Samsung BD-P2500 Blu-Ray Player

The Netflix-ready capability of this player is a big reason we got it, and we're not disappointed.  The Netflix streaming feature is very easy to use and the video performance is fantastic (much better than with our high-end PC, for some reason).  There is a 2550 version available also, which adds Pandora stream audio capability; this wasn't important to us, and I have a feeling that a future firmware update will add this capability to the 2500.

We also chose this player because we have a Samsung HDTV, and we were hoping to ditch one remote, which we have.  Unfortunately, though, we still have to use our digital cable (universal) remote for some of the HDTV controls, because the Blu-Ray remote doesn't have a TV Menu button (!!) and doesn't seem to be programmable for our cable remote, although all the extra buttons seem to suggest that it is.  In general, the remote seems well laid-out.

Out of the box, we had some problems playing standard DVD's, but updating the firmware (via the USB key method) quickly fixed the problem.  Now standard and Blu-Ray disc performance is really, really good.

One complaint is that the start-up, shut-down and menu pull-up times are very slow.  The player responds very slowly to remote commands.

Also, the player kind of 'crashed' twice, requiring us to power-down and then power back up again to resolve the problem.  So there is still a little room for improvement.

One thing we really like about this player is the ultra-modern design, very minimalist - and really cool lights on the 'disappearing' command buttons.