Engadget HD takes a spin with Samsung's BD-P4600 Blu-ray player

The crew over at Engadget HD never gets tired of trying out new Blu-ray players and this time it is Samsung's top of the line BD-P4600's turn. If you've ever thought that the perfect place to put your Blu-ray player is mounted on the wall under your HDTV, then there is little doubt that this is the Blu-ray player for you. Of course that doesn't mean you should buy it blindly without any other regards, which is exactly why we took the time to try it out for you.

Hands-on with the Samsung BD-P4600

[Ruben Posted Jul 16th 2009 9:25PM]

@sr

Did one of these rape you as a child?

You have an unhealthy amount of hatred for this thing.

And just because you find it ugly doesn't mean others find it ugly.

And this is designed to be mounted on a wall, not go into a media center shelf.

[sr1329 Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:53AM]

No I just come from a school that believes that equipment like that should stay hidden. This thing is the opposite, designed to be flaunted. But it is so ugly and even if you thought it wasn't ugly why would anyone with any sense show off their Blu-Ray player? It goes against basic home theater philosophy where the highlight is the image/the movie. Why would any sensible HT owner put that piece of gloss out into the open where it only distracts from the movie?

It's something designed for show-offs or people who have no sense of purpose in creating their theaters. What matters is what's inside your equipment not the outside ugly glossiness. I tried to have an open mind about it until I saw one at Best Buy and it is just pointless to have something that is so small and thin that is artificially made so big because of that stand. HT equipment is not supposed to draw attention to itself. It is supposed to draw attention to the image it produces.

This is the HT equivalent of putting ugly chrome spinners on your car.

[sr1329 Posted Jul 17th 2009 2:12AM]

Also that thing is basically 80% air that sits under the player thanks to that stand. The unit itself is 80% cheap glossy plastic. This is not "high-end" despite what its price is telling you. High end is solid metal, preferably aluminum. The thing is artificially bigger because of excess cheap plastic on all edges. The plastic isn't even black - it's translucent red. The epitome of ugly gaudiness.

What Pioneer Elite or Sony XBR owner would even consider this? One would think anyone with an interest in high-end HT to buy such a nice TV would know better than to pair it with this $150 player that now costs $500 due to excess cheap plastic in and around it.

An appropriate pairing with high-end TVs begins with and gets cheaper as it progresses depending on your budget:

BDP-S5000ES
Marantz BD 8002
Denon DVD 3800BDCI
Panasonic DMP-BD10
Pioneer Elite BDP-94HD
Denon DVD-2500BTCI
Samsung BD-P2500
Sharp BD-HP20U
Harman Kardon BDP-1
JVC XV BP1

Not an ugly overpriced slab of air filled plastic POS for show offs who mount an obvious plastic POS on their walls.

[sr1329 Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:00PM]

It's re tarded. Basically occupies three times the space it needs to because of that stand. It is typical cheap garbage engineering and made of plastic crap. It takes up the space of an entire receiver in a media center.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:11PM]

Wow sr, you are an extremely mean and close minded person. There's not need to attack anyone here.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:13PM]

no need*

[sr1329 Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:57AM]

Not attacking anyone but that stupid school of Samsung design. It is the antithesis of high-end HT equipment design. It screams "low-end" crap and positions itself as high-end. Anyone who knows about the real point of HT knows that kind of stuff is the equivalent of big spoilers on a front wheel drive car.

[Agent007 Posted Jul 16th 2009 7:54PM]

...because I've always wanted a side-loading player in my neatly stacked AV rack

[sr1329 Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:54AM]

This does not stack and it artificially takes up 3 times the space of a nice decent Panasonic or Pioneer because of the stand. It could have been a nice small player if not for that stand.

[sr1329 Posted Jul 17th 2009 2:15AM]

But yeah we basically agree. Pointless. For connoisseurs of low-end product who think it is high-end.

[Vidikron Posted Jul 17th 2009 10:48AM]

It's meant to be wall mounted, that's why it side loads.

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 16th 2009 9:46PM]

Depending on what you want to do, the BDP4600 is a phenomenal player. But who mounts BD players?!

techtweet @ http://www.twitter.com/bttrends

[JacobsBest Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:11AM]

Ever hear of a Swiffer duster? Or Selson Blue? You have more white powder on your table then Tony Montana. Seriously bro you have dandruff issues...

[(Unverified) Posted Jul 17th 2009 1:44AM]

All I have to say, not product related, is that you guys need to dust look at the filth in those pictures, I wouldn't place any thing glossy, important, or expensive in that type of envronment. I'll send ya duster if you need one