Samsung BD-P2500, finally a decent BD player?

[rex]

It looks like the Samsung BD-P2500 due in Sept. will be the first BD player really worth getting. It will be profile 2.0, decode everything and have an HQV Silicon Optix processor for high quality upconversion. We'll just have to see what the price is. I have heard 450 euros, which is already more than $717, and could be near $800 by then, if the dollar continues to sink; but it should be worth the price. Still, we should have had a player like this long ago, in the <$500 range.

[rex]

Apparently, Samsung has decided to sneak out their latest player, the BD-P2550, onto store shelves without the usual fanfare. It appears to be a variation on the previously announced BD-P2500, though its difficult to tell what, if any, the differences may be. Early reports on our forum indicate that it is a BonusView player that will receive a BD-Live update at a future date. Other standout features include a HQV processor and 7.1 analog outs. Though early specs indicated support for decoding DTS-HD Master Audio, it appears that feature has been dropped from the final product. The player is available to ship today, from Best Buy, for $499.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1217634016243

[rex]

Looks like the BD-P2500 will be out next month after all:

Rumors of Samsung's BD-Live-ready BD-P2500 Blu-ray player first started cropping up a few months ago, and the strikingly similar BD-P2550 just slipped out at Best Buy a few days ago, but if you like your Blu-ray news all official like, you'll be glad to know that Samsung has now finally actually talking about the player, and it's set to show it off at the big IFA show later this week. In addition to BD-Live support (which will apparently come in a future update), Samsung also confirms that the player packs the always-desirable Silicon Optix HQV video processing chip, and support for both Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD in addition to the usual non-HD formats. No firm word on a price just yet, but you can look for the official launch to happen in September. If that Best Buy slip is any indication, however, it seems likely that they could start showing up even sooner than that.
http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/26...lu-ray-player/