Samsung BD-C6500

Pros: Sleek design looks great in my entertainment center, wireless router is nice but when it comes to actually using internet features...

Cons: ... Internet@TV is a joke. Setting up Apps was a nightmare. Netflix app didn't work straight out of the box. Instruction manual was badly written. remote keypad was hard to use. Has trouble with DVD menus and sometimes skips on DVD chapter changes.

Summary: If you are thinking about buying this Blu-Ray player because it has good CNET ratings as well as apps and a built in wireless router, don't. Internet@TV is aweful. The instructions in the manual and on Samsung's website are subpar. They we not specific and in some cases, they omitted steps or were just plain wrong. Once i finally figured out what I needed to do to manage apps, the samsung website would not let me complete the process because of a broken webpage. I can't load my Pandora account onto the player and the Netflix app (which is what i really wanted) had an "update failure" straight out of the box, and it didn't show up on App management window, so I can't fix it. This Blu-Ray player is also an upconvert dvd player, which is nice, but it doesn't work that well. It has trouble with dvd menus (selects when I'm using arrow keys, plays special features that weren't selected, very sluggish) and on some dvd's, playback hesitates on chapter changes. I'm sure the Blu-Ray picture quality is great, but you can get great picture quality without paying $200. Hope that helps.

Updated on Feb 28, 2011

Let me tell ya, this player is a beast to set up. The instruction manual is just plain wrong on several subjects about setting up apps, and the website was even more confusing. However, once I got it set up, it has been running well, though it is sluggish. We run lots of media including tv shows, movies and audiobooks from the usb port. You can use a thumb drive or a powered external hard drive, and the playback is great. Once I figured out how, Netflix and Pandora are working great for me. My favorite feature is the DVD upconvert feature. Most of our movie library is DVD and we are pleased with the picture quality on our 1080p tv from our DVDs. The player does get a bit confused navigating DVD menus sometimes though. It'll start playing the movie instead of going to features or select the wrong feature sometimes, but don't click too many buttons too fast and it's manageable. Anywho, the playback is great which is what really counts.

Updated on Feb 28, 2011

One second review, once you get past the nightmare of setting it up, I have to admit the apps are pretty cool though a bit limited. I regularly use the Netflix, Pandora and YouTube apps. Also, playing media through the usb port is simple. We attached a self powered external hard drive and it plays everything from tv shows and movies to music and audiobooks well.
While the player remains sluggish overall, we really like the quality of the playback on our DVDs. This player is a DVD upconverter and if most of your movie library is DVD like ours is you will appreciate this feature too. The only hangup there is that the player gets confused with DVD menus sometimes. Occasionally it will select the wrong option on DVD menus and start playing from random places on my DVDs but it's not a serious hindrance.
I saw this player for $118 from Walmart the other day which I think is a fair price since it has built in wifi and DVD upconvert. If you can handle the setup nightmare, it's a good player.