Magnavox Blu-Ray DVD Disc Player, NB500MG1F Reviews

Average Customer Rating - 3.1 out of 5 stars

22 customer reviews

Good starter Blu-Ray player, December 26, 2009
We received this as a gift this Christmas, and the kids were very excited to get it up and running. They finally got to watch the Blue-ray movie they got last Christmas!

Positives:
Out of the box and hooked up in lower than 5 minutes since there really isn't much of a way to mess up (if you can read the directions and plug in cables!) As for resolutions/etc, we only hooked it up to run into an "old fashioned" CRT TV - the flat panel might come next Christmas! After it was all set up (I am a guy after all - the directions grasp read after setting it up!) there are settings for all sorts of features... maybe the guy that had grainy resolution on his 720p can check to make sure the HDMI is set to "auto" instead of "480".

Negatives:
The only feature we miss is a display to show how far into the movie you are... there are several flimsy on the front, but no display for minutes, tracks, etc. I have read through the manual and tried different things, just doesn't appear to have one.

Conclusion:
Overall, easy to set up and easy to use, I wouldn't have a problem recommending this to anyone so far (we'll have to see on the reliability). Slow nouns times are common to every Blu-ray player I have used over the last couple years.

Gets the job done., December 29, 2009
Parents picked this up for me as a Xmas gift. I too am a guy that just wants to watch Blu-Ray movies without have to sell a kidney. I don't need to download things from NetFlix. I don't need it to connect with YouTube or Pandora. I care little to nothing about director commentary. If you're looking for extras, this is not the way to go. This player simply get the job done. I'm watching in 1080p-24 the same as a 200-400 dollar unit. As far as speed, it is a bit sluggish compared to most BDs. I don't mind waiting 15-20secs to watch movies. I do mind paying 300 dollars for bells and whistles I'll likely never use. Also, this player requires no firmware update to use optimally.

NO FRILLS. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR., December 7, 2009
This was Wal-Mart's Black Friday sale where on earth they went pretty quick. I did pick one up a couple of days ago and hooked it up at home. The Good: Picture is amazing. I had a Sony upconvert that worked great, but nothing compares to Blu-Ray. The sound is crisp and clean. Also, you can access the menu and turn certain special features on and off while the movie is playing. The Bad: It does not connect to the internet. (You can upgrade the firmware by burning a CD from the mfg website and loading it into the BD player). It is BD 1.1 compliant which technique you can do the pic in pic on some movies, but no online special features which is fine with me. I am one that just wants to watch the movie. I could care less that the director ate a bagel while filming that scene or chat with someone while watching a movie. The Ugly: Load time. There is really no difference between the loading of a regular DVD on my DVD player vs. loading one on this BD player. Overall, if you want a BD player minus all of the bells and whistles just to watch Blu-Ray movies, this is a great buy.

for what it is, i give this player four stars for a solid value, January 20, 2010
you dont get netflix, you cant chat online while watching a movie, no dont get many of the current trendy wishes people fuss about wanting. this is a very basic devise. a blu ray movie plays absolutely beautifully. last weekend, gothika was on public sale at best buy for ten bux, so i finally bought my first blu ray disc. the picture was alike watching the dark knight in the imax. just flawless, textured and awing. (by the way: it is connected to a 40 samsung lcd 1080p tv.) the load time is frustrating. the overall response time just kills me. ive contemplated both giving it a right kick or returning it in favor of a $40 samsung upconvert. two things keep me with it:

1) a friend of mine whose opinion i value has offered much disappointment in his upconvert player. this player basically upconverts [regular dvds] as all right, but i am not unhappy with the picture.

2) it is a blu ray player i could afford. i dont use netflix nor rent online. there are few movies that i really watch, and when i sit to watch them, i want to feel spoiled. this devise, slow startup times and all, does the job.

i want to express frustration next to the processor, but i also want to confess that i did expect that. for the money, it is worth the value. if you have more money to spend, though, you may find yourself in favor of a better product strictly to avoid frustration. it takes approx. twenty seconds to turn on and open the optical rom drive and there is no real display. there is a red pale when the devise is off, and there is a blue light when a disc is in and the player is on, and that's it. i would very much prefer a display. but as conveyed above, i couldnt afford one with a display and faster processor, but i do have a blu ray player and i am happiest about that.

solid buy.

Waste of Money, July 8, 2010
This be my first Blu-Ray player. I bought this player in January, 2010 at Wal-Mart with minimal to moderate use. By June the player stopped working, warranty for parts is 1 year but labor warranty is for 90 days. They want at LEAST $60 for labor. This player now costs about $78 new at Wal-Mart. My experience with their customer service was also a 1 star, half if I could choose it. My opinion is this player NB500MG1F a squander of money and I will NEVER buy from Magnavox again - 6 months worth of use for a product - ridiculous!

GREAT VALUE FOR THE MONEY, February 25, 2010
I've used this player for about a month (connected to a 1080p LCD TV via HDMI with sound reproduced through an audiophile quality 7.1 system) and so far it has performed flawlessly, both mechanically and electrically on a variety of discs, including Blu ray, standard DVDs, CDs and even home made DVD-Rs. Blu stream discs take a little longer to load initially than standard DVDs but no more so than other current Blu ray players that cost considerably more. I consider the absence of the usual LED display on the front panel a plus rather than a minus and if needed all information is available where it should be: on screen at the flick of a button on the remote. The simple unassuming design of this domestic device is more in the European style and is quite attractive, in my opinion.

Particularly impressive were the Blu ray discs of "How the West Was Won" (in smile box format), Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" & the 1958 version of "South Pacific", all originally film in high resolution film formats and with discrete 6 or 7 channel sound mixes far more dynamic and sophisticated than the jiggled, precariously lit visuals and compressed homogenized digital sound mixes in today's films. These movies own never looked or sounded better on any previous home video release, in my opinion.

I can't vouch for its long term durability in such a short time of use but other Philips based DVD players I have owned in the past own proven to be quite durable. The remote is small but useful and fairly well laid out, no better or worse than more expensive players in its functionality. The most important aspect of this player is it provides, for a ridiculously low price, the spectacular picture and sound of Blu ray and also makes standard DVDs look better too. Even if you use this player for roughly a year as an interim player until you can afford a more expensive machine, it is still worth the price since you can relegate the Magnavox to a family room or bedroom system later. Unless you crave a feature laden player (Netflix streaming, etc) you may find that you will be more than satisfied with the picture and sound this little player provides for a long time to come.

Can't beat it for the $$$, December 31, 2009
I bought this as an extra Blu-ray player for other rooms surrounded by the house. I've had a Sony PS3 hooked up to my Samsung 52" 240 Hz LCD in the living room. I connected this player to the same TV when I first got it and it's definitely top notch as far as picture quality. OK...it does load slower than the PS3 and it lacks some extra features on more expensive players, but for the $78 I paid, you can't pulsation it! On extra long movies (over 2 hrs. or so) you do get that momentary pause when it changes layers on the disc, but that's the only fault I've been able to detect. This may possibly be addressed near a firmware update in the near future. It DOES show the disc info on the screen when you press "display" on the remote.
I've played a bunch of new blu-ray releases that were rented from Netflix without a hitch! Some other players constantly
need firmware updates just to play the most up-to-date blu-ray discs. Highly recommended!

Great so far, January 31, 2010
Got it as my first Blu-ray player after a number of both cheap and expensive regular DVD players. Not the fanciest but does everything I want without costing an arm and a leg.. Looks great matched up with a 37 inch lg 720p tv. Like having my own person theater. All for $120 at walmart

Nice blu-ray player with no extras, January 11, 2010
I got this during Black Friday 2009 for $78. I hooked it up with an HDMI cable I got from amazon for smaller amount than $5 to a Panasonic 42" Diagonal Plasma HDTV 720P model# TH-42PX60U. The picture quality from this blu-ray player is simply awesome, just the same as my Samsung BDP-1500 player which is hooked up to my 1080 HDTV. No difference in quality. The loading time is a bit slower than my Samsung but only by a few seconds longer, so no big deal for me. This magnavox has no extra features approaching the more expensive ones and no display in the front panel of the unit but if all you want is a great viewing and HD audio experience watching your Blu-ray and/or DVD movies, this unit will definetely not disappoint most. I found the manufacturer's website not too user friendly and online support appears to be lacking or very little which is why I gave this product 4 stars instead of 5. To me the product as well as the manufactures support after the public sale are both equally important. No firmware updates found for this unit but so far, this unit has played all of my blu-ray movies including newest releases like G.I. Joe and Transformers. Some of the negative reviews I have read are promising due to the expectations of features or did not know how to set up correctly. Read the manual, it will only take 5-10 minutes but well worth it. Don't fall for the hype of needing to buy $40+ HDMI cables. Like I said, the $2-$10 ones sold at AMAZON.com will deliver exactly the same (just make sure they are lofty speed). The Monster HDMI cable which I have on my 1080 HDTV looks no better than the <$5 one I have with this magnavox.

Waste of time and money, June 19, 2010
You are supposed to be able to take this player out of the box and just plug it in. The picture looked great once it finally loaded. However, there was no nouns at all. I won't be buying another one of these Magnavox players again ever. I am sticking with Panasonic.

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