Instruction: Given a question and the related document, and generate the answer to the question based on the information provided in the document.

Input:
Question: BD-P1500 or Panasonic BD35K? Trying to decide which one to get, pros and cons of each, but can't find anyone who has tried them both to get an opinion...anyone?  It would be connected via HDMI to an ONKYO 7.1 receiver then on to a Samsung 1080p LCD-TV.
Document: The Samsung BD-P1500 is a great first blu ray player. I have the player connected via optical to my Denon receiver and via HDMI to my Pioneer PDP-5080HD and it looks and sounds fantastic. I also have a Toshiba HD-A3 and the PQ is very comparable. I do like that I can output a 1080p 24hz signal to my display which is a plus over my A3. I have had zero issues with BD playback. It works flawlessly.
For me the most important items are cost, picture quality, and plug-and-play capability. This unit plugged up to my Sharp LCD HDTV via HDMI and produced a great picture. The BluRay picture is very good. The up-converted DVD picture is also quite good. Only problem I have had is I can't get the player remote to control my TV volume even though I put in the code(s) specified in the player manual.
While I wish the player had analog audio outputs for my 7.1 compatible non-HDMI receiver, I am most pleased with the available audio options on this player given it was under $200. While providing the standard PCM and bitstream output options, I struggled to understand how I would benefit from either of these using the optical output from the player to my receiver. Enter the bitstream re-encode option, which re-encodes the PCM Dolby TrueHD stream into DTS bitstream.
Samsung BD-P1500 1080p Blu-ray PlayerGot player in a timely fashion and connected with componet connections thru a Sony Media system. It works great on both blu-ray and dvds. Would recomend for any first time buyer.
Setup was a breeze; I connected this bluray player via 1.3 hdmi cable to my Samsung LN46a650 LCD tv. I watched Planet Earth Bluray and I was just blown away! The picture was so mesmerizing and just beautiful. This bluray player is definitely a winner. Overall I'm extremely happy with this bluray player!
I was originally just planning on getting a blu-ray drive for my computer when I purchased my TV, however this ended up costing $4.50 extra, so I figured it was probably worth it.This player has performed reasonably well. It plays blu-ray disks at 1080p/24Hz and bitstreams just about any audio type (including DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD) to my receiver over the HDMI connection (but this is the ONLY way to get HD audio out of this thing.)
I received the BD-1500 as a Christmas gift. It is currently connected to my Samsung 40 inch A650 via HDMI. Now I am not a videophile but the picture was amazing watching Planet Earth and other DVDs. Pirates of the Caribbean really popped out at you. Horton Hears a Who (bought for my son) regular DVD plays really nice.
Samsung BD-P1500 1080p Blu-Ray Player After purchaseing this player with 1.3 firmware I asked for the 2.0 update disk. The first one wouldn't load so I called & after the 3rd one came it worked. But only for 2 months, then I had frame freezeing. I called & they said I needed the new 2.4 firmware. After 2 disks, as the first wouldn't load, nothing played, not even a regular dvd.
I bought and returned this model. It can't connect to the internet via WiFi, only via Ethernet. I got the Samsung BD-C5500 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player instead. It comes at a lower price, but also needs Samsung wireless USB LAN adapter.
Machine would turn on and the tray would open and close, but upon closing, the screen would stay stuck at "CLOSE." If I turned the machine off and restarted it, I could hear it trying to read the disc, but would soon stop with the screen stuck at "LOAD." The player also no longer communicated with the TV through Samsung's Anynet feature. Tried two other new Blue Ray discs and got same result. Tried one of the discs I'd previously watched and same.
Answer: I can help you.  Bought the 1500 back in June.  Worked great until the Bond movies came out.  Bought FYEO and it wouldn't play.  Got the new 2.0 firmware update from Samsung.  Installed that with no problems.  But after the update I couldn't play ANY blu movie.  Sent the machine to Samsung to get fixed.  Said they would have a new firmware update to resolve the problem but couldn't tell me when that would take place.  So I had lost patience (over 1 month w/out being able to play blu on 1500).  I bought the bd35.  Not one single problem.  Played the Bond movie with no problems.  Samsung released 2.1 firmware to resolve problems with 2.0 firmware.  Didn't work.  So the morale of my story is that Samsung customer service is HORRIBLE!  Go with the Panasonic.  You won't regret it.