What’s that? You’re still watching regular DVDs on a regular DVD player? Or even worse…you’re still hanging onto HD-DVD? Maybe you’ve upgraded to one of those upconverting DVD players in hopes of extracting more HD from your HDTV? Well, it’s time for you to get with the program and upgrade to the world of true 1080p home movie watching with a proper Blu-ray player. After you go Blu-ray, you’ll never look at a regular DVD quite the same way again, upconverted or otherwise.
One of the newer units to hit the market is the Samsung BD-P1500, which is meant to be an upgrade over some Samsung’s older units like the previously reviewed BD-P1000 , BD-P1200 and BD-P1400. I had the opportunity to check out one of these older players some time ago and I was really disappointed with the loading time of media. Now that it’s been a while (the disc is still loading), I have high hopes that Samsung has been able to catch up to the Sony PlayStation 3, which serves as a sort of benchmark for Blu-ray movie playing. How does the Samsung BD-P1500 compare? Let’s find out.
Features at a Glance
When you take a look at the specs and features on the Samsung BD-P1500, everything seems to fall in line. It can output a video resolution of up to 1080p and it’s got HDMI output to accommodate all of that high-definition goodness. Going through the rest of the specs, you’ll discover the following.
- Playback formats: VC-1, MPEG2, H.264
- BD profile 1.1
- HDMI 1.3
- Ethernet port and USB 2.0 for firmware upgrades
- Compatible discs: BD-ROM, DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, AVCHD, Audio CD
- DVD upconversion
- DTS Decoder (no HD Decoder)
- Dolby Digital Plus Decoder
- Dimensions: 16.9 x 3.3 x 10.8″
- Weight: 8.6 pounds
The Samsung BD-P1500 ships with BD Profile 1.1, meaning that while there is support for a secondary video decoder (PIP) and a virtual file system, there is no support for the BD-Live online features that you find with BD Profile 2.0. There aren’t a lot of movies that ship with these BD-Live interactive elements, but you’re already behind the curve if you go with BD Profile 1.1. Hopefully an upgrade isn’t too far behind, bringing this machine up to speed.
What’s In The Box?
In terms of the contents of the box, Samsung didn’t include all that much. You get the remote control, a bunch of documentation, and a standard composite A/V cable. Believe me when I say that you will not want to use the provided cable, because it effectively nullifies the reason why you’d get a Blu-ray player in the first place. You’ll want HDMI and you’ll need to provide that cable yourself. I’m sure MONSTER CABLE will be happy to hear that.
Shiny Blackness
Whether you actually like their products or not, you have to admit that Samsung knows what it’s doing when it comes to external design. Yes, nearly the entire portfolio from Samsung emphasizes its piano black finish and slim profile, so you really shouldn’t expect a huge step away from this trend for the BD-P1500 Blu-ray player.
But I’m not saying that this is a bad thing! The Samsung BD-P1500 is a great-looking unit. The front face sports Samsung’s signature glossy black finish, but the rest of the player is a standard matte black. In the front, you get a round set of controls on the right side, but you’ll probably never use these. That said, I’m glad that they didn’t go with touch-sensitive controls for this: I hate those. The power button glows red when the player is off and it glows blue when it is on. The small and simple display also features blue font on a black background.
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The Remote Control
As far as I can remember, Samsung hasn’t done much to change the remote on this Blu-ray player compared to its older counterparts. This is unfortunate. The player itself has good build quality and looks great, but the remote feels cheap by comparison. The choice of plastic is like that of a $10 universal remote. I also don’t like how the back side of the remote is not black; it’s a light gray. The confusing buttons near the bottom of the remote need some work and, unlike the remotes found on many of Samsung’s HDTVs, the buttons cannot be illuminated. It’s definitely no Harmony One Remote.
Input and Output Options
If you’re hoping to use the Samsung BD-P1500 as your all-in-one video system, you are going to be sorely disappointed. The player will access BD-ROM, DVD-Video, DVD-R/RW, Audio CD, and CD-R/RW discs, but for whatever reason, it won’t take DVD+R/RW discs. Furthermore, the BD-P1500 cannot be used as a DivX player, nor will it accept MP3 CDs. Seeing how both the Xbox 360 and PS3 can be used as home video streaming media machines, I can’t see why a standalone Blu-ray player can’t do the same.
The back of the player is similarly barebones. You can do composite or component video to accompany the stereo analog audio, but there is no built-in support for 5.1 speaker systems. For that, you’ll need to use the provided optical digital audio out, leading it into your own home theatre receiver. There is also the HDMI port, of course, but there is no port for DVI. For that, you’ll need to provide your own HDMI-to-DVI cable or adapter.
Lastly, you’ll find the LAN and USB ports. Before you get your hopes up, the functionality of these two ports is severely limited. You can’t use the USB port to send MP3 files or AVI video files, for example. Getting a firmware update is the sole purpose of the Ethernet and USB ports.
Playing a Regular DVD
The Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray player also functions as an upconverting DVD player. What this means is that you can insert a regular old DVD and it will upconvert the feed into simulated high-definition. It’s not quite the same as watching a true 1080p movie on a Blu-ray disc, but the experience is better than a regular standalone DVD player.
Video quality was good and load times were in line with most other DVD players on the market. There’s nothing to write home about on this front, but considering that respectable upconverting DVD players can be had for under $100 these days, you shouldn’t expect anything groundbreaking here either.
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Playing a Blu-ray Disc
Ah, the meat and potatoes of this player. As I said earlier, the problem that plagued many Blu-ray players early on was that the drives were remarkably slow, resulting in incredibly long load times. It was not out of the ordinary to sit and stare at a loading screen for more than a minute at a time before the FBI warning would rear its head. That was very frustrating. So how does the BD-P1500 compare?
It’s better, but it’s still not as good as the SONY’s mainstream Blu-ray player, aka the PS3. Loading times on the PS3 aren’t exactly instant, but you can expect to get into the movie within a few seconds. Load times on the BD-P1500, on the other hand, are a fair bit longer. Even if the disc is already in the player, the time required to turn it on and load the movie was in excess of 30 seconds. Not as bad as on previous models but still not great. Now we definitely know that SONY is hiding some secret sauce that it isn’t sharing with its partners.
The setup menu is as attractive as ever for all your configuration needs, as is the on-screen bar that can be accessed while the movie is still playing. From the on-screen bar, you can do scene selection and other basic functions without having to exit the movie first.
One strange hiccup that I encountered along the way was when I disconnected the HDMI cable (it pulls double duty for my Xbox 360) and then reconnected it to the Blu-ray player, my TV couldn’t recognize the new source right away. I would switch to the HDMI input, but it would continue “searching for sources.” The only way for me to rectify this would be to turn the player on and off (sometimes more than once) and possibly disconnect/reconnect the HDMI cable (sometimes more than once). This is very strange, because when I plug the HDMI cable into my Xbox 360, my TV recognizes it right away and shows me my Xbox Dashboard. If you’re out of HDMI ports on your TV, I recommend using an HDMI Switcher to keep frustrations to a minimum.
Final Thoughts
Using the Sony PlayStation 3 as the benchmark among Blu-ray players in the market, I felt that the Samsung BD-P1500, while an improvement over previous incarnations, still comes up short. Loading times are improved and I really like the appearance of both the player and the on-screen menus, but it’s still not as good as the PS3. The remote feels cheap and that HDMI connection issue is really frustrating. Bear in mind that I was connecting the BD-P1500 to a Samsung 52-inch HDTV (review to be posted on FutureLooks soon), so there shouldn’t be any compatibility issues whatsoever.
Samsung has made some strides in the right direction, but the BD-P1500 is still missing a few pieces of the puzzle. I’d like to see even faster loading times, a significant remote upgrade, BD Profile 2.0 support, increased input options and disc support (DivX, DVD+R/RW, and MP3 CD), and a reduced price. As it stands, the list price on the BD-P1500 is the same as the entry-level PS3. For the same price, you get a better Blu-ray player, a full-featured game console, and a bunch of other functions that this BD-P1500 does not have. If you want Blu-ray, it seems like the PS3 is still the reigning champ.
Pros
- Great-looking player with piano black finish on front
- Significantly improved loading times
- On-screen menu is attractive
- Stellar video quality, as expected
- Anynet is kind of nifty
Cons
- Remote feels cheap, in need of a redesign
- Loading times still not as fast as PS3
- Limited input/output options
- Strange disconnection issue
Overall Rating: 7.0 / 10.0
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Samsung BD-P1500 Blu-ray Player Photo Gallery
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