Problem with Vizio Bluray player

[Thunder_Mountai]

I have a Vizio VBR120 Bluray DVD player in the MH which has functioned flawlessly until now. I received a copy of "Tame Your Dragon 2" from Netflix. When I loaded it, the player would only play the initial introduction and then stop. Hitting function buttons on the remote such as skip, fast forward, etc. returned a "Prohibited" message. I returned the disc to Netflix for another copy thinking it was bad. The second disc did the same thing. I verified that the disc is good by playing it on a friends home system. Other Bluray movies continue to play without an issue. I updated the firmware with the latest version which installed correctly and rebooted the player.

I sent a copy of this to Vizio customer support. They are supposed to get back to me within 24 hours. Thought I would try here as well since the wife wants to see the movie because the Cowboys can't seem to find their behind with both hands.

[1492]

Since the question was directed toward issues with a Vizio Bluray player, and the OP now has a new SONY player, the thread is considered ANSWERED.

Open a new thread if the problem persists with the SONY player.

[bwanshoom]

Gdetrailer wrote:
It ISN'T ILLEGAL to "throw away" electronics anywhere.

Anywhere except Colorado apparently, where OP lives.

Might want to just agree to disagree on this one.

[Gdetrailer]

Thunder Mountain wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:

Thunder Mountain wrote:
OP here. I purchased a new Sony yesterday. I priced completed auctions on eBay and found I can sell the VBR120 for about $35. Out it goes.

:R

Really?

If it isn't working for your needs then why in the world would you pawn it off to an unsuspecting person???? Top it off making them bid and PAY for it plus shipping :h

Doing so helps to continue making Ebay sellers look bad and will give YOU a black eye when the buyer finds out that player is crippled..

For the measly $35 you would get for it GIVE IT AWAY, THROW IT OUT, OR KEEP IT and use it to play music CDs, DVDs or whatever Blurays you have that do work..

OP here. Easy there. I'm not trying to cheat anybody. That is the going price from numerous sellers on eBay from recent transactions. Buyers on eBay are for the most part very savvy.

I've been buying and selling on eBay since 1998 with a 100% feedback rating. I don't need a lecture from you about selling ethics.

FYI It is illegal to "throw away" electronics, and I don't need another player. eBay and Craig's List are probably one of the ultimate recycling venues available. I recently sold an outdated underwater camera to a buyer in Romania who was very happy with the transaction.

It ISN'T ILLEGAL to "throw away" electronics anywhere.

Many stores OFFER FREE ELECTRONICS DISPOSAL.

A coworker of mine took THREE 27" CRT TVS to Best Buy, and it cost him NOTHING to get rid of them..

Purposely selling something that you KNOW is not fully functioning and selling it as if it is good (misrepresentation) it is ethically and morally questionable at best.

Folks tend to look at price and skip over the fine print spelling out the details of the malfunction so even a small mention of the malfunction often gets overlooked..

What gets me is you are trying to get a measly $35 out of a non working unit (it DOESN'T PLAY ALL BLURAYS)by pawning it off to someone else.. So, you spend the time and money to put it on Ebay (they don't do that for free you know), you then will have to pack it, then take it to a shipper.. That ALL costs you TIME.. For the time and effort in it you will basically get $5 out of that $35 sale price when the dust settles..

Don't know about you but my time and energy is worth a heck of a lot more than $5..

Take it to a retail store that offers free recycling (there, I am being PC) and let them cleanly recycle the scrap item.. Instead of selling to some other poor unsuspecting person who then will ultimately toss it in regular trash in a fit of rage when they discover a new rental disc does not play in it..

[Thunder_Mountai]

Gdetrailer wrote:

Thunder Mountain wrote:
OP here. I purchased a new Sony yesterday. I priced completed auctions on eBay and found I can sell the VBR120 for about $35. Out it goes.

:R

Really?

If it isn't working for your needs then why in the world would you pawn it off to an unsuspecting person???? Top it off making them bid and PAY for it plus shipping :h

Doing so helps to continue making Ebay sellers look bad and will give YOU a black eye when the buyer finds out that player is crippled..

For the measly $35 you would get for it GIVE IT AWAY, THROW IT OUT, OR KEEP IT and use it to play music CDs, DVDs or whatever Blurays you have that do work..

OP here. Easy there. I'm not trying to cheat anybody. That is the going price from numerous sellers on eBay from recent transactions. Buyers on eBay are for the most part very savvy.

I've been buying and selling on eBay since 1998 with a 100% feedback rating. I don't need a lecture from you about selling ethics.

FYI It is illegal to "throw away" electronics, and I don't need another player. eBay and Craig's List are probably one of the ultimate recycling venues available. I recently sold an outdated underwater camera to a buyer in Romania who was very happy with the transaction.

[Gdetrailer]

Thunder Mountain wrote:
OP here. I purchased a new Sony yesterday. I priced completed auctions on eBay and found I can sell the VBR120 for about $35. Out it goes.

:R

Really?

If it isn't working for your needs then why in the world would you pawn it off to an unsuspecting person???? Top it off making them bid and PAY for it plus shipping :h

Doing so helps to continue making Ebay sellers look bad and will give YOU a black eye when the buyer finds out that player is crippled..

For the measly $35 you would get for it GIVE IT AWAY, THROW IT OUT, OR KEEP IT and use it to play music CDs, DVDs or whatever Blurays you have that do work..

[Thunder_Mountai]

OP here. I purchased a new Sony yesterday. I priced completed auctions on eBay and found I can sell the VBR120 for about $35. Out it goes.

[tatest]

I'm happy to see they answered with suggestions.

Shortly after I bought my VBR120, Vizio suggested I update the firmware, and I did. 2010, I think. That was my last update, because Vizio decided to get out of the player business and stopped offering updates. This particular player has not been supported since at least 2012.

[1492]

shakyjay wrote:

Looks as though he has already updated firmware.

Must have missed this? It also depends on whether the particular model BD player is still supported with current firmware. Which will be an issue with all desktop players at some point in their life, as when BD standards and feature are updated, requiring updates to older players to work.

Another issue is did the OP received a BD disc with a non-USA/N.America Region Coding? That would be one explanation why it wouldn't run on a desktop player.

I purchase Blurays/DVDs from around the world. Even those originating from USA studios, but for marketing purposes are not available here. For example, one WWII movie is only available in the USA in 4:3 DVD. While a newly restored directors cut is available only in the UK in Bluray HD, in its original 1.85 theatrical format. These will not play on USA BD desktop players.

The easiest way to get around this is to buy a Region Free BD/DVD Player. Unless you want to watch it on your PC.

There is also some hidden functions and setting in some BD players that make them Region Free.

[wa8yxm]

MrWizard wrote:
you should not have gotten an out of zone disc

I agree, but the out of zone need not be the one he is trying to play, It may have been the LAST disc that set the zone. (or any one before it).

As it happens I am not a fan of this "Zone" Business, In case you can not guess. In fact I am against all forms of copy protection as well.

But that is a much longer and involved thread.

[shakyjay]

1492 wrote:
Check to see if there is a firmware update for your Bluray(BD) player. You can many times download and either burn it to a DVD or USB drive. Follow instructions for your particular player.

Thunder Mountain wrote:
I updated the firmware with the latest version which installed correctly and rebooted the player.

Looks as though he has already updated firmware.

It sounds odd but there are some reports of newer Universal Pictures blu rays doing exactly as described here. Seems to be tied to the BD-live feature somehow. Couple of things to try. First is to insert a USB flash drive into your player and see if the disc will play. If not then turn of BD-live feature on your player or disconnect it from internet access.

[1492]

Check to see if there is a firmware update for your Bluray(BD) player. You can many times download and either burn it to a DVD or USB drive. Follow instructions for your particular player.

This happens to some BD players when standards change, many times connected with updates to Digital Rights Management(DRM). Had this happen to a Panasonic Pro BD player in a screening room. Wouldn't play a concert Bluray for a scheduled program as it used a new type of copy protection scheme. Had the tech download and install a factory firmware update which corrected the issue.

[Thunder_Mountai]

Did hear back from Vizio. Got to give them credit for returning my request for assistance. Since our model only has an Ethernet connect which is not available in the MH. Vudu will not work for us since we have limited date on our hotspot. Guess we will make a trip to Best Buy or Walmart for a new player to play the latest disc encryption. Oh well...

Thank you for your recent inquiry with VIZIO. I would be more than happy to help you. Here at VIZIO we do offer best in class technical support.

At this time there is not an available update for disc playability for your blu-ray model. A change has been made in the way data is stored on blu-ray discs for copyright protection. Your player will still work as it always has however may not play some new titles. In the event an update is issued for your player it will download the update automatically as long as it is connected to the Internet.

In the mean time, an alternative option to playing discs on your player is the Vudu application. You can use the Ultraviolet download codes with Vudu because it is also an ultraviolet locker. This will not work for any rented discs, however any purchased films that come with a digital download code can be viewed through the app. You can also rent and purchase titles through Vudu. If you do not have an account with them already it is free to sign up for at www.vudu.com.

If you have any questions please contact Customer Support at 1-877-878-4946 or online at chat.vizio.com.

[MrWizard]

you should not have gotten an out of zone disc
but since it plays on other players, it sounds like the vizio player is the problem
would this be a built into the TV ?
or is it a std alone model
i suggest you replace the bluray player if it is a table top model
if built in, i suggest you switch to a table top model

BTW dragons 2 , is a good movie
i rented it from redbox

[wa8yxm]

I have never layed with blue rays,, nor do I know all their pecularities,, I do know about DVD's however. .and it sounds like you hit one of them.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act. One of the "Features" is something called Zones at least in the DVD world and I assume this was extended to blue ray.

The world is zoned, I think the US is zone one... Now if a DVD is zoned for ZERO it should (in thoery) play anywhere but if your machine has ever played a Zoned Disc, Other than zone zero, it may be locked to that zone, And if you then try to play a disc from any other zone (Except zero) it is prohibited.

Why do they do this:

Some movies are, for one reason or another, not released in the US at the same time as they are released in England or France or Japan,, or in some cases not released in the US at all (I actually know of such a movie and why it has not been released in the US). (The Producers (look it up on IMDB that is the title of a movie) are in financial trouble if they release it in the US (For the same reason the title characters in the movie are in trouble). I have seen the movie however.