BD-UP5000 Universal Player Samsung [OFFICIAL OWNERS THREAD] & FAQ - Page 225

I guess it's too late, but did you try the Dual Format Disc (or whatever it's called) setting? If it's set to DVD instead of HD-DVD, maybe it's causing the problem? I know this setting should only come into play for hybrid HD discs, but it's a thought.

PS Regarding the FW, we've heard so many conflicting reports from Samsung support about the date and contents of the FW, that I don't believe any of it any more. I'll be truly surprised at this stage if we get anything, and any suggestions for a vegetarian alternative to crow or shoe would be welcome.

Doug

Yeah, that happened to me with Hot Fuzz. After 2 attempts, I tried the Standard DVD side of Hot Fuzz and it worked fine. I flipped back over to the HD DVD side and the machine accepted it that time. Hasn't happened otherwise. Maybe the machine needs to just reset or something.

DTS-HD track includes a DTS core track plus additonal data for DTS-HD. 5K simply output DTS core, not DTS-HD (yet).

I had one instance with I robot, the second time I tried to play it on a cold boot I got the cannot play disk dialog and spit the disk out. My second attempt had no problem this was the first time I saw the "cannot play disk" error but it never happened again.

What I did was when I first got the player I left 1.0 fw in until I played the rat movie, so I flashed it to 1.2 then I thought 1.0 seemed to look better for SD so in the long run I ended up flashing my unit four times and ended up with the 1.2 fw. So I would at least try to re flash the fw from 1.0 then go to 1.2 and see if it helps got nothing to lose at this point.

I was in my local BB the other day and all the UP5k's are all gone but one the demo, and it's a 01/08 build. What surprised me was that the last two boxes I saw earlier in the week were badly damaged but it seems those players were never returned. I went to the video guy to punch up the the 5k's listing on their pc and there is no more shipments coming in for this unit it's done. So if you decide to return your 5k chances are you will not find a replacement as stock is pretty much dried up at all the B&M's.


Don't forget that the engineers are the ones that are so out of touch with the consumer these days. Just try to read a manual for a LCD TV or any other one for that matter....

It could be worse... mono TrueHD no dts core and only plays 8 tracks.

I spent some time in a "live talk" person at Samsung today since I am considering one of these players as a way to add blu-ray to my HD-DVD playback capabilities.
Some high-points:
1. he reaffirms that Samsung engineers do not consider the Dolby TrueHD deficiencies to be a problem, but said they are addressing it in the upcoming mid-May firmware update in response to customer complaints. I asked him if he really thinks folks buy high definition equipment so they can hear audio in 2 channel . . .
2. he says they do not consider the stretching of 4:3 video to a widescreen aspect ratio a problem. Their solution is to reset equipment to 4:3 (including the TV) - and they have no intentions of addressing that problem.
3. he said Samsung will support the player indefinitely - whatever that means.
4. he says the firmware release is still scheduled for a May release.
As my final message sent to him, I suggested they look hard at the newest LG BH200 firmware update and make sure all the problems and issues addressed in that firmware are also addressed in the Samsung firmware.

I still struggle with what player to go with as an entry to blu-ray. I had high hopes for the Panasonic BD50 - but kind of hate to have another box in the home theater - and the price for it announced by Panasonic is ridiculous. The Samsung is somewhat decently priced in a number of places these days - but has issues I consider to be major problems (which is probably why the price is lower than the LG). So - I guess I'll just stay away from blu-ray for now . . .

Issues with players is common in new technology so even the BD50 will have its issues. And yes, the price. hm...I'm so glad I got a DUO player. hehe

I confess it is amazing to me to have no issues at all with my hd-dvd players (hd-a30 and 35) - and become faced with such a struggle when trying to select a fully functional and reliable blu-ray player. Who tests these combo players before inflicting them on the buying public? Don't these companies consider talking to real customers before designing/building this stuff? Why wouldn't Samsung just admit their errors and fix the problems properly? I'd probably go out and buy the Samsung combo tomorrow if I had any confidence Samsung was going to address the deficiencies it has via a comprehensive firmware update. I've got 2 terrific hd-dvd players and a pile of great movies - in the format that lost. And all we run into from the format that won is players that are not profile complete with a list of problems and another list of excuses for those problems - with the only consistent solution being - buy a PS3 game system. If I wanted a game system, I would have bought one in the first place. Although I must admit if the PS3 could play a HD-DVD disc via the XBox HD-DVD drive currently connected to my computer - I just might find a way to integrate it into my home theater!!

Have to admit I think I screwed up waiting. I was considering buying a second 5K, and kept watching Amazon drop the price, so I figured I'd keep waiting. It got down as low as $449, and then next thing ya know, they are all out! Only outside merchants are selling there now at MUCH higher prices! Oh well, maybe it's a sign.......

Hey, Rich...didn't know you posted around these parts. Jump in, you know you wanna'. I did it back in December because of the high def itch.


Costco for $480 with a 90-day warranty and there are a few other authorized resellers who have it for even less (not quite $450 though ).

If you mean jumping into a blu-ray player - sure I do - that's why I am still reading, etc. Looking at the Samsung 5000 at Costco.com is what me going again today on the subject. I just can't stand the thought of going from a perfectly functional/working high def format and players - that "lost" - to the format that "won" - only to be greeted with a slew of problems and issues in very expensive equipment. I guess I would expect it to be the other way around? Of course there is Costco's strong customer support - and liberal return policy . . .

I understand how you feel and when I dived into the HD realm back when they first released the add on and there was only PowerDVD 6.5 it was the cheapest way to go at the time. It was fun to tinker and see if my old 939 Winchester AMD CPU was able to handle the new format which failed miserably. An X2 3800 clocked to it's max works just fine but my point to this ramble is we all knew in the beginning that two men enter and one man leaves in the end.

And it is a shame HD DVD lost with their completed spec sheet and those great Sherman tank XA2's are all now going to be scrapped. But don't just blame the hardware manufactures a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.... the studios have the responsibility/duty to release the data to the manufacturers which they were not doing. After the demise of HD DVD everything has to be ported over to the BD format which is where we are at now a total stand still. It seems there is confusion with the Studio's, the BDA and trying manufacture a piece of hardware with no completed spec/absolution. Take for instance our half a$$ed 2 ch HD audio, like vinnie97 said wtf are these guys thinking about! Who was the genius that set the spec for that? I'd like to back slap that guy... while you guys stand in line waiting your turn.

The whole shame in this mess is this player never did get a chance to see the light of day while we end users are still kept in the dark. I may just go back to BB and see what kind of deal I can get on that demo unit if they still have it.

Re: Costco. Yes, at the very least! On the Blu-ray side, the just-announced $700 MSRP for the Panasonic is a real hoot. There's also the possibility of the LG BH300 in July as some rumors are saying if you can hold out a few more months for something that can really do it all.

Sign me up.

Thanks. Yeah, but Amazon's $449 price was out the door and I have a $400 credit there from HD-DVD player purchases!

Hey Everyone,

Just figured I would call and see if I could get one of the magical 2nd tier reps that would not blow smoke up my a#$. Got a tech named Mike, he was nice to deal with, still insisted that I need to send it to them to get any audio drop out or lock up problems fixed... (might actually do this considering it's still early in May) I was able to get him to admit that they had a "tentative release date" for an update that would make this player BD 1.1 compliant... he said the internal memo stated "May" but nothing more specific. He also stated that the audio update is NOT included in the memo, and they are going to fix the problem, but not likely in the next firmware release. (he did seem pretty up on his info.) So, the question is... to ship it to them... or not?

Any opinions would be great. BTW I have a 12/2007 build... purchased 12/26/07, thus it ain't going back to BB and yes... I too bit the bullet at full retail...

There's always ebay.

Ugh, Beck, shoulda' got in at $450...that's hindsight.

Hey Tarch, thanks for this. As far as the audio dropouts are concerned, I think you might be wasting your time sending it in. Both my December and February builds exhibit the problem through my Onkyo 605 on certain discs.

Sure hope this part isn't true - could've sworn that that the statements from the reps (a long time ago in a thread far far away well at least 175 + pages back) said that the May "super update" included the audio as well as the 1.1 issues.

I honestly don't care about the 1.1, just the audio (over analog) fixes. (I keep buying BR concerts with the newer audio formats - can't wait to hear some of this stuff - David Gilmour, Dave Matthews, Queen, etc.)

Thanks to all of you guys for your suggestions. I have tried all of them and nothing seems to work. The 5000 will play the SDDVD side of a combo disk, but when I flip it over to the HD-DVD side I get the "cannot play disk" message. BR also works fine. Every BR I try loads up without any problem. As for BB not having any 5000's in stock for replacement, that may be a good thing. This was my first Samsung product, and it will absolutely be the last. According to the BB service plan that I bought with the player for a situation just like this, if the player needs to be replaced they will replace with a new one, or if one is not available they will replace with a "like" product. I've never had to use a extended service plan before, so hopefully it will not be too much of a hassle.

Try the BH200! Samsung is really out of touch.

I have pretty much made up my mind that when I bring the 5000 in, I will be purchasing a BH200. Just got a 12% off coupon too! LG here I come!

If you read the fine print, Costco is not an authorized seller.

Wha? http://www.samsung.com/us/peaceofmind/ceddealers.html

OK, I see the small text to which you're referring: "Costco's guarantee applies, even though this item may not be covered by the manufacturer's warranty, because Costco is not an "authorized" dealer of the merchandise."

Someone's passing the buck, mebbe Costco isn't such a hot deal after all.

Sorry if you mistook what I meant but I looked at my add I get from Costco so therefore would you wonder if these could be refurbs. do to availibility?

Possibly, but they've been available at Costco for this price for some time (at least a month). Isn't it illegal to sale a refurb without listing it as such in the description?

That I do not know because it says due to supplies. If they are not an authorized reseller then who knows? This is speculation on my part.

Yea, I figured...the information in the description versus Samsung's own auth retailer page don't add up, so it's impossible to know without clarifying with Costco (or Samsung) directly, I suppose. I'm pretty sure Costco is required by law to list them as refurb'd if they indeed are (and I've actually not seen any refurb'd units for over $400 from any stores yet).

I didn't buy into any excuses. Of course fiber and coax can pass higher bandwidths. In fact there's plenty of bandwidth on coax to match what HDMI supports and the cable and interfaces would be MUCH simpler and cables/connectors MUCH less expensive. Single mode fiber is capable of extremely high bandwidth over great distances. Even the fiber used for S/PDIF is capable of 8 channels of 48KHz 24-bit audio (8 times the bandwidth of S/PDIF or 12 Mb/s. The 8-channel version was originally developed for ADAT recorders and is used in many pro and semipro audio applications. The ADAT optical interface has enough for TrueHD or DTS HD. But at that point it's not S/PDIF and therefore not compatible with the I/O on receivers and players.

Let the buyer beware.

I got mine from Costco a couple weeks ago- It was not a refurb and had a january build date I believe. I also clarified the "customer satisfaction guarantee" thing and it is basically like anything else you buy at costco- you can return it to the store no questions asked any time for a refund- including a shipping refund! The more limited 90 day warrantee only applies to tv's, mp3 players, computers, cameras.