Samsung's slim BD-P4600 Blu-ray player gets reviewed
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 5th 2009 6:06PM
posted May 5th 2009 6:06PM
Samsung's new BD-P4600 Blu-ray player certainly impresses on first glance and, according to the folks at CNET, it has quite a bit more going for it than just good looks, even if it's not entirely without its share of faults. On the upside, the player and its HQV like image processing can apparently hold its own when it comes to the all-important question of image quality, and it packs no shortage of non-Blu-ray features as well, including Netflix and Pandora support, a bundled WiFi USB dongle, 1GB of on-board memory, and support for media streaming off a connected PC. Unfortunately, that protruding USB dongle does cramp the style of the player somewhat and, while the PC streaming is certainly welcome, it can apparently be a bit of a chore to get set up properly. Of course, there's also the small matter of the $500 price tag, although CNET says Samsung's cheaper BD-P3600 model should provide an adequate, if slightly less slim substitute for those looking for some more bang for the buck.
Have people had problems with Pc streaming on this device too? I heard so many complaints on other forums. Funny how companies like Samsung advertise it, but it doesn't even work right?!
The wireless on this SUCKS SUCKS AND SUCKS. I bought one and i recommend to others do not buy this BD-P4600. Tech support no good, manual no good, it does not connect to vista. Unable to update firmware.
@(Unverified) my samsung won't even load it freezes great player not
mine dos the same thing. my samsung p4600 freezes with certain movies. i called samsung they told me that is to bad. nice. i buy a movie and now i can not watch the movie now . the store won't take the movie back it was opened how do they expect you to watch it if you don't open it. if i could put my hand on the movie and it would tell me i won't work on your player that would be pretty cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And ps3 gonna load and play blu rays faster/better than a stand alone blu ray player as always.... and its cheaper than this blu ray which costs 500$......
i have no idea how the ps3 (released at 2006) still does a better job than every other blu ray in the market
Um, the 8 processors in the PS3 help give it an advantage over the cute little BD players and the PS3 is so much cheaper because it is subsidized by game sales, whereas standalone BD players need to make all of their money when they sell the player.
Actually, the 3600/4600 has better load/play times than the PS3. Granted, its usually only by 5-10 seconds. But it shows that standalone bluray players are catching up.
@tardlet
You are trying to make it sound like a standalone player was 'supposed' to be worse of the two. Shouldn't it be the other way around where standalone players are better to begin with and anything built-in (like the one in PS3) are 2nd in line? Sure PS3 is a better device (I own one) for more purposes than a standalone BD player but most standalone BD player should easily match in not already out perform the BD performance from PS3.
looks sexy but were does the disc goes in ?
You'll know someday. When you are truly in love. Or drunk and with more reasonable standards.
on the right side of the player which is extremely inconvenient if your player is a cabinet.
Also the 4600 has a built in N adapter no dongle required.
Its ugly as hell and no where near worth it.
I agree with DR house the PS3 is still the best player on the market. its only downside is the game control as a remote it is a little harder to operate for some.
Ah! A Samsung branded blood bag!
Nice but maybe $200 too much....
the question is: will it read a media stream from the Media Server capabilities of Windows Media Player 10/11 or does it, like other media clients, not support Microsoft?
This player does NOT have HGV image processing.
says who?
everyone that doesn't work for Engadget
I have the BDP-1600. Works better with stacked components in a cabinet. Half the price. Netflix and Pandora stream nicely and it configured itself automatically when I plugged it into an ethernet port. Wireless is extra on the 1600, but I already had a wired port for the home network so why bother?
It's unfortunate that you'd need image processing still. That should be up to the studios to make the film look as good as possible before putting it on disc. It's a digital signal; it's not like it looks any different coming out of any other player.
Might want to correct this. The 4600, just like the 3600 and 1600, does NOT have the HQV chip in it, sadly.
yup, CNET used the SO HQV test disc but that doesn't mean the player has HQV hardware.
The first one of these I got was dead on arrival. Congratulations on getting a working unit.
I had a DoA one as well, took it back and they had no others in stock.
Btw re: Review, there's a USB slot UNDER the unit so the wifi dongle doesn't protrude out, seems odd that they missed that.
What is it going to take for these people to just build wifi right into the damn player instead of requiring a dongle? Seriously, in this day and age, anything that has internet capabilities should have wifi capabilities as well. I'm not going to run an ethernet cable just so I can grab updates automatically or so I can use features I'll probably only play with for five minutes and then forget about.
This way the same dongle can be removed and installed into a samsung tv. You save 80 bucks not having to buy a second dongle.
My PS3 is better as a device...but...
PS3! LOOK PRETTIER!
...
awww.
As stated above, there is a usb under the unit so nothing sticks out. The one on the back is secondary. Yes it is not always meant for being in a cabinet, it was meant as part of a solution. Samsung is giving an on wall solution with this the tv an their new soundbar to be mounted, thats why thos blu-ray player has a wall bracket. The unit is $199.99 when you buy a new led tv at best buy currently.
My dad just got a BDP 3600. Not having owned a Blu Ray before, it does a very good job (so far). We needed the wireless because he didn't want a cable running along the wall into the next room. The Netflix streaming looks very good - surprisingly good for wireless.
Paying $100 extra for...wall mounting? Or a touch of red? Honestly...not worth it.
Still don't get why I wouldn't just buy a PS3; image quality is better, DTSHD decoding, web browser, AND plays games. I just don't get it; I'm not even a fanboy of PS3 really, (get some MKV support and full networking/streaming capabilities and we'll talk) but I just seriously don't see why you'd get this and not a cheaper, more capable ps3.
I'm looking for responses and thoughts, not childish flame wars please.
can't stand the "touch of color" crap. make the "color" silver, or blue. or better yet, none at all and leave it as piano black.