- Play back Blu-ray Discs in Full HD 1080p resolution, or upscale your DVDs for enhanced picture quality
- Easily access streaming movies/TV shows, listen to music, and get the latest news, sports, and weather with VIZIO Internet Apps
- High-definition, multi-channel audio with decoding of Dolby Digital TrueHD and DTS Master Audio
- Enjoy MP3/AAC audio from connected USB devices, along with slideshows of your favorite JPEG photos
- Connect wirelessly with 802.11n Wi-Fi or use built-in Ethernet wired networking to access online entertainment
I picked this player up for an awesome price a few days ago and have been trying everything out.
The pros:
Wireless N: Works great with NETGEAR N750 450 Mbps Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router WNDR4000. No stutter via wireless streaming in HD with a good Wireless N router and good High Speed internet connection. Supports the "wireless authentication" button on the front of the router so setup to the wireless is super easy. (The Blu-Ray player will tell you when to hit the button on the router to auto authenticate you)
DVD and Blu-ray playback is quick and responsive and Blu-Rays load fast. No stutter in playback that I've seen. I have mostly DVDs so it was important that this does the DVDs justice as well. It does apparently upscale and does it beautifully.
The remote is a really intelligent design with keyboard on one side and Blu-ray/App controller remote on the other with specialty buttons for several of the "Apps". There is a centered V button to take you back to the home menu if you get lost. The remote is not back-lit and is infrared with one eye on the top vertical and one eye on the top horizontal (when you're using the keyboard) which by nature requires line-of-sight to the player. Keep your finger off the top edge when using the keyboard and you shouldn't have any issues.
Netflix works great and the keyboard really helps on those searches! Yes!
Vudu Works good and it comes with $5.99 movie credit that you don't even have to sign up for to try! An email address is all it asks for. Sweet, and as several Blue Ray disks come with free Vudu movie codes this was something I was interested in trying. All three blu-ray movies I picked up came with $5 in Vudu credit. I've watched a movie on it in HD and it played with zero issue until the App crashed at the end of the movie. reboot time. More about that in a moment...
Possible cons for some:
All buttons on front of player are VERY BRIGHT blue LEDs while this thing is on and running. If your one of those people that likes to complain about really bright lights, you're going to really hate this player and should move along to something else! It's not an issue for others.
HDMI only connection for Video. This is not an issue for modern HD TVs which is kinda the reason for buying blu-ray anyway. You will need to buy an HDMI cable in the required length, but this is normal and should not come as a surprise. These are good: HDMI Cable, 6 ft. (2 Pack)
Some of the players come with the features store display card glued to the top of the player. Goo Gone, 8 Oz.would remove this glue without issue but something you're not getting off otherwise as it is not of the rubber cement variety and is more of the super glue type. I just left the card on mine rather than ruin the paint. (Others report rubber glue that is easily removed, seems to be 50/50 chance on this)
Minor Cons:
Amazon Video is not ready on this device out of the box. You will need to perform updates to get the application working.
I have not tried out, nor will I, any of the Non-video Apps like Pandora, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Someone else will have to review those.
Bottom Line: I like this player. It's not perfect, but what electronic device ever is. They do seem to be trying to fix the minor issues through updates. For the price, I'd say nothing comes remotely close to all the features that this thing offers. Are there better players? Undoubtedly, but you will pay twice as much as this one. I'm not aware of another player with this advanced a remote. For under a C-Note, even if you don't have Internet and just want a Blu-Ray player, this is a bargain here on Amazon!
I will be updating this review as things change below:
(I noticed the other day that the player did not want to power on at all. unplugging the player and plugging it back in resolved the issue for now.)
(Still no update for device as of 6/16/11. It also appears that Amazon Video is not shown as a feature on the Vizio Website now. I have not had an issue with the player not powering up since the one experience.)
(6/20/11 : Finally an update to the firmware over the weekend. One question answered is that the 48MB needed for the update must be built-in as I did the update via the wireless connection and did not attach a thumb-drive to the player. Firmware updated fine with zero issue (cautions you not to power cycle the player during the update). The player power cycles itself when complete and will come back on by itself so don't get impatient when it goes off during process. Even with fast Internet the update process takes about 2 mins. No Amazon yet.. but Now have YouTube and Internet Videos apps. Both seem to work great and did some searches for several things in YouTube with nice results bar, left and right navigation to skip to next result and same search results you'd get via PC! Nice! Netflix and other apps still work great! (One thing I'll note here is that I actually like the Netflix App on this player better than I do on the Roku as you get more results and also categories that aren't randomly changing or disappearing. Recently Watched for example. Also more results in categories such as new releases.) The Qwerty Keyboard is just as awesome as ever in all the apps.
(07/05/11: Used the Player quite heavily over the July 4th Weekend Holiday! No lockups, or issues with device at all! Youtube app is excellent! Netflix App is fantastic as well and shows far more results under categories than My Roku player. No issues with Wireless connection to my router as that is how I use it.
I noticed today that Amazon has the device under review due to complaints... Probably about the description of Amazon Video being available on it. Someone else on here had said that both Hulu Plus and Blockbuster don't work. That is false. Both seem to be functional and I even watched some sample "free episodes" on Hulu Plus. Seems to work good. Not a 100% on Blockbuster, but frankly I don't wish to pay their high prices per movie to test the HD quality of their stream. Otherwise their app seems fine. I believe some people may be confusing this model Vizio Player with 2 others that look identical.)
(07/08/11: Update: According to Vizio customer support:
Vizio identified a performance issue With Amazon Video and they are working with Amazon directly to resolve the issue prior to launching the application. The update to your player will be automatic as long as it is connected to your home network. There is not a set date of release at this time.)
(07/11/11 Update: Tried the Vudu movie app again over the weekend using two $5 promo codes that came free with some $10 Blu-Rays. Both Movies played flawlessly in 720P HD via my Wireless N connection. I ran the test for HDX at 1080p and it passed fine as well...just didn't see the need for the $1 extra for HDX quality as the HD looks so good! Used the player for Netflix all weekend and also tried out the Vudu app to adjust the screen borders. No issues at all!)
(07/18/11: Noticed Netflix was down about 6-7 hours on Sunday, Not just from the Vizio but apparently from everything. Used the time to Watch a DVD on the player. Works great with the up-scaling! I also looked for the "look for update" selection on the player. The selection is now missing from settings section so apparently they've removed it from the menu..this seems to jive with Vizio saying future updates should be automatic. Tried out "factory reset" option which will wipe your wireless, sound and picture settings on the player, but doesn't change your app settings. Some of the other resets will.
** Here's a tip for the player. If you're going to shutdown the player, go back to the main app selection page first and then power off. No lockups to report since patch.)
(08/24/11: Turned on Player this morning and a little message appeared at the bottom that an Amazon update was available! hit the green button and 2 minutes later The Amazon app works now and provides a code just like Netflix to add the device on your amazon video! Awesome!)
(09/26/11: Just a little update. As the wife swiped the Roku to use with the new RCA TV that I've also reviewed here on Amazon, This Blu-Ray player has seen quite a bit of heavy use with the Amazon, Netflix and Youtube apps. It is still going strong! I've been very pleased with the Amazon app which seems to work very well searching, purchasing and viewing movies and TV shows. I've updated this review slightly as well.)
(11/22/11: A note about the wireless: Keep in mind that with the little "nub" style wireless adapters on the back of Blu-Ray players like this one, you are not going to stream across the house as the antenna in this style is VERY, VERY TINY! The db gain on this style is horrible and is not as good as even your average smart phone with wireless! One room away from the router at best for HD streaming. This is true on any player that has this add-on "nub wireless" setup. Some Blu-rays with internal antennas have a wire that goes around the perimeter of the inside of the case (much like internal wireless cards of laptops do)... They work better but idealy you'd want something external like an Xbox 360 Wireless Network Adapter A/B/G & N Networks which has incredible reception...unfortunately, I'm not aware of any Blu-Rays that have that type setup regardless of the brand. If you're planning to use this player for HD streaming, I'd highly recommend something like the NETGEAR XAVB5001 Powerline AV 500 Adapter Kit to connect to a router that is more than a room away. My router is in the same room with my Blu-Ray player, so I've had no issues. If I were to move it across the home, I wouldn't use the wireless on this player.
On another note, I'd suggest setting up the MAC address of the Blu-Ray player in your Router's DMZ as it is going to connect faster to streaming sites if it's not having to deal with the router's firewall. Remember this is not a computer, it's perfectly fine to put this in the DMZ and recommended for trouble free streaming.)
(9/11/12 The Latest and probably the last: The player still works, and I still watch Blu-Rays and DVDs on it. The CD tray has started to not want to close via the button on the player or the remote. I've had to push it closed. Much has changed over the last year and a number of better quality Blu-Ray players are out now for around the price of this player. I still highly recommend the Roku players for playing various Streaming Services (Amazon Video, Netflix, etc) to your TV, as they are still the best streaming devices. For Blu-Rays, I'd recommend looking at the Sony or Panasonic players that go for the same price as this one.)
Be sure to check out my guide on "Cut the Cable Cord" as it contains some good info on bandwidth requirements for various types of streaming video.
Buy VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Now
I bought a VIZIO HD TV from a local store then a VIZIO VBR 122 Blu-ray DVD Player from Amazon. I connected the player to the TV with my "latest and greatest" Amazon Basic HDMI cables. I was not using the internet features. I quickly noticed that when a DVD (Blu-ray or Regular) was loaded, sometimes I did not get sound but I always had video. I couldn't see anything to troubleshoot but switched between three different HDMI cables that I had. No help. I called the VIZIO toll free tech support number and they said to turn the player off, unplug it, pull the HDMI cable out that goes into the unit, wait 10-15 seconds, then reconnect. This helped once but then I got no sound again and again. Sometimes VIZIO's troubleshooting sequence worked, sometimes not. This is no way to operate such a simple device. I notifed Amazon and got a replacement, no problem. The replacement unit does the same thing so I sent it back today for refund. Again, no problem on Amazon's end. I noticed that both units were manufactured in March 2011. Reading the reviews, it appears some units are working great and others are not. I even saw some negative reviews regarding a "no sound" issue just like me. I think there must be a very bad manufacturing lot out there of these units.Read Best Reviews of VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Here
This is a fantastic Blu-ray player, especially when you factor in the price. It's the cheapest blu-ray that i could find with built-in WiFi, which is why i chose to get it. Netflix works brilliantly (i've already watched the first XMen movie on it) and the other apps work well. The one downer, and why i was going to rate it 4.5 stars but it would not allow me: Amazon instant video is not available yet. That is unfortunate, as the fact that the remote has an Amazon button on it made me certain it would work out of the box immediately. Alas, it does not.ALSO, it must be mentioned: THIS BLU-RAY PLAYER COMES WITH NO CORD TO CONNECT IT TO A TV. It only has an HDMI port for connecting to TVs. This was not a problem for me, as i had an HDMI cord that i hadn't been using. However, if you do not have an HDMI cord, you will need to get one. You can get an AmazonBasics version right here in this very store for as little as $7 or so.
So, the cons: no Amazon Instant video, and no cord to connect it to TV. However, I still gave this a 5-star because A: i knew it didn't come with an HDMI cord, and i was ready for that, and B: the Amazon instant video wasn't that big a blow to me, since i do have Netflix.
Speaking of Netflix (and the other apps) they work beautifully. I've used Netflix and Vudu so far, and they worked very well. Also, the unique remote has to be mentioned. It is a standard blu-ray player remote on one side (with buttons specifically for Vudu, Netflix, and Amazon) but contains a full QWERTY keyboard on the back. Makes it nice and easy to search for movies on Vudu and Netflix.
In short, if you are looking for a cheap and easy to use Wifi-equipped Blu-ray player, this is absolutely the one to go for. It works brilliantly, and i could not be happier with my purchase. If you need a Bluray player cheap, and wouldn't mind having wifi thrown in, this is the one to get. Just remember, make sure you either have an HDMI cord already, or purchase one with this.
UPDATE: Amazon Instant Video is now LIVE. Just look for update firmware in the system menu and download each and every update. One of them adds Amazon instant video. Now, it is truly the perfect cheap blu-ray player
Want VIZIO VBR122 Blu-ray Player with Wireless Internet Apps Discount?
I am really impressed with the Vizio VBR122 Blu-ray player. For the price, it has a nice feature set. The best points:Very nice remote with a QWERTY keyboard on the back for easy input.
Easy system update over the built-in wireless connection
Brainless setup just power and HDMI cable
Intuitive menu that can be used without reading instructions (which are minimal to begin with)
Compact design with a small foot print
Pretty quick boot up
Lots of Internet features
Netflix works great even over the wireless connection
Communicates with my Onkyo receiver to change to Blu-ray when powered on
Smooth front (except for the disc tray) so doesn't collect dust on any buttons
Vizio saved some production cost on the player by making the connections on the back minimal one HDMI connection. Also, as of the date of this review, Amazon streaming was not yet available but "coming soon". The suggestion for streaming high definition video over VUDU and Blockbuster is to use a CAT 5 connection, which I have done since my wireless is still G and not N. Overall, I couldn't be happier with the player. Don't forget to pick up an AmazonBasics HDMI cable while your ordering also great quality and price.
Hate the thing. So disappointed. Wish I had kept my old cheap one. Can't get this to hook up to the wireless either.
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