I purchased the Samsung 709 DVD player from Best Buy a month ago primarily because of it's price and it seemed to be a third generation DVD player with 24bit 96kHz audio. While this obviously is not a high end DVD player it has performed very well. I have played "Waterworld" on it with no problems and the documentation says it's a "Dual Layer" disc. The sound quality in 5.0 surround is great and I would recommend this DVD player to anyone that has an external surround sound processor and doesn't need built-in DTS/AC-3 decoding. The unit plays commercial (silver) CD's but will not play CD-R's. The joystick control on the remote is a bit touchy but overall, it has been a good buy.

this unit will NOT play dual layered disks.and samsung knows it !!!call them and they will tell you . sorry no fix for this problem, take it back before its to late I did.

I've now had the player for three weeks after buying it at Best Buy for $219 (although it's now selling for $249). For the price, it cannot be beat. Have watched Armageddon, Blade, Ronin, Godzilla, Meet Joe Black and the picture quality is excellent, especially with s-video and my Toshiba 35" tv. Sound is great (digital Dolby Pro-Logic) although I am waiting for my Denon AVR-2700 receiver so I can finally experience Dolby Digital. Also, there was a great review in the July/August issue of Home Theater. Having shopped for a couple of week for a DVD player, the Samsung is definitely the best bang for the buck!

I bought this unit at Best Buy for $220 (I've seen it there between $200 and $250). Even though I returned it a couple days later, I would say the player is a tremendous bargain. Compared with my hi-fi Sony VCR and Pioneer laserdisc player, the picture quality was even better than I expected. The sound quality in Pro Logic mode was also noticeably better than I get from my VCR or laserdisc player. The only discs I played on the player were 2 rented discs, both of which did not seem scratched or damaged at all: Top Gun and Rounders. Performance of the Top Gun disc was flawless, and the sound was outstanding even in Pro Logic. The Rounders disc gave the player a little trouble-- the video froze for a split-second on 5 or 6 occasions. This was what prompted me to return the player. So far I have not bought anything else. It appears that the problems I noticed on this unit are minor in comparison to the "glitches" that other brands and models of DVD players are exhibiting. This is disappointing since most manufacturers are now producing "third-generation" players. Even for the great price of $220, I did not want a player in my home theater with problems, so I took it back and am trying to decide what to do next.
Compared to the other DVD players in the $350-and-under price category, I don't see anything that comes close to the Samsung's excellent value. True, it lacks component video outputs and doesn't have both a coaxial and an optical digital audio output, but people shopping in this price class probably won't care. I found the remote pretty good, although the joystick is a little finicky. Overall the remote seems better than some of the remotes that accompany other budget players (e.g. Panasonic DVD-A120, Toshiba SD-2109). The menu system was fairly easy to use and the on-screen displays were pleasing to the eye.

Just picked this player up at Best Buy for $197. It has a lot of features for the price. I love the zoom. The picture quality is great, and it plays all of my disks (including all double layer). You can't go wrong for the price.

Got the Samsung 709 at best buy for 224.00. I noticed when I played dual layered cd's it skips alot. I thought maybe it was the movie. Tried it in a different DVD player and no problems. Well I liked the player so much I decided to take it back and exchange it for another one of the same model. Brought it home and played my dual layer movies. This time it skipped even more. Sorry Samsung but thats makes me very unhappy with your product. Took it back and got A Sony DVD player. Alot better. I would give the Samsung DVD 709 player five stars but the skipping was driving me crazy. I give it 2 1/2 stars.

I bought the 709 on the theory that two or three generations from now I would be dissatisfied with the higher end models that are available today. For the price, I expected nothing more than a utilitarian model that will allow me to cut my teeth on DVDs. In two or three years, I envision the 709 to be a competent back-up player. The 709 has lived up to my expectations, which weren't very high to begin with. Without the benefit of another player to compare the 709 to, I would rate the picture and sound quality as excellent. Yes, I have experienced some sporadic skipping. On one movie (Babe, Pig in the City) it was pretty annoying - other than that, it has been a minor inconvenience on about 1/3 of the movies I have watched. If I was still in my 30-day trial period, I might consider taking the player back - but it sounds like other low-end players have their share of problems, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money on an entry level player at this point. Overall, I have no regrets.

I SHOULD CLAIRFY WHEN I SAY THIS MACHINE WONT PLAY DUAL LAYERED DISKS I MEAN IT WILL PLAY SOME, BUT WONT PLAY THEM ALL. IT WILL START PLAYING THE MOVIE FINE BUT WHEN IT COMES TIME FOR THE MACHINE TO CHANGE FROM LAYER 1 TO THE SECOND LAYER IT WILL BEGIN TO SKIP OR AT WORST JUST FREEZE UP. YOU CAN FIND THE POINT THAT THE DISK CHANGES FROM LAYER 1 TO LAYER 2 AT SOME OF THE DVD REVIEW SITES , WWW.DVDFREAK.COM COMES TO MIND, OR WWW.DVDAUTHORITY.COM.ANY OF THE OTHER PLAYERS WOULD BE A BETTER CHOICE , I CAN ATTEST THE PIONEER,PANASONIC,SONY TOSHIBIA ARE ALL BETTER CHOICES. GOOD LUCK !

I bought the Samsung two weeks ago and took it back a few days ago. The picture quality was great, sound quality was great, and I really enjoyed the remote, but I did notice some skipping on two movies. That combined with some reviews indicating that it could get worse and my own gut instict that I could get a player with better downconversion abilities motivated me to exchange the Samsung for a Panasonic A120U, which I have been thrilled with. I would also like to say that I had *no* problems playing dual-layer discs, not even a degradation in picture quality. Also, after exchanging the player, I discovered that the skipping on one of the movies occurs on any player that I try.So, although I couldn't really recommend this player is your one-and-only, I myself would buy it again as a second player or bedroom player if the price were under $200. As is, I feel there are too many players in the same price range that boast a large enough increase in quality to justify their purchase.

At the current price, I give it three and one half speakers (rounded to three). If the price goes under $200 soon, I'll give it four.

BUY IT
Picture is A1, the analog sound I can't really comment on as mine goes through a prologic amp.

The coment re not playing dual layers is just plane wrong, mine does it flawlessly