Samsung's BD-UP5000 HD DVD / Blu-ray combo player gets previewed

The folks over at HDGuru managed to spend a few quality minutes with Samsung's forthcoming hybrid player, and initial impressions look to be pretty positive. Granted, their BD-UP5000 was a pre-production sample, but they were mighty impressed with the BD-Java / HDi support, HDMI 1.3 functionality, and the Reon scaler chip within. During limited time with the player, the assortment of HD DVDs and Blu-ray films that they got to view "all looked spectacular, with every image appearing clean, crisp and sharp as a tack," and the "faster chapter changes and quicker entry into other menu functions" compared to previous generation units were highly praised, too. Overall, it seems that we've got a respectable combo player on the horizon for those not willing to choose a side, so be sure and give the read link a visit if you're too impatient to wait for a full-on review.

[BigMike @ Sep 16th 2007 2:25AM]

CNT WE JUST WAIT 3 YEARS TILL THEYRE 20 dollars like dvds did.

[alex @ Sep 16th 2007 4:11AM]

I was at the shop today, and a 32 inch LCD was $999, and I told the salesguy that I was still waiting for a winner of the format war.

I bet he loved that.

[DAZA @ Sep 16th 2007 9:14AM]

What on earth are you talking about?

[ethana2 @ Sep 16th 2007 1:42PM]

copowi + SeagateMaxtor

[Tom @ Sep 16th 2007 6:54AM]

This is good, I'm happy that we're starting to see a few more combo players. To be frank, I wouldn't even consider buying a Blu-Ray or HDDVD player on its own, it's just far too risky. If it happens that in the end there is no clear winner, then these players will be a necessity. If it happens that there is one clear winner then part of the player goes unused, but it's better than picking the wrong side and ending up with an extremely overpriced paperweight!

[rento @ Sep 16th 2007 8:14AM]

Honestely, I wouldnt bother for now. If you got a HD television buy a decent upscaler set. You ll be amazed of the quality you can achieve.

[Rizzon @ Sep 16th 2007 9:13AM]

Hey.
I'm also waiting for the winner, but Toshiba and Sony invested soooooo much money in this War of the Formats that its practicly impossible for one of them to give up.

IMO the future belongs to:
1 - hybrid players
2 - veeery cheap, one format players so you could buy both of them
3 - another format like holographic discs

In my opinion the wor between Blu-ray and HD DVD can not be won by any of the sides.

Best regards,
Rizzon.
www.hdtvmania.pl

[ethana2 @ Sep 16th 2007 1:47PM]

You are correct. Neither of these formats can win. For a look into the future, let us peer across the pacific at Japan and Korea.

100Mb/s internet will be the format that wins, with the help of perpendicular recording SATA drives, which will start seeing sizes of 1 TB for desktops in the mainstream market soon.

Until we hit 3d storage, HD optical formats don't have a leg to stand on. Certainly not DRM. I'm going to boycott both.

[zargon @ Sep 16th 2007 9:25AM]

It is good to see more combo players, but they just are not worth it yet. When I can get a Toshiba HD-A2/A3 for $200-$250 and a Sony S300 for $450, $1000 for a combo players just don't make sense to me. Also, with Blu-ray unfinished spec, it makes it that much harder to jump on board. I would also like to see quality CE companies making combo players, like Denon or Pioneer over LG and Samsung, before I invest in one.

[Gary Merson @ Sep 16th 2007 9:29AM]

The HD Guru spent many hours with the player, not minutes as reported by Engadget. Numerous BD and HD DVD discs were viewed along with test discs and timing measurments of functions were performed. Usually the HD Guru has a product for weeks so the time was compressed but the review is NOT a wam bam few minute evaluation.

Gary Merson
The HD Guru

[Irfan @ Sep 16th 2007 9:27PM]

i was pretty certain he wasnt being literal with the few minutes comment.

[MacNewb @ Sep 16th 2007 4:52PM]

You'd think with a "format war" prices would drop... huh, you'd think?

[Peter @ Sep 16th 2007 7:22PM]

Is the HD Guru really refering to himself in the third person??

"Hey, look. Hank's got a new boyfriend. Jimmy's not threatened by Hank's sexuality. Jimmy's happy for Hank."

[Don Bingaman @ Nov 10th 2007 9:55PM]

The combo player is probably the safest bet for now, and if Gary Merson says it's good - it's probably pretty good. My concern is this is really starting to smell like the DVD-A / SACD war....especially with the Sony CEO declaring a "stalemate". Me thinks there is a 50/50 chance the whole enterprise goes down in flames and we will have to live with DVD-V for another 50 years, just like CD. If you don't think it can happen, look up why railroad tracks are X feet apart....that standard goes back to the Roman Empire.

[skablaw @ Nov 29th 2007 10:48AM]

So what if there's a format war? What else are you going to spend your $800 on? Buy the thing and enjoy the fun of 1080p movies now, rather than spend your time tapping your fingers on the edge of your desk waiting for prices to go down.

We're not talking about buying a first-generation DLP projector for $20,000 or even a CDP-101 for $900. This is a major advance in home entertainment and you might as well enjoy it now because if you wait two years for combo players to cost $100, you'll be right back here lamenting the high cost of 1440p LCDs.