Review of the Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray Player

My husband and I recently purchased a Samsung Blu-ray player. We had looked at several different Blu-ray disc players before making our selection. In the HD DVD player arena, the Samsung BD-P1400 is one of the least expensive high-definition DVD players, and we purchased it on sale for $299. Since we are not sure who is going to win out among HD DVD players (HD vs. Blu-ray), we didn't want to spend a lot of money at this juncture. The regular cost of this Blu-ray player is $399, so we felt we were getting a good deal. In addition, at the time of purchase, the Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player came with a mail-in rebate for five free Blu-ray movies. With the current cost of Blu-ray DVDs starting at $30 and going up to $40 a pop, the mail-in rebate certainly was a great way to help us build our Blu-ray DVD collection.

Since the Samsung BD-P1400 Blu-ray player did not come packaged with any DVDs, we purchased the movie 300 on Blu-ray DVD so we could put it through its paces. We also had to purchase a separate HDMI cable, as it did not come standard with this Blu-ray player. In order to get the best viewing possible out of any HD DVD player, an HDMI cable and an HD television is required. The Blu-ray DVD players can play Blu-ray discs without the HDMI cable, but the picture will not be nearly as enhanced as it is meant to be. The HDMI cables are not cheap, either. We found a cheap 6-foot HDMI cable for about $40. All told, we spent roughly $380 before we could even watch our first Blu-ray movie.

Installation and setup of the Samsung BD-P1400 is very easy. Just remove the unit from the box, plug it in, attach the HDMI cable and you are ready to go. This particular Blu-ray player is very slim with a sleek, shiny black front panel. It is thinner than a regular DVD player, although it is just as wide and deep, so it can easily fit into any space designed for electronic equipment.