Official Samsung BD-P3600 Owners/Master thread

There are now separate owners threads on the 3600 (you are here ).

And the Samsung 1600

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=samsung

If anyone has purchased the 3600, or has seen it in action you are heartily encouraged to post your findings here! Especially concerning its SD upconversion in comparison to the 25X0, as I think the supposed lack of the HQV chip this time around may seriously limit this player's appeal (at least in Canada, where the wi-fi is about the only thing worth counting as an "upgrade").

Thanks in advance!

Doug

I agree. This is exactly why I ended up getting the 2550. I know it's a solid unit with amazing upconversion... the 3600 is still very much in question. Even the guy @ BB was telling me the 3600 was just a new case with wifi and no HQV.

They had one hooked up at a local Best Buy. I played with the remote and went through the setup menu of the player. I didn't see nothing new or unusual. I didn't fine any setting in regards to any standard dvd enhancement. However, if you look at the specs it does mention "VQE" which may be some type of enhancement for upscaling standard dvds. It is not mentioned in the specs for the 1600, only the 3600/4600.

probably a stupid question, but what does the internet streaming mentioned on the box mean?

I think that DivX support should count for something. Don't think any other Samsung BD players have that spec'd.

Here's a small review...
Setup is a Samsung BD-P3600 via HDMI to Denon 2809 to B&W683 series theater setup.

Not a traditional look. it's has edges that are tapered up...kind of like an upside down trapazoid. also, the play controls are on the top of the deck (front right area). not that it matters to some (most use remotes), but this is definitely a blu-ray player meant to be "displayed" rather than in a rack or cubby of sorts. Definitely won't work unless you plan to have it on the top of a counter or at the very top of the rack. Lots of plastic, and it is scratchable...made a hairline on mine already.

Picture quality is good with no real issues that I can visibly see (unfortunately, i have no reference nearby to compare it to side-by-side). top is nice but with that samsung "touch of color" so visually, make sure you are ready to accept the gloss with color look -- looks odd against the brushed aluminum black look of most. may be ok with other samsung stuff and possibly the Pioneer lines with their gloss black looks.

Bitstreaming (Audiophile) works well. The Bitstream downmix to DTS does as it says fairly well, no real complaints. I'm going to test the players own audio decoding more extensively. However, I won't be doing an analog test anytime soon unless it's for 2-ch only.

the top cover WILL get hot if you run it long. dunno how well that bodes for some.

disc errors: i've had a couple, but nothing i could replicate. seems a bit arbitrary. that being said, the load time is night and day to most players i've seen.

WiFi with dongle works as promised and is compatible with WPA2. The idea of the usb plugin is debatable -- on one hand it keeps the signals from bouncing around inside more; on the other its another piece that can be lost or broken. does come with a right angle adapter for the usb wifi adapter, so that's nice. Seemless to setup and is working out of the box.

audio is a bit airy, if not overly accentuated. i feel like the highs are pushed too much and the mid-lows seem overcompensated. i'd like to see what people think when comparing it to other units -- perhaps it's just my ears and my setup. I did get a few CD playbacks (with HDMI no less) that were muddied with hiss but were not always replicable as well. i have a stage-4 panamax scrubbing the power so i'm not sure where this comes from -- especially since i won't get any artifacts when playing via hdmi from my laptop.

BIG EDIT: tried the same CD again, and it seemed fine. airiness is gone, and CD playback seemed fairly clean. again, not sure where the anomaly comes from then

Network sharing is limited to your basic formats: jpg, mp3, etc so don't look for anything special out of it (ie. FLAC, Divx) -- though admittedly, that's more than some. Network interface is nothing to write home about, but it's still functional. If you're a Pandora or Netflix guy, then this would be nice for you. Service is ok, with a few hiccups -- buffering does a pretty good job thusfar.

Anyway, this is my review based on what i've seen thusfar. Debating whether or not to return it. Doubt many people would notice the absence of the HQV Reon in this iteration (if it's indeed gone). Sorry, the case is so plasticky, i don't want to risk taking it apart to have a look under the hood for pics. A quick rant would be about Samsung having no literature or tech support ready for this device as they had no documentation when i called (nor on their website).

NOTE: I'm going to test a few DVDs for upscale vs their Bluray counterparts that I have. Looking for some test patterns as well.

+1

Please update us on the SD quality on these if you can. Sounds like the VQE (Video Quality Enhancement) is like HQV on the P2500/2550.

So I haven't been on the forums since like, 2002 when I updated my HT. Mits55rptv, cambridge soundworks newton top of the line, Kenwood DVD 5900m 400 disc changer, MarantzSR8200. Just updated again with a Samsung HL61A750 dlp. I couldn't upgrade my display without a BD and was set on the Sammie 2500. Went to BB to pick one up and saw the 3600, didn't even know they were out so went out on a limb and bought it. I'm no phile of any sort but am discerning so here goes, more for the average user although not sure $399 for a standalone is for the average consumer.

Setup, pretty straighforward as the TV recognized the 3600 straight away.
Audio connections are through digital optical and 7.1 analog.
Video is through monoprice hdmi.

Only BD I have is the Dark Night, and haven't seen the movie yet. Popped it in and it loaded quickly, I'm used to the 400 disc Kenwood loading up so load time is irrelavant to me. First BD experience with the 3600/61A750 combo was Stellar. My wife and I were blown away. Audio quality matched the Video quality. I'll also try to compare the optical audio versus the analog.

Haven't tried SD yet but I will after I post this although I don't have any other BD upconversion experience to go by so my opinion on that will probably be useless.

Set up on my wirelss network seemlessly. No firmware updates available yet. Set up Pandora, what a cool feature. Listening to it right now. My wife and I really like it. Funny as I never thought I'd even bother activating it but I'm trying to justify my purchase with her any way I can and every feature helps.

Summary....I love it so far. Going to buy some more BD movies this weekend, maybe Planet Earth.

I went to my local BB and they had the 3600 sitting there, none in stock tho. I asked the rep about the upconvert on the new player, he then pointed me to a Pioneer that he thought was better for the same price. I took a few pictures of the back and of the list.

I played the SD version of 007 QOS. Loaded right up, quickly with no errors. Picture was much better than on my regular dvd player. Smoother more natural picture, colors are more saturated but not just punchy for effect. I really like the upconversion but I don't think it's so good that I'd take the time to pull a disc out of the changer to play it on the 3600, however when I buy a new SD disc I'll play it on the BD before I catalog it into it's eternal resting place in the 5900m.

The difference between the digital optical sound and the 7.1 analog out was more noticable than the difference in the standare and upconverted video, to me at least. The digital sounded hollow and pitchy compare to the deep involving richness of the analog. I've found my new preferred sound format. Funny thing is I had the 5900m hooked up that way originally as the DVD audio on it played through the Marantz that way and I loved how it sounded. It's great to be reminded of how some "old" technology can be just as satisfying as the latest hi-tech whatever they're selling.

I'll keep you guys updated if any problems arise or any opinions change. Later!

I am on day #2. Rented Transporter 3 Blu Ray from Blockbuster. There is an annoying audio drop about every 30 seconds. Same thing happens on Miracle at St. Anna DVD. Mine was the last BD P3600 in stock at BestBuy and apparently is defective. It's going back tomorrow.

I found mine at my local BestBuy last week.I'm sure glad i decided to wit a week for the 3600 instead of picking up the 1600 for my bedroom Bluray player.Reason being that the WiFi dongle(which comes from the 3600 and not the 1600)is going for $82 from Samsung and as it said above, is on a 4 week nationwide backorder.The $82 is almost the whole difference in price between the 2 units.

I have a BD-P2500 for my main BR player in my home theater, so wasn't too concerned about the lack of HQV on the 3600, but it looks to me like the HQV got sacrificed for the WiFi dongle being included instead.I'm wondering if HQV will be a feature found in the BD-P4600 instead.

I rather doubt if it is removed from the 3600 that it'd be present in the 4600. The 4600 is more looks than anything else -- and in that even slimmer case, I'd doubt they'd put in a better chip. That and since it also doesn't advertise the HQV Reon (like the 3600/1600) it leads to the same logic that it isn't in there -- one would think they'd tout that as much as possible given the fanfare it received with the 2500 (who's white papers generously tout the Reon).

You have both the 2500 and the 3600? Perfect! How do SD DVDs look on the 3600 in comparison? Is there a visible difference? The more details, the better -- if you don't mind. Thanks in advance!

Doug

I almost bought the 3600 today, one available at BB, but was wondering if it's worth the extra $82 for the 3600 vs the 2550 they're closing out now. I have ethernet already by the home theater so no real concerns about wireless.

What I do have questions about are:

1. How is the PC media sharing on it? Anything like AppleTV? Sound quality? I would love to stream my music to my TV in an elegant way.

2. Is it quicker on load times than the 2550?

3. Does it feature anything else noteworty in comparison to the 2550 such as more audio decoding feature?

Thanks!

Chris

Is VQE a generic term for post-processing, or is it a specific chipset, ala HQV via the Reon chip? I still have hopes that this unit will do well, compared to the BD-P2500/2550.

My local BB only had a display model. Bought it today for 5% off! Netflix streaming picture was excellent with wireless N, much better than hooking up the Sony laptop to the Pioneer 5070. My son taught me about Pandora - very cool and finds some obscure bands. Overall, I am very excited about this player and have dropped the Netflix subscription to one disc at at a time.

Exactly: the HQV chip is GONE from ALL new Samsung Blu-Ray players. If you want it, get the 2500/2550. My guess is it was done for cost considerations. After all, many devices that incorporated HQV (besides Samsung) were hundreds of dollars more and probably had better margins. The real question is: will the purchase of Silicon Optix by IDT mean the END of these chips?

Hello. I hope someone can help me. I just got this player and I've tried connecting it to my wireless network both automatically and manually. Everything goes ok until I do the network test. It always fails on the "Gateway Ping" phase. Does anyone know how to fix this? I have a Netgear WNR2000 router. Thanks for the help!

are you doing an autodetect of the available wireless networks? i would recommend this so that the WPA2 settings are correct. the 3600 handles multiple types of wireless security models WEP, WPA2-PSK/TKP, AES -- at least it seems that it's AES (though, I haven't ever got this to work well). So autodetecting it would be best since the player will notice the type of security to handshake with. but if you are sure of your settings and all else is failing, i'd go manual to drive it home (i believe the manual says this as well in nicer words).

Then there is the issue of passphrase/shared security key. Not sure about the netgear, but sometimes, wireless routers don't like set-top devices' (ie Wii, Xbox, Bluray players) input methods and you end up putting in the hex. haven't had to do that for devices since my last router a long time back, so i'm hopeful that it isn't the case for you. And personally, I haven't had to do that with my dlink 4500 (wireless N), so I doubt that's the case.

now here are some steps i want to point out to you and others in case it was missed. when typing out your passphrase/security key after an autodetect, make sure you press the right button (possibly more than once) after you've finished inputing your passphrase/key so that it goes back to highlighting the password (i think that was the name) option. ie, press the right key after your password until you can see your passphrase correctly displayed but your highlight has gone back to the menu instead of a cursor on your passphrase input line. once there, your phrase is now stored "in the system" and you can test your network connection.

...and of course...you plugged in the wireless dongle, right?

It doesn't seem to matter what I do. I tried WEP, WPA, WPA2 passkeys. I tried the push button on the router. I tried entering the 3600's pin into the router. I tried turning off all security on my network. I used auto dhcp and dns as well as manually entering ip's, etc.

It's always the same. The 3600 connects to my network just fine with every method. Then, I go to the Network Connection Test. It passes the MAC test, it passes the IP/Subnet/Gateway/DNS test, and it always fails on the Gateway Ping test.

At this point, I wonder if I need to buy a new router or wait until May for the Sony wifi player.

I'm an idiot. The connection worked once I power-cycled my Sony RF6000 phones. Didn't even think about RF interference. Thanks for your help, though!

hehe, had that problem before. glad you didn't wait for the sony as that probably would have been more of the same if not worse.

i would, however, be wary if there is that much RF noise about your AV system in general.

i'm having an issue with the volume level of the LFE channel when playing a disc with dolby true hd & dts hd ma encoding with 5.1 analog outs. the output is too low. the receiver is a yamaha rx-v995 & the sub is a sunfire true sub mk II. i've tried different speaker sizes in the player & in the receiver with no luck. BUT when playing a regular dvd with dolby digital the low end is fine (also 5.1 analog out - no optical). so, am i over looking something or is the player at fault ? the firmware of the player is: s/w:BEv1.34_090117_XAA. i've tried to update the firmware, but it says i'm current. could the people who are happy with the analog outs post your firmware versions ? i would greatly appreciate it ! thanks for any insight.

This player seems too complicated to me, I have the 2500 and love it. Think Im gonna order another one tommorow !

That's what I figured. So, I went out tonight and bought one of the last 2550s at your Best Buy (in Plano, TX) for $349. Right behind the three 2550s were three 3600s.