VIZIO VBR220 Blu-ray Disc Player with Wireless Internet Applications, Black

• VIA (VIZIO Internet Apps)
• Wi-Fi Technology
• 1080P FULL HD
• Plays Blu-ray and DVDs, Audio CDs, MP3s and Jpegs
• Multi-Channel 7.1 Audio Output via HDMI

This unit is easy to setup for wireless and does play BR and DVDs without issue. There are however several misconceptions over what this unit does you may get from reading the Vizio website. This unit does not come with an HDMI cable like their website says (the box correctly says it does not). It also does not play any movies/video clips from the USB. The streaming newsfeeds are also text only. Most importantly the website recommends you should get their dual 2.4/5GHz router for best performance. This unit does not have a 5GHz radio so there is no reason to buy their router. The unit also has clunky controls compared to mainline brands. The unit doesn't respond to all commands and doesn't do things like close the disk tray when you push play. It also doesn't have resume play which I consider a necessity. Lack of TV controls on the remote are also a major oversight.

All my petty complaints aside the streaming Netflix does have a very nice picture when streaming HD. The buffer seems to be adequate to avoid interruptions. Netflix does drop out occasionally but I think this is Netflix's issue. I did have an issue when operating in 802.11b that it will not connect when positioned on top of my settop box. With 802.11n it does work even when racked. Your results may very on location but there is some interference from other electronics. Pandora operates without any problem and the sound is good over RCA cables.

For the price you have to commend Vizio for the features they deliver but I think it's necessary to point out the flaws which most likely came from rushing this product to market. This seems to be the new norm in american business.

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Very pleased with this player. Wireless connectivity works great, playback is fantastic, and a good variety of apps. Also pleasantly suprised with the great upconvert quality on standard DVDs (can be hit-or-miss for Blu Ray players)...had a couple others make this observation as well.

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I agree with the other notes that the item has potential, but certainly seems as though Vizio was a little too eager to get it out the door. Even worse is the little sister version of this (VBR200.)

Likes:

-Price

-Quality of Picture

-Streams Netflix

-Will stream Hulu Plus (per Hulu's website)

-Sleek Looking

-Touch controls

Dislikes:

-False Advertising. There is a lot of things Vizio kind of claims that it doesn't really have. It even suggests buying their dual band router, yet this doesn't even have 5ghz?!? So there IS NOT POINT! It's NOT DUAL BAND. ??

-This has got to be one of the noisiest drives I've ever heard. Seriously when it sucks the disk it I hear all sorts of crazy before the movie starts.

-The remote control is a POS! Serious a piece of $#!%! It feels so cheap and doesn't even have TV controls. I bought this BD along with a Vizio LCD thinking it'd be perfect for my bedroom. I still have to use dual remotes to get the job done. It also doesn't seem to work half the time when you press buttons. Feels like dead batteries but its the remote. It's a Vizio crappy remote thing too, my Vizio TV remote does the same thing.

-The included WiFi attachment is actually a small card that sticks out from the back and blinks very brightly. So much in fact it looks like a little strobe light behind my set up.

-BD Tray does not close when I click play.

-BD doesn't seem to resume play.

-BD Live is NOT included regardless of what their website says. It's false advertising. I spent nearly an hour on the phone with their tech support rep trying to figure out why it wouldn't work, yet the BD Live worked fine on the same disk with my PS3. He finally informed me that "it must be an issue with the BD Live server" so I responded, "but why does it work right now on my PS3", to which he replied "ummmm, they have different servers." He also put me on hold over and over for very long periods of time. Since my player didn't come with a manual (although new in box direct from amazon.com not a marketplace seller) I couldn't do any trouble shooting myself. Did a little google search and discovered I was one of many who had this issue and it's because they don't include any sort of flash RAM inside. You need to actually stick your own USB Flash drive into the front if you want to use any BD Live features. This may also be why it doesn't save progress?!? MAJOR MISS on the part of Vizio!

-My HDMI input fried after 2 days and I'm currently waiting for Amazon to send me a replacement. I called the Vizio tech support group and they were about as much help this time as they were the first time. Remember my previous line about spending an hour with the BD Live issue?! This time they couldn't even find any record that the call ever took place or my information. The guy recorded nothing! Apparently Vizio has a cheapo HDMI connector that fails a lot of their TV's so this is probably the same issue. I asked the guy if he's seen this before and he responded "ummm, well..., not on this bluray player."

-Internet Apps are not exactly what's advertised. Netflix is the same, but the others (facebook, twitter, etc.) are really just part of Vudo. And they're clunky has h311! Not a Vizio issue, but since they advertise it, I'm counting it as part of my review.

This review may be a bit premature since I'm really waiting for a model to work more than 24 hours but overall, I'd rate this as "fair." If I was purchasing again I'd probably get the Samsung BD-C6500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. In fact, it's pretty likely I'll just toss down the extra $40 and get that anyway since it has onboard memory and people don't seem to have the issues as they do with Cheezio. It's a shame too, I had high hopes for their stuff since I'm getting a new large 3D TV in the fall. They're definitely out of the running!

UPDATE: I returned the second one I received without even opening it. I decided to get the Samsung BD-C6800 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player. It was $50 more but light years ahead of the Vizio in regards to performance and features.

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Problem #1: My player connected to the net no problem, at first, for about two weeks, but now suddenly it cannot connect. My router is still listed in the wireless network, the player says its connected, but Pandora and Netflix say it's not connected, when I go through their setup, my router shows up, but then what? Nothing? I disconnect and reconnect, which is all I can do. In "Info", "acquiring ip address" is perpetually its staus, Network Test can't get past the "obtaining ip address" my router works with alll my other pc's, including my laptop I am writing this on.

Problem #2: Also, Are VIZIO update servers working correctly? When I check for an update on my VBR220, it lists that "Update Via Network Required Storage: 44MB" ... even directly wired with the LAN it always comes back with: "Server Error (8404) Not able to perform update at this time. Please try again later."

Vizio is getting destroyed on the internet chats about the above two problems ... too bad I did not do the research ... I would never have purchased the unit as it appears the above two issues have been in existence for months.

Vizio support said will send me a refurbished unit. Why would I do that seeing many others are having the same issue and Vizio knows of no fix. And it will like the movie Ground Hog Day. I will just return it and take the lesson learned hit of 15% restocking and return shipping fees.

Let me start out by saying that I went into this looking for a basic Blu-Ray player and Vizio's product seemed to fit the bill (especially for the price).

HOWEVER, I totally got more than I expected.

First off, let me correct some misconceptions that may have been created by other reviewers. Other reviews on Amazon state that the player cannot "resume" playing a BluRay movie after being turned off, nor does it close its drive-tray when the play button is hit. While this may have been true of earlier models like the VBR200 or VBR210, this is not the case with the VBR220. When I turn the player off in the middle of a movie it will play exactly where I left off when I turn it back on. I did attach a small 8gb jump drive to the USB port for BDLive access so I'm not sure if this is what's making the difference (i.e. maybe the player is storing where I left off on the drive?). But either way this function/feature is included. And yes, hitting the play button does automatically close the drive-tray.

I did have some troubles with connecting this thing to my WiFi network. I use an ActionTec router from Qwest and couldn't get the player to connect, even with the help of Vizio tech-support. Fortunately, I was planning on moving to an Apple Airport network anyways to hook up all of the devices in my home. The Blu-Ray player had no issues what-so-ever hooking up to that. The quality of the Netflix movies is awesome, and the fact that Pandora is included is a huge plus.

If you're looking for a quality player and are refusing to spend $300+, this is the perfect player for you. No other player on the market can match it for quality at this price.