Blu-ray Disc™ Player with Wireless Internet Apps

Customer Reviews

it s a very nice playes i love it!! Review by alan

I just got this player and is one of the most wonderful products, but the only trouble is the remote control,

(Posted on 8/5/12)

Please give us Hulu Plus Review by PH

I thing my VIZIO VBR231 blue ray player is great except it does not have Hulu Plus like other VIZIO products. If a firmware update with Hulu Plus was sent out, this player would go from good to outstanding.

VIZIO if you are reading this PLEASE give us Hulu Plus....

(Posted on 3/11/12)

Remote difficult Review by kimo358

The player works great and the preloaded apps are good. The remote control is something else though. It's hard to push all the buttons and noisey. Other than that it's a good player for the price. The only other issue I see is that it's not upgradeable to other apps that stream videos or am I mistaken. Should be able to add other streaming companies other than vudu, netflix and blockbuster.

(Posted on 2/10/12)

Love the picture quality Review by rsb

I love the picture quality and the sound we get when we watch movies. I wish that I could get the following firmware updates:

Youtube
Hulu plus

Remote control is hard to push, but overall I love the way it plays movies.

(Posted on 1/11/12)

For $139 (Costco) nothing compares. I would like a few modes however. Review by gradyzero

The device connected to my 100 Mbps Wi-Fi DOCSIS 3.0 gateway flawlessly. (Motorola Surfboard™ SBG6850 using WPS). Speed test shows no problem with 1080p, The DOCSIS 3.0 specifications provides for up to 145 Mbps over 802.11/n. So I assume the device is n capable even though the n spec is still in the proposal stage. The other issue which I have yet to try is its ability to connect to an ad hoc Wi-Fi not just and infrastructure Wi-Fi. If it won't do ad hoc, fix it quick, because with the roll out of so called "4G" mobile networks" people will want to use their cell phones as a Wi-Fi router if they are stuck on a DSL connection at 6-10 Mbps.
1. It needs a Web browser, Firefox while not my favorite, minus all plugins, could be nice, it is Open Source as it came from now defunct Netscape™ and is free under the GNU license. However, disable the browsers ability to download except to a USB device, and then add a virus and adware/malware checker for protection. Again, Source Forge provides many Open Source virus checkers for Linux under the GNU license. Once again, no cost to Vizio beyond code sharing. AVG provides a free one, probably the best on the market.
2. The ability to connect to other LAN devices using for example SMB mounts for a Windows PC would be nice. Since in many cases our PC and Macs have accumulated 10s of thousands of music and video files over the years. Those without DRM should be streamable over the LAN just and the WAN. The absence of this is ability in the top end device is almost a crime. I assume the underlying OS is Linux so the codecs are freely available with no licensing cost. Ffshow and Source Forge both provide codecs for most every video and audio format in common use today at no cost. You need to be able to render, WMV, H.264, MPEG, MPEG-4, MP4, M4P, SLV, FLV, MOV and QuickTime video and MP3, WMA, and VOB, DivX, M3P, and wave WAV. On second thought, why not just build in the Open Source Classic Media Player available from Source forge, it comes with all of these audio and video codecs.
3. Add the Silverlight™ and Macromedia™ (now Adobe™) Flash™ plugin for the browser. The client side plugins are available free for the Linux platform. There is hundreds of HD streaming channels on the Internet that are free or almost free and your current device limits its use to only a few source, all which cost money. I cannot even watch my own .WMV video collection through it. Where is YouTube? Even Direct TV streams YouTube now. Where is HBO to GO, Where is HuLu? My company is in the process of launching an HD TV Music Station that will cost $1.00 per month.
4. A file browser that is capable of browsing a USB Thumb Drive or even larger USB device such as a Maxtor One Touch hard drives. Auto mount and USB storage device to the mnt folder upon plugin to the USB port as R/O. This would prevent using these devices from use as a capture device for copyrighted material.
5. The remote control is lousy. The buttons are hard to push. They stick. The thing is almost very black and gets lost in a dark room easily. Which really doesn’t matter because you cannot read anything on it without light and a magnifying glass anyway? Needs some work, again leave out the Blu-ray drive and you can spend more on the remote. One nice feature is that it does also control my Vizio TV. Which IMHO are the best made HD Televisions on the market in spite of their lower cost.
With the addition of these 5 items, you will have created the world’s first, user expandable, home media center for under $ 150. Oh, while you are at it you might even leave out the Blu-Ray drive to cover the cost for the new development, nobody is going to use it any way when the prerecorded movies cost $ 60 and you can stream them from Vudu ™ for $6. DirecTV™ and Comcast™ also now provide software for the Windows ™ and the Linux (Android©) platform that can stream directly to the Linux based device assuming it has the CPU and GPU power to handle it. If not, consider the Tegra ™ as an inexpensive and very small footprint video rendering GPU engine. Of course, in this review I have just invented your next new product. The Vizio™ Expandable Home Media Center. Please notify me when it is available.
I will be waiting on your new ROM flash for the BR-213 or better yet the new device w/o the $70 Blu-ray™ disk player. If not we will just have to build a custom ROM for it at xda developers®. I need a new xda ROM project after the Taboonay 2.2 ROM my team built to replace Acer's “not ready for prime time” Android® 3.2 stock ROM on the Ionia Tab® A500.

(Posted on 11/12/11)

fair Review by dante

horrible remote control unit. Sound quality has to be adjusted to almost high volume compared to Vizio tv control.

Customer Service EXCELLENT

(Posted on 10/7/11)

Good player, only minor issues Review by Chekkaaa

Well, it's my first Blu-ray player, so I don't have much to compare it to. It works well. The internet was easy to set up with Wifi Protected Setup, and I LOVE the Netflix app.

The only problems I've had are minor:
1. The picture gets really dark randomly while watching movies and stays like that for a few minutes, then goes back to normal. Annoying, but not a dealbreaker. I'm assuming this is the "screensaver" function. If so, it's horribly broken. Why would I want the screen to darken in the middle of a movie? It really should only do that only when it's paused for a long period of time or something.
2. The firmware update removed the ability to connect via a wireless connection, requiring a wired connection. However, this was fixed by resetting the player back to the factory defaults.

(Posted on 9/12/11)

Everything works good Review by bdwilson

This VBR231 has been working fine. The remote seems cheap hard to press buttons yet the player it self has sensor buttons. Netflix is my only issue. The interface needs a search by movie title option. All my other devices have a search by title option. I do not like just browsing netflix and not being able to see everything unless I queue it up on the computer. I hope the next update will add Netflix search by title name.

(Posted on 9/12/11)

Works great! Review by Zach

I like it a lot. Since its wireless I have it hooked up in the bedroom and thats why I bought it. Wireless works great. Remote does kinda suck as other people said in the sense that its hard to press the buttons but the upside of that is that my son likes to press buttons and he can with that remote. All it needs is two things in my opinion....Hulu Plus as I think a lot of people are leaving their cable companies lately and the other is a sleep timer. If it had those two things, it would be perfect.

(Posted on 9/1/11)

Works great, but small hiccup... Review by kmb48

The VBR231 is great. The interface is intuitive, and it was easy to get up and running. The only hiccup we had was after the first firmware update. The data downloaded fine, but after the install and automatic restart, I no longer had a wireless connection option. The only option displayed was for an ethernet connection. The problem was resolved after I went into the Settings and reset everything (including the activated connections) back to the factory defaults. My wireless network magically reappeared, and we were up and running. I have since downloaded the most recent update, and after the restart, everything worked normally. The player connected to the wireless network automatically, and we were up and running...

Overall, can't beat the the value, and I would have to recommend it...

(Posted on 8/8/11)

everything but the remote Review by rich

my review is simple and short: we love everything but the remote! the buttons are hard to push on the remote and it does not respond quickley and it makes you frustrated otherwise it was great!!! i give it 4 thumbs up and if it werent for the remote i would give it five!

(Posted on 7/2/11)

Wireless Connection Review by purpltaz27

For anyone who has to reconnect the wireless every time you power on, try resetting to your factory default settings to wipe out all wireless networks. After the firmware update, I was having this issue because I had two "saved" networks and it couldn't decide which one to connect to. After clearing it, it connects every time now. Takes about 10 seconds after power-up.

Overall, highly recommended. Minor problems were fixed with the latest firmware update. Since we don't have cable, this gets treated almost like a cable box since we utilize Netflix on a daily basis.

(Posted on 5/31/11)

Reliable, but could use a few enhancements Review by TheManster

4 out of 5 stars
For the price, no other company can touch this, especially with this unit having built in w-fi. Out of the box I could not get it to work wireless, and was about to give up. I hooked it up with a cable, upgraded the firmware and now it works like a champ.

Some things I hope will be included with future firmware updates:
-Youtube
-Blockbuster On Demand
-avi, divx, mkv, mp4, wma support off disc and USB
-Fix the Weather App to remember my location (Zip Code)

(Posted on 5/18/11)

good piece of machine Review by jb

the remote is worst thats all the player is perpect 10 just the remote is hard to press and to slow to response

(Posted on 4/28/11)

Excellent Review by Okieplantdr

Great player. Great price. Easy setup.
For all of you that are trying updates , forget it. Not needed. Go to Vudu icon and you will see all the other internet apps!!! NYTimes, Picasso, Twitter, Facebook, Weather, flickr, AP, Wikipedia and Stock Tracker.

(Posted on 4/10/11)

A wonderful blu-ray player! Review by wigglebritches

I bought this blu-ray player last November at Costco. After months of use, I am still completely satisfied with it. The price with built-in wireless capability was about the same as other blu-ray players without that feature. And it works perfectly. We have 4 foster kids (7, 5, 3, 1), and we use it extensively to stream children's movies through Netflix. The connection never goes out. And we have no problem playing DVD's. I'm so glad we bought this model.

(Posted on 3/20/11)

Good Equipment Review by Sparky

All the positive statements of others are confirmed. The player performs very well and when the price is considered nothing else is better.
...but the updates applied to my Vizio Internet TV should also be available to the player.
For example the player still uses the original Netflix programing while the TV has been updated to a much more modern format.

(Posted on 3/15/11)

Cost effective wonderful Purchase from Costco Review by Stu

Easy to connect with my MAC computer using "air port express". Loved VuDU, Pandora, and trial run with Netflix.
My fingers hurt with the Remote..First product with VIZIO..

Connected to my Home Theater system...Fantastic sound.. Great BUY..so far I am pleased!..just the REMOTE...ill survive????!

(Posted on 3/8/11)

Easy set up; beautiful picture! Review by Renee_M

Overall very pleased with my purchase. Very reasonably priced and amazing picture whether playing standard DVD, bluray, or streaming! I do agree with the reviews of the remote...you must push down very hard on the buttons... not smooth at all. The touch screen on the player itself is amazing, so it's hard to believe they couldn't have included a better, user friendly remote. I also agree that more paperwork could have been included with the player itself. I found myself looking for additional paperwork...ie: full user guide. Did stumble across the full user guide when registering my bluray. Still searching on information on how to update the firmware... if anyone can point me in that direction, that'd be great! (I get an error code when I try to update from the settings menu on the player itself.)
Thanks,
Renee_M

(Posted on 3/7/11)

Great player, except... Review by bendini

After buying the Vizio Internet TV and seeing the quality first hand, I went looking for a Blu Ray player. After owning a Samsung DVD player with a USB port in the front, I opted for the VIZIO VBR231 player....Set up is very fast. There are only two things that could be better: 1-Front Display to indicate track/time
2-Allow to play AVI, DVIX movies from the USB port.
All in all, great player for a great price.

(Posted on 3/2/11)

Excellent buy Review by Bluey

I shopped around for devices to stream movies from Netfilx for quite some time, with the intent of either eliminating or reducing my Dish Network bill. The issue was we were paying a lot of money for premium channels that we rarely watched on the off chance that something new would be there that we hadn't seen before. Streaming on demand seemed a much more appealing and less expensive way to have this content.

Well, most devices I found could connect to the Netflix instant queue but could not browse Netflix and add to the queue, which meant reliance on a PC to do that. A few devices did do both, but most were over priced. It boiled down to either Roku or Vizio for a reasonable priced quality device.

Well I kept comparing and biding my time and one day I saw this model on close out in Sam's Club, marked down from $134 to $104. They only had the display model left so I was able to pick it up for a further 20% off making my purchase $83.00 even.

It works as advertised and meets my needs fully as anticipated. I also was a breeze to setup, even the Wi-Fi connection was simple. I do not have duel band but even so the streaming is seamless and the image quality faultless. I would recommend the Vizio VBR231 and other Vizio products using the Vizio Internet Apps to anyone who is looking for quality on demand internet video streaming that is fully featured and value for money.

My only negative is as many will tell you, is the remote. It definitely is very clunky (buttons really click hard when pressed) and light wait. If Vizio read these my recommendation would be for them to spend the few extra dollars to produce better remotes. But even having said that, I do not regret my purchase, I can live with a clunky remote to have a device that suites all my needs. besides I have enough other remotes around and can always program them if I want.

Definitely an excellent buy!!!!

(Posted on 2/27/11)

Great Blu-Ray! Review by Bob

Set up was very fast and have enjoyed all aspects of the player. One question, will my player be able to add other apps? Like Hulu Plus? Maybe in an update?

(Posted on 2/21/11)

Love it... Wish it had Blockbuster though! Review by krud

We love this product. the Netflix works great. But I prefer Blockbuster's website and being able to build a movie list of movies that aren't available yet so I dont forget about them when they finally do come out. We need an update for this so that we can have Blockbuster!!!!

(Posted on 2/19/11)

Excellent Review by AGriff

Excellent product!!! Very pleased with ease of installation and quality of poduct. It took about 5 mins to hookup to Tv and wireless internet with the quick install guide. The picture is Awesome! I would recommend to buy this.

(Posted on 2/4/11)

WOW! Great Buy! Review by Lexuses71

I'm an older guy, I just rennovated my home, added WiFi and a Vizio 55" flat screen in my family room along with Yamaya 7.1 Surround A/V Rcvr. Had a professional Home Theatre outfit wire everything up behind a custom cabinet. My best bud sang the praises of BluRay, and he knows how much I love movies so I recently jumped the shark and bought this model.

Laord Have Mercy! This unit was the best money I could have spent. It has the wireless adaptor built in. As others have said, many of the other mfrs. charge a significant ly higher price for including the adaptor. So this was an excellent buy.

Yes, the remote is clunky a bit and yes, you do have t push hard on th buttons. I solved that issue by adding a Logitech touch screen remote which eliminates all my other remotes to the shelf. Easy hook up. The color and picture quality made my jaw drop. I was like a 5 yr old.

Today, I just activated the Netflix online subscription. Looking forward to watching the download time and breaking out some tasty Garrett's Carmel corn!

Highly recommend this unit. Dollar for dollar, it's one of the best on the market.

(Posted on 1/16/11)

Best value I could find Review by willi

Tried others. One of my sticking points was being able to browse Netflix in the BD menu. The absolute best I have seen is on my Wii, but the picture quality is lacking, the Vizio fixed that.

One wish, allow for search on netflix menu.

Otherwise, HDMI cable on an HD monitor is excellent and even more so with a BD.

Enjoy.

(Posted on 1/11/11)

Great quality products Review by ckf8687

I recently purchased this Blu-Ray player at Costco & I must say I literally set up the whole thing in 15 minutes....it was so easy, I also own the Sound Bar which is GREAT as well as a 42" Vizio Plasma from 2007....to this day I have not had any problems with any Vizio products....I would recommend highly their products...

(Posted on 1/4/11)

*******great************* Review by big c

just got me from sams club . setup was quick and simple. loads bluerays quick picture on my vizio tv is excellent. streaming netflix and loving it connection to internet when turning on player is just seconds. only complaint remote could be a little better quality. this is our 3rd vizio product and love them.keep up the good work

(Posted on 1/1/11)

Great Value Review by Mon

I just bought the VBR231 yesterday at Costco in Orlando, FL which is already WIFI Installed (no Adaptor needed) and I have to admit that I was surprised how easy it is to install and hook up and use right away. The downside is there is no user manual so you have to download the PDF manual online and the remote is not user friendly. If you are looking for facebook and other apps, you need to open Vudu and apply for their free $15 credit but you don't necessarily have to use Vudu right away, you just need to agree to it so you can avail of the other apps. I just wish you can use a keyboard as it is sort of difficult to use the remote when using facebook, etc but not really that bad.
This is so far much better and cheaper than Sony and Samsung. I am watching instant netflix now instead of on my computer so it is totally worth it. Great Job Vizio!!!

(Posted on 12/4/10)

OK so far Review by time2go

Purchased the VBR231 this week and setup went OK with the exception of the hard-wired ethernet connection. Can't get this feature to work or even recognize my internet connection. I have it set up on the wireless which is working well however I receive better throughput with the hardwired versus wireless. I've checked the connection with other hardwired devices and they work fine so I have to assume that it's a NIC issue especially since I returned the original purchase and have the same issue with the second player.

Save some time and purchase a Logitech remote as the remote that came with the unit is not very easy to operate. It takes a very heavy hand to operate the buttons and you'll work your fingers off trying to register the unit as well as to sign up for all the Internet apps.

I have the same issues with the remote for the Vizio LED TV I purchased at the same time as the player.

Other than these small gripes the player works flawlessly and I am listening to Pandora as I type.

(Posted on 11/30/10)

Good Value Player Review by kmiller112

I've had this player for about a month now - purchased from Costco. Have found it to be a good player for the price - pretty quick loading times and good quality video.

The only issue that I've found which is driving me crazy is that I have to go through the process of establishing the wireless connection every time I turn the player on - it doesn't connect automatically. It at least saves the password, but doesn't establish the connection automatically as the manual says it will.

(Posted on 11/26/10)

works beautifully, set up was easy Review by PassatDoc

I bought this unit at Costco after a three year old DVD bit the dust. Since I already had a [Vizio] HDTV, naturally I wanted the next player to be Blu Ray to take advantaged of the tv's HD capabilities. I was familiar with mail-order Netflix, but was oblivious to existence of streaming Netflix. The Costco manager explained that most of the players in the $125-150 price point needed an adapter ($70-80) to connect via WiFi, except for the Vizio which had built in WiFi. The other players (Sony, Samsung) with built-in WiFi cost $100-125 more.

Although I later downloaded the PDF user manual for future reference, I set up the player intuitively without using a manual or quick start guide. I simply connected the HDMI cable to the tv and was off and running. WiFi connection worked the same as using a laptop in a wireless environment: when you navigate to "connect to network", you see the available wireless connections, click on your home wireless network, enter security code, and you're connected. The only glitch is that the manual says that the player will connect "automatically" after an initial connection is made. I find that my player does remember the security code, but I still have to manually select the network and hit "connect" each time I use Netflix. I may be doing something wrong and will check with tech support.

I have a "n" Belkin wireless router which works fine. No need to upgrade to a dual band in my case. The remote control was a bit cheesy: the "play/pause" button is a large, raised silver button, and the decal with the play/pause markings rubbed off within a week. Otherwise, the remote works fine, and as a bonus, it can operate some functions of my Vizio HDTV (volume up/down, and mute, but cannot control tv power).

One oddity: I initially used my existing HDMI cable (used to connect the old DVD player to the tv) which came with my Vizio HDTV. I got a "no signal" error code. I then tried the HDMI cable included with the player and it worked. I had thought all HDMI cables were the same, perhaps there are differences. (the old cable was not defective, however, I tried switching it to the cable tv box output to tv and it worked fine).

I rented a BluRay disk and picture was phenominal. Even my standard DVDs seem to look better vs. my old player, which supposedly upconverted to 1080p and was connected via HDMI.

All in all, an amazing value for the price paid. I was so happy with streaming Netflix that I downgraded my cable subscription to just the basic 72 channels plus the basic 30 HD channels, thereby saving $25/month. Vizio purchasers can sign up for Netflix unlimited (mail-order plus streaming) service for $8/month, a discount over the normal $10/month.

(Posted on 11/20/10)

Good value for $$ Review by mtbdudex

5 days into use, I've watched 2 Blu-Rays; Movie Cars and TV Series Firefly, both loaded within 20-ish seconds max, possible less.
No, not slow and seemed just as fast if not faster than my PS3 in the basement HT. I'm connected WiFi n also.
Was sick yesterday, stayed home, I took some pictures of the menus/remote and will post them here.

Tell ya, so far I'm very happy. Bought 2, opened 1 for now while putting thru the test phase.

I opened up the 2nd player and its in full use in my family room as well.
Very satisfied with this player, great value for $$, and with ##### I'm so comfortable with this purchase if for any reason to return.

My father in-law and brother bought one from ##### after seeing how mine performed this past weekend.

My rough cold start up time avg = off to screen displayed 25-ish seconds
That includes each time turn on it connects to wi-fi network time.

load blu ray to full menu = very quick, on par with my basement PS3, maybe 20-25 seconds, not more than that.

I have NO issue with recommending this to others.

Full review here http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19452461#post19452461

(Posted on 11/18/10)

Vizio Dual Band Router a Plus Review by Dinogeek1

Getting this unit to connect is no problem. However getting it to connect in HD Mode is another. Most N+ Routers aren't Suited tp handle the Bandwidth that HD demands.

After trying several brands, the Vizio Dual Band Router gave both Blazing Fast User Network Access & HD Quality each on its' own Subnet. Router Placement was/is Critica, since having many Walls is a Bad Thnig but, placing in the Atticwill give you neighborhood coverage.

(Posted on 11/11/10)

Absolutely outstanding value Review by Obimatt87

I finally jumped into the Blu-Ray generation with the purchase of this player and a 55" Vizio LCD TV. Wow. I'm a total tech geek who is used to long set-up times due to clunky procedures. As many have noted on this site and others, Vizio takes the "Why make it hard?" approach and set-up could not have been any easier. This player instantly (and I mean instantly) recognized my wireless-n network and I was up and running in minutes. The cool thing is that I bought a bargain 55" TV with no built-in internet apps, saving money with slightly older tech, but knew this had the apps, so am able to have the best of both worlds. A new 55", 1080p TV with blu-ray player, wireless streaming and more for a total of $1139? Yeah, I'm in. Bottom line: It just worked.

I had never used a streaming movie source before, so was curious how well it would do, particularly at high-def. People have lauded Vudu's service, so watched a movie at the HDX setting. Wow. It worked perfectly with my internet service. Only stopped to buffer one brief 3-sec moment and that was it for the whole 2 hours. No stutters, nothing. This is the future of home movie rentals for sure.

Last notes: I agree with HippyG on two points he raised: The remote is effective and easy enough to use, but you do have to push the buttons pretty hard and could be better executed. I also had the cardstock feature ad stuck to mine when I unpacked it and it took me a good while to get all that glue gunk off. Not sure why they didn't use some of the silicone-based glue that just peels off. That was just annoying, especially since that ad is really just intended for an in-store display.

Bottom line is that I am sold on Vizio. I've followed the reviews for the last two years and those who actually buy Vizio by a WIDE margin give their products really great reviews. I'm now among those and will continue to buy. Looking at their wireless router and another TV now as we approach Christmas... Awesome!

(Posted on 11/8/10)

Great P;ayer Review by Ditt

This Player is easy to set up and is Great playing Would suggest to any one to buy this player and Not spend money elsewhere..

(Posted on 10/24/10)

Good Review by HippyG

Just bought my second one of these, when connecting to my dual band N router, this box screams the Netflix movies over, NetFlix works the same way as the Wii, you can press the up button and select from a few hundred movies to watch, you can also add to your instant queue from a PC. Very impressive. Pandora is also exceptional with no problems.

While other companies charge $50-$80 for a wireless adapter, Vizio give us a freebie, and the setup was super easy.

Plays well, took a quick contact to customer support to find the other Internet Apps, they're under the Vudu icon. Ok, not ideal (a manual would've been nice), but really, who accesses Facebook from a BluRay player anyway?

Remote seems a little clunky, but it's functional.

You'll also need some glue remover, both my units arrived with an attached piece of cardboard to the top, almost like a display model to let us know about the features, removing that card left a sticky residue. Not a deal breaker, but some people may find it annoying.

Bottom line, It's solid, I've had no real issues with it, if Vizio include some better documentation this could be one of the years best Blu Ray players.

(Posted on 10/19/10)

Great Wireless DVD player Review by Kerry

Just received our VBR231 purchased from LSC Warehouse on the web. Installation was a piece of cake from start to finish. I am using the HDMI port through a 3 port switch as our tv has only one HDMI port and it's also used for our cable tv box. Netflix works great through the wireless connection to our 802.11G DSL router. Nice product .

(Posted on 10/16/10)

5 stars!!! Review by Sal

5 stars for sure! I bought this player at Sams Club for a killer price. Compared to ALL THE OTHER TOP NAME BRANDS THIS PLAYER IS THE BEST!!! more features and the ease of set up was a no brainer. The wifi basically set itself up pluged it in and followed the Quick start guide and bam -- done!! And what a great picture!! I could go on but no need to-- go buy this player before they relize it's $100 to cheap!!

(Posted on 9/27/10)

just perfect! Review by sanjay4real

Just recently picked up the Vizio VBR231 from BJ's
This is my first blu-ray player and was glad to see the I was able to watch the Avatar Blu-Ray disc by just inserting it and playing, my friends have had to fiddle or update there non Vizio blu-ray players to make it work... works great!

(Posted on 9/19/10)

Better than others? Review by Cuthbertx

My wife had purchased me a different Blu-Ray player for my birthday. While we were waiting for it to arrive, we realized that we would need a Ethernet bridge just to get the wireless to work. We drove down to CostCO to see what other options they may have and we ran across this player. It had an excellent price, and it included the wireless built in. We purchased it there on the spot, and decided we would return the other player.

When I got home and opened the box I was pretty amazed just by the packaging. Very visually appealing and made it really feel like I was opening a really expensive blue-ray player. Set up was extremely easy, and connecting to my wifi at home was even easier. It only took about 5 minutes to get it set up and running properly on my TV and network.

We have been using the player now for about two months, and am very pleased with it. The only issue that we have with it, is if you watch Netflix on it for too long sometimes it will freeze up and you have to restart the box for it to work properly.

I would highly recommend this player to anyone, you can't beat it for the price and the features it offers.

(Posted on 9/6/10)

Best Netflix App Review by Vizio Fan

If you are a Netflix-aholic you will love the version of the Netflix App found on the VBR231.

I have used the latest models of Blue Ray Players from; Sony(3D model), Panasonic and Samsung(3D model). Their Netflix Apps are NOT as good as the Netflix App found on the Vizio VBR231.

When using the VBR231 Netflix App, while viewing your Instant Queue, press the UP button, then you can select other movie genre tabs, and select other suggested Movies to view. This is a great feature! I did not notice this feature right away because I have never seen this feature on other newer Blue Ray Players. With all other Blue Ray Players with Netflix App, you can ONLY watch Instant Queue movies that you selected on a computer online.

(Posted on 9/6/10)

Price and Performance Leader! Review by steveg_va

I purchased a Vizio VBR231 BD player at COSTCO a week ago. It was priced comparably with the big brand name players, but it was the only one that offered BUILT-IN WiFi (802.11n, to boot!). Setup of the wireless was easy, and I connected the first time to my wireless router. I have not dropped the connection since. Picture and sound quality are very good (I'd say excellent, though I have little objective standard to rate) via HDMI connection to my Denon AVR 1910, and thence to my Vizio 37" 1080i HDTV. The remote is not backlit, but I have already programed its functions into my Logitech Harmony One universal remote, so I rarely use it anyway (for those who might do likewise, be aware that "Return" on the Vizio remote is assigned to the "Exit" button on the Harmony One). I like the fact that it receives both Netflix and Pandora, though I already access them on my Roku box. But, this gives me another alternative, and I can report that the Vizio VBR231 player handles them well over WiFi.

My one complaint is that Vizio does not supply a User Manual with the player. At least there is a down loadable one here on their website (Support Tab). I had to consult it when I inserted a homemade DVD and did not hear any sound. The well-written User Manual explained the various audio settings, and when I switched from the PCM 7.1 default setting to Bitstream Mixed (I hope I am recalling correctly), the sound was perfect. But, there is no hint about this in the Quick Start Guide that ships with the unit. And, perhaps buried somewhere in the fine print, there is a note that directs the user to the website to download the User Manual, but I could not find it. I'd venture that several units will be returned because the purchaser did not know where to look for instructions about the settings. So, Vizio, please be more considerate of your users.

(Posted on 9/1/10)