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Samsung BD-D8500M review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £390
inc VAT

An extensive feature set and excellent UI make the BD-D8500M a fantastic set-top box, but the single-channel recording is disappointing

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As if Blu-ray and PVR functions weren’t already enough, Samsung has incorporated its Smart Hub internet TV system into the BD-D8500M. It supports AceTrax and YouTube for streaming movies and user-generated video, as well as a Your Video channel that acts like a miniature IMDB, listing detailed descriptions of almost any film you can think of. Facebook, Twitter and Picasa integration are also useful if you want to check your social networks without reaching for a PC or laptop, but we expect most people to appreciate catch-up TV courtesy of BBC iPlayer the most, especially as it supports the high definition stream.

Samsung BD-D8500M Back

With such an extensive feature list, the BD-D8500M is ideal for anyone that has yet to upgrade to Blu-ray, or just wants to simplify an existing home cinema setup. The lack of two-channel recording is a major flaw, but if you’re only an occasional TV watcher it’s still a great buy.

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Details

Price £390
Rating ****

Buying Information

Price £390
Warranty one year RTB
Supplier http://www.comet.co.uk
Details www.samsung.co.uk

Features and Connections

Blu-ray profile 2.0
HDMI outputs 1
HDMI Version 1.4
Component outputs 1
S-video output 0
Composite outputs 1
Stereo phono outputs 1
Coaxial S/PDIF outputs 0
Optical S/PDIF outputs 1
Wired network ports 1x 10/100
Wireless standard 802.11b/g/n
USB ports 1
Mass storage support yes
Supported memory cards none
BD Live storage 1GB

Video, Audio and Photo

Video playback formats AVCHD, DivX HD, MKV, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, WMV 9, XVID
Image viewing formats JPEG, GIF, PNG
Audio playback formats MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC
YouTube streaming yes

Audio

Dynamic Range Control no
Dolby TrueHD support yes
DTS-HD MA support yes

Physical

Power consumption standby 1W
Power consumption on 22W
Size 430x60x299mmmm

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