yes blu ray will run regular DVD's and most will up convert them displaying a better pic than your old dvd player would.

Just upgraded my blu ray player to the new Samsung 3600. WIFI connects to my network and plays Netflix's Hi Def watch instantly movies. Netflix has yet to transmit in 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound though.

Also gets Pandora which is free Internet digital radio. Although I haven't used this feature much yet I did try out some blues. Entered Clapton and it created a blues station for me of some really good tunes.