Samsung delivering botched firmware updates to HT-BD1250 owners, twice

Ever since the tail end of September, owners of the Samsung HT-BD1250 Blu-ray player + HTIB combo have apparently been afflicted by at least two firmware updates that promised new features but instead left many owners staring at only a display flashing "Load" and otherwise unresponsive hardware. If you've already picked up one of these, living without Blockbuster, YouTube and PC Media Streaming access is advisable, as the 2.07 and 2.12 updates appear to be the source of the problems, leaving owners waiting up to several weeks in some cases for repaired hardware to come back their way. Worse yet, according to come posters in the CNET Forums thread, customer service has been slow to pick up the tab for shipping, as if two straight problematic updates weren't bad enough. Ultimately, you may want to look past this one until things are straightened out, or at least for a unit with more (read: any) HDMI inputs.

[Thanks, Jarrett]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 16th 2009 1:58PM]

I experienced this last Friday. The woman on the service hotline of Samsung kind of blamed me for braking it myself, by telling me that I should never have install new firmware if nothing was broken... It does not make sense. The device asked me to update! She promised me they would get back to me for a repair within 3-5 b days (after which I would probablt have to wait 10wks+ to get the player back). The tone was that it was my fault and that I should be gratefull that they were willing to repair it... crazy.

The HT-BD1250 is a nice set, but this move ruins their reputation. Indeed better not update the firmware untill you really have to.

[Jeff Kibuule Posted Nov 16th 2009 3:07PM]

And the moral of the story is not to buy HTIBs!

[rqs007 Posted Nov 16th 2009 3:02PM]

Wow, I almost bought one this weekend. I guess I'll wait on the price for the HDMI input model to fall and get it instead.

[funkyp56 Posted Nov 16th 2009 2:14PM]

Bah this doesnt bother me. By the time I get one after Black friday I bet it will all be fixed. I feel bad for the people who dont know what they are doing. My biggest reasons for getting this device:

2 Optical inputs
Netflix Pandora
iPod hook up

Find me another HTIB that does all that and I am sold. otherwise I am getting this!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 16th 2009 2:52PM]

This is only one of the reasons why I won't touch anything Samsung makes with a ten-foot pole.

[besi Posted Nov 16th 2009 11:45PM]

whoever doing these updates are idiots,sony,samsung......

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 17th 2009 10:49AM]

I had the same idiot lady on the phone. Telling me I should not have updated the firmware unless I was experiencing problems. Guess their employees aren't very up to speed on blu-ray.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 17th 2009 11:44AM]

Yeah, I had the same problems last week. The device is worthless at the moment, it is displaying "LOAD" only. It's unbelievable that the firmware upgrade is still available and hasn't been removed yet by Samsung :-(

[irod87 Posted Nov 17th 2009 10:46PM]

I have had this happen to a couple of units. Recently I firmware updated and all it left me with was youtube...No Pandora, Netflix or Blockbuster. No fix yet.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2009 12:52AM]

What about an update for weak sound, and freezing multiple times and shutting itself down??? lol, Blu-ray HTIB Piece of......

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 18th 2009 8:56PM]

This is exactly why no one should purchase a Samsung bluray devise. The flat out can't get it right and continue to test products and firmware on the consumer base. I had a BDP2550 bluray player that there firmware bricked twice. The second time I had to pay since it was out of warranty. Then it broke again. Now its in the garage waiting for an electronics recycling day and Samsung has lost a customer.

[besi Posted Nov 19th 2009 12:58AM]

thats why i always telling my friends,do research before buying electronics and dont buy cheap shit HTIB.go with separates.-for bluray ps3 is still the best buy .
get a receiver (onkyo,denon,pioneer,yamaha.......)
for speakers(klipsch,polk,......) and ur good to go.
look around,cragslist,ebay...
get reviews from-avsforum.com,hometheatermag.com....

[funkyp56 Posted Dec 4th 2009 11:11AM]

update: still at 2.07 firmware on the website. most still are not upgrading.

[funkyp56 Posted Dec 9th 2009 5:10PM]

Help build the database about this issue!

http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.html?messageID=3194353#3194353