams my HD movies. I would just choose a networked player brand that's the same as your tv so the remote works seemlessly.

Pros Easy setup with great features. The design is super slick with the touch sensitive buttons. great quality and fast load screens.

Cons Must be connected to the internet to function properly. Front buttons maybe too sensitive. Limited apps.

Summary My first impression out of the box was, wow this is tiny. I connected it to my main home theater system and was watching Alice in Wonderland in 10 minutes. I tried updating the firmware with a thumbdrive without success. A few days after getting this player I got it connected to my LAN and that?s when this player came to life. It updated automatically (after we watched Zombieland). It automatically saw my network storage device and plays all my music, movies and pictures. Pictures are a little slow but i have a lot of pictures so what do you expect. I connected with Netflix and watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, the quality was great and it only rebuffered once about 3/4 of the way thru the movie. The sound is great and I have to turn my receiver down every time i turn this on. Hopefully soon they will be adding some more apps like Opera and facebook. This is a great player that I would recommend to anyone. Anyone who says you have to be a techy to use this doesn't know how to read or is so technically inept that they probably have a hard time using a cell phone. So ok don't buy this player for grandma.