BD-UP5000 Universal Player Samsung [OFFICIAL OWNERS THREAD] & FAQ - Page 326

was with fw 1.3 and now i have upgraded to fw 1.4

it seems to play the hellboy 2 ok last night. im gonna try it with kill bill vol.2 tonight.

Found this player today for a very good price. Does it do a very good job playing blu-rays and hd dvds with out problems.

Some people will say otherwise, but I've never had a problem with mine. Just make sure you have the latest firmware.

I'm very happy with both of my UP-5000's

Hi Vinnie, Happy New Year by the way. All the best. Yes I had something similar after leaving the 5k off for quite a while. All my Fox titles wouldnt play (screen showed this msg: 'you need a firmware update in order to watch this blu-ray movie'....). After turning it off a couple of times, it worked ok afterwards. No problem since. Noticed something new with fw 1.4 though: when I pause HD DVD's, the movie doesnt pause immediately, it goes into a slow motion for about 3 to 5 seconds then it pauses...there is also a little delay before it resumes playback but this was happening before 1.4. Otherwise, all HD DVD's play fine. This occured with Matrix and Matrix reloaded HD DVD's & Under Siege HD DVD.
J-Y.

HNY to you too, JY! I distinctly remembered your post chronicling your problems and the similarity was you had also not used your player in several days. I wonder if there's some kind of static electricity buildup that might be to blame...very peculiar. HD 335, power cycling indeed did the trick. Here's to many more years (or at least until the majority of the former HD DVD exclusives have been ported over ) of trouble-free playback/operation!

You got a pioneer 1018 for $150????? I do not believe you... That is a $600 receiver.

If it makes you feel better I still had to pay sales tax and didn't get a manual...
PM me your email address and I'll email you a scan of the receipt..

Hi All,
It's been a while since I posted in this thread. Nice to see some new folk join the UP5000 club. I remain basically satisfied with my two purchases of this machine. The first was a sale price of CAD $399, and the second at CAD $299 (CAD was about on par with USD at the time). I made amazing deals on most of my HD DVD collection, which is why I got this machine in the first place. As long as I get several good years of service out of my HD DVD collection, I will be very happy. My BD collection is growing, but slowly.

I am also extremely pleased with the upconversion of this player for SD DVDs. When I hooked this up to my Panasonic TH-42PZ77U 42" plasma, I compared three players for SD DVDs: my Sony DVD from a few years back, a current Philips upconverting DVD, and the 5000. The Philips upconverter was an amazing step up from the older Sony, and the 5000 blew away my Philips (which I still use and enjoy) with its superior upconversion.

In other respects, I am not happy. The firmware updates have brought as many glitches as they have solved. I will not update to 1.4 firmware until it is over the internet, but even then I hear so many negative comments that I am sticking with 1.3 for now.

I had (and still have) audio dropouts about every twenty minutes no matter what I play. I have come to the conclusion, with the help of some exemplary Panasonic people, that they are due to an HDMI incompatibility between the 5000 and the Panasonic PZ77U. I have no audio dropouts when going through my Yamaha Sound Projector, only when it is direct to the TV. Panasonic was amazing; they send on site repair support THREE times to my home to replace HDMI connections, the speakers, and something else I can't remember. The changes made no difference, but at least Panasonic tried. Friendly, helpful, supportive, and it wasn't even their problem!

However, Samsung Customer Service (Canada) has been rude, dismissive, unhelpful to me on each occasion I have called. On one occasion, I was verbally abused by some guy named Kevin, whose name I cannot forget. So, although I am still enjoying the universality of my player, I will revert to my old customer loyalty to Pioneer in the next few years. Once they get the kinks out of the BD format, I'll save up for a nice Pioneer Elite series in 4 or 5 years. I tend to stick with companies that treat me well, but this is my first, and I think my last, time with Samsung.

1.4 is fine (and fortunately hasn't added any new problems in my experience, though it didn't improve upon all of the prior problems either)...most show-stopping problem reports with the firmware itself are isolated.

I assume that display uses HDMI 1.3 connectors? These DF players have been known to choke when connected to the prior generation, 1.2.

Also, that kind of support from Samsung is definitely inexcusable...I had a similar experience with a cocky dude employed by US support (just a step down from abuse).

Funny thing is, that it's the Panasonic TV that is HDMI 1.3 which the 5000 has the incompatibility with. I have no problems sending the audio over HDMI to my Yamaha YSP-4000 receiver, even though it is only HDMI 1.2a. I have learned to live with the dropouts at this point, after too much hassle. When I really want to enjoy a disc with home theatre sound, I have no problems with the Yamaha sound projector. If I don't care much, then I just use the TV directly and ignore the dropouts.

Not in my experience. My player was just dandy til 1.4. Now it won't load Blu-ray movies. I get the 0x000000ff Code of Death.

man i'm glade I got two players that don't have problems with movies. Is there any truth to the older players having issues?

I loaded 1.4 on two separate earlier (November 2007/February 2008) units with no catastrophic failure, so nope...there's just a bad batch or 2 out there.

Mine has a build date of January 2008. I am so pissed right now.

Absolutely no problems with 1.4 here.

No problems with 1.4 here either; in fact it solved the problem I was having with the units inability to play DVD-R discs. Over and above that the picture I am getting is noticeably better than what I was getting on all discs. My unit was a December 2008 build. Upon reading all these problems I am inclined to think that a large number of problems originates with the burning of the CD's. I notice that in one instance a member burned a CD four times and finally his problem was solved. Vinnie's advice on CD burns is no doubt well worth a read. As to using the net for updates, based on what I have seen I say forget it! A HNY to one and all.

John

Ive burned probably twice that amount of CDs. Using different computers, different brands, different speeds. It's not like Im unfamiliar with computers or how to do it. Ive updated my 2 HD DVD players numerous times and not a single problem. I updated my grandmother's Sony BDP300 with no problems. I updated my Sammy 5K to 1.3 with no problem too after I first bought it. But 1.4 is no good. Movies that used to play dont play. Others get error messages. But oddly, a few will play though. When it doesnt, it grunts and spits it out or just hangs there trying to load. And Im not alone. Something is wrong with this update somewhere.

Writing off these problems as to poor CD burning skills is lame.

^More than likely, it is just a coincidence that player started acting up about the same time as the fw update was executed. If so, an unfortunate coincidence. No matter what, it seems it will have to be repaired, or sold as is. .

Perhaps. From what Ive read, some people describing similar problems and sent it in for repair are hearing it cant be repaired and are being offered a different model for replacement. Which would be OK except I bought this specifically for the duo playing abilites. Otherwise I would have just bought a BD-only player. So I'm probably screwed.

I think almost most anyone who bought this player picked it up for the dual capabilities.

And I'm with Smarty Pants, the point at which your player started acting up was likely merely a coincidence. It was probably close to failure anyway and the firmware upgrade simply pushed the component (laser pickup?) to failure. It sucks but quality control isn't what it used to be. :/ I've had my original player for over a year and am experiencing none of what you documented. Perhaps the one thing wrong with revision 1.4 is it's stressing subpart components to failure.

Well, it wasnt like I exactly needed it. I have an old A1 in a box. I was looking for a BD player for the bedroom to use in conjunction with it and saw this marked down on clearance at Best Buy for $300. I had to buy a remote but I figured for about the price of a BD-only player I can save space and have it all in one. Now I'm wish I would have done what I was originally going to do.


You both may very well be right. But Ive read people having similar problems after updating to 1.4. When they reverted to 1.3 it corrected itself. I was not that fortunate. It never made that grunting noise and I never got a 0x000000ff error until the update. Whatever the problem is, 1.4 seems to be the catalyst. And that pisses me off.

It's just that it took some pushing to get my wife to allow me to pick this up when I did (I had just bought a new HDTV and a receiver for the bedroom) and now it doesnt work and because some BD disc will play Im afraid they will charge me and not fix it (I read that happened to someone in another thread) and I'll be out the money for the repair bill plus Ill need to buy a new player.

You bought it at Best Buy for $300????
If that is the case, then isn't it still under warranty?
If that's the case, and Samsung can't fix it, then you should be able to get a refund and use the money to buy another 5000 if that is what you want.

This was back in July. It was selling for $500 and they had a beat up old demo for $300. The guy swapped stickers with me so I could get it at discount. The parts are under warranty but the labor is not, according to Samsung. From what Ive read Im looking at about $85 in repairs, assuming it can be fixed.

Ouch, you got a "beat up old demo?" That helps to explain some things...I would never buy one of these used. They just seem so delicate and fragile.

What's the warranty on a new 5000? July of '08 you got it???
When buying open box/floor model components at Best Buy, the same warranty for a NEW player applies to those players as well. So, a full warranty should be in effect starting the day you purchased it.

No, he swapped the stickers with the "beat up old demo" so I could get it at the cheaper price. The model I bought should have been $500. But I stood around ********ting with the guy for about 1/2 an hour and he hooked me up.


From what I was told there is a year on parts and 90 days on labor.

ah, apologies! I fail @ reading comprehension (haste makes waste).

I will forgive you. But just this once.

Only 90 days on labor? Man, Samsuck just keeps gettin suckier every day .