After waiting many years for the high-definition video disc battle to settle itself out, I decided to purchase a Samsung BD-P3600 because it has the ability to playback high resolution, 1080P video on my Samsung PN63B550 63” Plasma Television and indirectly send synchronized digital audio to my Bose 3·2·1 GS II Theater System as well as 7.1 other channels.

The Purchase
My purchase was the result of a need for 1080p picture on my new Samsung 63” Plasma.  I surveyed the market and concluded that Samsung’s Anynet technology was the best fit for a comprehensive system that would give me complete control over my home theatre experience.  I then evaluated the two Samsung Blue-Ray players: Samsung BD-P1600 and Samsung BD-P3600.  The BD-P3600 won because for an additional $100, I received a wireless adapter, 7.1 channel audio output and guaranteed Divx playback from USB.

Placement Of The Blu-Ray Player
A Blu-Ray player is essentially a computer in today’s product cycle.  As a result, you must ensure that it gets adequate ventilation so that it does not overheat and fail during playback.  I placed my player on top of my DVD cabinet with the front and back getting 8” of clearance.

Hardware Problems
The first time I purchased this Blue-Ray player it broke after 4 hours of use.  I watched the movie Transforms on DVD in up-converted 1080p with no problems.  I ejected the DVD and placed the Disney film The Planet in and the display went from CLOSE to LOAD then no further.  No matter what I tried, I could never get the player to display anything other than the load screen.  Worse yet, the instruction manual offer no help for a constant LOAD condition.  My only alternative at this point was to return the device and hope that BestBuy would give me another.  At Best Buy the cashier only required my original receipt and allowed me to pick another Samsung BD-P3600. 

Once I got the replacement Blue Ray player home, I had no problems but felt that since this product was still under warranty that I should try pushing my luck.  As a result, I decided to upgrade the system firmware on the Samsung BD-P3600.  I plugged in the wireless USB adapter provided and followed the on screen menus to update the product.  The process was simple to do but the results were disastrous!  After the player rebooted itself it immediately became unresponsive.  I no longer could use the player with my remote or control it from the menu buttons on top of the unit.  After a few hours of work, I boxed up the player and returned it to Best Buy.  With no questions, they simply gave me another player and I returned home. 

The lesson we can learn here is that you should only buy this from a retailer in your home town so that you can return it if needed.  You should also never apply any firmware updates to your player unless the product is within warranty coverage.

Blu Ray and DVD 1080P Playback Of The Samsung BD-P3600
Blu Ray video is fantastic.  Many modern movies like Collateral, starring Tom Cruise, are shot in HD video format but never released in this format until now because we could not play them back in their full glory.  I have watched several movies over again on Blu Ray and found that many elements were missing in the original presentation.  Scenes with flying glass shards are now richer as they generate thousands of detailed reflections of the character or props involved.  In fact, movies like the Terminator series should all be purchased by the fan to see all the features you missed in the original DVD release.
Yes, you can watch DVD discs in this player and get the benefit of 1080P up-conversion for your viewing pleasure.  As I mentioned before Transformers looks good, not nearly as great as the Blu-Ray edition but still better than watching a 480P presentation over an RCA Video connection.  Using a quality HDMI cable will also help you take advantage of the digital audio capabilities of the Blu Ray player. 
For the first DVD comparison, I put the movie Midnight Meat Train in this product and the Sony DVP-NS700H DVD Player both connected to the Samsung PN63B550 via HDMI cables.  In high speed action scenes the Sony NS700H DVD Player was better by a small margin through faithful renderings to the color spectra and presenting fewer artifacts. 

My second DVD comparison was the movie Who Killed The Electric Car? By Chris Paine.  The Sony DVP-NS700H DVD Player was able to easily render the images of this movie but the dialog was impaired because the Bose 3·2·1 GS II Theater System was not able to reproduce a full range of sound in my living room by itself.  With the Samsung BD-P3600, I can connect my other multi-channel surround systems for a fuller more dynamic reproduction.

CD-ROM, Streaming and USB Playback
The Samsung BD-P3600 is intended to unify your entertainment center by acting as a centralized media controller in your home or office.  First, I placed a Sony 100CDQ80LS3 (100CDQ80LS3/T) 48x CD-R in the player to hear the soothing sounds of Wunjo by Giles Reaves.  The integrated menus were easy to use and allowed me to navigate the recorded MP3 tracks.  Next to test the video streaming capabilities, I used the WIFI to find my Intel D865GLC Motherboard with Intel Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz Processor and played a few minutes of DIVX video with no problems.  Finally, I plugged an Apacer Handy Steno HT202 (1 GB) USB 2.0 Flash Drive into the front of the player and was able to play some more MP3 files with no problems.  The BD-P3600 was designed as a centralized media center and it certainly delivers.

Video Connectivity Of The Samsung BD-P3600 Player
Connectivity ensures that your video player can be used for many years because even as new televisions are released chances will be strong that this player can work with them.  You have a broad range of connections to use with the Samsung BD-P3600 1080P player.  Here is a list of each and how you can use them in your home theatre system:

HDMI
Today the premier video interface is HDMI.  A capable television will display 1920x1080 resolution with a near seamless frame rate.  You have to use a quality cable like the 6.6Ft King HDMI cable so that you can take advantage of this option without paying to much for a cable in a retail store.  To really get your investment working properly make sure you consider purchasing a Samsung 63” Plasma with this player so that you can take advantage of the HDMI enabled, Anynet technology.

Component
Component video is a significant step down from HDMI but can transmit farther.  I would only recommend using this option if your television is not HDMI capable.

RCA Video
The lowest grade connection option, I would strongly recommend against using this unless your television is to far for HDMI cabling.  The picture quality was very grainy with many colors missing due to the lower resolution.

In regards to audio capabilities, first and foremost, the HDMI output of this product allows you to use the built-in audio jacks on your television for a more centralized sound experience.  In conjunction with the HDMI audio output, you can also use the integrated 7.1, multi-channel, RCA jacks to create a supplementary sound zone in your home theatre.  You also have the option of using Dolby Digital, DTS or the regular 2 channel outputs to create a sound pattern that satisfies your ears.

Power Consumption Of The Samsung Blu-Ray Player
Using my P3 International P4400 Kill A Watt meter, I monitored the power consumption of the player.  The peak power pulled was 24 watts while loading a DVD.  While watching a movie the system pulls a steady 21 watts.  Just playing audio from the Apacer Handy Steno HT202 (1 GB) USB 2.0 Flash Drive the player pulls 10 watts.  The best feature of this product is that when powered off, it consumes 0 watts in standby.  Many consumer devices pull a small amount of power, 2 watts, while sitting which can show up on your electric bill.

Samsung BD-P3600 Product Features And Specifications
Supported Disc Formats:  BD (Blu-Ray Disc), DVD, CD (5, 3.5 inches)
Available Ports:  1x HDMI, 1xComponent Video, 1xComponent Video, 7.1 Surround Sound, Optical Digital Audio, 2x USB
Frequency Response: 48 kHz Sampling : 4 Hz to 22 kHz; 96 kHz Sampling : 4 Hz to 44 kHz
Web Based Streaming Services Supported:  YouTube, Blockbuster, NetFlix, Pandora
PC Streaming File Formats:  MP4, MP3, JPEG, DIVX, MKV
Dimensions: 17.3 (W) × 9.8 (D) × 2.2 (H) inches
Weight: 6.6lbs

Summary
I could go on for pages describing how you can utilize all the features of this product.  Instead, I chose to cover only those immediate features which you can enjoy now.  Other services like online video content streaming require a registration with various companies which also incur additional costs for their services.  Suffice to say, this is a true home theatre integration concept.  If the product was stable, I can easily see myself taking full advantage of all the promise that it has to offer.

On my wishlist of the greatest electronics available in 2009, this Samsung Blu-Ray player was noticeably absent.  The reasons are simple; random complete system crashes and a flawed software firmware upgrade cycle.  I did not return my player because I feel that manufacturers like Samsung should be held accountable for bad products.  The player does a good job of playing back movies and the 7.1 surround sound jacks are a nice feature but these flaws should keep you away unless it is given to you as a gift.

In all I give the Samsung BD-P3600 one thumb up and one thumb down.

Recommended: No

Amount Paid (US$): 300