Samsung DVD-HD860 Up-Converting DVD Player

I've connected this DVD player to my 32-inch Sharp widescreen HDTV with HDMI cable, which creates a stunning picture when playing a high-quality DVD. The remote is also very user-friendly.

This is a great DVD player that fits perfectly under my small tv in the bedroom. Slim and compact. The upconverting is nice and it remembers where you left off in your movie when you put that disk back in.

- It takes around fifteen seconds (!) to begin viewing a DVD after inserting it
- The pause while switching layers on a dual-layer DVD is longer than on other players I've owned
- It will randomly freeze while playing audio CDs (this is not a problem with the discs - they are in pristine condition and can be played by any other CD/DVD player in the house)
- Front panel buttons are poorly designed (there are no menu navigation buttons, but there's a 'video select' button to switch between outputs? Who uses that more than once a year?) and don't always seem to function as expected (pressing the Power button doesn't seem to do anything while the disc tray is open).

We loved this DVD player for the first 6 months, then it the power started shutting off randomly. I did every troubleshooting thing I could think of, and came up with nothing. I also went to the Samsung website, and tried to find help there and came up with N-O-T-H-I-N-G! We bought the DVD player b/c we bought a Samsung HD flatscreen TV (love it-- no problems). However, this is our second samsung dvd player- hated the first one too! I should have known! The first one was several years ago-- thought it was a fluke. For as much $$ as this one was I can't believe how much this one SUCKS! I am going back to buying cheap DVD players. I am so mad! The power won't stay on for more than 1 or 2 minutes! NOT WORTH THE $$$$$$$

I had an old progressive scan DVD player by Memorex. That older player gave a good picture on 720p hd at 480p. I however wanted to utiliuze my TV as best I could while Blu-Ray and HD duke it out like Beta-Max and VHS. I decided on this unit after reading consumer reviews and profressionals as well. I am very pleased. I have not experienced the freezing as described by some and have had no problems at all since purchasing one. My television does not convert the digital sound through it's DVI port but the sound from the stero plugs is a marked improvement over my old player. The sound is layered more than before, warmer and crisper. The picture needs to be adjusted to 720p or 1080i each time the player is turned off via remote. Not a big deal, though it would be nice if the player detected the TV max res and upgraded automaticaly, but, a minor task. I watched LOTR Fellowship after hooking it up and I was blown away at the sharpness of the picture, the clarity, the richness of color and the details of the sets and costumes that had been hiding. It was like watching some scenes for the first time with the improved sound and picture quality. I would definately recommend this item if you want to upgrade the viewing of DVD's if you have a 720 on up, other wise stick with a progressive scan. You must have an HDMI or DVI port on your TV to get the upgrades above 480. I am very pleased with this product and am surprised at how Samsung has improved over the years. I had trouble with set up and received excellent customer service.