Finally upgraded my 3-year old blu-ray player, and WOW what a difference! Blazing fast load and access speeds-no more waiting.
It has the very important 2 HDMI outputs. If you are using an AV receiver that is not HDMI 1.4 compatible (3-D), and yours isn't unless you bought it in the last 6 months, then this is huge. It allows on HDMI connection with 1.4 to a 3-D TV directly with the second HDMI passing 1.3 HDMI data to an AV receiver for your audio. (A non-HDMI 1.4 receiver will not pass the 3-D video signal on to a new 3-D TV, so on a single HDMI out 3-D blu-ray you would need to use the one HDMI out to go directly to your TV and use analog audio outputs to your receiver- a significant trade-off). This is one of only a couple of blu-rays with 2 HDMI outputs, and it saves you having to upgrade an expensive receiver. This is the smart and cheaper way to make your older (or even one-year-old) receiver work.
Great and intuitive menu system with Apps for stuff like news, weather and games, plus all the video service Apps like Netflix, Vudu, Cinema Now, Hulu, etc. Streaming worked flawlessly, as tested with the free movie offered in full 1080P by VuDu.
Easy Wi-Fi connectivity, so no need for Ethernet, but it has the hard-wired option if you have that ability as well.
Beautiful design! Slot-loading with no noisy drawer. Slick, contemporary cabinet with display that can be programed to dim or be off if desired.
Great, full-featured smart remote that can run multiple devices.
I research carefully before purchasing, this is the most fully featured blu-ray you will find, period, for $300 or less. And you will love the ultra-fast loading and playing of movies. Put an end to the minutes long (in some cases) start times and black screens in your home! Samsung BD-D6700 3D Blu-ray Disc Player (Silver)
This is the third 3D Blu-Ray player I've brought home after our 6 year old Sony Carousel player began spitting discs, and it was quite the ordeal getting here. But that's a whole 'nother story, and you can read about it in the comments to my Sony S580 review, if you're so inclined.
I've got the Samsung BD-D6700 connected to a 2011-model Samsung D8000 plasma screen, the 59" model. I'm running it through a Denon 3311CI receiver, which is HDMI 1.4a compatible, using reasonably-priced AmazonBasics High Speed HDMI Cable. The player is compatible with the numeric side of Samsung's dual-sided QWERTY remote -- the one that comes with their higher-end televisions -- though I don't yet see that remote listed as an item available separately here on Amazon.
For starters, why choose the 6700 versus the less expensive 6500 (which is priced competitively with Sony's new S580)? There are 3 differences I can tell: 2 HDMI outputs, 2D to 3D upconvert, and the obvious styling differences. Otherwise, they appear to be identical players, and I would expect my comments here to apply to the 6500, too.
Prior to the D6700, I brought home last year's BD-C7900, Samsung's 2010 top of the line player. Besides there being a Netflix registration issue to contend with due to it being an open-box return, I felt for the price last year's model didn't deliver: the menu system wasn't quite polished, and the machine felt a bit lightweight and flimsy (particularly the slide-out DVD tray). Those are all addressed with this unit: The street price for this unit is less than the open-box price of last year's 7900 (the D6700 isn't this year's "top of the line" unit, but the C7900 defining features have trickled down to this unit), the player feels much more substantially built (due in part to the slot-load design; no tray), and while the menu system is familiar, it has most definitely been cleaned up and "de-confused" with just a single scrolling icon navigation bar along the bottom, and quicker screen-to-screen transition times (last year's had top and bottom nav bars plus some vertical elements that had the selection cursor flying around the screen.
Another complaint of mine was text entry with the included numeric-only remote, something common also to the Sony. This year's player includes the same remote. Initially I was led to believe Samsung's QWERTY keyboard TV remote would be compatible with this player, but have come to learn that the QWERTY side communicates via a Bluetooth link (not typical IR), and therefore there's no way for it to talk to the DVD player. A shame. However, when entering text with the number pad, options are provided for either the 1 press=A, 2 presses=B method, or alternatively the T9 predictive text entry found on many cell phones.
Disc load times are good to excellent. I haven't held a stopwatch to them, and I don't have a copy of Avatar to test (which reportedly takes five minutes on some old machines), but my use of standard definition discs such as Tropic Thunder, Blu-Ray discs like Pulp Fiction and Inglorious Bastards, and the Shrek 3D discs, have spanned from "nearly instantaneous" to about 30 second load times, which is still minorly annoying (black screen eventually with a green progress bar plus the click and whir noise of the disc spinning up), yet perfectly reasonable compared to the waits some prior generation players required.
(Edit 4/19: Just upgraded my firmware and now it appears I'm getting ads during the disc load. In this case, for the Samsung iPhone/Android/Blackberry app. I'll try that to see if it addresses my text entry issues, then update my review.)
I mention the "click and whir" noise, but it's all I hear from the player. Once the disc spins up, the unit remains inaudible from the 6 or 8 feet away I sit.
I was a bit worried that standard def DVDs would look blocky and horrible on my 59" screen, but was quite surprised at the up-convert capability of the D6700 after loading up Tropic Thunder. The picture isn't super crisp with cleanly defined edges like you might expect with a Blu-ray disc, but I'd suspect if you didn't have HD and SD content to compare side-by-side, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference.
3D playback couldn't be more simple: the disc is recognized immediately, the TV quickly switches to 3d mode, and there's really no fuss other than turning on the glasses. Of course, this is a Samsung player linked to a Samsung television, both of the same model year, so your experience may vary since 3D playback is more reliant on the television than on the BD player.
That 2D to 3D upconvert? Hmmm... I've only played around with it, and honestly didn't expect much from it, but it's surprisingly good. But it's not without flaws: the depth perception seems narrow, and there are harsh cut-offs such as a tuft of grass on the edge of the foreground immediately drops off to infinity, making the tuft look like it's a diorama cut-out. Focal changes from near to far field make things go wonky in a way that's hard to describe. Nevertheless, neat to play with if you're not expecting too much.
Wireless network setup was a snap on my non-encrypted WiFi, though I see all the provisions there for various password / encryption schemes as well. Of course, there's also a wired option, which I'll be switching to in a few months after we move; for now, audio and video streaming is hiccup-free using my antiquated Netgear RangeMax 802.11g router.
As pointed out by another reviewer, the dual HDMI outputs are only really necessary if using an older receiver not compatible with the 1.4a standard. Being used to analog connections, I expected to run separate HDMI video directly to my television, and audio to my receiver, but came to learn that there is really no benefit to doing so, as digital HDMI pass-through connections are considered lossless, especially with decent equipment. It's a pleasure to let the receiver handle the switching, and less of a chore running cables and programming remotes.
One last note: the D6700, like previous Samsung players, is button free -- the controls are all touch sensitive glass with illuminated icons underneath. Unlike last year's C7900, which placed these controls on the top surface of the unit, the D6700 keeps them on the front. The touch controls are mostly responsive, though sometimes I have trouble with the power button. Generally not an issue since more often than not I use the remote, but for those instances where I want to just hit On then Play (doing so automatically causes the TV to turn on and switch to the proper input), a little fumbling is involved. And once the unit does switch on, the Eject, Play/Pause, Select and Stop icons light up 1... 2... 3... 4 in sequence, forcing me to stand there for a few extra seconds and wait. Really, not a big deal and barely worth mentioning, yet I know some people *hate* touch controls. - 3d'
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