Samsung BD-E6500 3D WiFi Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)

• 3D playback
• 2 HDMI inputs and 1 HDMI output
• Samsung Smart Hub enabled
• Built-in WiFi,Web browser
• Region: Blu-ray: A,DVD: 1

On the same day I received this bluray player, I was informed by Samsung that neither this BD-player nor any of this year's bluray players (announced so far) will support 2D to 3D conversion. I was really let down by this, as my previous bluray player (the 2011 BD-D6700) was a sleeper hit as one of the BEST 2D-3D converters out there! Some have even said the 2011 Samsung 3D BD players were as good, or better than a 3D Bee stand-alone converter

One comparison that showed how good it was, is that I could pop in a 2D bluray and take turns converting it on both my 2011 D8000 Samsung 3DTV, and on my 2011 bluray player. The bluray player would always win hands down and the 2D to 3D conversion process was done 10x better by the D6700 than by the TV. If the result on both were supposed to be "near 3D results" I'd say the conversion on the TV was almost 2.5D while the BD player converted to a stunning 2.9D

So Samsung confirmed my fears that this player (the BD-E6500) would not convert 2D material, and I later found that this is also stated somewhere within the first few pages of the manual. I was very, very much looking forward to seeing how Samsung could have further refined the 2D-3D conversion process, and now I find out that my most beloved feature got the ax! If you're not a 3D junkie, you may not care, but why spend 200+ on a 3D! blu ray player unless you actually care about the 3D features! Apparently Samsung never considered that!

So here's what you do get with the E6500:

You are getting 1 gb of memory on board (pretty standard these days)

More way to connect with your other devices (Soft AP etc)

Disc to Digital feature (supposed to be the big feature $this year$)

2 HDMI INPUTS and 1 out (instead of 2 HDMI OUT as I loved having last year)

Functional Web Browser

3D playback from a 3D bluray

Up to 7.1 HD Audio

So when I first opened the box, I noticed that the BD player's black/grey design was nice as expected. But unfortunately the remote looks small and cheap now. They changed it and made it a lot more compact, but even my wife thought it just looked cheaper

Ok, so here are some notes I made when I first got it, and added to later on. They cover pretty much everything you would like to know:

Product updates upon setup

Smart Hub updates upon setup

Several/almost all Apps update upon selection of an app (when you first use that app)

Feels like a step down from last year's models, for being the highest model released this year

The BD player's menu is a little faster/smoother to navigate than last year

The menu system has been overhauled and is now identical to last year's Samsung HDTV's menus

I was not impressed by the Web Browser. In fact I couldnt' stand it after about 1 minute of use with the directional pad of the remote as my "mouse". There is an option to use a wireless keyboard or mouse with this player and I did and went back and found the browser quite usable. It even lets you move the mouse around within the Smart Hub itself which is nice. I'd say the browser speed and functionality are comparable to the browser's on last year's higher end Samsung Tv's. Browser could be and should be faster for the price point. If they added a dual core processor to these bluray players (like they are doing with the 2012 high end TV's and like even most smart phone's these days include) it might make their web browsers worth using everyday. As is, it's not

The Youtube function seemed to work well enough

When entereing text with the remote, an onscreen keyboard pops up instead of the horrendous numerical pad of pre2012

The Family Story and other "BIG" primary features seem lost in translation. Give this thing some more processor power and speed and maybe then your whole family might consider making it the "hub" of their network

I see a lot of people getting excited about the Disc to Digital feature. I'm not and never have been impressed. Could it be handy to have digital copies available on the go? Yes. But isn't that why most blu ray combo packs already come with "digital copies?" If you already have those, why the need to pay around $1 for each movie that you want to use the disc to digital feature for? It's no coincidence that it's not free, and that it's this year's big feature

2 HDMI in. Why? For those who don't have a sound receiver? Why would you want to spend $200 or more on a blu ray player that puts out 7.1 sound if you don't even have a sound receiver as your "hub" with hdmi inputs anyway? Dual HDMI OUT would have been more useful, both for those whose receivers aren't 3D capable and for those who just want to send a separate hdmi out for their video pristine and untouched directly to the TV

I could not find an HBO Go app (but it is an available app on my Samsung tv for some reason)

There is still no Amazon video app (Come on already!)

So there it is. I hope this helps you make a better informed decision than I did. I had no reviews to help me decide, and there was very little detail on the features of this player. But so goes the fate of the early adopter

In conclustion let me say this: This is a good 3D blu ray disc player. The areas where it fails, are where a lot of bluray players fail. But I shouldn't expect to get the processor speed and features of a PS3 at this price point...or should I? (bit of sarcasm there) This newly released bluray player and me just don't get along because I know that it is a step down (even with the new features) from my 2011 Samsung bluray player and at times it just seems cheap (the remote for instance)

Why couldn't they have kept ALL of the previous features AND added the new features on top of that. That's all I was asking of Samsung. That's all I AM asking. Of the announced list of Samsung BD Players, this one (E6500) is top of the line. There has been no mention as of yet of a E6700, E7000, or E7500 to match those higher end models of last year, and there may never be. I'm hoping they will be announced and address some of these issues mentioned and create the PERFECT blu ray player (It may not be perfect but it would be pretty close :) Until then, I'll keep on dreaming that next time they won't take two steps forward and three steps back

Buy Samsung BD-E6500 3D WiFi Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Now

WARNING!!! If you buy this product or ANY Samsung Blu-Ray player and make the mistake of selecting "yes" when it asks you if you want to update the software, there is a GREAT chance you will be left with a completely worthless piece of JUNK. Do a quick google search for "SAMSUNG BLU RAY STUCK ON LOAD" if you don't believe me. Once you're stuck on LOAD, there is NO factory reset. They say unplug it, hold the FF key, hold power. I finally got got a hold of a tech support guy who said there's nothing you can do once you're stuck there. You can send it in and pay for shipping and repair, or throw it away I guess. I'm electing to just throw it away.

Samsung takes zero responsibility for this. It is THEIR patch, THEIR defect and it DESTROYS your player. I just want to know WHY they have been letting this go on since 2011. Why aren't they fixing this? I honestly would rather have flushed $200 down the toilet. Then I would just have myself to blame.

Please save yourself the time, the money and the headache and buy a different Blu-Ray player.

Read Best Reviews of Samsung BD-E6500 3D WiFi Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Here

I just bought this Samsung e6500 and I gotta say it is far and away the best Sammy BD player I've had, so far. I bought this unit with great trepidation having tried two Sammy d6500s and being unable to connect to the Net. This one took a brief time to set up and has performed every task admirably.

I read all the reviews of this BD player on Amazon and I can't think of one thing I don't like about it. The person who wrote the review that stated it only puts out 720P when either upscaling a DVD or watching streaming content from NetFlix (can't remember which it was) is wrong. My Panasonic plasmas all tell me they are receiving 1080p (1080p/60 of course) when upscaling standard DVDs or streaming NetFlix. I have three Sammy BD c5500s and I was able to set up the new e6500 without even opening the manual.

So far, I'm very pleased with the e6500, if something happens to change my mind I won't hesitate to come back and put in another review.

I've tried Panasonic and Sony BD players and, while they do work well, neither upscales NetFlix streaming content as well as the e6500, or my c5500s.

Rich

Want Samsung BD-E6500 3D WiFi Blu-ray Disc Player (Black) Discount?

I have three of these in my house and after months of wrangling with Samsung customer service over a fix for the non-working smart hub in my 6 month old player. I finally received the shipping instructions to return the device and decided to try Apple TV while waiting for the Samsung player to be returned. Apple TV rocks and I installed it in about 10 minutes. It has all the features of the Samsung and more, lower price and much better designed. I just ordered two more Apple TV units to replace those horrible Samsung devices and be free of the poor customer service offered by the Samsung call center.

Does not even deserve a star. This is my fifth Blu-ray player from Samsung. They are great on building TV's but they do not know how to build a Blu-ray player. I bought this and it was not even 5 months old before it stopped playing blu-rays. I spent 3 times on the phone with Samsung Customer service and now I have to send it in for repairs. And I have to pay for the shipping. This Blu-Ray works with Samsung HDTV Sony BDPS790 3D Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi