A few weeks ago I got an email from Sue Tan of Samsung Malaysia. I met her at the Blogmob prize-giving where I won the Samsung i550 phone. She asked me if I would like to participate in their Product Test Drive program for the Samsung HDMI DVD Player, DVD-F1080. I shot back an email asking how long do I get to keep the player. “Forever,” she replied. Wahaha! I want! I want!

When I picked up the player, I asked Sue, “Can play pirated dvds or not?” “Can!” she said. Though I try not to buy pirated stuff, ahem, sometimes I borrow them from friends and relatives. I’ve heard of friends’ dvd players which were so high class they only play originals. I don’t want that type of classiness, thank you very much.

My first impression of the player was good. It was shiny black and sleek. And mighty small too – very portable. When I took it home, I weighed it without all the cables and what-not. Only 0.95 kg! The gross weight of the unit is 1.9 kg, about the same as a laptop. Size wise, it’s almost similar to our phone directory (the paper variety from Telekom). Not long after I picked up the player, I went to Genting Highlands for a Sunday School teachers’ planning session. I contemplated bringing along the player as I wanted to test it. But as our schedule was very tight, I finally decided against it. Besides I didn’t want to risk losing it as I have an obligation to blog about the player. I still haven’t got the chance to test it yet.

So far, all I’ve done is admire the beautiful and elegant player. I can hardly believe it’s mine. Thanks to Samsung Malaysia for letting me take part in the test drive program. More on the player later.