Comments on: Unbiased Review: Magnavox NB500MG1F

By: Garbage

Garbage — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 01:53:21 +0000

We bought this at Wal-Mart like everyone else when the motor powering the tray for our old blue ray became sluggish. While it was barebones and the box advertised Netflix which it did not support, we were able to watch our blue rays. 4 months later we began getting the same disc error msg as everyone else with new blue ray discs and were advised that we needed to update the software. Within days of this starting the player completely quit playing bluerays that we own and had watched the whole time on it and now sometimes will not load DVD’s either. Magnavox is a crook for selling these to consumers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 04:17:32 +0000

Not Impressed
I got this cheap at Wal-Mart. I knew it wouldn't have any "special" features like Internet connection or screen-in-screen, but I expected the actual movies to play just as well as any other Blu-Ray player. I was wrong. The picture is maybe 5% better, and I can tell no difference with the sound. I do not have an HD TV, which seems to present a problem with this Blu-Ray player because, compared to other DVDs, the picture is squished like it was fullscreen, even though it was a widescreen DVD.

Another problem I ran into was the awful loading times. It took longer than my old DVD player to load. Alll I can say is thank goodness there is still a DVD player attatched to this ripoff. I haven't tried it yet, but I am clinging to hope that it works like my old DVD player did. If you want Blu-Ray, than I seriously suggest spending a little more money for a decent player, because if you plan on buying this, you might as well stick to your old DVD player.

I don't know if these problems still exist with the more expensive players, but if they do, I have no isea what all the hype is about. I am very disappointed.

EDIT: I tried a DVD and the picture was still squished. The sound actually seemed better than the Blu-Ray. Even more reason to use a DVD player instead of this overpriced ripoff. Accordingly, I changed my original 2-star review to a 1-star riview.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:40:49 +0000

Basic Blu-Ray player
NB500MG1F

This was the $78 special at Walmart. What would you expect for $78.00. It play Blu-ray’s just fine. Great piture, great sound. one problem is, it is just very, very slow.

But besides that it great.

By: mbuenaventura50

mbuenaventura50 — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:00:47 +0000

For A Basic BD player is well worth it for $78
Bought this at Wal Mart for $78 (my PS3 gave up the ghost due to YLOD) as didn’t want to spend a lot of money to play my collection of Blu-Ray movies. I was surprisingly pleased after I hooked it up to my 40″ Samsung 1080P via HDMI, because the picture quality was excellent. Can’t connect to internet but I don’t care, as I just want to play blu-ray movies on it. Lacks fancy features but it was not a big deal for me. Played Harry Potter and Avatar without any problems but my only concern now is that I can’t find any firmware updates online (in case it’s needed in the future but right now, it is not an issue.)

By: aubradford

aubradford — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 16:45:07 +0000

Wouldn’t even load
I was excited to find this player at Wal-Mart for $78. When I got it home and plugged in I couldn’t even get it to load. The splash screen would come up and I’d hear the whirring sound of it trying, but it would never get past there. I tried multiple discs – DVD and BluRay – neither worked. Perhaps I just got a bad one, but I was reminded that sometimes you get what you pay for.

By: sadlersongs

sadlersongs — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:10:23 +0000

Good, basic bluray player
This is pretty much a bluray drive with an HDMI output. Very simple, nothing special about it, but it does do what it was made to do well: play blurays. The loading times and menu navigation are a little sluggish, especially compared to the PS3, but it's not bad. I can still watch a movie within a minute of putting it in the player, and that includes skipping the previews and FBI warnings.

The only bad part for some people might be the lack of internet connectivity. There are a lot of blurays that have BD-live features, which means it connects to the internet for even more special features. I'm not too into special features, just the movie itself, so I don't really care. Some newer bluray players allow you to watch your Netflix instant queue but I can do that on my Xbox 360 so also no big deal for me.

If you buy it at Walmart like I did it does not come with an HDMI cable so you'll have to spend another 25-30 bucks on that, so you might as well get the Samsung for $128, which does have internet connectivity and Netflix. But if you already have all that junk or just don't care about it then this is a good buy, Looks and sounds great! I"m happy with it although I will keep the receipt and box just in case it breaks down quickly.

By: monesteremusic

monesteremusic — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 06:41:24 +0000

GREAT VALUE FOR THE MONEY
I've used this player for about a month (connected to a 1080p LCD TV via HDMI with sound reproduced through an audiophile quality 7.1 system) and so far it has performed flawlessly, both mechanically and electrically on a variety of discs, including Blu ray, standard DVDs, CDs and even home made DVD-Rs. Blu ray discs take a little longer to load initially than standard DVDs but no more so than other current Blu ray players that cost considerably more. I consider the absence of the usual LED display on the front panel a plus rather than a minus and if needed all information is available where it should be: on screen at the flick of a button on the remote. The simple unassuming design of this machine is more in the European style and is quite attractive, in my opinion.

Particularly impressive were the Blu ray discs of "How the West Was Won" (in smile box format), Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" & the 1958 version of "South Pacific", all originally filmed in high resolution film formats and with discrete 6 or 7 channel sound mixes far more dynamic and sophisticated than the jiggled, precariously lit visuals and compressed homogenized digital sound mixes in today's films. These movies have never looked or sounded better on any previous home video release, in my opinion.

I can't vouch for its long term durability in such a short time of use but other Philips based DVD players I have owned in the past have proven to be quite durable. The remote is small but useful and fairly well laid out, no better or worse than more expensive players in its functionality. The most important aspect of this player is it provides, for a ridiculously low price, the spectacular picture and sound of Blu ray and also makes standard DVDs look better too. Even if you use this player for about a year as an interim player until you can afford a more expensive machine, it is still worth the price since you can relegate the Magnavox to a family room or bedroom system later. Unless you crave a feature laden player (Netflix streaming, etc) you may find that you will be more than satisfied with the picture and sound this little player provides for a long time to come.

By: crip325

crip325 — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 17:10:24 +0000

Great so far
Got it as my first Blu-ray player after a number of both cheap and expensive regular DVD players. Not the fanciest but does everything I want without costing an arm and a leg.. Looks great matched up with a 37 inch lg 720p tv. Like having my own person theater. All for $120 at walmart

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 05:29:32 +0000

Low priced entry- inferior product.
Paid $78 for this at a box store, should have known better. There is a reason it was only $78… After 4 movies, I was fed up and returned it. Spend a little more for a better unit, this is not it.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:14:57 +0000

Not worth it for DVD alone.
I picked this up for $78 on December 23 @ Wal Mart. I was looking for a regular DVD player for a new 720p LCD. This player was $78, a Sony DVD $68, and a Phillips DVD $50. I figured an extra $28 was a good enough deal.

Took it home, hooked it up via HDMI and the regular DVD quality was grainy. It did not live up to my Xbox 360 nor the Phillips $50 DVD player I went back and picked up.

I would recommend a better Blu-Ray player if you plan on playing mostly DVDs. I did not test this with Blu-Rays.