Samsung BD-P4600

When Blu-ray players were first introduced, not many people showed much interest because they didn’t have the large widescreen HDTV displays that also used to cost a fortune. Now that the Blu-ray technology officially represents the future of high-definition multimedia, entry-level players started to surface that have more features than the early players with trimmed down price tags. However, these entry-level players offer basic features that are just enough for standard Blu-ray playback support. Those wanting more features particularly enhanced Internet connectivity can settle for the advanced players like the Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray player which goes beyond Blu-ray playback capability and sports a very unique design.

Samsung BD-P4600 | Player Details

Design

The design of the BD-P4600 immediately stands out from the rest and that can be a good thing for people that are into slim space age designs because it is just over an inch thick and the corners are rounded with some red highlights which can match the Samsung HDTVs that have the Touch of Color design aspect. It also has a stand that is set up so that the player slightly slopes at a downward angle. Discs can be inserted in the disc slot located on the side and there is an indicator clearly showing where the discs go.

The rest of the buttons are all touch-sensitive yet really responsive to the point that it is possible to unintentionally active a function with the slightest touch. This design aspect allows the BD-P4600 to be mounted on the wall as well, a feature that is rare amongst the other Blu-ray players. While most of the hidden connections concealed by the plastic cover can be difficult to squeeze in wires, the USB port location is ideal for plugging in the free USB wireless dongle that it comes with to give it Wi-Fi connectivity and then close the cover again to totally conceal it from view.

Features

The user interface that is used in the other late models of the Samsung Blu-ray player lineup is also being used in the Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray player which is good as the basic navigation wasn’t all that bad to begin with. It presents itself in full HD graphics with attractive colors which overshadows the vertical setup menu alignment that not all people may like.

As expected from a high-end Blu-ray device, the BD-P4600 boasts Profile 2.0 compatibility granting the ability to handle any Internet-enabled BD-Live features found in some of the later Blu-ray titles. It also comes with a free USB Wi-Fi dongle that conveniently plugs into the USB 2.0 port so the device does not need to depend on an Ethernet cable although there is still one supplied anyway. It is okay for the USB port to be used as the BD-P4600 features 1 GB of onboard storage memory to store any BD-Live content that gets downloaded from the Internet.

Even if the BD-Live functionality isn’t used often, the wireless connectivity also lets people access the Netflix Instant stream service which can be used to download titles online and the Netflix Player by Roku to play them back in a very intuitive interface. Pandora services are included as well for music lovers. It is also possible to stream media directly from other computers that have wireless access. Streamable formats include the top image, audio, and video formats JPEG, MP3, and DivX respectively.

The BD-P4600 carries the same onboard soundtrack decoding that the entry-level Samsung players have so people with an HDMI AV receiver will be delighted to decode all their Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack formats with optional bit stream output without a loss of quality. Even the legacy formats remain supported for people looking to play DVD titles.

Performance

The performance of the BD-P4600 also impressed just like the other late models bearing the same video processing chip. It surpassed just about all the tests thrown at it including the Silicon Optix’s HQV test suite. No known defects were detected during the Film Resolution Test either and the quality of the best Blu-ray titles didn’t disappoint. Load times are also superior and even comparable to the reigning Playstation 3 with some titles loading less than 15 seconds. DVD performance also passed major tests and upscaling to 1080p is fully supported.

Bottom Line

The unique design of the Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray player may not match all home theater setups, but the wall-mounting capability and Wi-Fi support make this one of the more flexible Blu-ray players out there. The performance and feature set also make this one of the top players today.

Review By Scott Kovacik (San Diego, CA USA):

“Purchased the Samsung BD-P4600 via Amazon at a great sale price over Memorial Day weekend.
1. Style Factor: That’s why I’ve been drooling over this puppy since January. I detest “boxes” and have endeavored over the years to find the best combination of style/features/ease of use in all my gear. Started with B&O in the 80’s, and I’m now getting around to replacing my Bose Lifestyle. The BD-P4600 was the first step in a complete refurb. And it didn’t disappoint. The “Touch of Color” is excellent around the bezel. The size and shape is perfect – big enough to show off, but not overwhelming. Love how the controls are touch sensitive and show up only when the device is on. Slot load, instead of a clunky tray popping out, is great. Pictures don’t do it justice.
2. Wireless Network: Samsung includes the wireless dongle. Once I got to the screen to set up the network connection (I have AirPort Extreme, 802.11n) at first I thought it wouldn’t take my wireless password. Found out the problem via trial and error – first off, my password is all lower case. Since the Samsung offers up a screen with letters that you have to navigate to to enter, I was choosing capital letters over and over again, I’m ashamed to admit. Whoops. But then even choosing lower case letters it wouldn’t work. Samsung offers several secure network options to log on with. I was choosing mine – which is WPA. There were a couple of other secure log on protocols there with longer names that I finally chose out of frustration. Although it didn’t make sense to me, choosing a network security protocol OTHER than WPA on the Samsung worked. Whew!
3. Netflix/Pandora: I’m a Netflix subscriber and am on the cheapest plan, so it does wear a bit thin waiting for another DVD after I finish watching one via snail mail. Setting up Netflix and Pandora went flawlessly, easily and quickly. I chose a few movies from the website and they showed up right away. Picked one, hit Play, took a moment for it to load (acceptable time frame, considering wireless) and worked like a charm. No more waiting for the mail! No more purchasing movies via my cable company at outrageous prices when there’s nothing on TV. Fantastic!
4. DVD/CD Playback: Just what you’d expect – handles CD’s and DVD’s and I know a host of other formats – and, of course, Blu-ray. This is my first Blu-ray player, and I don’t own any yet (then why did I buy this?!) but it’s my plan to continue building my library with Blu-ray. I’ve ordered Terminator 2 Skynet Edition, as this Blu-Ray version offers BD-Live internet connectivity – apparently “Skynet” tells you that you are connected and it gives you the city you live in with area code, your email address, the degrees outside where you live and other goodies that only “Skynet” would know. The BD-Live feature sounds awesome, and I can’t wait to see it in action.
For now, since the Bose is still around and does not have an HDMI input, the Samsung is sitting at the base of the pedestal that my Panny 46″ is attached to. I didn’t use the wall-mount capability of the Samsung, so I attached the included base and it “sits up” quite nicely. HDMI is directly attached to the Panny, so I’m using the TV’s own speaker set, which is pretty good for that particular product, and very acceptable for the occasional Netflix streamed movie, where this device, for now, will perform its main function. My Harmony One’s software had the BD-P4600 remote functions in its data base, so I can get rid of the (IMO) Samsung’s lackluster remote – nice piano black finish, but no back-lit buttons, not-too intuitive layout and very small lettering for this 51 year old.
I understand that a PC can stream to the BD-4600; although I haven’t tried that yet, from what I’ve read it’s a bit of a task. Recently Samsung updated their manuals to reflect some new information regarding reading shared files from a PC, so it would be of benefit for anyone wishing to do this to visit the Samsung site for the latest information.
Nothing I’ve read so far states that Mac can share files to the BD-P4600, although I know folks out on the web are trying workarounds and other tricks to get there. Samsung states that, for now, this is not available.
I’m quite satisfied with this 21st Century-looking machine!

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