smart hub is kinda cool, but still slow, blu ray dvd wont play, waste of money

The BD-D7500B/ZC was a great player until it stopped working after 5 months.

The player suddenly stopped accepting any kind of DVD or blu-ray disc, including new ones and those previously played successfully. It has previously successfully played these discs using the current firmware version, so the problem wasn’t the result of a patch.

After trying to load the disc, a message now appears on my shiny new Samsung PN64D8000 3D TV screen: “Cannot play this disc. The disc does not meet the specifications.” The player then automatically ejects the disc.

An Internet search of the message text indicates that this is becoming a common problem for this model. It reminds me of the XBox 360 “Red Ring of Death” problem that afflicted early adopters.

Initially, I was impressed with how Samsung Customer Service emailed me a UPS shipping label and was promised that it would be back after 5 business days. That period has passed and now no one can even get ahold of the repair shop, Service Absolut in Montreal, to which Samsung contracts out the work. The chances of seeing my player again grow dimmer with each passing day…

I formerly was extolling the virtues of my Samsung 3D blu-ray and TV to my friends, coworkers and anyone else who would listen, but now have had to eat a lot of crow for it. Panasonic and Sharp owners can be a pretty cruel bunch…