The amount of data used for HD content takes up much greater space than that of Standard Definition (SD) content. From that need came Blu-ray discs (BD). Blu-ray's name comes from the blue colored laser used to read the discs. Data is stored on the disc by burning tiny pits in the surface, basically the same as with CDs and DVDs but with many, many, more pits to a given area. A Blu-ray's disc capacity is enormous - where a standard DVD holds 4.7GB of data, a standard BD will hold a huge 25GB of data and a dual layer BD a whopping 50GB. There are a few offshoots of Blu-ray technology, lower cost, lower capacity, BD5 and BD9 discs (basically recording Blu-ray format data onto a special DVD using a different colored red laser) There are also mini-sized BD's. Recordable Blu-ray discs are available as well for use with burners.

Blu-ray Features of the Samsung BD-P1600
High quality video and sound - Think of the difference between DVD's and Blu-ray discs as the same as putting on your reading glasses to read a book. Everything looks sharper and more in focus on Blu-ray than with DVDs.

My first experience playing back a Blu-ray disc with the BD-P1600, on a 1080P HDTV, was nothing short of nirvana. It was similar to my first experience listening to a very expensive audiophile system. The amount of detail and realism can't be mentioned in the same breath (take a breath here) as your average home stereo. Its the same with Blu-ray - there is no comparison to Standard Definition TV or any DVD, the picture quality with Blu-ray just blows it away.

It doesn't end with the image on the screen. I was very pleased with the audio coming from the BD-P1600, which can take advantage of several of Dolby Lab's sound technologies. Dolby's True HD decodes lossless multichannel sound (High Definition sound output). The BD-P1600 also supports the competing audio technology, DTS HD. I haven't put the audio section of the Samsung through extensive listening tests yet because I'm still putting together my home theater system but I can tell you that the sound through my Grado and Sennheiser headphones was wonderful. Music with either my small Bose Companion 2 Series II speakers or the slightly bigger M-Audio Studiophile AV 40 speakers was at times an almost three dimensional listening experience, even though I was listening with just two speakers.

Internet connectivity - With the new Samsung BD-P1600 you're given additional features by hooking this player to the Internet. You can do this one of two ways, via Ethernet cable to your router or with Samsung's optional Wireless USB Adapter (WIS09ABGN) I chose to use the Ethernet hookup for the most reliable, and fastest, data path.

Wireless USB adaptor supports USB 2.0. Compatible with IEEE 802.11a/b/g and 802.11n draft 2.0. Net weight: 0.21 (3.36oz) Lbs.

Being able to access the Internet opens a whole new world of features with the new BD-P1600's BD-Live 2.0 compliance. Now when you play back certain Blu-ray titles there are additional menu options. You can download additional content, access a website with games and more. Some of this content is even upgraded after the release of the disc so even older titles in your collection could have new content available.

Netflix - The Netflix feature built into the player enables you to watch more than 12,000 titles of on demand movies and TV shows. More are becoming available all the time. A very minor drawback is that you have to arrange your Netflix Cue using your computer and Netflix's website.

Right now Netflix's video on demand selection is mostly not up to HDTV quality. They do have some selections tagged as HD, and the image quality is better than their standard selections, but still not able to compete with the image quality 720P or 1080P brings you. As cable companies offer faster speeds I think this will change and we'll see true 720P and then 1080P service. We may not have to wait that long for it either.

Pandora - With the BD-P1600 you can also use my favorite place to listen to streamed music online, Pandora. Again you have to go to Pandora's website to set up your account and individual stations, which is dead simple to do, then listen to them at will using your TV/home theater system.

Setup with either Netflix or Pandora is also simple. If you don't already have an account with Netflix then by all means sign up for their service. I pay $12 a month for unlimited Blu-ray discs, one at a time, but that includes unlimited on demand video. Pandora's service is free (for now). Go to the Pandora website, create an account and set up your stations. Then back to your Samsung BD player, remove any discs you might have in the tray - the screen will show the Netflix/Pandora icons. Click on one. The first time you use it, a setup screen will pop up giving you a series of numbers that you type in at Netflix's or Pandora's website that ties your machine with your account. That's it! You're done and ready to start watching on demand movies or listening to music.

USB - There's a USB slot on the front and back of the player. The rear one would normally be used with Samsung's Wireless USB dongle. The front slot can be used to show JPEG photos and play back MP3's.

HDMI 1.3 - One of the best features of newer HD equipment is their use of HDMI cables for connecting components. Instead of a snake's nest of wires behind your home theater system that takes you hours to figure out which cable goes to what connection, HDMI simplifies everything by incorporating your video and sound connections into one wire. It also allows for the best image quality, 1080p. Now the only other cables running behind your player are the ones for networking and AC power. (and with the next update to the HDMI specifications, the networking cable will disappear). HDMI makes hooking up your system a breeze and I completed my hookup in a matter of a minute or so. Most of that was going back to the manual to see which of the 4 HDMI slots on my new Samsung LCD TV I should use for the various devices. Now running from the back of the player are the power cord, HDMI cable and Ethernet Cable - that's it. If I'd gone with the Wireless USB dongle to connect to my home network I'd only have the HDMI cable and power cord.

Setup
In the box is the player, remote and batteries, RCA type AV cable, user manual, quick start guide.

As I mentioned above setup is very easy, even setting up Netflix and Pandora. All-in-all I think it took me a total of 15 minutes, and I wasn't rushing. Plug in a couple of cables, set up accounts and you're ready to go.

Network
If you decide to use Samsung's Wireless USB device to access your network, setup will probably be the most time consuming thing you'll have to do since you'll have to use the remote to input your router's password of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. You enter the data by using the remote to move a cursor around on the onscreen keyboard. By using an Ethernet cable you bypass the need for the password.

Upgradeable firmware
The Samsung BD-P1600 is one of a few players on the market with a user upgradable firmware. What's so special about being able to do this yourself? Unfortunately there are some discs out there that don't work with all players. Being upgradeable the Samsung can add future compatibility with those discs. I've already upgraded my player's firmware in the first month of ownership.

Here we come to one major gripe I had with the player. Downloading my first firmware update via the player's Ethernet connection took more than 30 minutes, and thats for a file that was only 65MB in size, and this was done over a broadband cable connection. Normally such a download would have taken a minute or so. I have to believe the slow speed happens because of Samsung's server. Anyway, the firmware upgrade itself is simple to do; follow onscreen instructions and that's it.

Using your computer you can also download firmware upgrades to a USB memory stick and transfer that over to the player to do your upgrade. I'll try that next time there's an upgrade.

TIP - remember to remove any disc in the player before you try to upgrade your firmware.

Final Thoughts
Sales of BD players are way up over last year (by almost 75%) most likely pushed by the drop in street price of the players over that same time frame. A couple months ago I bought the player I'm using for this review. Normally the BD-P1600 sells for $299 but I happened on a great sale on Amazon and purchased the player for $215 including five Blu-ray movies, which effectively dropped the cost down to the $150-$160 range. It pays to do a little searching before you buy anything nowadays.

If you have a HD TV already or will buy one soon, especially if it can display 1080P video, then by all means upgrade your disc player to the BD-P1600. You will not regret it.

I've quickly become a Blu-ray junkie because of the outstanding picture quality of the BD-P1600. Its faster loading time is a godsend compared to other units. All Blu-ray players are not created equal and the playback quality of this Samsung is among the best of what's out there.

Wish list
Mostly I wish for the controls on the player itself to be back-lit. As they are now its more like trying to read Braille unless there's really good room light illuminating the face. This is a minor gripe since most people will access the player via remote. I like the drop down front panel, it keeps dust out of the player, but it can cause some hassle if you have to use a IR repeater.

It would have been nice for Samsung to include a 6' Ethernet cable. I'd rather Samsung had included a 6' Ethernet cable than the RCA AV cable. Most people already have the latter.

Glow in the dark buttons help, but back-lit would have been better.

Most of the other items on my wish list have to do with the remote. It would be nice if it had back-lit buttons like its sibling TV remote from the Samsung LN40B650. There are some glow-in-the-dark buttons (play, fast forward, stop, pause) but you need to have the remote under a light for awhile for them to be useful in a dark room and then only for awhile since they eventually fade.

Button layout on the player's remote is actually better than the TV's remote. That's a lucky thing because of the Samsung's Anynet+ feature the player remote can handle most of the chores of the bigger TV remote (and vice versa) so I've ended up using it more often of the two. Another nice touch with using AnyNet+ is that when you turn on the player then my Samsung LN40B650 also turns on and sets the input for the BD player.

Anynet+ works in harmony with many of Samsung's products like cameras and home

Product Description

The HP Slimline offers a powerful PC where space is at a premium. Perfect for a small office or dorm, it can handle all your computing needs, like e-mail, word processing and more. And the Slimline is flexible, so you can easily add or upgrade features and functions. The HP Slimline¿s sleek, modern styling, with chrome and accent lighting, looks great in any room. What's in the box: Pavilion s5120f desktop PC, HP USB keyboard, HP USB optical mouse, power cord, Cyberlink DVD Suite Deluxe software, HP MediaSmart Software Suite, Microsoft Works 9, Adobe Reader 8 and Norton Internet Security 2009 with 60 days of complimentary live updates.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74 in Personal Computers
• Color: Black
• Brand: Hewlett-Packard
• Model: NP187AA#ABA
• Dimensions: 12.24" h x 4.43" w x 15.91" l, 9.20 pounds
• CPU: AMD Athlon 2.7 Hz
• Memory: 4GB SDRAM
• Hard Disk: 500GB

Features

• AMD Athlon X2 7750 Dual-Core Processor
• 4GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2x2048MB for ultimate performance)
• 500GB hard drive (7200 rpm) stores up to 106,000 songs or 84,000 photos.
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit edition
• NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Graphics with 128MB intregrated shared graphics memory.

Editorial Reviews

From the Manufacturer
Want a smaller PC that has everything you need and want? Buy an HP Pavilion Slimline PC. Create documents, spreadsheets, slide shows, music playlists and home videos. At under 5 inches wide, this PC is an easy fit for any office or room.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Improve the speed and efficiency of your office work with our Officejet 6000 Wireless Printer. You'll get professional-looking documents for a cost of up to 40% less per color page than with laser printers, ¹, and you'll use 40% less energy². Want fewer interruptions? Add high-capacity HP ink cartridges³.

Fast and economical wireless printing

• Get maximum print speeds of 32 pages/minute black and 31 color^##
• Get bolder blacks, vivid color, and less smearing when using plain papers with the ColorLok technology
• Print in laser quality at speeds equivalent to those of a laser printer: up to 7 pages/minute black and color⁴
• Lose the cables and share resources with the wireless 802.11g networking⁵
• Save time, paper, and money with the automatic two-sided printing
• Save money by replacing only individual ink cartridges that run out.
• Retain black text and color quality for decades in archived documents without fading⁶
• Get professional-quality black text plus vivid color graphics and photos with HP Officejet ink

Mindful of the environment

• Use up to 40% less energy than with laser printers²
• Save money and energy with this efficient ENERGY STAR® qualified printer
• Help reduce environmental impact: our new packaging uses less material
• Recycle your cartridges—it's free and easy through HP Planet Partners ⁷

Reliable support, reputable supplies

• Protect your investment with the one-year limited warranty plus our Total Care advice and support
• Get answers to questions toll-free, 24 x 7, or via e-mail in as little time as an hour
• Get exclusive offers and discounts on supplies and get free next-day shipping with our "My Print Rewards" program

1. Among majority of color laser printers less than $300 as of 6/08 using HP Officejet with highest-capacity cartridges.
2. Among majority of color laser printers less than $300 as of 6/08; energy use based on HP testing using ENERGY STAR® program TEC test method criteria.
3. Sold separately.
4. . Based on pages/minute measured using FDIS ISO/IEC 24734. Standard applies to inkjet and laser products and excludes first set of test documents.
5. Wireless performance depends on physical environment and distance from access
6. Based on paper-industry predictions for acid-free papers and original HP inks; colorant stability data at room temperature based on similar systems tested per ISO 11798 and ISO 18909.
7. HP cartridge return/recycling available in 42 countries and territories.

What's in the box?

•	Printer
•	Power supply
•	Power cord
•	USB cable
•	HP 920 black cartridge (approx. 420 pages)
•	HP 920 cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges (approx. 300 pages each)
•	CDs with software
•	Wireless set-up guide
•	Set-up poster

Compatible with

Now that the Wireless-N standard has been ratified by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), this means that you can finally enjoy improved network throughput over the previous Wireless standards, 802.11b and 802.11g. But in order to take advantage of Wireless-N, you're going to need an 802.11n router. Luckily, you can score a Wi-Fi N router from Apple, D-Link, or Linksys for $100 or less.

The following Wi-Fi N routers have all been reviewed by PCMag's talented networking analyst, Mario Morejan. PCMag uses a rating scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) and judges things like features, performance, and durability.

Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n
Editor Rating: 3.5
Was: $179
Is: $100 (from Frys.com)
Savings: $79 (44 percent)
Why You Want It: Apple's well-built, reliable AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n router offers two impressive new features: simultaneous dual-band broadcasting and guest access. This is a solid router for networks that are all Mac or even Mac/Windows, and performs well at long distances. Now that it's $79 off the original price tag of $179, we can finally recommend it as an affordable buy.

Buy the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station 802.11n today!

Check out the other rated routers for less, after the jump.
D-Link RangeBooster N Dual Band Router (DIR-628)
Editor Rating: 4
Was: $120
Is: $70 (from Amazon)
Savings: $50 (42 percent)
Why You Want It: D-link's RangeBooster N Dual Band Router is easy to set up, has great performance, and offers a rich feature set. Although the user interface could use a facelift, the router's other strengths more than make up for it, especially at such a low price of $70.

Buy the D-Link RangeBooster N Dual Band Router (DIR-628) today!

Linksys by Cisco Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WRT320N
Editor Rating: 4
Was: $129
Is: $82 (from Newegg)
Savings: $47 (36 percent)
Why You Want It: One of the easiest routers to install and manage, the Linksys WRT320N Router is a good choice for novice users, professionals, and businesses that have to give remote workers secure access. It supports VPN and QoS, and can be yours for 36 percent off at Newegg; just enter the $10 off promo code EMCLXLW48 during checkout. (You must be a Newegg e-mail subscriber in order to

The 6SigmaET electronics-cooling software package is said to be the first major product for electronics thermal analysis developed in the last decade. The software helps build a model using objects with built-in intelligence to speed-up model creation, and also enables automatic gridding and simplifying post-processing. PCB-level designs can be done in the context of the data center as the final application, which enables development of rack-based systems and containerized or custom data centers.

The software streamlines model creation, gridding, solving, and post-processing. An automated process is used to convert incoming CAD data to intelligent objects such as the chips, capacitors, resistors, other components on a PCB, and heat sinks with complex shapes. For example, a heat sink can be snapped onto a chip and a chip can be snapped onto a board, eliminating the cumbersome positioning required with other electronics-cooling software. The intelligence enables automatic meshing, such as increasing the grid density in critical areas.

The software solves the conduction equations required to accurately simulate rotated or angled geometry such as angled DIMMs. It also provides a user interface that reduces learning time and the time required to perform basic modeling and reporting tasks. (From $25,000/year — available now.)

The good: Most affordable all-in-one PC on the market; semiportable and easy to set up, thanks to its small size and self-contained design; boasts a touch interface with a few useful apps.

The bad: Touch software only semiuseful; decent performance for an Atom system, but horrid compared with similarly priced laptops and desktops.

The bottom line: Thanks to its price, size, touch screen, and semiportability, the Asus Eee Top ET1602 presents a lot of usage options. Put it in the kitchen, den, or even a hallway, and it can serve as an easy information hub for your family. Just don't put it on a desk, where a desktop or a laptop will be much better suited for serious work.

Specifications: Processor: Intel Atom N270 (1.6 GHz) ; RAM installed: 1 GB DDR2 SDRAM ; Hard drive: 160 GB Standard ; See full specs

Price range: $479.99 - $549.99 check prices

Sturdy dual hand grips for a steady shot Big easy-to-use buttons for little hands Two-eye viewing which makes it easy for kids to look through the viewfinder Durable design protects the camera and screen Great easy-to-use software Here's a real digital camera that is tough enough and easy enough for kids to use! The camera has a 1.3"" color LCD preview screen which allows kids to instantly see the picture they have taken and view or delete previous shots. The feature set includes: 640 x 480 resolution...