Avatar won't Play

[punisher]

first reports coming in from owners of Pioneer 51 players unable to watch Avatar ..even with the latest firmware.....

no longer have one but do have an elite 23fd..but don't have Avatar as yet

anyone else having or hearing of issues with this Fox release?

[Jables]

It's hard for players to play something that isn't out yet.

[thebatman355]

some stores have gotten avatar early.
punisher.. you got a link about the problem?

Jacob

[Cochise]

some stores have gotten avatar early.
punisher.. you got a link about the problem?

Jacob

AVSforum

I was able to buy a copy of Avatar today and guess what!!??? It won't play, even with the 1.39 firmware update. I called Pioneer this afternoon and they're aware of the problem. The CSR said they're real busy and he didn't indicate when the new firmware that'll let me play this disc will be released. Time to get a PS3.

(I know, I know, Avatar isn't coming out until the 22nd. But I do have it.)

For a release as big as Avatar I'm sure Fox used the latest BD+ encryption they could and possibly a net set AACS keys, it wouldn't surprise me if several player models have problems with it - although the Pioneer BDP51 seems to have more than their share is playback issues.

[BostonMA]

if it's not playing in a Pionner then i'll bet it won't be playing in Samsung players which are the shittiest pieces of shit ever created.

[Cochise]

if it's not playing in a Pionner then i'll bet it won't be playing in Samsung players which are the shittiest pieces of shit ever created.

My Samsung 2500 has been rock solid, but it does seem to be one of the most hated players on the AVSforums. I sometimes wonder if I have a Home Theater Guardian Angel looking out for me, as I also have the most hated player on the AVSforum, the LG BH200, and it's also been rock solid for me - been watching the LOTR French Steelbook region B locked release this week, and playback has been perfect.

[BostonMA]

My Samsung 2500 has been rock solid, but it does seem to be one of the most hated players on the AVSforums. I sometimes wonder if I have a Home Theater Guardian Angel looking out for me, as I also have the most hated player on the AVSforum, the LG BH200, and it's also been rock solid for me - been watching the LOTR French Steelbook region B locked release this week, and playback has been perfect.

haha wow that's great for you, you truly must have an angel over your shoulder. i own the the early (i believe first) Samsung 1000 and i've had endless problems with it. the player used to take 3 or 4 tries of hitting the open button until it fully opened up. now, it takes 20-40, and i've decided to always leave it on now, by keeping some disc in the player and putting it at the menu so it won't shut off. i should've gotten a nice one back at the Black Friday sale. now i'll have to wait 7 more months.

[Cochise]

haha wow that's great for you, you truly must have an angel over your shoulder. i own the the early (i believe first) Samsung 1000 and i've had endless problems with it. the player used to take 3 or 4 tries of hitting the open button until it fully opened up. now, it takes 20-40, and i've decided to always leave it on now, by keeping some disc in the player and putting it at the menu so it won't shut off. i should've gotten a nice one back at the Black Friday sale. now i'll have to wait 7 more months.

I was going to sit out the format war, but reports of that Samsung 1000 (and early BD movie releases) led me to go ahead and buy a first gen HD DVD player.

The next model Samsung, the 1200 was also really buggy. And the Samsung 1400 was the shortest lived player ever in my home theater - 1 night. It had some bug that if you paused a movie for more than a few minutes when you pressed Play, it would read the disc all over again as if you'd just inserted the disc. I was watching some Lionsgate BD, so it would take forever to read the disc, then the annoying Lionsgate logo, then manually skip through a half dozen forced trailers, use Scene Selection to find where I'd left off - 5 minutes of work to resume where I had paused the freakin' movie to let the dogs out or fix a drink. The third time it did it I threw the remote at the player and called it quits.

I kind of ended up with the 2500 by accident, and was surprised I liked it so much, and kept it.

[BostonMA]

I was going to sit out the format war, but reports of that Samsung 1000 (and early BD movie releases) led me to go ahead and buy a first gen HD DVD player.

The next model Samsung, the 1200 was also really buggy. And the Samsung 1400 was the shortest lived player ever in my home theater - 1 night. It had some bug that if you paused a movie for more than a few minutes when you pressed Play, it would read the disc all over again as if you'd just inserted the disc. I was watching some Lionsgate BD, so it would take forever to read the disc, then the annoying Lionsgate logo, then manually skip through a half dozen forced trailers, use Scene Selection to find where I'd left off - 5 minutes of work to resume where I had paused the freakin' movie to let the dogs out or fix a drink. The third time it did it I threw the remote at the player and called it quits.

I kind of ended up with the 2500 by accident, and was surprised I liked it so much, and kept it.

yeah i also learned to wait things out after spending $600 and $500 on the Samsung and the T HD-A2 players....i guess i learned a lot with this format (GoNY in the Minority Report thread). i wasn't alive for the VHS/Betamax or the Cassete/8-track so this was the thing that broke me through.

that's a really funny story, and i had a similar issue with Watchmen, and unfortunately still do. that's good that your particular player works greatly. i hope my next one does the same.

[Landy]

I find it peculiar that some stores already have Avatar, but reviewers have received confirmation that screeners won't be shipped until the actual release date. Something smells fishy, so I hope the video and audio aren't a letdown.

[Brewc]

Watched this last night, female friend works at a vidoe store and she brought it over, I didn't see it in theaters lot of WOW for me. I will be buying this!

[BostonMA]

I find it peculiar that some stores already have Avatar, but reviewers have received confirmation that screeners won't be shipped until the actual release date. Something smells fishy, so I hope the video and audio aren't a letdown.

if that happens to be the case it'll be too funny.

[punisher]

a humorous post from the AVSforum


"Don't you know that even if you receive it early, it will NOT play before April 22nd ?
Ingenious programming if you ask me ! "

[Philnerd]

Still waiting on Avatar, but I'd like to add that I actually put a BD-P1400 in the trash two weeks ago. Unbelievably frequent hardware failures on those models, and the software wasn't exactly outstanding either. My cheapo Sylvanias have been rock solid though.

I'll have to test Avatar in our various players this week, I hope Fox didn't slip a disc on the industry that's going to require mass firmware updates.

[FLTWS]

This doesn't surprise me, I pre-ordered Avatar from Amazon, I noticed yesterday that there's an update to the firmware for my Sony S300 from 5.20 (released 11/09) to 5.30, so I'm pretty confident that I'll get the disc and have to wait 10 to 14 days for the firmware update disc before I can watch the movie. It's happened to me numerous times since getting involved with Blu-ray and I was an early adopter. It also seems required updates may coincide when major "blockbuster" releases occur.

Yea I know, burn an image disc: I've read that if not done properly the unit can be screwed up with the only option being to send it in for repair service, I'm not comfortable doing it.

Internet hookup: not practical in my rented condo.

Wireless: no need/use other than updating firmware.

Oh well.

I must also note however, Sony has always responded promptly to my requests for update firmware discs, all the way back to 2. something.