DVD-Player Reviews

I have had this for a couple of weeks now and I am very impressed with the unit.

Both video and audio quality is extremly good. It's so exact that MPEG artifacts are visible on low quality movies that doesn't show on other DVD players. I haven't noticed any jerkyness at all when watching DVDs. Most DVD players jerk when switching layer but this one doesn't.

On the negative side I have had some problems playing some of my own VCDs and it doesn't play SVCDs. But weigh that with the superb quality and MP3 capability it is definitly worth every dollar.

Highlights: CD-R/RW, HDCD and MP3 compatibility (with a good user interface), fantastic pure CD player, has both PAL and NTSC outputs. I really like the HDCD compatibility, the sound from a HDCD disc is really better and warmer than from an ordinary CD. This player is probably the best deal for bucks if you are looking for a multiformat DVD/CD combination with an excellent CD part. The CD part of the specifications is really awesome, this player outperforms many dedicated CD players! I am using an (Monster) optical cable between the Denon and my Sony STR333ES and then Monster cables to Jamo Classic 10 speakers. All components are pretty synchronized and in the same price/quality range and everything sounds and looks (Sony Wega TV) great. The DVD picture is much better than with my old Sharp DVD player and the sound coming from DVD is simply non comparable at all. My unit is manufactured in September 2001 and DOES NOT HAVE THE FAMEOUS BLACK DOT RELATED TO THIS MODEL but the version of the firmware is the correct one and there are no any bugs mentioned on various Internet forums. The MP3 interface is very intuitive one and similar to a file system browser on any GUI enabled computer platform.

To clarify, it does play VCD and SVCD perfectly, at least with the ones I've tried.
Great sound and vision, an excellent combination of DVD and CD-player.
And it does progressive scan in both NTSC and PAL, though you may have to flash it to get progressive PAL.
It's zonefree and plays RCE1 DVDs (with new firmware). Only complaint is that it shows only the 11 first characters of the MP3 filenames but how much can you ask for in one box at that price.

I have compared the 8-inch Magnavox with the 7-inch 1770 model from Mintek and they are very similar. The switches and jacks are all in the same places, and the battery configuration is identical. The power switch is exactly the same. I suspect that Magnavox got their players from Mintek, then put their more recognizable name on them. Since Mintek is a very small company with no track record, you might want to check out their reviews before you buy this player. I've had the Magnavox for 2 weeks, and the Mintek for 2 months, and so far they both work fine. But when you buy a big name brand, you expect that it is more reliable than the unknown maker. In this case, I don't think that assumption is justified. That's the only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5.

In my opinion, this Player (MPD 720) is the very best Portable DVD Player on the market. The 7" screen is crystal clear and can be viewed very comfortably from 5 feet away. The speakers although lacking bass, are the best quality for any 7" player. If you arent satisfied with the speakers buy some portable ones at radio shack for $10-$20 and you'll have more sound than you need for a car, train or airplane ride. The unit seems to be very durable and it has never freezed or skipped while I have used it. It is extremely portable and user friendly. Since it comes with a battery, remote, car adapter and carrying case it is the best deal out there at $275.00. The case is awesome, it easily attatches to a car seat, has room for your unit, battery, charger, adapter wires, remote, headphones (not included) and 5-10 DVD's in sleeves. The case fits all that and still only weighs about 4lbs and is only 12" by 12". A flawless design by magnavox. With a product this perfect you have to look hard for flaws and I found 3. 1)The LCD screen has more resistence than you'd think to open it(not a big deal). 2)The buttons on the unit can't be tapped to work, you have to push down and hold them for a second. 3)When the unit is first loading/stopping a DVD it run's kind of loud but soon disappears once the movie starts. Other than that this unit is perfect. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

I bought this mainly for my 18 month old son who loves to watch Elmo DVD movies. After doing an extensive research on brand, price, accessories and comments, I decided to go with this DVD Player. NO COMPLAINTS HERE...I always go for branded names - since these companies work hard to get to where they are right now. I am very hard to please but this DVD Player pleases my son and I BIG TIME...

July 16-18, 2004

I JUST received the Sylvania DVR90VE and I have already tranfered four of over 100 vhs recordings, we made over the last 40+ years.

My old vhs tapes hold about 6 hours of recording each. I have now used the Sylvania DVR90V for over 24 hours of transfering (4)without any problems so far.

I will ONLY use the Sylvania DVR90VE for transfering my VHS tapes to DVD's

I will NOT hook the Sylvania DVR90VE to any off the air (TV). That is why I ordered(from "Amazon")the Coby CX-TV6 5-Inch Black & White TV With AM/FM Radio for $19.99, soley to use as a monitor for my Sylvania DVR90VE,which works perfectly monitoring my transfering of my VHS tapes to DVD.

All the accessories included with the $19.99 Coby CX-TV6,(from Amazon) was all that was required to make both units compatable.

I use my other (Panasonic) dvd/vhs recorder (from Amazon) for recording directly from my satelite TV reception as well as general viewing. This prevents tying up my primary (viewing)TV for the Sylvania DVR90VE.

Hopefully, "Amazon" will be able to offer an extended warranty (for a fee) just for the DVR90E or can REFER a reputable extended warranty service for the DVR90E.

Update: 7/19/2004

"Amazon" came through again,they offered and I purchased (today)the "Two Year Audio-Video Service Plan for components priced between $200-$499.99" for only $24.99, offered (via "Amazon) by "N.E.W. Customer Service Companies, Inc."

Joe

I really am sometimes very interested in DVD recorders, but I really don't always seem to know everytime which ones are the best ones. Whether it is the kind of format that needs to be recorded, or the kind of compatability that is needed for these devices. I'm really more interested in DVD Recorder / VCR combos, largely because it is a bit cheaper. Otherwise, you'd have to spend an extra $130 to your DVD recorder already to copy from VHS tapes to DVD. I definitely was relieved to find affordable DVD Recorder / VCR combos right now than a year or two ago, when they didn't have the option of combining the 2. Sylvania definitely knows that, with one of the very DVD Recorder / VCR combos out there. It arguably is a good deal, when others can't cut the mustard these days.

The Sylvania DVR90VE, is a remarkable DVD Recorder / VCR combo, that works like the others, at a great price. Here, there are some advantages with some disadvantages to the mix with all of these combos. The DVD Recorder has two options to record, VR mode for people who are new to the method of DVD recording, and DVD Video mode, which doesn't offer any protection from recording on DVD that the VR mode has. It can record several different modes from 1 hour recording on DVD, to 10 Hour DVD recording on one disc. The recording modes work very well, but it does have a few problems, the longer it is recorded onto DVD, the mixed the quality is. Another disadvatage to this DVD recorder, is that is only is able to play DVD's, audio and MP3 CD's, and the DVD-R/RW discs, like most of these kind of recorders. It doesn't have the playback, or ability to record on the DVD+R/RW discs, or the DVD-RAM discs. Still, that doesn't make much of a difference anyway to the playback. The playback of these DVD-R/RW recorded discs work great, with beautiful picture and sound quality for easy recordings.

All in all, the Sylvania DVR90VE is a great DVD Recorder. I strongly suggest you get this, if you can't afford any other DVD Recorders, without losing the VCR usage. It works very well, and it is well worth the price. I just don't know why other places besides Amazon.com don't have this unit. Hopefully, other places will get this DVD Recorder / VCR combo soon. It just is great.

This was one where I was hoping for the best but a bit dubious of what I might end up with at this price. As it turns out I was very pleasantly surprised. Easy to use with clear instructions, I was dubbing home videos to dvd 15-20 minutes out of the box. Easy hook up with digital/HD cable involved. High quality DVD picture, both playing and recording (dubbing from VCR or recording from TV). VCR portion does a nice job too. The copies and recordings I have made using DVD-R media work perfectly on 3 different DVD players in my house (each a different brand at a different price point bought at different times), so compatability doesn't seem to be an issue. I would have to say that the quality I got was much more than I expected for the money.

This was my 1st DVD player. I really like it. Easy to use. I had to take the 1st one back due to vibrating really bad.I exchanged it for another of the same and it seems to be akay. I wish now I would have purchased a 2nd player same one for other tv in home while it was on sale at Target last week....This is good looking. Simple to use. And many features. I really am "a happy movie go'er" !!!

I'd like to buy this product, but I'm from Austria/Europe and I'm afraid if I would buy it, that it wouldn't play european dvd's. please answer me this qyuestion, thank you!

This thing played EVERYTHING that I had to throw at it!!! Disks that were previously un-playable on other decks played on this one with no problems at all, even unfinalized MPEGS on CD-R. No lack of features either. At $100 each, I bought 2 of them!!! Mpegs, Jpegs, VCD's, DVD+R's, CD-R's, etc.,etc, etc. Such a DEAL!!! I am very satisfied and happy with this deck!!! Forget the funny, skinny, small button remote, it's TOTALLY WORTH it!!!

While this player is a great space saver with nice features like E-Turn, like so many DVD VHS combos, component video output is not supported for the LD format as neither is enchanced letterbox detection...forcing you to use 2 inputs on your TV or receiver if you want to use component video for DVD. Also like most AC3 equipped LD players, Dolby Digital/DTS output for LD is only supported through the use of an external modulator which is a substantial sum in and of itself...given that you can even find one. And if you do, like video, you'll be using 2 digital audio inputs on your receiver to handle both DVD's and LD's. Also, this aging player, even at this price is missing features found on much much cheaper DVD only alternatives like Progressive Scan 480P output.

In the dying days of Laserdisc you may was to reevaluate this purchase unless you have a large LD collection not available on DVD (as the price of this player and a modulator would by a lot of replacement DVDs).

In playing DVDs and LD's these problems aside, this player does an excellent job.

I just bought this thing from Amazon and all I can say is WOW!!!!

This is probably the best purchase I have ever made. This thing is everything I ever expected and more!! It's easy to use as well - even my wife can operate it!

I have to say, everyone out there who is thinking of buying this, stop thinking. I bought it and I am extremely happy with it the moment I powered this thing on. YOU ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THIS PURCHASE! I GUARANTEE IT!!!

I was forced into buying a new Laserdisc player after my previous Pioneer Elite CLD-79 was struck by lightning and subsequently destroyed. Sadly, the Pioneer Elite DVL-91 is no longer available, so I settled for this. As it turns out, however, I was not settling at all. This is a great player! The picture quality is not quite as crisp as my previous Elite, but it is still fantastic on both LD and DVD. Most aspects have been improved. LD side change time is roughly half of my old Elite player, sound is better, and LD spin up is faster. My only real quibble is that the remote control was apparantly designed by someone who hates people. Buttons are arranged seemingly at random. Even after several months of ownership and use, I still have to take a long look at the remote before I venture a push of the buttons. The design of my previous player's remote control was far, far superior.

One other thing: upon receiving delivery of my player, I found that the laser was bad and was in need of replacement. It was taken to an authorized Pioneer service center where the laser was replaced swiftly, free of charge, and with no fuss. Many months later, it still works perfectly! I appreciate Pioneer's service. On my previous Elite LD player, which was hit by the lightning, the Pioneer service center I took it to worked tirelessly for weeks trying to fix it. In the end, they failed, but they also did not charge me for the work they did. Thanks again!

This is my third Pioneer laser video product. Based on my experience so far with my Pioneer LD player (rest in peace), mini DVD player, and new DVD/LD player, I would never purchase a laser video product from any other company.

Pros: look, features, picture quality
Cons: Programming

* lots og features
* good quality looks
* Excellent picture quality
* quiet operation
* Must keep pressing arrow keys to set programming times.

I have been a Sony buyer for a long time, but lately Sony seems to be slipping in quality. Since I needed a new DVD/VCR combo and wasn't willing to deal with Sony this time around I spent several weeks reading reviews and finding out the pros and cons of every combo device on the market. I have now owned the Zenith XBV343 for 2 months and I am pleasantly surprised by how much it really does offer. I create my own DVD from home movies as well as a tv tuner on my PC and this thing handles any disc format I throw at it. The optical output was also a must for me and it works with my DTS surround system flawlessly. For the price that I paid I feel like I ripped Zenith off for all the features that this has.

We ordered this to replace an inexpensive VCR that was being moved to an extra room. The combo and value first attracted us, as did other reviews on previous models. Set-up was simple, instructions are good enough that two non-techies can follow them. The remote isn't any more confusing/complicated than others - an industry-wide standard is the only thing that will solve this. Everything works fine so far - we've had the unit only a week. There was some confusion with shipping because of the back order status, but Amazon was great to work with and provided a most satisfactory resolution to the problem. Definitely a recommended product and source for purchasing the item.

The Konka player manufanctured by one of china's major TVmakers, boasts notable quality for the price. Aside from the slick silver styling, the 1800U is a fairly typical bottom-end DVD player. One major bonus not found on other inexpensive DVDs is both kinds of digital outputs, optical and coaxial. There's no DTS decoding, however.

It has a very low price with a lot of features that you only see on the more expensive units (S-video, multi angle options, etc.). One of the player's great strengths is its ability to play CD/VCD/CD-R The DD 5.1 seems right on target, but it is not DTS compatiple.

BEWARE: After asking friends and people at work, I have come to question its initial performance. It seems some players have been equiped with a 300MA fuse which blows easily instead of a 350MA one.

I found that the first batch of units had a power supply problem where the player would suddenly stop working, usually with a DVD in it. Konka USA will replace those units free of charge, or you can fix it yourself by replacing and power supply fuse with correct type. Regardless of the fuse, the unit generates a lot of heat. But it seams like the units on sale by Amazon are new enough that the problem has been fixed. I price is an issue and you are not sure about buying a DVD player from an unknown manufacture, try some by Phillips or RCA. Otherwise, spend an extra [money] to get a reliable player.

Hope this helps.

As mentioned above, the Konka was reviewed in Home Theater Magazine. It received top marks in comparison to those DVD players in its, as well as the next higher, price bracket. The details escape me, but the review said that even if you are an audio-/videophile, this unit would be ideal for use with a second TV (e.g. bedroom). In any case, the performance:price ratio is stellar.

I read a review of this player last year in Home Theater Magazine and man were they right. This player is sleek, quiet, and is comperable to a player closer to $350. It easily plays all DVD's that I own as well as the ones I have rented and plays audio CD's as well without any difficulties. Highly recommended and definately worth the money!

I have not had any issues since instaling this DVD player. The picture and sound are very good. The manual and on-screen setup menus are very weak. I am very technical and had to wing my way to getting this thing to work. If you want to play MPEGS on this player you need to check the compatability.

After researching several DVD players we settled on Philips due to the fact that we have a Philips TV. So far its been great. No problem with movies or music cds, easy to hook up, set-up and install. Intutive instructions and display, good remote. If you are willing to spend the money you'll have a good piece of equipment that will last.

This here is the best dvd player on amazon. It's not too expensive and it's got everything that you'll need. Nice remote and it won't screw up your tv like other ones do. This is an average price for an awesome system. If I were you I would buy it! Right away!

The 16 x 9 aspect ratio of these widescreen monitors is great for dvd movies and other shows formatted to it. However since most broadcast shows are in 4 x 3 format you must stretch your picture to fill the screen. This does cause some distortion. Because watching the tv constantly with the black bars can cause screen burning you need to fill the screen image. This cannot be done, however, when watching from a component feed. Only with coaxial or s link will the remote adjust your picture. Freeze also does not work with component. It seems a shame that the high definition hookup with component feed ( supposedly the best method) does not allow these features. I must say however that the picture with an s cable is excellent. DVD picture is excellent as well although slow motion is average. Owners manual is average and needs more detail. This unit fits in a corner, taking up less space, than any of the other major brands I examined. In short, widescreens require more adjustments so keep the remote handy.

I searched for the best prices on the net and had HH Gregg match it. They Did & I saved $400.
The TV is great, the detail of the picture is betond my expectations.
You need a HD receiver or Direct TV to really see the quality.
It's worth every dollar you pay.
No I don't work for RCA or Thompson.

I bought my TV this weekend and the first movie I put in was Black Hawk Down the helocopters were like they were right thier I hooked a souround sound system with dvd and with the cristal clear Big Screen and my system it was I was in a digital theater.
The extras like auto convergance is a plus and the digital filtering and auto format of the picture this is a high end TV without speending the $...
I work on simulators and deal with barco projectors for a living the picture I get from this TV has me realy impreased at what technoligy has put out for the consumer.
Lets see great picture great sound pluse great price what a deal.

This is a nice LCD DVD player. I like the fact that this operates in DC and AC modes without bulky power adaptors. The cables and remote neatly hide in the small storage compartment. My kids figured out the operation with zero help from me.

The only feature I'd like to see is the ability to resume playback after a power outage. The 12V power plug in my car cuts out when I start the car. Unfortunately, the DVD player insists on starting all over again. This is only a small inconvenience since we use this player primarily for long trips.

Pros:
Excellent video quality
Very Compact
Nice Features
Supurb costomer service

Cons:
Very poor sound (must
buy headphones to use)

All in all this is an excellent item. The Sound quality is so poor, that I couldnt use this item until I bought a pair of good head phones. The Costomer service at Amazon.com was the best Ive ever seen. The first unit that was sent to me had a problem with the screen(which should be bigger, it was innefective at this size). The LCD display would not light correctly on one side of the screen, so I sent an email to Amazon.com's costomer service center, and right away(within the next day) I revieved and answer. They said it would be fine, to just send them the deffective player, and they would send out a new one(checked over personally by them) ASAP. And I guess they did, because the new item arrived within the next week. Orrigionally I wasnt supposed to recieve the player for another two weeks, so all in all, I recieved the second, working one, before it was predicted that I would get the first one. THANK YOU AMAZON.COM. If you order this product from Amazon.com you will be amazed by the quality of the product and service.

Easily the best mobile DVD player you can buy for the car, short of having an expensive professional system installed.

This unit is also safer than those "in a bag" portable DVD players, which hang on the back of the seat. Imagine what would happen in a car accident with one of those. I wouldn't want to be sitting behind it.
The RCA rests on the seat, and is buckled in with the seatbelt, a much better (and safer) design.

The only downside is there is no battery, but if you are using this for the car, or for a hotel room, you simply don't need one.