Samsung DVD-HD850

...my previous review of my Samsung 32 " LCD TV I also attained this DVD player at the same time. Here is my impression of this DVD player however be warned like my LCD TV review I will not be explaining every technical detail this TV has to offer rather I'll be looking at how it works on a day to day basis.

*** Appearance ***

This DVD player does appear sleek if a little wide. It is thin in height. It is a grey, metallic ...
...player.

*** Samsung EZ View Letterbox Eliminator ***

What a name! No unfortunately this DVD player does not also deliver your mail. No what it does is it fits your image perfectly to your screen. You can stretch the screen vertically or horizontally until it fits. This has the added bonus that if you don't have a widescreen TV you can still see all the picture. This is something that used to drive me mad and now I no ... more

As I mentioned in my previous review of my Samsung 32 " LCD TV I also attained this DVD player at the same time. Here is my impression of this DVD player however be warned like my LCD TV review I will not be explaining every technical detail this TV has to offer rather I'll be looking at how it works on a day to day basis.

*** Appearance ***

This DVD player does appear sleek if a little wide. It is thin in height. It is a grey, metallic colour.
It is quite long so it didn't fit on my fireplace. This could be a problem as the cable that connects the DVD to the television is sizeable and may look untidy. The actual measurements are 17"(W) x 1.7"(H) x 8.2"(D).

The front panel is fairly standard. You have an on/off switch which is very handy for .. turning the DVD player on and off. Incredible I hear you cry. That's the pace of technology I respond. Equally astonishing is the DVD panel where you can insert your DVDs. Next to this is an LCD display which tells you what you are doing and also politely says hello whenever you switch your DVDs on. Finally, there is a panel with the basic functions for your DVD: play, stop, forward, reverse, which can be accessed by hand.

*** Features ***

*** High Definition ***

This is a High Definition DVD player but there is a problem HD DVDs don't exist yet. So it's a bit like being sold cigarettes without a lighter or matches.

However what this DVD player does do is it upscales DVDs so they are much better quality. It increases the amount of lines on the screen so the picture quality should be much better.
I have to say it is hard to compare and identify the difference this DVD player makes in some ways as one very quickly becomes used to a certain quality of picture. However I would say that when I first watched DVDs on this player I was truely impressed with the increased clarity and depth to the picture. The colours seem to the match the scene more closely too as they can seem vibrant or realistic depending on the scenario. I would recommend this DVD player because I think you would notice an improvement in your picture quality.

*** HDMI Interface ***

This is the key to the process of improving the picture quality. The HDMI lead fits from this DVD player to the LCD television and sends the audio and visual images through this lead. As I'm sure many of you are aware you can improve the quality of any DVD player through the leads you use to connect to your television and this lead is one of the best available at this time. It comes free with this DVD player.

*** Samsung EZ View Letterbox Eliminator ***

What a name! No unfortunately this DVD player does not also deliver your mail. No what it does is it fits your image perfectly to your screen. You can stretch the screen vertically or horizontally until it fits. This has the added bonus that if you don't have a widescreen TV you can still see all the picture. This is something that used to drive me mad and now I no longer worry about that it has given me time to worry about all sorts of other trivial matters. Great hey?

*** Other features ***

Well there are lots but to the everyday person I don't think they are appropriate. You can also play CDs through this DVD which is pretty standard and it plays "DVD video, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, VCD, SVCD, CD audio, CD-R/RW; as well as MP3, WMA, and JPEG files on CD-R discs using either the ISO 9660 or Joliet format" . I bet you're glad you know that! Well actually part of this is useful because if you want to watch a copy of a DVD ( in other words a pirate DVD that is the cause of all the terrorism in the world- yeah right!) then this one will play it. Apart from that you can zoom in on an image and rotate it. If you find yourself doing this you have too much time on your hands.
You also get a remote control with this DVD player which is a special feature as it saves you having to move when your tired. Also it can operate a Samsung television which is very handy as my boys are always hiding or stealing the remote control. It's a male dominance issue I'm sure.

*** Cost ***

Dixons and Curries are offering this for £99.99 in store or £87.99 via the web. I'm sure you can get this cheaper with a bit of haggling. Best of all if you buying this in and an LCD TV put on a beard ( like in Life of Brian) and haggle even more. I did this and got this DVD player for free when I purchased my LCD TV. These shops will offer you alot more than you would at first believe with a bit of gentle persuasion.

*** Overview ***

I think this DVD player is well worth £87.99 although I'm sure you can find it cheaper. It gives you improved picture quality and will improve your enjoyment of your present DVDs. I have found it very reliable so far. Before purchasing this DVD player I did some research via home movie magazines and they all seemed to say this was an excellent DVD player at this price. I bought a LCD TV and HD DVD player because due to a young family I find myself at home more than I used to be. If you find yourself watching a lot of movies too this would be a wise purchase as would a Samsung LCD TV(see my previous review).
 

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