Sunday, January 31, 2010

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This blu-ray player is great, had not yet found any flaws until I hooked up my Dlink DIR-655 wireless router, then I could not connect to the Internet even though I could connect to my network. I upgraded to the latest firmware version on the Dlink DIR-655 to 1.32NA and then disabled the SecureSpot feature and now can connect to the Internet without issue.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

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I have to confess I'm a Netflix streaming junkie. I bought this for it's ability to stream Netflix wirelessly. Works great. I did follow the advise of another reviewer and attached the player via a cable to my router first to set everything up. Turned it on, entered the security code of the router, and presto, streaming Netflix. I look it down stairs and installed it in my home theater. Made the mistake of showing my wife how it works and now the player is back upstairs attached to the LCD in the living room. Guess I'll have to get another one for Christmas. My router is just a Linksys "G", but the quality is near DVD. Plan to upgrade to a dual band "N" some day but this setup works fine. Very nice blue ray player. Faster load time than my Panasonic blue ray. Was able to access the pictures on my PC but don't really use this much, just wanted to try it. Don't use Cinima Now but it does work. Great player if you need Netflix streaming, and the price keeps comming down.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Friday, January 29, 2010

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They cover the features pretty good up above. Other commenters cover detailed feature as well so I won't.

I just wanted to say that this DVD player produces great hi-def images on our Visio flat panel TV.

We've had Netflix for years and this device took me easily less than five minutes to get it to connect to my Linksys wireless -N router. In fact, only typing in the secret code for the secure network connection took me a couple of minutes.

The instructions for setup were clear and easy to follow, and within minutes could stream Netflix or watch DVDs.

The blu-ray disks show up beautiful, and it also make our extensive collection of "regular" DVDs look great too.

The Netflix streaming movies, while not the latest blockbusters, look pretty darn good too, and we've had no connection issues while watching them.

In all, a really nice DVD player with several layers of "icing" like Netflix, YouTube, etc.

I haven't tried every single feature yet, but the blu-ray image clarity, ease of connecting to the internet and then streaming Netflix movies, makes this a fantastic buy in my book.

I hope your experiences with this device are as good as ours.

Also, to me, the startup speed of the unit and then starting your DVD is plenty fast for me. Some commenters thought it slow, but from touching the power button, you can be connecting to Netflix or looking at the DVD's menu in 30 seconds or so. We haven't felt as if we were sitting there waiting on this device to do anything.

P.S. The wireless internet connection is only 2.4GHz, it DOES NOT have the capability of connecting to a 5GHz dual-band wireless router.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

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Bought this product for the specific purpose of downloading movies from Netflix and it works great plus it was relatively easy to set up.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

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I purchased this Blu-Ray Player a few weeks ago and have been very pleased with it. It arrived a couple days before it was scheduled to show up. From the time I brought it in the house until it was fully functioning was less than 20 minutes. I conntected this to my 37" LG TV via HDMI Cables -- great picture and sound. Blu-Ray discs look great as do regular DVDs. I have read many complaints about non High Def discs play poorly or not at all -- I have had absolutely no issues at all with this player.

Setting up Netflix (wirelessly) was a breeze -- as was setting up the home wireless networking. Everything moves so smoothly. Honestly, I was surprised at how easy this was to set up. I was really expecting a tough time after reading some reviews of this product and competing products.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

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The LG BD-390 is my second Blu-ray disc player. Shortly after Blu-ray won the hi-def wars I bought a Panasonic, feeding my 42" Hitachi projection-LCD HDTV. The Panny worked OK, although it didn't make as dramatic a difference in the picture quality as I was expecting. When I replaced the Hitachi with a 52" Sony Bravia, a problem showed up. The sound would drop out at irregular intervals while playing a DVD. The only way to get it back was to "rewind" the DVD for a few seconds and restart. I messed around with different combinations of outputs and inputs without solving the problem. I couldn't even be certain that the problem wasn't in the new TV, but having somebody come out to look at it for such a speculative and ill-defined problem didn't appeal.

I'm a Netflix subscriber, and have a high-speed wireless LAN in my house, so when LG announced the BD-390 as having built-in wireless connectivity and access to Netflix movie downloads, I was interested. I studied the reviews, which were mostly positive, and ordered one from Amazon, which had a comparatively reasonable price. I've been very happy with the results. The sound-drop problem went away (a relief to know that it wasn't in the TV), the picture quality is better (including for upconverted DVDs), and I'm getting a lot of good out of the Netflix download capability, which is very easy and straightforward to use (and adds no extra cost to my Netflix subscription).

When I was reading the reviews of the LG player before buying it, I noticed two recurrent complaints. One was about the layout of the remote, which some people found difficult to use. I've had absolutely no problem with it. The other complaint was that the tray that holds the disc is flimsy. I can see what they're talking about, and if I had children or teenagers using the device I might be concerned. As it is, I'm the only user, and I'm pretty gentle with my toys, so it's not an issue for me.

The LG BD-390 suits my needs very well, and I can recommend it to anyone in a situation similar to mine.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Monday, January 25, 2010

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First, the good part. The Netflix support is great. It's really nice to not have to hook up an extra box to watch Netflix movies. Also, the network support is top-notch. I have a MediaTomb server on my network and this box always found it _and_ refreshed the content on every connect, unlike the PS3 which seems to cache what it thinks is on there for weeks at a time, making it impossible to get at new content.

The bad, however, doesn't make up for the good. First, the 802.11n support is terrible. There's no 5 gHz support. On my network, 802.11N at 2.4 gHz is about 50% faster than plain-old 802.11g. Nice, I suppose, but you're not going to use that to stream HD content. As far as I'm concerned, if you don't support 5gHz, you don't support 802.11n.

The other issue is sound. For some reason it was behind the video on my system. I have HDMI going into my TV, and then optical audio coming out of that into my receiver and I've never had this problem before with my PS3, AppleTV, or cable box (which are each set up exactly the same way).

Finally, it doesn't work well with a Harmony remote. From what I can tell, there aren't separate ON and OFF commands, just one ON/OFF. So, walk up to your system that's all off, pop a disc into the player (which turns it on), press an activity on your remote, and everything will turn on while your BluRay player shuts itself off. It can be annoying. Plus, you need to do a lot of custom button setup to get it working properly. That's is Logitech's problem, but it's still a pain to deal with.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Buying LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


First blu-ray device I've owned and I'm very impressed. Setup was a snap. Had it working within minutes of opening the box without even reading the instructions. Picture is amazing, even on my "old" 720p plasma with regular DVDs. But this is so much more than just a blu-ray player. Wifi-streaming works perfectly with my Apple Airport Extreme N. YouTube viewing is a cool diversion, streaming from my computers is great, but Netflix instant view is absolutely killer. I can see the day when I don't buy any disks ever and just use this.

Would have liked a less cheap-feeling remote, but it works. Only real complaint is I cant get surround sound to decode properly with my 10 year-old Sony receiver via the SPDIF optical out (no HDMI 10 years ago). Not sure why but I tried every setting imaginable and all I can get is 2-channel stereo even though it worked fine with my old DVD player. Oh well, is about time to upgrade the receiver anyway...Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Buy LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


UPDATE: WARNING...The VUDU Software Upgrade breaks the ability to view VOB files. My VOB files that previously had no problems playing now give me the error Not Supported Audio Codec. This happened right after I upgraded to enable the VUDU upgrade.

I would now give it 3 stars after having used the player for two months...support from LG is terrible.


I have to agree with the reviews of BD390 that its one of the better players out there.

Rather than go in to the same details others have posted here are my observations.

Pros:
1) Fast boot up time and works out of the box
2) Netflix works just as well as it does with Roku
3) Youtube videos play seamlessly
4) Upgrade for VUDU should happen at the end of the month (VUDU provides HD movies for rent)...Cinemanow is also available.
*** Update: its now October 9th 2009 and still no upgrade for VUDU after all the hype. Disappointing that LG can't keep
its commitments and even worse they have not informed anyone on their website or elsewhere.

5) DLNA compliant (supposedly). It works with Nero MediaHome 4 Essentials Software bundled with this player which allows you to install this on your PC and stream your videos (including VOB files), Pictures, and Music. I had no problem getting this to work.
*** Update: If it encounters a file it can't play, it hangs up the player until you shut it down. You would expect operation should time out and end gracefully. The firmware is a work in progress it seems.

6) Accepts a portable hard drive to be plugged in to the USB port to play media. Flash drives are accepted too.

Cons:
1) Does not work with Playon software which is supposedly DLNA compliant, BD390 sees the Playon server on Windows and tries to play content and shuts down. I have seen others posting about this issue and Playon thinks perhaps BD390 is not really DLNA compliant.

2) Installing the full version of Nero MediaHome4 which allows you to stream TV channels and Radio does not seem to work on the BD390 so better to stick with the free software they give you.

3) No Pandora

4) No Amazon VOD


For me the primary reason for purchasing it was that it replaced ROKU and WD Media Player and a DVD player (all added up would cost around $300) and you can buy BD390 which plays Blue Ray as well for less than that and with much less clutter.

Ironically I can't comment about the Blue Ray quality since that was not the main reason why I bought it and I don't even have a single Blue Ray disk to watch at this time....I upgraded my Netflix plan to get my DVD's on Blue Ray.

My wish list for this player is that it will support Amazon VOD, Hulu and Pandora and hopefully VUDU (already delayed).

***UPDATE****
VUDU support finally arrived via an upgrade on the 12th of October 2009. I watched some of the movie previews on VUDU in HD and it looks great.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Friday, January 22, 2010

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Good:

1. Video quality in both HD and SD is great
2. Netflix feature is terrific
3. Being able to browse picture right from your PC is great

Bad:

1. Video and Audio is out of sync on 3 out of 4 Blue Ray movies I watched
2. Audio quality is questionable when hooked up directly to TV
3. Playing video files from PC is extremely slow and unstable

I think technology is not there yet. I am returning it to Amazon mainly due to video-audio sync issueGet more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

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I had hooked this unit up to a Vizio LCD television and was having problems. I was going to return the player to Amazon since I thought it was defective. Before I boxed the unit, I connected it to my Samsung television and it worked fine. It appears there is a compatability issue between blue ray player and Vizio televisions. I have a older Samsung Blue Ray Player that I have now hooked up to the Vizio television using the same HDMI cable and it works perfectly. This was not a problem for me since I will now use this unit with the Samsung Television. If you have a Vizio Television, you may want to consider another brand of blue ray player.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

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Great picture and sound. Lightening fast loading. Automatic firmware updates. The fast loading makes it worth it over other brands. Easy setup. Plug and play (almost). The only minor problem I have is that I have to route the HDMI through my amp to get certain sound types. Would have preferred to route the HDMI to my monitor and a separate cable to my amps digital input. Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

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I just bought the LG BD390 Network Blu-Ray from Amazon and I am highly satisfied.

IN A NUTSHELL
Yes - Recommended. The LG BD390 is a superb player and brings a nice WiFi upgrade compared to the preceding BD370. Amazingly good value given the features, options and playback quality. LG have done themselves proud.

SETUP
The box comes with a "Quick Setup" 4-fold to get you started plus a good Owner's Manual that you can expand on once you have the basics under your belt.

The BD390 has a raft of features and the playing quality is outstanding. Setup was very straightforward. I used an optional HDMI version 1.3b cable (more about 1.3b in a moment) and the wireless (b/g/n) networking setup was much easier than I expected. I have a Linksys (b/g) wireless router.

My only hesitation was, when keying in the wireless WPA code, I could not instantly spot the CAPS option for the on-screen keyboard. It's there, but not instantly visible. You have to click on the symbols key (lower right) and cycle through symbols, caps then back to lower-case. Not difficult if you know where to look and it was in the Manual if I'd looked. After that the BD390 pretty much took care of the remaining configuration and we were done. You can also link via a wired (Ethernet) option but secure WiFi was my choice.

Once the network was operational the unit suggested a (blue-dot) software update which took 3 or 4 minutes to download and complete.

Because I was linking by HDMI cable I manually reset the resolution option, on the Display menu, from 1080i to 1080p to match the capabilities of my 42" LCD Vizio TV. I also reset the BD-Live setting on the Network menu from [Partially Permitted] to [Permitted].

The modest BD390 Remote was easy to use and, without the need to re-program, it also operated basic functions on my TV. Some TV's might require the Remote to be reprogrammed but there are only a few (1-8) numeric choices these days so it won't be complicated. The Owner's Manual lists TV makes and matching numbers.

PLAYING DISKS (Blu-Ray, DVD's in NTSC & PAL)
Well, time to see the results. I tried three different types of disk. First a Blu-Ray. My goodness, it's breathtaking. Sharp and crystal clear. I didn't know my TV was that good. And disk loading time was just three or four seconds. Way faster than I expected.

Next I tried two standard DVD's. One was a recently bought NTSC Region 1 feature film. The playback was far better than the up-converting player I was replacing. I was impressed. Clean, clear, crisp resolution. It will make watching my existing collection a whole new experience.

But now the big test. Would the BD390 play one of my many British [PAL format] DVD's given the BD390's output is NTSC? Yes it did it, and did it better than I had seen before. Good news for the PAL invested crowd.

REGION CODING
The PAL format DVD (The Shadows Live) was not European Region Code 2 (I don't have any Region 2's) so I cannot add much except I understand it is possible to search online and learn how to unofficially (it's not illegal) make the player DVD region-free (Code 0). I did not change the Region 1 DVD coding - I didn't have to.

Why is Blu-Ray so called? Because it uses a blue-violet laser with a much shorter wavelength than the longer wavelength red laser used in DVD players. But I digress.

Blu-Ray (BD) region coding is either Code-Free, A, B or C. The BD390, as sold in the USA & Canada, is set to BD Region A & DVD Region 1. It plays Blu-Rays which are either Code-Free or Region A (North & South America, Japan, Korea, & parts of Asia). That covers the vast majority of Blu-Ray disks available.

I don't think the BD390's Blu-Ray coding can be easily unlocked at this point. But why bother? A large percentage of Blu-Ray disks are being globally released BD code-free and online lists exist to say which. PAL and NTSC are irrelevant disk formats with Blu-Ray.

BD390 ON SCREEN FEATURES
Linking to YouTube using the on-screen menu was easy. It is well thought out and the images look better than on my PC. Another selection from the menu was My Media. This brought up the `C' drive on my network-linked computer. From that I could display folders such as My Pictures that could then be opened to see individual photos loaded from my camera, etc. or run a slideshow. It did not see RAW files but png and jpg's were fine.

I have yet to try the Netflix, NetCast or CinemaNow streaming options.

HDMI CABLE
Now a word about that HDMI 1.3b cable. If you are connecting by HDMI I strongly recommend you spend around US$10 and get an HDMI type 1.3 (Category 2). At $10 these are sensibly priced. I'm not that technical but basically the newer 1.3 type delivers more and gives you full BD-Live capabilities. There is a very good article on Wikipedia entitled "HDMI" showing a Yes/No chart on what the older HDMI's don't do compared to the new 1.3's.

Yes, you can connect via the included (red-green-blue) component cables (but those limit resolution) or buy a cheap (or monstrously expensive) type 1 HDMI. However, if you want to get the best out of your LG BD390 spend the ten bucks on a certified 1.3 cable.

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Monday, January 18, 2010

LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


It was finally time to get a Blue Ray DVD player after the old standard DVD player broke. Since we have Netflix, I decided to get a player with streaming capability built in. This left me with 2 choices: Samsung and LG. After some research, it seemed the LG had overall higher ratings so I ordered the BD390 (I wanted wireless internet access) and a couple of HDMI cables.
I installed the player, popped in a regular DVD and proceeded to see a great up-converted picture...with a lot of "hot" pixels of various colors around the screen. After changing from HDMI to Component output without a difference in the hot pixels, we continued to watch the DVD and noticed that over time the number of hot pixels decreased. I wanted to see if they were reproducible, so on a whim I stepped through the frames and noticed that every 12th frame was devoid of the pixels, and the other 11 had the problem. The problem was also worse in dark areas and almost not noticeable in light areas of the image. I set up the wireless network access (WPA)with no problem and within minutes was streaming Netflix. The Netflix stream also had the hot pixel problem. The next day, I tried it again, and sure enough, when the unit was cold the problem appeared and mostly disappeared after an hour or so. I figured it was a hardware defect and returned the unit. Amazon had the UPS guy pick it up, and since I happened to be home it was no problem. Amazon immediately sent me another unit and it arrived quickly (Thanx Amazon!)
This time the pixels were non-existant and the upconverted DVD image was superb. During this time I bought a $50 standard DVD player (didn't know how long the 2nd delivery would take) from a local warehouse and its upconversion was no where near as good, which makes sense, given the cost factor.
I then received a blueray DVD from netflix and what a picture!
There was one other problem with SPDIF audio which I had been using with my Pioneer receiver for years with the last 2 DVD players (Hitachi & Phillips). For some reason the optical connection didn't work, so I switched to coax and got the 5.1 decoded audio I wanted.
The quality of the Netflix streamed image is remarkably good, given our 2.5 Mb DSL download speed, and we watch a streamed movie almost every night.
The USB connector on the front is handy, and let us watch some pictures from a thumb drive without having to burn optical media.
We're extremely pleased with this unit and knocked off one star for the first defective unit and SPDIF incompatability.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Review


I read the reviews here on Amazon.com and also the ones on [...]. Decided to buy and hope for the best -- you can never tell if someone else's problem will affect you or not.

We have an Apple Airport Extreme; 2007 Macbook; several external firewire and USB hard drives; hard drives hooked up to the airport network. The TV and DVD player are about 60 feet away down a hallway.

(We have some software on the Mac from a 2 year old Elegato EyeTV device that may or may not have had some impact on connectivity with the LG--the LG shows an "EYE TV" server as one of the servers. Don't know if this is why the LG read so easily from the Mac--or if we were just lucky--or if the LG is really this adaptable. We had forgotten the Eye TV software was even on the computer.)

The DVD was an open box from Best Buy that had already had the LG firmware update installed. The DVD player hooked up with no problem. Following the instructions in the manual, it immediately saw our home wireless network. It saw our FAT drives and Mac Journaled drives -- and read from them. It did not read the drives hooked up to the Airport Extreme. I'll talk about the streaming from these drives a bit later.

The Netflix connection was amazingly easy. Write down the code to the DVD player; go to the computer and to our Netflix account; enter the code into our Netflix account -- it worked! Streaming was smooth; jumping forward means waiting a bit for the buffer to catch up -- as might be expected. It's not HD but it's decent video quality. This is the main reason we bought this device and it works fine for Netflix.

The YouTube connection also works fine; it's easier to work from a YouTube account with saved favorites. Quality is grainy, of course--it is what it is.

The USB connection does fine with a WD passport drive. Reads .VOB files, but no speed scan; it is able to jump to the next .VOB file. Reads .MP4 file, but no speed scan or jump forward. Does not read .MOV or the type of .AVI file put out by a Canon Powershot SD 850. Reads DivX files.

Streaming from our drives across our home wireless network was too slow for our home movies or movies we have stored -- they stuttered. The LG manual says that for this to work OK, you'll need to hook up an ethernet cable.

JPEG photos were seen ok on the USB drive and on the home wireless network. Music was accessed ok, too.

All in all, we're really happy with the LG Blu-Ray DVD player. Great for streamed Netflix, good video quality on the DVD player.
Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

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This is a terrific bluray player. The Internet features are great. I also like that when I pause a film it stays on indefinitely. I had a Samsung that shut down a few minuets after pausing and I would actually have to start all over again.
BUT the remote! I am so sick and tired of thoughtless and poorly designed remotes. LG is no better then the rest which are horrible.
As usual I have to STUDY the damn thing every time I use it to see if I'm hitting the right button which half the time I'm not.
How much effort would it take to build a remote w/ distinctly different size, shape and colored buttons, especially the most used ones?
Were the skip scene button is not near the FF button? The pause button is very prominent. Or the mute button is unmistakable (not an issue on a player).
What ever company starts to do this is going to do gangbusters business.
It's like buying a new fabulous car that comes w/ cheap horrible tires.
It's a rip off. And as I said before they all drop this ball.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Friday, January 15, 2010

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I purchased the BD-390 after a failed foray into the world of the Samsung BD-P3600. Following several attempts to watch the Watchmen (sorry, I couldn't resist) and many phone calls to Samsung support met with ambivalent promises of a firmware upgrade once the Samsung gods decided to bequeath it unto us, I had had enough.

That established, I wish I had gotten the LG BD-390 to begin with. I feel like the girl who lost her virginity to the tuba player in the band one night and scored with the captain of the football team the next. You never forget your first Blu-Ray experience, either.

This player is everything it promises to be. With great load times (my wife didn't know load times with Blu-Rays had ever been an issue until I commented on it) and extremely low noise levels, the Blu-Ray experience leaves nothing to be desired.

The obvious comparison point for every stand-alone Blu-Ray is the PS3, and for me the streaming Netflix movies offer an incomparable advantage over that gaming system. Going through the BUILT-IN WiFi connection, I have had absolutely no issue with streaming HD content from Netflix over my cable broadband. To be honest, I never really expected this to work as advertised -- so imagine my elation when I flipped on 30 Rock only to find every wrinkle in Alec Baldwin's face smiling back at me.

Best of all, LG is really on top of their stuff, and the firmware upgrades seem to be flowing very smoothly down the pipeline. Blu-Ray is obviously a continuously-advancing technology, so I am happy to be on board with a company dedicated to staying up to speed. You will be as well.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

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So far I'm pleased with the BD 390 -- it's worth the $280 I paid Amazon. But its wireless networking capabilities are dubious in my experience. I've got Qwest's 20 Mpbs broadband service, and I typically get speeds between 13 and 16 Mbps over my wireless network. I've got a Roku player, which I use for Netflix streaming. But I read in at least one review that Netflix-capable LG (as well as Samsung) devices deliver a subtly better picture than the Roku, so I was looking forward to a slightly improved Netflix experience with the BD 390.

I was more than disappointed. On the plus side, I found the BD 390 quite easy to set up and connect to my wireless network, and I had Netflix streaming to the player in less than five minutes. But picture quality, as received by the 390's WIFI connection, was significantly inferior to the picture Roku delivers -- it was like going from standard DVD back to VHS. I spent an hour watching portions of the same programs in my Netflix Instant Queue on both the BD 390 and the Roku, switching back and forth, with both devices in the same room, connected via HDMI to the same monitor, and connected via WIFI in exactly the same way. I tried moving the 390 and the Roku devices to different locations in the room. But whatever I did, the picture on the BD 390 was always significantly worse.

Then I tried connecting the BD 390 via its wired ethernet connection. The quality dramatically improved. I then compared the BD 390 connected via etheret to the Roku connected via WIFI. The picture quality was nearly comparable, but I think the Roku might still have a subtle edge here. In addition, the Roku feels much more responsive -- though the onscreen interfaces are very similar, navigating through the 30 or 40 movies in my Netflix Instant Queue seems easier and faster with the Roku and its remote, than with the BD 390.

I suppose someone else's mileage could vary for a variety of reasons, but it appears I'm not the only one who has faint praise for the 390's built-in WIFI.

I'd probably buy the 390 again, but only for the 390's promised (but as of this writing, not yet delivered) addition of VUDU. Otherwise, for Blu-Ray discs and/or Netflix streaming, I might well go with the nearly-as-capable BD 370 (wired instead of wireless networking, no 7.1 channel audio outs, but more than $100 cheaper than the 390 based on Amazon's current prices).Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

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OK, so we purchased this and got it about a week or two ago. we have no problems with our wireless network for our laptop, but when we go to use netflix on this dvd player, it has trouble recognizing the network - we have to turn the router on and off, and then still it won't recognize it every time. it's very frustrating. my husband is the technologically savvy one, and he plans to look into it futher, but I'm ready to return it.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

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This is a great player out of the box. Everything worked great for me right away. It plays Blu-Rays as expected, upconverts DVD's and with a network connection it streams from Netflix, CinemaNow, and your home network. I didn't try or use wireless, my home is wired, so I can't comment on wireless. With the latest firmware it is even better, and there as a due-any-minute firmware update coming that will add Vudu streaming also. All in all, one of the best Blu-Ray players in the current crop of network enabled players.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Monday, January 11, 2010

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I am very satisfied with this product. In fact, it exceeds all of my expectations. I suggets when it comes to wireless dvd players, this wins hands down. You will not regret purchasing this machine. With this dvd player life's good (LG):)Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

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My original intention for buying the LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player was to finally get blu-ray capability. After receiving the unit, I rented a blu-ray movie and fiddled around with the special effects and enjoyed the the high definition video...but my main focus was to enjoy the movie, not spend time playing with blu-ray extras like creating my own mashups, playing games, or being interrupted by the director throughout the movie. So oddly, the thing that really appeals to me about the LG BD390 is not blu-ray anymore, but its accessibility to media via the network. I can stream Netflix, YouTube, and MP3 and video files/movies from myPC (via the included DLNA server software). I wish it could also do Internet radio and play Quicktime video; otherwise, almost all my media is now available through this single device, and via my single universal remote. Pretty soon the Vudu service will be available through this device via a firmware upgrade over the Internet, and I won't even see myself having to buy or rent blu-ray discs anymore! By the way, it was also very easy and straightforward to setup. It took me about 30 minutes to setup with my A/V receiver, secured home WiFi, plus move and dust some shelves in my A/V cabinet.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

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Out of the box set-up was easy and straight-forward. Immediately recognized our wireless network and applicable computer media folders. Netflix connection and streaming was also quick and easy. Our XBOX 360 allows identical functionality but I prefer the interface on the BD 390.

If you aren't a Netflix subscriber, I highly recommend it. With the lowest priced subscription, you have access to not only Blu Ray DVDs delivered to your mailbox but a treasure trove of instant streaming content through this device. Depending on your broadband connection speed, the results are surprisingly satisfying - some in virtual HD. Netflix really opens up the potential of a device like this.

Blu Ray disc loading was quick and in-line with the competition. Beautiful and vibrant colors alighted on our LG 42" LCD 120hz HDTV. Upconversion of our standard DVDs elicited a deep and attractive picture.

Remote control is IR-only requiring line-of-sight to the device while the touted Simplink remote control commonality between our other LG device was disappointingly limited. Some critical features could not be controlled through either the TV or the Blu Ray player. The front of the product - which is both glassy and stylish - comes with a price: a propensity for fingerprints.

I researched other options and - though none were perfect (unless price was no option) - the BD 390 offered a terrific array of features, promised a crystal clear Blu Ray experience, and superior upconversion. We were not disappointed.

Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Friday, January 8, 2010

LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player Right now


Purchased a BD 390 2 weeks ago. Out of the box I was able to hook it up to 802.11n and a hardwire connection. The first night I downloaded a firmware update. All worked well that night. The next day, the unit locked up after turning it on for 30 seconds. After another 30 seconds, the unit turned itself off. This happened under any function ... consistently. I called LG support and spoke to a tech rep. We troubleshooted it with me over th ephone and he said it was a defective unit and needed to be returned to LG - I would get it back after 3 to 4 weeks. A brand new unit? I am not that patient. So I returned it to Amazon and they sent me a replacement in a few days.

I setup the unit the night it was delivered. Setup was easy and Netflix came in well. I was also able to see videos and hear mp3's on my NAS - same as the other unit. I downloaded a firmware update that night. The next day, the unit locked up after turning it on for 30 seconds. After another 30 seconds, the unit turned itself off. This happened under any function. I called LG support and spoke to a tech rep. We troubleshooted it and he said it was defective and needed to be returned to LG - I would get it back after 3 to 4 weeks. Amazon would not replace the second unit so they kindly refunded my money - thank you Amazon! Difficult to believe I bought 2 bad units that have exactly the same failure. I begged the LG tech to tell me how to revert back to the older firmware, they told me how to reset it but the process failed on both units.

So, I went to Best Buy and bought a LG BD 370. Not quite the same functionality, but close to the BD 390. Setup was easy. Netflix came in great on hardwire ethernet thru a gigabit switch to FiOS. I downloaded the firmware update - crossed my fingers. The next day the BD 370 worked the same as the first day. It has been 3 weeks and the 370 is still working. I just can't recommend the BD 390 even though it had all the features I was looking for. I will buy the new Sony BDP-N460 since it has the same features as the LG BD 390 and hopefully without the BD 390 product failures.

A ray of hope. I did get an email a week later, after the 2nd unit failed, from a LG tech support guy asking me what functions caused the unit to fail. The answer is all; Blu-ray player, netflix, setup, just sitting there after turning it on. I replied to the tech's email with my answer but have not heard back yet - a bit over a week has gone by. I am curious if the problem is linked to a firmware update issue. I love the features, I just want a product that works more than 30 seconds.

I advised the LG support folks that I would write a review of this experience and even spoke to a supervisor for a better solution than "send the unit back to LG for repairs and get it in 3 to 4 weeks." The person did not care. Poor customer service considering the BD 390 was new.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Lowest Price LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


I hesitate to submit a review because there are so many excellent reviews from people who really understand these things. So I will say right now that I am a woman in her mid-50's and I don't have an IT background. I still don't understand how you can record something when it's not playing on the TV screen.

That being said, this product was so easy to set up. I purposely saved it for the weekend when I would be fresh and up to the challenge. I tried to prepared myself for the eventual call to my computer savvy brother and considered how much I could afford to pay him to set it up. With low expectation I started the process.

Honestly it took me about 20 minutes. I do have a wireless network at home and hooking up to it and downloading Netflix was a dream. I couldn't believe how quickly I could start a movie from my queue.

The HMDI cable is a fabulous improvement from all the colored wires that used to intimidate me. I purchased through Amazon when I ordered the unit. The quality of the Bluray movie was astounding once I figured out how to select the resolution--even that was easy to find and implement.

I am well aware that I am in the first rush of glory for having gotten the setup nailed without assistance. If I encounter problems with use I will come back to update. Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Low Price LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


The LG BD-390 is the most value/feature packed Blu-ray player out there. I would have gone for the Oppo BDP-83, but the $500 price tag and the lack of network video options basically made it a no-go. The LG supports Netflix Instant Watch, YouTube, Vudu (soon) and from what I hear, Pandora. It sees my Mac and FreeNAS based media sever just fine (not sure what problems others are having but I am admittedly much more computer and network savvy than the average user) and plays back other media types quite well.

The player looks beautiful playing back content on my Samsung 40" LCD HDTV (LN40A550) and 1080p combined with 7.1 surround sound is extremely awesome. As an upscaling player, the player does a solid job -- probably not as good as a stand-alone high-end DVD player, but it still looks great.

I really appreciate the audio options because I have an older Denon receiver (AVR-1905) that doesn't support HDMI, but is perfect in every other way. I hated having to look at spending another $350-$400 just to get one with HDMI support -- running the digital coax and analog outs to the receiver makes everything sound superb since all the processing is done on the player. Love it!

My only complaint -- and in retrospect this is minor -- is that the 802.11n support is pretty useless if you run your router on the 5Ghz spectrum. My Airport Extreme (the version before the current dual-band device) is at 5Ghz for our Macs but we have an older G-router connected to it to support older devices and our mobile devices, so that's what I'm stuck using with the LG. It's fast enough, but part of the reason I got the LG over a PS3 slim was the 802.11n. I might look at getting another N-router to run at 2.4GHz in mixed-mode to hook up to the Airport Extreme but right now, it isn't life or death. That's the only thing that keeps me from giving t his 5 stars.

The price dropped while this was on its way to me, so if you're looking at this player, you might want to either wait a few weeks to see if this goes to $250 or keep in mind that Amazon no longer does post-order price matching.

In any event, for under $300, this is a great player and a very workable media center of sorts.

**Update for Airport Extreme Owners**

I found that by putting the router in "N-only" on the 2.4Ghz spectrum, the device worked beautifully and the increased speed was much, much better. The downside is that I had to play with the channels on my older G-router for the non-N devices in our house, but that's one workaround for anyone wanting N-speed from their player to their router. In my house, it made all the difference in the world in regards to doing Netflix and whatnot.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Save LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


Save yourself some time and get the Samsung 3600. It has almost all of the same features and is a breeze to set up.

The LG390 seems pretty great but if none of the features work they are worthless. I could get to my queue with Netflix but none of the movies started...EVER.

Samsung gets to movies in a flash.

This player does load quickly but after one firmware update from USB stick it rendered the player useless.

Don't buy this player.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Discount LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


Had some initial problems with Netflix streaming but both the wireless and wired Netflix streaming worked good after updating the software for my network router. The LG helpline told me that my D-Link router needed to have the software updated to work with this blueray player.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Cheapest LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


I first purchased a Samsung Blu-Ray Disc Player, but could not get it to work with the LG HDTV I had using HDMI input. I tried 3 different cables. The Samsung player would flash white noise on the screen and restart the video. I tried the Samsung player on a friends Sony HDTV and it worked fine with all 3 cables. I talked to LG and Samsung technical support and got no where. I purchased the LG BR390 and problem solved. I really like the picture quality better too. Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Cheap LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


After reviewing all the comments on numerous websites, I decided to go for this LG based on price and Netflix Streaming. The device was easy to setup (HDMI) and works great! You can plug in a USB drive and there is no problem recognizing the external drive (even the WD Passports which are notorious for even having problems with PCs).

The Netflix Streaming is downright impressive. The first time I did it, I couldn't believe that the movie started within about 15-20 seconds and never had a "buffering" problem or anything and played through the entire movie flawlessly. I don't know if it's a feature of the the LG player or Netflix Streaming, but when you want to rewind/fast-forward during a movie, you can do so, but when you try and hit play again, it takes 7-10 seconds to "buffer" again and then starts playing. That's not bad, it's just a little annoying if you accidentally hit play or if you realize you need to go a little more one way or the other you have to wait for the buffering each time. Small price to pay though because it's a great feature and works very well. The only other thing I don't like about the Netflix setup is that I have to add all the movies from my computer/iphone. I can't use the Blu-Ray player to add moves to my instant queue. I can only see/play the movies I have already added. That seems a little weird.

The one area that I had a little trouble with was the internet setup (and I'm reasonably tech savvy). I have a wireless network in my house for two laptops. I had WPA2-Personal Encryption and when I tried to connect via the built-in wireless on the LG, it could see the network, but after I typed in the security key, it would just fail to connect. I tried other types of encryptions and a more simple security key and that worked, but only temporarily (all the time the laptops had no connectivity issues). I did have a MAC filter, but added the MAC address of the Blu-Ray and it still didn't work. Deactivated the filter and still didn't work. Ended up moving my cable modem/wireless router downstairs so I could just hook it up to the router directly. Has worked flawlessly ever since. That's obviously not a great solution (especially given that one of the reasons I bought this LG was because of the integrated wireless as opposed to a dongle, etc.). I haven't given up hope as I'm sure there is a way to get it to work, I just haven't re-attacked and I'm not huge on trying to fix something that's not broken.

I think another cool option would be having an external wireless keyboard. Typing in a 26 letter network password using a remote and monitor keyboard is not very fun (especially when you get it wrong the first time). This may be possible as I have not tried it yet, but I highly doubt it. To be honest, I've never seen another Blu-Ray player boot up, but this thing plays movies in less than 20-30 seconds from hitting the power button. The remote is nothing special, but I have a nice universal remote that I use instead. It's really exactly what I wanted and looks great/sleek. Great product thus far (if I could only figure out how to get it to connect wirelessly) and I'm sure you will be pleased with this purchase.

Still a great player that provides you the movie quality/speed you want. All the other movie/picture features are great. Absolutely no complaints.
Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.

Friday, January 1, 2010

Buying LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player


I just got my LG Blu-Ray DVD player this afternoon, my first Blu-Ray player. After reading some reviews here, I was concerned about three things: (1) Mac compatibility; (2) Wireless connectivity; (3) Set up. These are my very first impressions. As time goes by, I'll come back to revise this, as needed.

(1) Mac compatibility
I am a heavy Mac user and am always concerned about how some products lack Mac support. This player comes with a CD that is Windows only. However, I found out right away that apparently I will not need such CD. I was able to plug in the player and do everything without the need for that disk.

(2) Wireless connectivity
This was one area of concern, especially since some people here had trouble with Airport (Mac). My wireless router is a Netgear. There was no problem connecting to my wireless network. It appeared on the screen immediately. The signal was strong. Given the fact my router is on the same floor in my house but in a different room, that was no surprise.

(3) Set up
Easy, easy, easy. Everything was very intuitive, and in less than 5 minutes -- I timed this -- I had my Netflix instant view on my TV screen.

I immediately ran a software update and noticed the addition of Vudu (another movie site). YouTube works great, too. I also tested some old DVD and was pleased with the upconversion. As for a true Blu-Ray DVD, I tested just one of the Ken Burns' The National Parks: America's Best Idea. Couldn't be more pleased with the picture quality.

So, these are my preliminary impressions within the first hour of getting this player out of the box and using it. I didn't give it 5 stars simply because it's too soon and there could be things I'll still discover about the player. I will wait to see how this progresses.Get more detail about LG BD 390 Network Blu-ray Disc Player.