Advantages: Upscaled DVDs look beautiful on Samsung TVs. DIVx playback is great.
Disadvantages: Slightly Slow to Startup. Remote control has no volume buttons for controlling Samsung TVs.

...A quick introduction to my setup. I own a Samsung LE40F86BDX (40" Glassy Screen LCD HDTV) and a Samsung LE23R87BDX (23" TFT Style LCD HDTV). The 40" has an HDMI input and the second has a DVI interface. When I purchased the 40" TV I found that my old Pioneer surround sound DVD player didn't give me a great picture always due to a few issues so, I bought the Samsung DVD-HD 870 player. The main features of the DVD player are, in addition to standard DVD playback, firstly, it's an upscaling player and secondly, it plays DIVx videos. On the 40" TV, I connected it using an HDMI to HDMI cable (available from play.com) to the TV. A connection like this will carry the audio and the video signals to the TV. The picture quality when using this setup is amazing. I put the Disney Cars DVD in, and, whilst it looks beautiful on the TV using... Read review

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Advantages: reliability
Disadvantages: number of features

...**Samsung DVD HD870** I liked the look of this model for from the first time I saw it was a Samsung. The design is superbly streamline and is the epitome of a classic Samsung model brand. The HD (High definition) title is the best that technology can provide for viewing. The HD870 model is the mother of Samsung's BP100 blue ray DVD player that retails for a wallet stripping 500.00 GBP. This is a little more friendlier on your wallet as I got it online for 220.00 GBP 14 months ago. It has been reliable and if anything is more reliable than the BP100. The reason being that blue ray is very sensitive to disk dust or slight stratches on the disk. The compact tray shape is perfectly shaped for slotting into entertainment centres. The MP4 coding allows mobile media to be loaded onto a DVD disk. Jpegs can be used as a photo showcase. I... Read review

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Advantages: Beautiful colours, very dark black colours, works well with standard SKY+ and HD Upscalers
Disadvantages: Sometimes blurry on fast-paced action movies or older films. MoviePlus isn't all that great.

...The Samsung LE-40F86BD is a fantastic TV. I use it with a Standard SKY+ box (i.e. not a SKY+HD model) and the picture is fantastic. As with all TVs using such a box, make suer you can sit at least 2 feet away from it. Sit too close and the picture will look extremely blocky. Due to the quality of the different channels, channels such as SKY ONE or National Geographic will look better (even in SD) than lesser funded channels. Use a regular DVD player and the picture is beautiful but use an upscaling one such as the Samsung HD870 and the picture is stunning. If only I had an HD DVD PLAYER! I've watched Cars with and without the HD Upscaler and I assure you, the upscaling does make a difference. Older movies or ones with a lot of fast moving action tend to look a bit blurred at times but in general it's awesome. Movie Plus isn't very... Read review

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Advantages: Reasonably priced and easy to install
Disadvantages: Only plays European ( Region 2 ) discs

...I was looking for my first DVD player and the Samsung 709 was a perfect solution. The machine is easy to install and comes with all the connection leads necessary. Within 10 minutes the machine can be up and running. The sound and picture quality are excellent (even when attached to a portable tv).The machine however is outstanding when you connect it up to a widescreen television as most of the films you will find come in the widescreen format. The only disadvantage is that it can only play European discs. If you are looking for a DVD player then you can't go far wrong with the Samsung 709.... Read review

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Advantages: Looks nice
Disadvantages: Samsung have no respect for their customers

...I purchased myself a Samsung DVD 709 player shortly after they were first released based upon the reccomendations of several magazines. Also, the fact that it looks pretty good. Initially, I was extremely pleased with my purchase, having never experienced the DVD phenomonom. However, it all started to go wrong very quickly. I purchased "Something About Mary" which wouldn't work. thinking it was the DVD I returned it, only to be shown it working on another player. I contacted Samsungs so called "technical support". They had heard of the problem but hadn't got a clue what to do about it. They instructed me to leave my contact details and as soon as a fix was available they would contact me. Several weeks passed and still no contact. However, from digging around on the internet it became clear that a fix was available from Samsung yet I... Read review

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Advantages: Picture quality and Sound.
Disadvantages: The black lines at the top and bottom.

...I brought the samsung-709 DVD player about a year ago and it still plays fine. I got it for christmas and I thought I would treat myself to It. The graphics on this machine is really good and the sound is outstanding. You can pause the DVD and it will still have a clear picture. There are alot of other features such as language setting, Screen size settings, Subtitles, surround sound and many more. I have got nine DVD movies at the moment and the only thing wrong with my DVD player is that I get the two black lines, top and bottom of the screen which I dont like much. It might not be on all Samsung-709 DVD players but it is on mine. When I brought the Samsung DVD player, it was £220, this was when they first came out but now you can get the player for about £180 I think. Anyway If you dont mind the black lines top and bottom then buy... Read review

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Advantages: Size, Upscaling and Sound Quality
Disadvantages: Remote control, menu system keeps forgetting settings...

...This Samsung 1080p DVD player is the perfect companion for any of the latest Samsung LCD and Plasma TV's. We currently own the Q96 Plasma model and the F1080 fits just under the TV, it is smaller than the stand on the TV. But it has all of the features of the chunkier 1080p dvd players. Another plus to Samsung customers is that it has the Anynet+ function, meaning you can use the tv remote to control the DVD player. This is suggested as the remote control that you get supplied with the DVD is too small and useless in my view. There are a few firmware faults with this model, for example it sometimes won't play a DVD on initial startup and you have to restart the player as it just blue screens. The upscaling quality is good, however I have only my xbox on vga connection to compare it to. Upscaling quality: 8/10 Connections: 9... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, great picture + sound
Disadvantages: Limited features

...The Samsung 709 offers exceptional value for money, the unit is a nice silver and the remote is solid with all buttons conveinently placed, play back is excellent with stunning pictures and crisp clear digital sound, there is A/V socket and digital output connection on the back enabling you to connect the player to other AV's, i also got my player chipped enabling me to play back region 1 films (USA, you get them before they come out here, enabling you to show off :-) I would recommend this player to anyone who is new to the DVD scene.... Read review

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Advantages: PRICE, QUALITY & PERFORMANCE
Disadvantages: None as far as I'm concerned

...The price of the 709 makes it an excellent budget player that is as good as the more expensive players, Also with the 709 the easy multi-region "hack" makes it a very good feature of the player with details of this hack widely av on the net through many of the dedicated web sites for this excellent dvd player. Overall this player is a highly recommended choice if you want to experience the world of DVD.The features include ZOOM, 3D SOUND ENHANCMENT,2X 4X 8X & 16X FAST FORWARD/REVERSE, DTS etc, set up is a piece of cake and the instruction book is well written. There have been a few problems widley reported with the playback of certain discs namely the matrix but Samsung have offered a freeware upgrade to recify the problem. Advantages: Disadvantages:... Read review

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Advantages: slimline, stylish, easy to use
Disadvantages: no probs

...i have owned this dvd player for about a year now and have never had any problems with it at all. its slimline design allows me to stack the dvd player and vcr on the same shelf. menu's are easy to understand and use, its auto fit screen option is great for widescreen tv's as you don't get the black lines at the top and bottom of the screen although it does stretch faces abit. i have played normal music cd's, dvd's and picture cd's on this player all with no problems. it is compatible with cd, cd-r, cd-rw, dvd, dvd+rw, dvd-r, and dvd-rw. i paid £45.00 for this player at the time at it was great value i would defantly recomend this dvd player to anyone and i would certanly buy another one if anything went wrong with this one. simple contection to the tv with either scart or s-video lead. Also has output to surround system if you have... Read review

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