Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 73
 Flawless so far September 8, 2010
I bought a Panasonic bd65 that was not working out of the box. Returned it t Amazon and replaced it with the LG bd550 which so far has been great. I popped in blueray disc John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers 70th Birthday Party and was finally able to see what blueray offered.
 Buggy, Defective Mess of a Machine September 8, 2010
Leif Sheppard (United States)
Trust me, I don't take the harsh words of that title lightly, especially considering I'm actually a major fan of the LG brand. I own two LG HDTVs (a 47" and a 42"), both of which strike a perfect balance between low price and high quality. I've not the slightest negative word for either set. The Blu-Ray player for my 47" is a PS3, but all I required for the 42" was any machine that plays Blu-Rays. I found this LG BD550 appeared to have the lowest price point whilst still offering a myriad of features, in addition to carrying the name of a brand I trust. However, for a product that touts itself as a Blu-Ray player, this thing has a hell of a problem actually playing them!
Let's start with what LG got right with this player. The setup is extremely easy and it includes a detailed card explaining how to update the fireware (not that it helps much). The overall design is beautiful in its simplicity. The remote is well-crafted and also includes buttons to control the power and volume on an LG HDTV. Though I bought this player purely to play Blu-Rays, it carries plenty of internet-specific features, which is always a plus.
Now, the bad: the "floating ice cubes" interface is clunky, ugly, and overly-simplistic. Several sites, including Amazon and Blu-Ray dot com, claim the BD550 will play video files (it will NOT). Worst of all, even with the latest firmware, this machine is extremely selective when it comes to Blu-Ray playback. Here's couple of personal examples: if I pressed the pause button during playback of "King Kong", without fail, it would refuse to resume playback. I could rewind, fast forward, and stop the disc. But the only way to resume to playback was to press stop, then go through the menus again and select the scene I was on.
During playback of "Anchorman", the player frequently skipped entire sections of certain chapters, at always the exact same moment during playback. My player has the latest firmware and even fiddling with the options shed little light on the subject. I suppose I could've wrangled with LG's tech support to figure out these issues, but I haven't the time nor the inclination for that nonsense. If a product doesn't work as advertised, I'll find one that will.
I'll continue to buy LG televisions, but I'll never take another look at their Blu-Ray players.
Bad Choice September 5, 2010
Andre Caesar
Would not play ANY videos via the USB connection. I would insert a movie and it would not be recognized. Sending back to Amazon for a refund.
Avoid this! September 3, 2010
chefg
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I tried 3 of these - and all 3 went back to Amazon (one more reason for dealing with Amazon). It played SD videos OK, but started and stopped on blu-ray videos. LG product support said a software "update" would fix the problem - it didn't. Compatibility shouldn't have been a problem, since it was cabled to a brand new LG LED LCD.
 Good, not perfect September 3, 2010
Amazonian (Around the World)
BD550 is feature rich, great picture and sound. Software and partner support leave a lot to be desired.
SOFTWARE
First, the Display Settings is a mess. You have choices for Auto, 480, 720, 1080 i & p respectively + AUTO. If you select Auto or 1080p, then I do not get any sound on YOUTUBE. Need to go back into SETTINGS and change to 1080i or lower. Now you get sound on YOUTUBE. Then go back to reset 1080p to watch VUDU or Bluray. That stinks. I'm not really sure what AUTO actually does, but it doesn't seem to work. This needs a software fix asap.
PARTNER SUPPORT
VUDU won't stream unless you change the DNS to 4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.1 and LG recommends OPENDNS values. You should use the VUDU DNS recommendations. None of this of course is documented anywhere, so you can spend days trying to trouble shoot it.
MISC
Why not put the BD USB slot in back?
I am interested in other experiences you all may have had with this.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 73
|
![AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (6.5 Feet/2.0 Meters) [Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B001T9NUJE.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
![AmazonBasics High-Speed HDMI Cable (9.8 Feet/3.0 Meters) [Supports 3D + Audio Return Channel]](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B001TH8UUA.01._AA75_PU_PU-5_.jpg)
