Samsung BD-P1600

Blu-ray technology is finally making its way to the mainstream where ordinary consumers making the transition to appreciating the new visual and audio experiences that Blu-ray  can deliver. Entry-level players like the Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray player started to make their appearances only after blu-ray won the format war against HD-DVD. The BD-P1600 is one of the many players that are best for people that are new to Blu-ray technology and want to try it out to see if it really works for them. Fortunately, this Samsung product holds itself rather well against the other competitors with entry-level Blu-ray players.

Samsung BD-P1600 | Player Details

Design

Samsung is famous for its clean, sleek looks and now the design elements are carried over to the Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray player. All of the main functions are actually hidden behind the tray which you need to manually flip down to access the buttons. The good news is that the panel can be opened from the remote by pressing the open/close tray button unlike some of the other players out there. This may not be the ideal setup for some that are not fond of using the remote since it needs to be opened every time a button needs to be pressed.

In addition to the playback buttons and power button, a USB port can be found as well so if ever a flash drive needs to be plugged in to take advantage of the BD-Live content, the tray must remain open. Overall there are no major problems with the design as long as the player stays closed in a dust-free environment. The well-designed remote though, makes up for the poor button placement on the player.

Features

The BD-P1600 features a very friendly user interface that is also visually appealing by taking full advantage of high-definition graphics and showing off some vibrant colors. The layout of the setup menu isn’t perfect, but the commonly accessed items are upfront so navigating the player shouldn’t be much of a hassle.

One of its biggest features for an entry-level device is the full support for the Blu-ray Profile 2.0 compatibility which is needed for any Internet-enabled content to be utilized. The Ethernet port found on the back can be used to download data as long as a USB flash drive is plugged in. A USB Wi-Fi adapter which is sold separately can be used as well so it can download content wirelessly.

The Internet capability also grants connectivity to two popular online media services Netflix and Pandora for obtaining new movies and music respectively. Their user interfaces surpass the original Samsung menu interface so browsing through these services are much easier despite the lack of a dedicated button to call these services on the remote. Netflix isn’t really the best compared to Amazon’s Video On Demand service due to the lack of wide-screen content, but the built-in capability should still prove to be welcome for first time Blu-ray player owners.

Another noticeable feature is the onboard decoding support for two modern soundtrack formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. With this feature, these formats can be played back on just about any AV receiver with HDMI support without any loss of quality. There is bit stream output support and some legacy DTS format support including Neo:6, ES, and ES Matrix for people that wish to play DVDs on their system.

Actual user review:
“This is a good value for a blu-ray player with the new online features available such as Netflix, Pandora, and BD-Live. It is small and easy to install and setup. I use the HDMI output to my Samsung HDTV and the Optical Digital Audio output to my AV receiver. The Anynet+ feature is convenient which helps the Samsung components work together reducing button pushing. I hooked up an ethernet cable and easily got it online and setup with my pre-existing accounts with Netflix and Pandora. I’ve read BD-Live requires a USB 1GB flash drive. I have download cable modem speeds in 6MB/s range so the picture quality is very good from Netflix, I’d say equivalent to upconverted DVD quality. Audio quality from Pandora is also excellent and the commercial-free music service is supreme. Blu-ray DVDs look fantastic and upconverted standard DVDs look great too. This does not have the higher-end HQV chip to my knowledge. The face pushbutton interface is cool and has a high-tech feel to it. Load time is very fast – about 8 to 10s. The menus look good and are easy to navigate. No complaints here. I’m very pleased getting all these features for entry level money.” – T.Mark (OH,USA)

Performance

The list of good features is powered by amazing performance as it passed several critical tests including the Video Resolution Test complete without much jaggies. Some of the most popular titles also looked better than the other players by showing scenes without moire or grille. In addition, the BD-P1600 is much more responsive than the other players and can load Blu-ray titles in less than 20 seconds. DVD playback earned some merits too for passing the 2:3 pulldown test and maintaining great performance even when upscaled to 1080p.

Bottom Line

The Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-ray player doesn’t include any major extras, but Samsung has done an exceptional job incorporating a good set of features and keeping the performance level satisfactory in a Blu-ray player priced at less than $300. It makes a fine addition to any home theater system looking to experience a livelier home entertainment setting.

Average User Rating:

• “This blu-ray player was a snap to setup. I didn’t even glance at the setup instructions. I connected with HDMI and an ethernet cable for Netflix streaming. Everything worked without any tweaking. The blu-ray player picture is beautiful. I already own a blu-ray player – a 3rd generation Panasonic. Although I love that player, I prefer the interface of this player. The Netflix streaming is easy. Just press ‘A’ and the player gives you a code to set up streaming. Then log in to your account, enter the code, and your player will stream any title you add to your ‘play instantly’ list. And the picture is perfect. To summarize. This is a great blu-ray player for everyone. For beginners, it is simple to set up. And the footprint is small. It is 1/3 smaller width and 1/3 smaller height than my 1 year old blu-ray. For everyone else, it is nice to have the netflix and pandora streaming included in one box. Your entertainment center will thank you. ” – E.Etacarina (CA,USA)
• “Terrific blu-ray player. Its image quality is excellent and it’s sleek and easy to use. Load times for blu-ray disks are relatively short (about on par with the Sony PS3), and the included remote is especially good if you have a compatible Samsung HDTV. I got my BD-P1600 bundled with a Samsung 40″ HD LCD TV at a nice price here on Amazon.com, and the combination is terrific. I have the two units connected via HDMI cable, so each unit “knows” about the other. As such, when you choose the HDMI input as a source, for example, the BD-P1600 automatically turns itself on. The P1600 is even better once you add the Wi-Fi Internet dongle via the USB port on the back. That enables wireless Internet access to your NetFlix “Watch Instantly” queue, and Pandora Internet radio, both of which are wonderful value-adds to your entertainment experience. Unfortunately, the Internet dongle costs extra, so once you buy it to take full advantage of all these features, you are close if not at the purchase price of the BD-P3600, which has the Wi-Fi dongle included in the purchase price. Plus, the P3600 has 7.1 analog outputs and 1Gb onboard memory (useful for BD-Live features). On the other hand, all of the Internet features of the BD-P1600 are available to you w/o the need for the Wi-Fi dongle if your unit will be close to an ethernet cable, as there is an ethernet port on back which would obviate the need for Wi-Fi access. Many would actually prefer a hard-wired connection for speed and stability but the Wi-Fi connection sure makes for an easy set-up if running a cable to the unit would be too much of a pain. If you’re looking for a quality blu-ray player and can run an ethernet cable to it, get this one.” – D.Woo (Silicon Valley,USA)

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