Unbiased Review of LG BD550
May 26, 2010
Like Panasonic, LG has opted not to showcase a 3D Blu ray player at 2010 CES. Instead, LG has chosen to focus on the current Blu ray market with the latest offering that mirror the 2009 models. Like 2009 CES, LG offered up three mainstream Blu ray players. The BD550, BD 570 and BD590 were announced. While these three models don’t offer dramatic increase in terms of features over last year’s models, it does offer up small improvements. With the big success of previous Blu ray players, LG has opted to mainly stay with the same formula. This doesn’t mean it’s just rehash. Instead, you can expect some performance improvement and overall feature improvements from the 2009 models.
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Features
The BD550 is the entry level model announced at the 2010 CES. Like the previous version, LG BD550 is Profile 2.0 and Profile 1.1 compatible player. You can enjoy all the BD-LIVE contents on the Blu ray discs. On the audio side, BD550 can natively decode Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD audio formats. LG was one of the first to offer up internet streaming content on their Blu ray players. It’s no surprise that LG is once again offering a robust Internet streaming content on the BD550. With NetCast, you can access Roxio Cinema Now, Netflix, YouTube, Vudu, Pandora, Picasa, and AccuWEather.com reports with internet connection. Like other new players, LG is touting faster boot and load time over previous versions. Other than these features, it has almost identical set of features from previous generation player.
Design
While the dimensions didn’t change too much from previous LG offerings, it does weigh little more. Aesthetically, BD550 has a glossy finished front plate with LCD and playback buttons located on the right side. You will need to flip down the face plate to access the buttons. The back of player includes all the connectivity. The connectivity includes Composite and component video out, HDMI, analog audio out, digital audio out, Ethernet port and USB port. It would have been nice to see another USB port in the front for easier access. The included remote was adequate. The remote does seem bit smaller than other remotes. If you have big hand, you might want to invest in a decent universal remote control. With LG’s SimpLink, you can control all the devices connected via HDMI with one remote control. This seems to be the trend among leading manufacturers.
Video and Performance
Performance wise, the booting and loading speed has seen some improvement over the last generation players. Still, it is nowhere near as fast as loading DVD in a DVD player. While not as fast as DVD loading times, BD550 did manage decent booting and loading time for Blu ray movies. While the overall speed of Blu ray disc wasn’t anything special, the internet applications were lightening fast. Loading time for YouTube or Netflix was lot faster than most other players.
The video imaging quality was on par with last year’s models. This isn’t to say it is bad. Instead, the previous generation LG players offered top notch image qualities. Testing Iron Man, the BD550 showed no imaging defects like moiré, jaggieness, or motion blur. The image quality on BD550 and previous player showed no discernible difference. Overall, there is nothing wrong with the image quality of BD550.
Audio
The audio quality is also on par with previous generation player from LG. it handled all the audio format without a hitch. Different audio files played from USB drive were all as advertised. MP3 and AVCHD had no problem with the playback.
Overall
LG has produced another winner in BD550. Like the previous models from LG, it is fairly fast and loaded with features. The ability to play Divx as well as MKV files are a big plus. Most players, new and old, does not support Divx or MKV file formats. If I had one complaint, it is that remote control was not as good as it should have been. For under $150, this is very competent Blu ray player.
Pictures
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LG BD550 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Sale Price: $185.00  Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
Description
BD-P, Netflix HD, YouTube, CinemaNow Ready, BD Live, Advanced Audio, Quick Booting, Instant Tray Open, 1080p up-scaling for DVD, USB Media Host
Features
- Blu-ray Disc Player with Pure Audio and Video Performance
- BD-P NetFlix HD BD live
- Full HD 1080p output via HDMI with Cinema mode at 24 or 60 frames per second USB Media Host
- Superior audio performance with 7.1 channels with Dolby Digital Plus & TrueHD & dts-HD
- Express reaction startup for instant tray opening
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BUYER BEWARE: UNITS AFTER APRIL WILL NOT WORK WITH NETFLIX
Purchased one last week. Set it up for the first time and Netflix reports the dreaded: “Sorry, this title cannot be watched instantly at this time. Please try again later or play a different title”.
Netflix says it’s not their issue. LG tech support is useless(yes, the unit is turned on, yes the unit is hardwired to a fios enabled router). Not only until this weekend while browsing some of the forums does it look like it’s been a known issue for a few weeks. Stay away if you want Netflix streaming until someone admits their is a problem and provides a fix!
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Great Blu Ray Player w/ lots of extras!
Have had the player for almost a month, and I can’t begin to tell you how much we use it. We have not yet upgraded to HD yet, so I can’t really comment on picture quality since I am just using the standard RCA jacks to plug into our old SD TV. That purchase is around the corner and I just didn’t want to keep purchasing DVDs when they were on their way out. I have played 1 Blu-ray disc through this unit so far, and it loaded super quickly and played great. Plays all our old DVDs well too.
I will say this, if you just looking for a player and not looking for a lot of online features, then you shouldn’t get this one. For instance, if you already have Tivo or X-Box live or even a Wii, then you have access to a lot of these features. There are other players out there for cheaper that don’t have all the bells and whistles. That being said, one of the reasons we got this box was so that we could do Netflix and other on demand without having to pay for X-Box Live anymore. Totally worth it. The Netflix experience is not quite as nice as it is on the X-Box, but it is one of the nicer that I have seen and works just as well when it comes down to it.
Installation was a snap. I had to tweak the picture in the settings to get it to display my current 4:3 aspect ratio for Standard Def. But it was pretty self explanatory. I keep my router right by the TV, so there was no need to get the next tier model (which is wireless), but if that is an issue for you, you may want to consider the BD750. Connecting was a nonissue. Just plugged it into the ethernet port in back and connected it to my router. It recognized the connection as soon as it was turned on. I had to run the Software (Firmware) update a few times (2 or 3) before it installed all the updates. But since then, they have all been automatic. As long as you are connected to the internet, it should check for you regularly, but you can always manually check for updates yourself, which is also a plus. The last update I installed gave us the [...] app in addition to the others listed above, so they are not just troubleshooting firmware issues with the updates. They are also adding software content. That is a good sign that the support for this player is gonna be good.
Overall, we are extremely satisfied with this product. Can’t wait to get the 46″ LCD TV to go with it so I can watch it in it’s full 1080p glory!
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My LGAmazon Blue Ray
I love the product very much but it is most unfortunate that I did not buy the “wireless” version.. The reason is that I subscribe to cablevision and they provide a modem with only ONE entry for the internet connection..I have tried to add a Cisco Box that permits up to 5 entries and connected it to the modem by taking the internet cable from the modem and adding on to the Cisco..this procedure met with failure as cablevision does not allow the altering of the modem connection..I was interested in NETFLIX streaming movies and only with a wireless Blue Ray can you see their movies..I wanted to trade up with Amazon but have not been able to make the arrangement thus far.
Don’t be mistaken by my review. If you want to use it for watching CDs you could not do better than LGBD550..I have since canceled Netflix as redbox provides the samed quality movies at a lower price.
Enjoy
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awesome player fast loading best player ever
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3QL308H7MZPEU This is my review of the BD550 from LG and i give it my pros and cons and my past experience with dvd and hd dvd players to compare it to.
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Best Netflix & vudu streaming and menu quality
I compared the LG BD550 to the Samsung BD-C5500 specifically for Netflix and vudu online video streaming with a wired ethernet network at home (these models do not have integrated wireless). My HDTV is Samsung LN52B750, receiver is Denon AVR4310ci, HD DVR is Comcast Motorola, Blu-Ray player is Oppo BDP-83, and I needed a Netflix/vudu player to complement the above. Ruled out Roku because it is not optimized for HDTV playback at 1080P, or upconverting online video to 1080P and 24fps. Well-designed Blu-Ray players do both, and have the electronics to deliver superior picture quality. Sony and Panasonic products produce great Blu-Ray pictures, but both brands are laggards when it comes to network streaming features and technology at this time.
The LG proved to be superior with noticeably faster loading time for both Netflix and vudu menus and faster remote control keypad response time. I believe this is due to LG using firmware instead of software as Samsung does to control these functions (software has more overhead). The LG can be set to 1080P and 24fps (if your HDTV can handle both via HDMI), and it performed this upconvert on standard definition Netflix and vudu video with surprisingly good results. vudu streaming is most impressive in HDX video and with their Dolby Digital + audio.
The LG firmware provides fast and superior Netflix menus that not only allow you to see your “instant que”, but manage the “instant que” as well and instantly select and watch other titles. The Samsung only allows you to choose from your PC-selected “instant que.” The LG firmware also delivers faster vudu menu response and a more sophisticated film menu with info about actors and the making of the movie, snippets of critical reviews from “rotten tomatoes”, and other interesting background info. The Samsung offers info about the actors in the movie.
We have been completely satisfied with our $135 LG BD550 player. It is worth the money just for online video streaming. Highly recommended.
Key to happiness with any of these products is 1) buy the right model for either wired ethernet or wireless, and 2) update the firmware immediately upon using the device for the first time. And keep doing 2) because the online video streaming business and technology is evolving fast.
LG did release a firmware update today (June 1) that resolved a short-term glitch for seeing a Netflix movie online on some recent BD550 players. That is resolved with firmware main version BD.8.31.259C and with Servo version H80588.
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Warning before purchasing
This particular unit, the BD550, does *NOT* support USB video playback as mentioned / advertised in the Amazon product description.
When attempting to play back a video file from USB you’ll get a no sign and it will refuse the operation.
Called LG support- they promptly informed me that I purchased the wrong unit.
“Sir only audio and picture playback is supported via USB from the 550″
Only the BD570/590 support *VIDEO* playback from the USB Media Host function.
Doesn’t matter the file type
MKV/AVI/MPG etc.
BD550 will never support video file playback from the USB host.
Quite a shame given the fact the 570/590 will do it out of the box.
Mine’s on it’s way back to Amazon
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Almost perfect
The unit lacks TOSLINK (digital optical port) so I had to rearrange my cabling to add a digital coaxial cable (minus 1 star for ease of use). Other than that, installation & software update was a snap (mine is hard-wired to the Internet). Registration for Netflix was easy.
For audio I am using an older Onkyo SR702. When comparing DVD to Blu Ray audio, the Blu Ray audio makes the DVD audio sound like an old VHS tape. The boot up time is not excessive. This is my third attempt to find a Blu Ray player I don’t have to struggle with. I’m keeping this one…
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Great bargain BD player
I am a hardcore geek and have also worked in the streaming video industry the past 4 years. So you may be surprised to hear that this is the first BD player I ever own. I’ve tested plenty of BD, DVD, streaming boxes, so I know all their strengths and weaknesses.
I waited till now because the early generation of BD players are underpowered (that’s why people complained about slow startup, slow to load BD, sluggish menu/UI, etc.). Knowing the performance of that generation, plus having tested the up-n-coming ones, I waited for something that is worth spending money on.
I almost bought the LG BD-390, but that was still too expensive. So I waited for the next gen after, which is the LG BD-5XX series. Since I have wired ethernet to where my entertainment console is, I pick the BD-550. For streaming video, I never want wireless (attested by people commenting on quality, stutters, delays and re-buffering). If I absolutely had to go wireless, I would use 802.11N (not G) and one that supports the 5Ghz band. But that is another topic.
The 550 does everything I need and want. Fast CPU, boot up less than 10s, load BD in about same amount of time (except for a few that has BD-Live and more complicated content). Btw, to use BD-Live, you will need to plug in a USB flash stick (I use a 4GB USB flash, one of those tiny one. Make sure it is formatted as FAT or FAT32.).
Netflix – good UI, fast (I have 25Mb down/10Mb up). So no problem streaming HD. Netflix requires 3.6Mb down for HD. Nice thing about Netflix is that it dynamically adjust quality so you can actually watch the movie. That does mean you won’t always get HD if your internet connection is not reliable, e.g. you are using wireless (see why I stick with wired?) Also love the 550 ability to let me view Netflix movie menu and add movies direct on the player (you don’t need to go to a computer to add movies to your Instant Queue! This is an awesome feature on the LG BD!
VUDU – good UI, sluggish, there is a lag between pressing buttons and getting results. I kept overshooting or getting wrong choice because of this. Different selection of movies, cost more if I watch a lot of movies (pay each time). So depending on your watching pattern, could be expensive.
Pandora – good, although I don’t want to turn on my TV just to listen to music. That’s what my stereo is for.
Youtube – good, fun for times when you have parties. Pain having to enter URL via the remote. Wish I can connect a real USB keyboard and use that.
I think the 550 is a bargain for the price. Very happy with it. Stay away from the 3D BD players and TVs. Bleeding edge stuffs, wait at least a year for that to settle before wasting your money.
Last but not least. Make sure you update the firmware! And check regularly. They fix various issues and add new features. I updated twice within the first day of opening the box.
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As advertised
This is my first experience with a BluRay player so I have nothing to compare this player to. That being said, the LG BD550 has provided a very positive experience to date. Does everything it says intuitively and with quality.
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Bought this to stream movies on my very old tv
I bought this device just to stream movies on my ancient TV, which I think is from 1987 because I bought it when the Twins were heading to the World Series. Disks work great. Only streamed movies so far from Vudu, since Vudu offered $20 free. The movies look just fine. As well as previews from Cinema Now look just fine. Despite every possible permutation and combination of settings for resolution and aspect ratios, I’m not able to get the Vudu and Cinema Now menus very clear. Barely legible as you scroll thru movie selection, movie reviews, purchase screens, etc. I presume this is due to my ancient TV. Since the movies are fine, I’m happy with it, and if I need to do more than a little movie searching, I can do in on the Vudu or Cinema Now website on the computer instead of the TV. We’re not that big of movie watchers, but it is very convenient to have instant access. Grandkids come over, and we can pick the film on the spot, do not need to subscribe to Netflix, no need to drive to Blockbuster, and again to return it. It’s nice.
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LG Bluray….good to go.
This was very simplistic, you can use the buttons of the remote just like on the DVD player, it’s very responsive and quick. It comes with the hookups to hook it straight to your TV. If you would like to hook it up via HD however you will have to buy the additional hookups. But I have to say that the regular hook ups look just fine! Nice price. I’ve always had good luck with LG products.
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Very decent player
Recently bought this player. I’m very happy with what it does. Beyond playing DVD and Blu Ray, nice picture and sound quality,and a usable remote – I was interested in the network capabililties. The option to view movies on several services like netflix and cinama now is very cool. You Tube is also a pretty entertaining feature. I’m concerned that you don’t appear to have any control of the service lineup though. What happens when those third party services change or fail? There are other Internet based services and it would be better if the access list was configureable. Better yet if it just provided an internet browser. I was also unpleasantly surprised that I could not play movies on the USB port. It will read picture and sound files but not Movie files. Seems I still have a reason to hang on to my old dvd player. Overall this is a nice unit but I want it to do more. With online firmware updates maybe it will in the future….
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Great for the price!
So far this Blu Ray player has been a great value for the price! The only problem I’ve had is that sometimes with Blu Ray discs, it will start to skip or freeze and the only way to correct the problem is to stop the disc, eject it and then restart it. This was a problem very early dvd players used to have too so I’m not surprised by this, but it does get to be annoying sometimes. Other than that, I have no problem with this for what I paid for it
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obxrayz
This unit does it all and setup is a no brainer. In fact, all you have to do is plug it in.
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Freezes up
I just bought and hooked up new BD550 I’ve played 2 movies 1 dvd and 1 blu-ray and it froze up about hour and a half into them both. I had to unplug from electricity to unfreeze player called lg with not much help from them. Has anyone else had this problem? I’m going to take back and exchange player.
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Lg BD550 Blu Ray Player
Very Good Product. Im waiting for and update to play movies or videos from usb port…im move to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, cant use netfix or pandora services, but its ok……
one question? can i use this for keep it cool ?
http://www.amazon.com/Antec-Unbeatable-Notebook-Cooler-200/dp/B001G0WNFS/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1275776607&sr=1-5
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very pleased with the BD550
Let me get this out of the way up front: This is my first Blue-Ray Disc player.
I’m very pleased with this LG BD550 product. I wanted a product that would (a) play Blu-Ray Discs, and (b) let me watch streaming movies/shows over the internet using my Netflix account. This does both.
I considered the higher-end BD570 but decided against it because I did not need the built-in wireless capability, so I got the BD550 which just has the ethernet port, but no wireless (and saved about $70 doing so). I already had an Apple Airport Express behind the media stand for streaming music from iTunes to my stereo, and I was able to configure it as a simple wireless ethernet bridge, so in order to connect the BD550 to the internet all I had to do was connect an ethernet cable from the Airport Express to the BD550. Once that was done, everything internet related simply worked “out of the box”.
Blue-Ray audio/visual quality seems good to me.
The user interface is adequate and is reasonably responsive. I have no complaints with the remote.
One thing I didn’t expect – the BD550 defaulted to 1080i. I’m not sure if that is normal for BD players, but I switched it to 1080p for playing BD discs.
Since it’s connected to the internet, it will occasionally ask me if I want to update the firmware/software.
The unit does not generate much heat, and has no vents in the top or sides of the case, i.e. no vents to block, so I figured it was OK to place my Cable/DVR box on-top of it.
Of all the internet enabled functions (I think this is called “Netcast”) I’ve tried four of them:
1. Netflix – Works as advertised. I have a 3Mbps internet connection and I’m pleased with the quality of streaming netflix video. Certainly it’s not high-def quality, but good enough given the convenience. I wish it were easier to search for titles though. I can’t really complain, it is good enough.
2. Pandora – This is really great. I’m a computer pandora user though on the computer it will occasionally throw in an ad or pause to ask you to confirm that you’re still listening. I don’t get either of these when playing music through Pandora on the BD550. I do wish, however, that one you’ve started a channel going that the interface would show a different graphic (like a near full screen CD artwork, a la iTunes, or any option besides the default screen).
3 & 4. Youtube and Picasa – I tried these out just for the heck of it, and they work, but I do not envision using these on a regular basis.
UPDATE: I recently upgraded from a 3Mbps internet connection to a 7Mbps internet connection. While Netflix was certainly usable with a 3Mbps connection, it is markedly better with the 7Mbps internet connection. I read that Netflix requires 5Mbps or greater to stream HD video.
UPDATE 2: I’ve tried out the Vudu service. As a new user, they were offering a free rental for a while. I never got round to trying it before they changed the free rental to a $20 credit (which gets you four rentals at “HD” quality – even better). Just in case this is useful to other users here is what I found. Vudu currently supports 3 levels of streaming quality: SD (480p), HD (720p), “HDX” (1080p). What I’ve found is that with about 7Mbps I just don’t have enough bandwidth to reliably stream HDX/1080p video. I’ve watched 2 full movies at HD/720p quality and there were no problems, glitches, or stops to buffer whatsoever. Of course SD works fine (requires even less bandwidth). Vudu allows you to watch trailers for free in HDX, so that’s an easy way to tell if you’ve got enough bandwidth (if you don’t, it will periodically stop the video to buffer the stream). There appears to be an option to ‘downgrade’ (e.g. from HD to SD) in the middle of a rental if you need to. I think the Vudu HD stream looks better than my Netflix stream (to my knowledge, Netflix sets video quality based on available bandwidth, so you don’t know what quality you’re actually getting from them). Vudo offers more recent titles than Netflix has, so I can see myself occasionally using Vudu from time to time in addition to Netflix.
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Could not be happier.
This is a great product at an excellent Amazon.com price. It does everything it is supposed to do. Blu-ray picture is excellent. Netflix streaming was a snap to set up and works great.
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Love the online Content
First off, I’m not a highly technical user, if an item works the way its suppose to, I’m happy. The 550 was extremely easy to set up, one hdmi cable, one ethernet and a power plug. The unit does not come with an HDMI cable or Ethernet so if you need one, you should get it separately. The first movie I played was a DVD (battle 360) and it looked very nice on my screen and was easy to navigate. Then I tried a blueray (2012)and it loaded up rather quick and looked fantastic.
I am loving the online content from vudu. The selection is pretty good and it streams with no problems that I noticed. I didn’t try the HDX because my connection is not fast enough for that. You need at least 5mbps to do the 1080 (hdx) content and 2.5 or so to do 720 hd which i do. Very cool option. The movies run 3.99 – 5.99 for rental depending on quality requested and a lot more to buy.
The remote is OK, nothing to brag about. I would definitely recommend this to a friend.
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No real problems so far. One worthless feature.
Got it yesterday. Works fine so far. Netflix features work quite well for me. Surfing YouTube works but is a bit clunky due to the lack of a k/b. Then again, that’s why you have a computer, right? Video settings aren’t optimized for folks like me who haven’t gone out to spend $3000 on a bad-a** flat-screen. I have an old-school (used to be state-of-the-art) CRT, and I am having to just deal with sub-par video settings and like it. Anyway, my only real gripe with this unit is the absolutely worthless parental lock. You can lock DVDs, but not online content. The firmware engineers must not have kids. Seriously, what’s the point of locking out Kill Bill, when your kid can just cruise Netflix and Youtube without restriction? So, if you want to be a lazy parent, this isn’t for you. If you don’t want your kids watching certain stuff, you will just have to do it the old-fashioned way, which really isn’t a big deal, but the uselessness of the feature is mildly irritating.
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Easy setup, almost
Delivery from Adorama in NYC took 2 days longer than the predicted delivery date. UPS tracking stopped on Fri. March 13 at 9 AM leaving Minneapolis and the item was delivered in Fargo, ND on Mon. March 15 at 1:30 PM and the ups tracking sill has last entry as leaving Minneapolis.
Had Netflix activated in 3 minutes and watching a flix 2 minutes later. The firmware update was no so slick. Started the “checking for update” and waited 45 minutes and nothing happened. I power cycled the player and when it came back up it asked if I wanted to download the update which took about 15 min. Then is asked is I wanted to install the update. It started and I waited some 30 minutes and it appeard that it had locked up. I called LG support and asked how long the update should take. I was like talking to my 4 year grand niece. All the tech could focus on was “When the download completes it will ask you if you want to install the update.” I advised him that part of the process had completed and was asking how long the actual install of the update took. I was placed on hold while he “checked his resources” and after 15 minutes on hold the upgrade completed. I waited 5 more minutes and since he was not back on the line I disconnected.
I needed to pay more attention the small print, i.e. the digital audio output is coax. I do have that type of port on my av receiver but no such cable and have 4 toslink cables laying around. Since I didn’t want to pay the $$$ for such a cable at the local big box store I order a 4 star one from Amazone for $4 and free shipping with Prime and it will be here in 2 days.
I am very happy with the LG purchase, especially since I didn’t need wireless with the BD570, since I have my router in my media center as the DirecTV on Demand service needs a direct connection.
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LG BD-570
After a year of researching and the subsequent “death” of my dvd player I purchased an LG BD-570 Bluray player. My television is a 42 inch 720 res LG plasma.
The picture on the television is stunning in hi def and with the addition of the LG Bluray player I was shocked at both the depth, clarity and sound. I use all hdmi hookups and route them through a Denon 1910 receiver. The installation was a breeze on this player. I purchased a netgear n router which also was easy to set up, turned on the bluray player and it immediately detected the router. I was up and running online with it in less than an hour. The streaming video is excellent as well as the 1080 upconvert for dvd’s. The Bluray player also immediately notified me of a software update which took less than 5 minutes to download. I am very happy with this machine and also the LG plasma television ( which is 2 years old now ) and would highly recommend both of them.
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Best netflix streaming experience among other four similarly priced devices.
Recently I have tried four BD players which have Netflix streaming capability. LG BD370, Samsung BD P-1600, Sony BDP N460, and LG BD 550. Earlier I also tried Roku HD player for netflix streaming. Except Roku, all the BD players I tried all use wired Ethernet, no wireless.
(I have wired Ethernet in my house so I don’t need wireless network.)
I could tell you guys: LG BD 550 is by far the best when it comes to Netflix streaming. I ended up returning all the others. BD550′s Fast forwarding, fast rewinding is just way faster than any other unit I tried. It is even faster than Roku! Among these units, Samsung BD P1600 is the slowest. Also BD 550 not only shows your movies in the netflix instant queue, it also gives you option to pick movie you may like, what you’ve recently watched (even after you removed it from your instant queue), new arrivals, etc. It’s just a perfect Netflix player. If you like Netflix’s GUI interface, then just don’t buy Sony N460! Sony completely screwed Netflix’s GUI but Sony’s GUI is just too awkward.
For other streaming sources, BD550 has Vudu, Roxio CinemaNow, Youtube and Picasa. Among all the units I tried, this is the only unit that has Vudu. Its Youtube and Picasa application UI and load speed is just awesome. I am so happy I finally find one netflix streaming device that works well.
As for BD player performance. Be honest, I really can’t see much difference in terms of image quality.
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If you didn’t get a chance to try other players, let me remind you that all of them are SLOOOOOOW in loading BD disc. As for Blu-ray playback video quality, actually to me as a normal user, they all perform similarly well. For loading speed, I am not sure if it is because the players all try to contact Internet first before playing (BD link) but I feel it is just way too slow than DVD. Since I found none of them outperform each other significantly, I landed on this LG BD550 becoz of its streaming speed and ease of use in GUI.
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Happy with the product
I’m very pleased with this product. It’s brand new, and I’ve had it for about 2 weeks. I have it connected to a wired LAN. Out of the box, I immediately had no problem connecting to Netflix, Pandora or any of the other apps. I previously had a Samsung BD-P1600 that was awful. The Samsung tech support offered nothing, and I tried everything for several days before returning the product. I also have this connected to an LG TV. I’ve always been very happy with LG. Our other system is also an LG TV and the LG Super-Blu player that we’ve had for over a year. With this BD550, I’ve been streaming a lot of Netflix with absolutely no problem, and I just updated the software for the player yesterday.
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LG BD550 not ready yet!
Got this unit on March 5th, set up was easy, hooked up to my wired lan, Netflix and Pandora worked great, Youtube no connect same with trying to get latest firmware from LG (hoping it would fix the connection problem with You tube), called tech support 3 times and each time got a different story on what the problem was and each time it was something else but the LG. Oh by the way it hard locked 3 times to the point the only way to get it working again was to unplug the unit and plug it back in again. The main reason for getting this unit was for the Netflix and Pandora, I have a Sony BD 350 which works fine for Blu Rays and DVD’s. I forgot the reason I first tried to get the latest firmware is there is a pop up that comes on the screen has soon has you turn on the LG, and after you hit the OK to get the firmware it waits a while and comes back that for you to check your connection which I do and if you still can’t connect, to call wonderful tech support and that’s why I’m writing this, the last guy I talked to said don’t worry about the pop up just use this wonderful product…..What would you do? Well its on it way back to Amazon, and thank god for them its a pleasure to do busy with them, LG not so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
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