Samsung HT-BD1250 Blu-ray Home Theater System
- 1-disc BD/DVD
- HDMI-CEC function allows all products in the system to discover and communicate with each other.
- Wireless ready
- Stream Blockbuster, Netflix, YouTube & Pandora
- BD Wise: perfect replay of Samsung Blu-ray disc
- iPod connectivity compatible
Product Description
Blu-Ray Home Theater… More >>
Samsung HT-BD1250 Blu-ray Home Theater System
Samsung requires you to purchase their $79.99 ‘dongle’ for wireless internet, twice the price of an off-the-shelf USB wireless connector, if you want wireless Internet to you Blu-Ray player. The setup exercise is truly arcane, like the setup procedures of the first generation wireless with a screen presented to you where you are asked to enter IP address, DNS and other data that only someone with expert knowledge of setting up Internet would be comfortable with. The accompanying manual is equally arcane. But skipping all that you just need to go to “Access Point” and select your home network. If Samsung was truly a company with the end-user/consumer on it’s mind it would hire someone to make the entire screen consumer-friendly the way, for example, Apple TV does. But, getting to my point, when I entered “Access Point” and then selected my home wireless network I’m then presented with a screen that says “Access Point – Security” and given choices of “Open / WEP / WPAPSK / WPA 2PSK” and I ask myself, how many mainstream consumers know what all of that means?
Anyway, I chose “WEP” because I believe that it is correct for my home network, I’m asked for the password which I enter and –despite the fact that my home is filled with devices that access the wireless with a single easily entered password–Samsung’s system will not recognize the password despite repeated attempts. So I dutifully call the Samsung 800 number and I’m quickly connected with a technical support person who, as the conversation goes along, clearly does not know anything about wireless Internet. She’s simply reading from a screen that walks her through a sequence of “If / Then.” She asks me to run the “Network Test” from the screen which I do. While the test is running she says, “if this call takes more than 3 minutes then I have to hang up.” “You’re kidding me, right?” “No,” she answers, “that’s Samsung’s policy. No call can last longer than 3 minutes.” She tells me to call my Internet service provider. “But with relatives visiting right now we have laptops, mobile phones and other devices easily connecting throughout the day to the Internet so I don’t think it’s my ISP’s problem.” “I’m sorry,” she says, “but I have to hang up this call now.” “Can I speak with your supervisor to ask her help?” “Let me check if I can get him on the line,” she answers. Exactly 30 seconds later the hold music ends and my phone says, “Call ended.”
This is Samsung. A Korean company who wants to dominate consumer electronics. I remember when it was like this to connect with SONY and I never bought another SONY product again. Samsung, welcome to the world of consumer-resentment.
Bottom line : If you are the kind of person who can deal with technical challenges, enjoys or can tolerate hours of sifting through solutions on your own, fine. If not, you’d be wise to avoid Samsung.
Rating: 1 / 5
I have never used a Blue Ray Home Theather before, and there is a big difference with the DVD Home Theater.., definetely the sound improves a lot and the quality of the video is amazing, however to get the best quality it’s necessary to buy a good TV with 120Hz or higher frequency (LED).
Rating: 5 / 5
Just wanted to let people know that this blu-ray/home theater is amazing!!! If you are planing on getting a home theater i strongly recommend this one. Note though that you can purchase the same product [...]
Rating: 5 / 5
bought 2 samsung adapters and wireless does not work. worked initially and then stopped, other features are ok, but I bought it, in part, for wireless streaming movies from Netfix. Sound is ok, nothing special. From other websites I see that others have had problems with the internet connection. Might be a problem on this model.
Rating: 3 / 5
Well, it has all the features to make you think that this is going to be an awesome system.
Pros:
Works well with samsung TV
It scans a dvd and tells samsung tv the absolute best display settings. The upconverting on DVDs is so good, who needs Blu-Ray?
Slim design. All in one.
Cons:
The PC connection is so annoying to deal with and will not with if you have a MAC, that don’t even count on it as a selling point. The Ipod connection is ok, but very slow and hardly worth using. But, The sound is the most dissappointing. The voices in all settings eventually have a hollow sound, the Bass is set so high, and even when you use the minimal setting screen to set it lower, it doesn’t go down by much. The connection to Pandora Music skips at times. I have 802.11n router and with a wired connection. Not to include as a selling feature.
Rating: 2 / 5