Samsung HT-BD1220 2.1 Channel Blu-ray Home Cinema System

I have had this product for almost a month now, and I have to say it has been outstanding. I had been contemplating going Blu Ray for a while, and started looking at the various options available. To be completely honest at the time of purchase there was not a great deal of choice between Blu Ray home cinema systems under £400. It was really a straight choice between this and the Sony DAV-F200. The 5 Star review (This has since been given a 4 Star due to the strength of Samsung's competitors.) from What Hi-Fi in July 09 went a way in helping me decide. That and the fact I own a Samsung TV and have owned other products in the past, and they have never let me down. Also the price tag was a tad cheaper than its main rival (the DAV-F200). In addition, Play was selling it for £70 less than it could be found on the high street. So I opted for the Samsung.

Aesthetics - The player itself is quite large, but still manages to fit into my TV Unit with a bit of space on either side. The… more »

I have had this product for almost a month now, and I have to say it has been outstanding. I had been contemplating going Blu Ray for a while, and started looking at the various options available. To be completely honest at the time of purchase there was not a great deal of choice between Blu Ray home cinema systems under £400. It was really a straight choice between this and the Sony DAV-F200. The 5 Star review (This has since been given a 4 Star due to the strength of Samsung's competitors.) from What Hi-Fi in July 09 went a way in helping me decide. That and the fact I own a Samsung TV and have owned other products in the past, and they have never let me down. Also the price tag was a tad cheaper than its main rival (the DAV-F200). In addition, Play was selling it for £70 less than it could be found on the high street. So I opted for the Samsung.

Aesthetics - The player itself is quite large, but still manages to fit into my TV Unit with a bit of space on either side. The slick, black glossy finish on the player, speakers and subwoofer compliments my Samsung 32 inch TV perfectly. I'm also very keen on the touch sensitive controls on the front of the player which Samsung uses on some of their TVs. The speakers are modest and so can either be wall mounted or sat on a shelf or stand. They are fairly discreet and can sit unnoticed until called upon. The subwoofer, in comparison to the speakers at least is huge but looks excellent in the same glossy black finish.

Picture - The main reason for buying a Blu Ray player, the picture. The picture is not just down to the Blu Ray player alone, but also down to the TV. I am watching it on 1080p (Full HD) and the results are amazing. The picture is truly excellent, the blacks look solid and the colours look bright and vibrant. Watching Shooter with a friend, the explosions looked incredible and along with the sound delivered a jaw dropping experience, especially for him, having not seen a Full HD picture before. It was watching Transformers that I was really blown away, the special effects looked remarkable. Having seen it before on DVD I can say with ease that the Blu Ray version is of far better quality. DVD's look great, my old DVD player was a HDMI upscaler and I consider the BD1220 to upscale even better than that did.

Sound - Don't be fooled by the diminutive speakers, these little babies pack quite a punch, but don't expect it to be perfect straight out of the box. A bit of tweaking is essential to get the optimal set up. The subwoofer is thunderous and brings explosions and gunfire to life. Also, the virtual surround feature can be turned on/off depending on your preference.

Criticisms - My only real criticism of the BD1220 is it takes a while to load. However, I have since been at a couple of my friends houses watching films on their Blu Rays and in comparison the BD1220 is much faster than theirs. My friend's Panasonic took what felt like an eternity to load, I guess this is a problem that affects most Blu Ray players at the moment. I presume in a few years the technology will be perfected and loading will take no time at all. Also be warned like almost every other product out there, the BD1220 doesn't come with a HDMI Cable.

Summary - If you want to make the leap to Blu Ray, and have a small to medium living room. If you want to add a new dimension to the tame sound you're currently receiving from your LCD/Plasma then look no further than this smart and solid performer. If however, you have a larger living room and want a bit more power (and are willing to pay for the privilege) then I would recommend the Panasonic SC-BT200.