To those waiting for the Samsung BD-UP5000...

TL5, your concerns are absolutely valid.

In fairness, there's a "chicken or the egg" frustration going on as these technologies materialize.

There are promises of audio codecs (DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD and DTS-HD MA) and video rates (1080i60, 1080p60, 1080p24) that have never existed before.

Displays and receivers that have to accept and use these new A/V techs have had to be able to materialize them before the consumer could see the benefit in a lot of cases. Discs have been mastered using them, before the hardware could demonstrate them.

We're at the phase where the hardware is just catching up. Displays that can take 1080p24 are slowly becoming more available, but are still in the vast minority. Receivers that can take a bitstream of the new audio codecs are even more rare.

I understand your frustration, many of us do. Some people like being on the bleeding edge, and find the whole "will it work, won't it, how cool will it be to test?...and I'll be the first to say I tried it!" mindset kind of exciting. Others want to just plug it in and have it work. Plenty of both on this forum, with many somewhere inbetween.

I'd suggest letting some of the daring pioneer types cut their teeth on the hardware and its firmwares until there's a concensus that it's stable, and then jumping in. To be honest, that's how I'm looking at the BD-UP5000 right now.

Yeah, after sending back several hd-dvr's for various problems, and paying near top dollar since there wasn't much competition in that product line, and now with these issues with the hd players.

I've been holding off on buying in the 'format war' because it is absurd and expensive if you buy both formats, and even then you don't get all the advanced audio that's available.

I will jump in with the duo player but will get it from a local BB/CC and forgo some savings from internet dealers for the ability to walk it back down and return it and get a new one if there are problems. If you get it from the internet stores, and there's a problem, the inconvience of the whole process to send it back is a whole lot to swallow when paying this much money.

that the Sam hi end hi-def players will not even handle DVD+R, and that it can only play DVD-R (and of course HD and BD). So what do they expect me to do with the hundreds of the (newer and better spec'd) [backup] DVD+R movies I have. Looks like we all have to keep that older equipment.

Well, just to pile on...

HD DVD players won't play DVD-A... BD players won't play SACD... WTF!



(I'm OK with a "some do, some don't" market, but NONE???)

Hear hear!

Sorry if a mere accolade breaks protocol ("posting 'me too' like some brain-dead AOLer").

The PS3 will play SACD. (not the 40G version)

I, for one, don't find it all that inconvenient to keep my Oppo. It will send my SACDs as either DSD or PCM over HDMI to a capable processor (like the Cary 11a + 11v or the new Integra), and will play all regions. Who knows when a region hack will be available for the Samsung?

You have to keep your universal DVD player like Oppo in order to play all formats.

TL5,

Its basically a fricking mess.

It seems that whatever we buy, its going to have problems. Like you, I'd think third generation products should work. Guess we're wrong on this one.

When have consumer electronics ever really "got it right" in the digital age? We aren't talking about analog stereo sound, its a moving target that is always changing. look at anything that is software based, this will always be an issue.

I've been trying to locate one the last few days and I thought I had spotted the elusive beast at a Magnolia in a Best Buy but it was a decoy... they told me they had no idea of inventory date. Any clues? I just purchased the Pioneer Elite 150FD and a Pioneer Elite 92TWX receiver, and am awaiting delivery.
Now I just need the missing link to complete my Audio/Video nirvana...

I don't think anyone really has a good handle on a release date, but many seem to think it won't be in time for Christmas....early 2008 unfortunately. Heck, I've waited this long without a high def unit. Looks like I'll keep the Oppo and be content until the new Samsung hits the shelves.

After seeing good user reviews of the Panasonic BD30 I gave up on the Samsung and bought the 30. It's my first high def player. Very happy with it so far, both for BD and SD.

I think the Panasonic plays dvd-a

Are you using an AVR that decodes its bitstream output for Dolby TRUEHD and DTS-HD MA?
I have the -BD10AK and am very happy with it, but also glad I didn't have to get another new HDMI AVR to get the Dolby TRUEHD and DTS-HD (HR only) decoded.

The -BD10 and -BD10A play DVD-Audio, but the newest model, the '30, does not nor does it offer 7.1 outputs anymore, either.
It only offers 5.1 output for an AVR with only analogue inputs for amplification.
The Samsung BD-UP5000 is my future choice with these 7.1 outputs to send decoded audio for amplification to my AVR-3805 with its 7.1 inputs.

Had to jump in here.

I think Consumers as a whole are more than willing to accept defective products just for the sake of having one. This is the message that we are sending out to Makers. I don't know if any of you are familiar with computers, but the latest craze is the GeForce 8800 GT. This is a video card that was made by a company in the States called Nvidia. This card was produced because there was a black hole in the mid-range market where most consumers reside. In came the GeForce 8800 GT. Barely behind the power of the top-end graphic cards, which was completely unexpected but a total delight and at 1/2 the price. However, what the company did was crank up the speed of the graphical processor far beyond its normal limits. The major consequence was really hot temperatures, so much that people were recording 80-90 degrees on the main chip. For a consumer computer, that's utterly nuts.

And small things have started to go wrong. The exhaust fan have failed on some cards, with the result of the chip frying on the spot. Temperatures have soared inside computers. People have even bought two of these cards and placed them side by side. What happens when summer comes? Computers will simply shut down due to overheating or face meltdown.

And yet, as soon as a company gets stock, this card sells out, not in days, but in hours. And the solution to the problem is spend another $50 or so on an aftermarket fan and mount it on the board.

But, in the end, this is nothing new. Programs have been sold to the market with heavy flaws and patched later. This has been happening for years now. And enough of the public still buys them, sending a message saying 'we don't care if workmanship has become sloppy'. Anyone watch the show Holmes on Homes? The old saying 'they don't make'em like they used to' is every-so true. An increasing amount of houses come with serious defects. These are people's homes!! They are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. These are their life savings. And yet people buy these brand-new homes with show-stopping defects at ridiculous prices, which inherently sends the same message.

Unlike the people on these forums, the general public is fairly unaware and do not take the time to find the small percentage of good people out there who make what we need. They just buy without doing alot of indepth homework - something that is sadly needed these days. And this perpetuates the cycle.

Gee, do you think we could ask it to play VHS tapes too?

I really do want a dual player, since I want movies exclusively on each, once I get my 1080p SXRD in a few weeks and the new screen up, I will get the Sammy or if it is still in 'to be released limbo', I'll get the panasonic bd30 and the tosh a35, sell the denon 3806 and get the onkyo 805 to bitstream the advanced codecs. It does add about $500 to the final cost but this is just so annoying at this point, I'm ready to pay that to avoid the angst.