Summary: Mixed review - great system but appears to have frequent faults
Comment: Having read many of the reviews here, I went ahead and bought the system alongside the Samsung 46" 7020. Combined, this is a great system - the TV is exceptional. The BlueRay system is also very good and the sound, for the money, is very high quality (although I thought I understood RMS output but don't understand the quoted power output of 1000W (1kW!). Maybe it's the kelp speaker cones that are very inefficient but the cables, which are too short BTW, seem too flimsy to handle that power. For those familiar with guitar amplifiers, in comparison, I have a 100W Marshall amp that would have the windows out at full power so how the Samsung can output 10x more power is a mystery (I have had it near full volume and although impressive, windows, plaster AND eardrums are all intact).
Anyway, having played a number of BR discs and found the performance to be flawless, I returned to by older DVD collection. The first was Pink Floyd's 'Pulse' which soon started skipping, freezing and pausing and on occasion would stop altogether with an on-screen message 'the disc cannot be played'. Of course,it could be reinserted and would restart only for the skipping, pausing to restart. After trying numerous other DVD's I found they all had more or less the same problem - some 'survived' longer but none would play without a problem. Contacted Samsung who suggested a lens cleaner and then a 're-boot' achieved by switching off the unit and then holding down the stop button on the unit for 5 seconds. No effect. Samsung then suggested there must be a fault and directed me to Amazon. Amazon guy was great and after a short conversation relaying what Samsung had advised, a replacement was sent out within 2 days. First class service. The new unit operates perfectly (so far, after a week), so I'm happy. However, I would suggest to any owner who is tolerating apparent 'fussiness' on the part of the player - get it replaced; there is no logic in assuming it's some kind of software problem or that DVD's are somehow old tech and therefore a shiny new BR drive might not play them properly. Unless your DVD's are scratched beyond readability, they should play perfectly.
From other reviews, it seems that this unit is a little flaky to say the least and given the expense of returning/ replacing I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon give up on it - they should at least have a stern word with Samsung regarding their quality control.
Would I buy another? - Hmm. If the replacement unit develops a fault, I think I would ask Amazon for a refund and look elsewhere. Amazon are a class act though and they would certainly keep my custom.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Warning, please read
Comment: I had to return my entire system for a refund (and am still considering what alternative to get).
The biggest problem was the same as reported by another reviewer. When playing Bluray from time to time the picture breaks down and pixellates, or gives bright flashes and streaks of colour. I thought it must be faulty discs but have now tried a dozen, including some brand new, and the problem is always present. I tried replacing my HDMI cable, I tried removing all other electronic equipment and cables that could be interfering, I tried using a different projector, I tried upgrading the firmware to the latest (March 2010 version). None of these things made the slightest difference. Either I was unlucky or this product is a dud.
There's another problem, just as bad. The main reason I chose this product was that Samsung sold a separate wireless rear speaker unit, specifically designed to go with this item. The two failed to recognize each other and never worked. Moreover Samsung have now realised it doesn't work and withdrawn the wireless option from sale. This is appalling.
I could not begin to estimate how much time I have wasted on this problem and in the meantime how many inferior film watching experiences I have put up with.
Some other comments:
The instructions were of poor quality - in particular the instructions for the wireless unit which seemed to have been translated using google translate.
It looks smart (though my girlfriend hated it)
Lots of features
The firmware upgrade process was neat and simple
The Samsung helpline was very good (although this is not supposed to be available to Amazon customers).
The speaker cables were far too short.
While the film sound was deliciously powerful, when I tried to play classical music through the system the sound quality was poor.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not bad...
Comment: I purchased this to replace an ageing DVD player that was more and more frequently not playing 'modern' DVD's. The look is excellent - very stylish, and it plays all the DVD's that not playable or partially playable on the old player. I also purchased a Samsung full-HD TV to fully appreciate the blue-ray experience. Connections are HDMI for the video and Optical for sound from the TV to the player. I use it in a small living room.
The sound quality is outstanding. DVD's, music, blu-ray, iPod - reproduction is astonishingly clear. But - some centre voice channels are quite faint which can be a problem as you do not want to raise the volume periodically in order to hear what is being said. I was especially pleased with the iPod reproduction. The music sounds great - full, clear and plenty of bass.
Visually, it is stunning too for the blu-ray discs (of course) but it does strange things to DVD's. When you view a DVD where the scene is in shadow or darkened, the centre of the screen 'morphs'. The effect is similar to heat-haze. Very odd.
What I don't like about it:
The remote control is not as responsive as I would like. I often have to press a button twice before the action is registered (using new batteries).
The controls on the surface of the player are barely distinguishable from the player's surface. This makes them useless in low-light environments (at night, or when the curtains are pulled). Whoever designed that needs a talking to.
One of the features that is a selling point is the ability to view YouTube. Networking is a cinch - DHCP works fine, and there is the option to assign a static IP address too. However, navigating YouTube is not easy. If you are satisfied with viewing the top ten etc, which are pre-programmed, you will be happy. Try to search for a video and you have to use the remote's clunky and unreliable buttons to do this. I gave up and have not used this feature since. If there was an option to connect a keyboard and mouse, it would be quite useful.
Related to this, the network connection is not always recognised - try to get more info via a blu-ray menu and it is unable to detect a connection. Weird.
Similarly, connecting an iPod is easy. The device is recognised, but navigating the interfacing is exasperating if you have a lot of music. There is no 'scrolling' function, so you have to repeatedly press the down button on the remote to get to the album you wish to play. When you have several hundred albums and you want to listen to an album whose name begins with S etc that is a real chore as they are displayed alphabetically. Also, you are unable to control the output from the iPod, as 'accessory connected' is displayed on the iPod screen.
I'm pleased I bought it, but I was really expecting something with a better design. If I had been able to play around with one before purchasing, I would have chosen another product.
What I like about it:
It beats the old player hands-down
Customer Rating:
Summary: great sound
Comment: Fantastic sound system, can't wait for the remote rear speaker addition. Knocks my old sony surround sound into the waste bin by a long way.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Noisy Fan
Comment: The incredibly NOISY FAN is well documented, but I must admit that I never expected it to be this noisy. The nosiy fan is probably the biggest minus score for the Samsung BD-1252. The next problem centres around the lack of a Headphone socket. 1000 Watts is fine, expecially in my small room. But not so good when the Grandson is sleeping above. I don't mind that there is no headphone socket as that is something that I should have researched before I bought the unit. What I do mind though, is what to me, appears to be overly complex customer support at Samsung. I don't want to phone an 0845 number, have my ears burning and eventually select option 27 to hear the previous options again. I simply wanted a simple answer to a simple query: can you connect headphones to the BD-1252? It's not rocket science, a simple YES or No would have sufficed. Not an email reply telling me again to ring them. YES, I can read, and I read that message when scouring the site, I didn't need a reminder. The other problem with the BD1252 is the iPod connector. As an add on, consumers simply have to ask; why or why did Samsung bother? Against these three problems you have to pitch the good points. The picture generated onto my 50 inch 400Hz Panasonic Plasma is stunning. The sound is stunning. The unit without the iPod attachment is stunning. The speakers are stunning and assembly was easy. Better handling of key questions at Samsung, and a new cooling method for the unit, would make the next generation of this model something that would blow the opposition away. But at the moment, I wish I could blow to cool the unit rather than listen to that fan or listen to someone on the other end of a phone.
