VIZIO VBR231 Blu-Ray Player with Wireless Internet Application, Black

• 1. Plays Blu-ray Discs for full high definition 1080p video playback
• 1. Plays DVD discs and audio CDs for added versatility
• 1. Built-in 802.11n dual-band wireless networking for best wireless Internet performance
• 1. Access additional entertainment on demand through your high-speed Internet connection
• 1. Supports 7.1 digital audio output via HDMI (cable included) with Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD audio processing

I love Vizio products and just bought a 42 inch LCD flat panel which I am quite happy with. Needless to say, I was looking forward to purchasing the Vizio 231 blu-ray player expecting the same level of quality. On the outside the VBR231 is gorgeous and well styled and designed. Everything is perfect. However, the blu-ray player has 3 major flaws that cannot be overlooked.

Firstly, this model cannot stay connected to the internet. So once you log off any internet app, you have to go thru the entire reconnection process using setup all over again. This gets tiresome after about 3 times. Tech support has confirmed with me that this model cannot stay connected with internet unlike their other blu-ray models. No explanation as to why.

Secondly, because the blu-ray player cannot stay connected to the internet, every time you turn it on, it tries to reconnect to the internet on its own. It never succeeds but these means you have to wait to use it for up to 5 minutes until it's done trying to reconnect. Just putting in a dvd or blu-ray disc can take a looong time and it's very frustrating.

Thirdly, the VBR231 has no function codes for the remote. This means you cannot control the player with any universal remote and are forced to use Vizio's remote. This oversight is made even worse when you discover that the VBR231 has one of the worst remotes I've ever seen. You have to be Frankenstein just to press these buttons and get it to work. What were they thinking when they made this?

Because of these three major issues I'm returning my model and starting over again.

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I purchased this unit at Costco (paying about $20 more than Amazon.com currently charges) in November 2010, after a standard DVD player used with a 42" HDTV (also Vizio) broke. At that time, I knew almost nothing about internet apps, and went to the store thinking I would simply buy a stand-alone BluRay player. To my surprise, none of the BluRay units sold at Costco were stand-alone: all were either WiFi-ready or had integrated WiFi. At $140, the VBR231 was the lowest-priced unit with full integrated WiFi. There were less costly units that were ethernet-net ready, but my tv location is not hard-wired for internet.

I experienced the same problem with internet connectivity as others have posted: it was not automatic and had to be manually configured each time I turned on the set. Tech support was unable to solve the problem, but I solved it myself by accident, earlier this month.

My wireless router (not dual-band, and it was already in place before buying this unit) was set for WEP security. Smartphones and portable computers in the house had no problem connecting to the network, so I left the security at the WEP level. The only glitch was that the Vizio unit had to be connected manually each time.

Two weeks ago, I changed the security level of the network to WAP-PSK, at the suggestion of friends who felt this offered better security. Once this change was made, the Vizio unit began to connect automatically, and I have not had to connect manually since this change from WEP to WPA-PSK was made. Following this discovery, I downloaded and install the firmware upgrade available at . Download the update file to an EMPTY flash drive (be sure no other files are on the flash drive), then follow the instructions at the link above. Installation took about one minute and results in an improved Netflix menu. I had solved the a

utomatic connectivity problem before installing the firmware update, so the update is not what solved the issue for me, but rather the move from WEP to WPA-PSK. Since making both changes, Netflix now streams with better clarity and no interruptions, and I am not certain whether the security change or the firmware upgrade is responsible. I have a wireless high speed Belkin "n" router, but it is not dual-band. What I did notice was that with the old manual configuration (with WEP and before the firmware upgrade), the unit connected only at "g" wireless speed, despite the fact that "n" wireless was offered. Since changing to WPA-PSK and upgrading the firmware, the unit connects at "n" speed (you can check network status to see the quality of the connect in the "settings" menu). The use of "n" wireless explains the improved streaming since the changes were made.

The remote is not a terrific ergonomic design, but I've seen worse. There is a bonus if you own a VIZIO television, as I do: there are tv function buttons on the remote, so you can control mute and volume with the DVD remote. I suppose if the unit lasts ten years and the remote breaks, there could be a problem if you want to use a universal remote as a replacement, and for that reason I give the remote only two stars.

I agree that Vizio customer support should have known about the WEP vs WPA issue, but if you see this review, you know now. The technician did spend two hours with me on the phone, trying to fix the problem, so it's not as if they didn't care. Likewise, I registered the product by internet on the day of purchase, and was not notified by e-mail with the firmware upgrade was issued (December 2010, I believe). The upgrade was not on the company website on the day of purchase, when I downloaded the PDF user's manual to my computer. The manual was the only download at the time. If I could rate service and support, I would award only three stars. But the overall value of the unit is four stars, once you get the wireless configured properly and after you install the firmware update. There is a USB plug for external media in the front of the unit, that's where you plug in the flash drive to which you've downloaded the firmware upgrade.

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I just bought this at Costco.

It wasn't hard to set up but there is no display on the actual unit so you can't quickly see how much time you've watched, the buttons on the remote are hard to press and don't always take and there is no manual in the box (you need to go online and download a 28 page manual). In addition, I'm not savvy enough to be able to reprogram it every time it loses Internet connectivity so it's going back.

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Bought this at BJ's for a Very good price at the recommendation of a friend who also has one. We were looking for a player with internet connections that would allow us to stream movies from Netflix. We also wanted a player that would do a good job of upconverting our older DVD's. The Vizio has worked perfectly in both regards. No problems at all and no problem with the remote either. Simple to use, works without problems, and quite affordable I'd recommend it to anyone. (PS -BJ's seems to have the best price at the moment.)

The Vizio VBR231 sells for about half the price of many similar Blu-Ray players that also stream Netflix movies. And, it provides "okay" performance for the price. The initial setup was reasonably easy, but the tiny "Quick" instructions don't provide much information. I went on the internet to download the complete owner's manual, which provides additional setup information.

It is rather slow to load a Blu-Ray disc, as are many players. After the movie begins playing, the picture and sound are of very good quality. It has played all of the Blu Ray discs I have tried, all of which are clean and scratch-free. I don't know if I will encounter problems with rental discs, which often have some surface damage.

A major reason I selected the VBR231 was to stream Netflix films and Pandora music from the internet. Getting the internet service hooked up the first time took about 30 minutes. I could have saved time by already having Netflix running on my computer so that I could enter the installation code provided by the Vizio during setup.

My router goes "off channel" several times a day. I have to unplug the router for a minute to reset the channel. As a result, almost every time I try to use the Netflix app on the Vizio, I have to reset the internet to identify and "lock" onto my router. I suspect the reason that about a third of reviewers like the Vizio and about a third hate the Vizio is that a third of the reviewers have routers that NEVER go "off channel" and about a third have routers like mine that constantly go "off channel".

I have read the reviews of Panasonic and Sony Blu Ray players with Netflix streaming. About 20% or 30% of THEIR reviews also mention problems with getting connected to the internet, or losing the connection to the internet. The fact that this problem impacts about the same percentage of people, regardless of the brand of their Blu Ray player is further evidence that the problem is a router problem. I am tempted to upgrade to the $60 Vizio router to see if my internet connection will be more stable.

NOTE: I bought the $60 Vizio router. After installing it, my Netflix quality has been very good. Shows load quickly with high video quality and there is no loss of signal during programs. The closer the router is to the Blu-Ray player, the better the performance...my router is about 40 feet from the Blu-Ray player, which I suspect is about the longest distance that would provide a good signal.