Samsung Electronics BD-H5100 Blu-Ray Disc Player

I saw this in a brick and mortar, $84 on sale, at Amazon, $64 with FREE SHIP over $35. It arrived in 3 days with carton and contents in perfect condition. I now have 3 days experience with Samsung BD-H5100. It replaces a PS3 as my BRD/DVD/CD/Streaming (Netflix) player. I plugged in HDMI and Ethernet connectors to BD-H5100, then unit to socket, then hit power button. Home screen in 8 seconds, arrow keys to Netflix, hit key in center of arrows. Netflix screen in a few seconds. First time you will have to enter your login and password, after that when shutting down, DO NOT "quit" Netflix, or you will have to go through login procedure again....instead use "HOME" button and then hit red power button on remote, top LEFT to power down. Netflix will remember login and password that way. BR/DVD/CD play is easy, BUT I recommend using the eject button on the remote to open and close the tray as the tray feels a bit delicate and if you're clumsy, like me, you might damage it. The BR/DVD/CD screens come up quick. I was concerned about the quality of play compared to the PS3 which in my opinion is the bench mark. I played "Avatar" for comparison. The quality ON SCREEN is exactly the same. So is the audio. My audio setup is Sennheiser RS180 and imaging is the same. I recommend navigating "settings" if for no other reason, to familiarize yourself with what's there. You can download updates in settings and today, my third day, a pop up showed an update available so I downloaded it. I didn't notice anything really different except the Netflix greet screen had a different look to it. I changed nothing in settings, just let it do what it does. Power usage must be low because by hand touch toward the back of the unit slightly to right of center it feels just above tepid. The PS3 has a fan to cool it down and you can feel how hot IT runs by putting your hand around the back of the unit. The hotter something runs, the more kWh it uses. Heat = $$$$$. Think incandescent vs. fluorescent. This unit takes up very little space. User friendly, the remote build is high quality, logical and feels good in the hand. I've read negative reviews but have had none of those experiences. Some might need to read the manual before they begin. There is also a WIFI and 3D version of this player. I HIGHLY recommend this unit. UPDATE 11/28/14: This unit is still operating magnificently. I had read reviews where after a short time there were glitches. I, again, have not had any of those experiences. A few more things I would like to note. I have a Samsung 32" LCD LN32A650A1F TV...a bit ancient technologically. The TV is at about a 90 degree angle difference from the player which makes my line of sight remote difficult to use to the player. However, since it IS a Samsung....the TV picks up the signal and sends the commands from the remote to the player via HDMI. A really nice bonus I discovered accidentally. The TV and player communicate. Isn't THAT sweet?!!! I suggest playing with all the buttons on the remote to see in what ways it helps to navigate through movies, be it BR/DVD/CD or streaming.

I purchased this player "used-like new" from Amazon Warehouse Deals for a very attractive price. When delivered, some packaging was absent from the box, but the player had no visible cosmetic blemishes and worked just fine. I was so pleased that three weeks later I purchased another "used-very good" also from Amazon Warehouse Deals. This one appeared to be new, never out of the box, and the price was about $11. less than the first. The player does everything it is advertised to do, with a very pleasing user interface. It has many apps available, and is reasonably quick to load them. The unit is not WiFi, but if you read the item description, you should know that before purchase - you need an Ethernet cable to connect to the apps and DLNA. Also, be aware that Amazon Prime is not available as one of the apps. If you want Amazon, WiFi, or 3D capability, they are available on other, more expensive Samsung models, or choose a machine from a different manufacturer. Problems with Netflix, reported by other customers, have apparently been resolved, as I have had no problems accessing Netflix. Blu-rays and DVDs also play without any difficulty. As a side note, the Samsung BD-F5100 (that's "F" not "H") is being sold by some vendors, including Amazon, but is a 2013 model and does not offer nearly as many apps as the BD-H5100. I made the mistake of buying the "F" model from another vendor and returned it. All in all, I am very satisfied with my purchases, and I would recommend checking out the savings available by purchasing one of the used units from Amazon Warehouse Deals. UPDATE: 9/6/14. Since I bought this player, Samsung has provided a software update that has added Amazon Prime as an available app. If you own this model, run a firmware update, and you should see that Amazon Prime is available.

Being that I only really purchase Samsung televisions, picking the brand of blu-ray player was simple. I also have Amazon Prime (which I strongly suggest purchasing) and this was eligible for free shipping which was a convincing factor. The player itself is incredibly lightweight. The top of the player has a small touchpad that allows you to control the player easily in-case you lose the remote. The remote is standard as far as Samsung products go. If you're unfamiliar with Samsung electronics: all remotes works for all products. That means this remote works for my television as well as the blu-ray player. And, indeed, this was the case. I turned it on and decided to choose the quick-start option, which allows for the player to remain in an active sleep state when not in use. When you're ready to use the player, it turns on immediately. When I say immediately, I really mean immediately. There is virtually no delay when pressing the power button on the remote for the player. I've used products with quick-start options in the past and none were as responsive as this. Next, I set up my Netflix account to be associated with the player. It didn't provide me with an access code and instead had me log in with my email and password. Fine with me; saved me the trouble of opening my laptop and whatnot. It will keep you logged in until you decide to log yourself out; this includes shutting the player off. Netflix was very responsive and I have zero issues with it still. It also has Hulu and Pandora on it but I don't use those often so I didn't bother checking them out. Overall for the price, this player is easily the best on the market right now. My one complaint is that it doesn't have wifi. I had to hard wire it into the router but we keep it next to the television anyway so this was a non-issue. Still, it's a little strange that it wouldn't have wifi being that this is the most recent model of *this* Samsung product. It's the year 2014; we have dedicated wifi in airport bathrooms. Why isn't this blu-ray player equipped properly? This is the only thing keeping my rating at 4 stars. Otherwise, what a great product. I highly recommend grabbing it.

We have a few DVDs and our DVD player gave out. We also have a non-network HD TV and wanted to watch Netflix. This Samsung Blu-Ray player costs less than many streaming players yet provides both functions. This is a non-WiFi player (there is another Samsung model that has WiFi) and installation was simple. Connect to the router with an Ethernet cable. Connect to the TV with an HDMI cable. Put the batteries in the remote. Turn the player on. Done. The first thing the player does is check if the firmware is up to date. It was not, so the player asked for permission to download the latest version. No need for a computer to download the firmware update onto a USB stick, either. Major purpose for this purchase was to watch Netflix. Setup a brand new account using the player itself. Again, no computer needed. And the Netflix application is easy to use and fully featured. What about the other built-in apps? YouTube works fine, and you can pair it with a computer if desired. There is Pandora, AccuWeather (not as nice an app as the Panasonic Blu-Ray version), and a few other free and paid services. There is enough free content on YouTube and the other apps to keep you busy. And if one wants one of the paid apps, great. Thought the loading time for each app was reasonable. It's under fifteen seconds to go from the home screen to either YouTube or Netflix. And within NetFlix, the time to start watching is about the same as on a desktop web browser. The remote has some TV controls, but only for Samsung brand televisions. But that true with other manufactures as well: usually "Brand X" Blu-Ray remotes only control "Brand X" televisions. Five stars because this is a great value. A streaming player that makes any HDMI TV network enabled and a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray player. In one inexpensive, easy-to-setup box.

I love this thing. Even though it doesn't have Wifi, it is worth the price. It loads up quickly and has the content that I need. It's not a Sony but it is way worth it. I would recommend and I would buy another. It only uses HDMI so no other ways to connect (I knew that before I purchased it but just in case you want to purchase it, you should know that). Also, very very rarely, it will not come on unless you push to open the DVD player part (maybe its just mine lol. Its a minor setback really. Only happens very rarely.) Overall, I love this thing!

Overall, the interface and quality of picture is pretty good. It does all the things we need a DVD player to do. We needed to download an update as soon as we got it because it didn't have amazon Instant Video available as an app initially. The remote isn't very comfortable, as it is rounded on the bottom, it kinda rotates in your hand as you click on a button. The buttons are nearly impossible to see in a darkened room as well. The only other complaint we have is that it takes a while to get into Netflix. We have multiple Netflix profiles, and when you select one it takes a while to load, but it isn't clear that it loaded, so you push the button again, but the player registers the additional click late, taking you into whatever the first show is that is loaded on the Netflix interface... it's weird and super annoying, but that may be more of an issue with Netflix than with the actual player (although I haven't had that happen on any other devices).

SImple: The only output is HDMI (and a coax which i think most people won't use). I have Roku so I have no need and didn't test the unit's ability to provide additional wi-fi/ Netflix services. If you put photos, video, or music on a chip - with a USB adapter - it will easily find and display those items. I tried it and it is easy to visualize and it works fine. The unit is soo small and easy to fit on the shelf. Slight pains: the manual is in ridiculously tiny print (can go to their site and see it in large pdf type). And the remote is not my favorite at all: the rapid advance/ rewind buttons require tiny fingers to work them; and they are in the middle of multiple other buttons (that I will never use) rather than easy to access on top.

After 5 months of minimal use, this player started to sporadically NOT play blu ray discs. Discs that I've had for years would suddenly not be compatible. Brand new discs not working. This is blu ray only. Extremely long story short, I find out that there are periodic necessary firmware upgrades. Hours of live chat, and broken links and misunderstanding reps at Samsung later, and apparently my now 7 month old 5 star bluray player needs to be sent in for a tech to fiddle with. NO WAY. I'll use a 2 disc blu ray set as a 1 star example. They both played just fine every time I played them within that 7 months. Now it will play the first disc, but will not accept the 2nd. That's ridiculous. For something as minimal as a disc player, I expect it to play a disc when I put it in. Of course things break and STOP WORKING, I understand that. But having the system randomly choose to not play is 100% unacceptable. It's either broken, or it's not. I see that I noted in the original review that it would fire up and go "Smart" on me. I should have known then. As far as I'm concerned: Samsung is the same garbage it was 40 years ago, when you would consider buying a $19 dorm room TV knowing that it was not going to make it through the semester to begin with. I know I'm the rarity here, but I'm being honest and transparent and sometimes the 1 star reviews are accurate. The time I personally wasted alone, trying to get a disc to play, and having 4 separate chats with Samsung was worth FAR more than the purchase price of a new player. Do they really think I'm going to submit a repair order, send my box in, and wait for them to tell me that there's nothing wrong with it? Maybe get it back 6 weeks later at my postage expense? Am leaving my original review for comparison I guess, so my update is fair: I like the subtleness of this wee box. My Sony Blu-Ray crapped out after about 5 years and of course, having cut the CABLE, I have to have a DVD player! The top of it has almost invisible controls on the right front. They aren't buttons, but they appear to be almost touch screen like. The door and disc tray are quiet during operation. It's much more compact than my old Sony, and that works just fine for me. The only thing I really don't like about this SMART player is that when it powers up, it automatically goes into Smart mode and makes you choose if you want Netflix, YouTube, etc. I like to choose those things when I want them. When I power up a disc player, I probably want to watch a disc and not have a couple of extra unnecessary remote control steps. I have a Smart Panasonic TV already!! So far so good. I will update if necessary, but I would imagine that with Samsung, which is now a GOOD name in electronics, (they've come a long way), nothing dramatic will occur. This machine was highly rated, and that was mostly what I based my choice on. I rely on others' reviews quite often! I'd buy it again if I needed another, or as a gift.