Hi, I'm Matthew Moskovciak, senior associate editor at CNET.com and we're gonna take a look at the Samsung BD-D6700 Blu-ray Player, which is currently selling for about $270.
This player has a different look than most Blu-ray players.
It's a silver top and a matte black bottom.
It uses a slot-loading disc drive so there's no disc tray, and beneath the slot is a display which also features touch-sensitive buttons.
The included remote has a pretty good button layout including a handy Netflix button and there are also apps for iOS or Android for controlling the player.
On the features side, there's 3D Blu-ray support, built-in Wi-Fi, and it's packed with streaming media services, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, MLB TV, VUDU, CinemaNow, and Pandora.
It uses an updated version of the Netflix interface so you can search and browse titles that aren't in your Instant Queue.
It's one of the most comprehensive collections of streaming services available,
especially for video, although we did feel like Samsung's Smart Hub interface was a little cluttered, so if you're looking for something simpler, you may wanna look in the competing players from LG and Panasonic.
Now, $270 is a lot of money for a Blu-ray player, and the big feature you're paying extra for is the dual HDMI outputs.
The idea here is if you have an older AV receiver that's not 3D compatible, you can send 3D video right to your TV and use a separate cable with audio to go right to your receiver.
However, it's worth pointing out you don't need dual HDMI outputs to use an older AV receiver because you can make a separate connection with an optical audio output and most people won't be able to hear the difference, so we'd suggest that most buyers save the extra money and go with a player that only has one HDMI output, such as the Samsung BD-D6500 or another competing Blu-ray player.
When we tested the BD-D6700 disc loading speed,
it wound up falling right in the middle of the pack compared to other 2011 players.
So, if speed is a big factor for you, you wanna check out midrange players from Sony and Panasonic.
We also put it through a full series of image quality tests and the BD-D6700 has excellent performance.
However, these days, nearly every player has virtually identical image quality, especially for Blu-ray movies, so it shouldn't be a big factor when you're making a buying decision.
In all, the Samsung BD-D6700
is a great Blu-ray player with lots of streaming video services, but for most buyers, it just doesn't offer enough upgrades to justify its high price.
I'm Matthew Moskovciak from CNET and this is the Samsung is Samsung BD-D6700.
