Samsung (BD-F5100) Blu-ray Disc Player -(Certified Refurbished)

Plug and Play

I'm a retired software engineer so I tend to read a manual before using anything. Same thing with this blu-ray player. So i read through the settings section for both picture and sound and got a little confused about dolby-digital vs PCM sound setting instructions. So then I have to google PCM since I had no idea what that was or which was better. Its PCM by the way. So after an hour with manual and google I finally pop in a DVD (new Star Trek) and go though the settings setup only to realize that the factory defaults are exactly what I want. So I start the the DVD and it looks and sounds beautiful on our new LG 55: LED TV with sound pumped out the TV through the digital audio out port and into a Sony AV receiver.

Moral of the story.... Don't waste any time with the manual. just plug it in and play it.

Why buy a new one?

Aside from there not being any batteries for the remote or a cable to connect to the TV with, I could not tell this was a refurb unit. Paired this up with an Amazon Basics HDMI cable (no reason to buy a more expensive brand of cable...the cable either transmits the digital signal or it doesn't) and went from the box to watching a movie in less than 5 minutes. Great buy!

A Great Refurbished Buy with a Few Notes of Interest
Although I have a beloved PS3, I decided that if I was going to upgrade to a 1080 HD TV, I may as well get a proper Blu-Ray player as well. I do normally only buy new, but I bought this refurbished unit on a whim, mainly because of the general glowing reviews it has received. And I got a great product at a discounted price!

A few notes:

● A file format for self-made discs may be supported, but if they require an additional codec, they still won't play. I discovered this with a set of old Anime discs that need an extra audio codec. All well, just means I have to finally file convert them.

● If you leave a disc inside the player, it has a somewhat nuisance of a "feature" that when I turn on the TV, the player after a moment detects it, turns itself on and forces the input to swap to its HDMI channel. Kind of cool, but when I turn on my PS3 and then get pushed over to the Blu-Ray player because I had left a disc inside, it is a tad...

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