DVD-Player Reviews

I would have given this-our first-dvd player 4-5 stars but it suddenly died after 2 years and 4 months. We got great sound and clear sharp pictures on our 36 inch screen. We purchased it on a credit card that doubled the warranty to two years and then......VCR's last longer than this "planned obsolescence" machine. I would suggest getting an extended warranty if available or plan to replace with the cheapest but most reliable models every two years, until the manufacturer creates a more reliable machine.

I've had this DVD player for 2 years and have watched hundreds of movies so far. Its behind in the technology curve now, but its reliability and quality are good indicators of the whole Toshiba line. I'm particularly impressed with the picture quality when matched to my Toshiba television set using the compositve video outputs - significantly better than the standard coax output and S-video output. The one down side is that it doesn't play any VCD format disks. My goal was to convert all my 8mm video to VCD format so that I could play them in my DVD, but I was unsuccessful. After scouring web sites I found that the Pioneer DVD players seem to provide the best support for playing all the diffent DVD formats, so that's what I'll probably buy in the future. However, if you're looking for a solid entry-level player - this one is it.

This was my frist DVD but ive known people with full AC3 or Dolby systems and that real nice sony DVD player, and then I took my Toshiba friend over to their house and needless to say they got real upset they paid more for the SAME THING! This DVD player is awesome, i have it rigged to my TV and the digital input on my computer so i get full Dolby Digital 5.1... Audio CD is great, CD-R reading dosent happen at all, And the remote isnt as bad as people make it out to be. Its a little light but you can navigate God with it... I had the same problem as others with older TV's, no signal, so i hooked it up to my new Mitsubishi. But why would you hook up a DVD player to an old TV anyway? I tottaly recommend this DVD player to anyone and everyone!

Poor sound quality. After five months, tray has started sticking. I contacted Amazon, hoping not to get caught in the manufactures black hole of 'after a month its your problem' and was surprised that someone from some special unit(in amazon) would give me a call to work something out. NEVER HAPPENED!!!! STILL WAITING!

I just got this system a week ago and i'm very happy with the sound quality. It is very loud and clear when you turn the volume up. But I do have a question if anyone knows the answer please let me know. I'm trying to hook up my cable system which is time warner to surround system, is this possible? Therefore if I am watching regular tv can I get my surround system to work?

This is my first purchase of a home teater system and this system was a great way to start. Setup is relatively easy. They give you enough speaker wire which is a nice consideration so you don't have to run to the store as soon as you get the system. It looks nice in the room, which is important since the big bass unit stands right there in front of your TV, and the other speakers are now hung on your wall. The sound is excellent. I like the 5 disc changer so I can switch from CD's to a movie, or watch some family pictures. The remote takes some getting used to and you will have to spend time with it to understand how to turn on various components. Overall, I highly reccomend the system.

After about two months of reading reviews and asking questions, I had it narrowed down to the DV525 and Toshiba's SD1200. Both were on sale last weekend. The latest issue of Home Theater magazine has a good article on the Pioneer, but was still worried about the dark picture I was reading about, also the artifacts on the Toshiba display. I wrote to the author of the review; he was kind enough to respond and reiterate his thoughts on the Pioneer being a worthy DVD player. He then pointed me to the technical editor of the magazine who had more hands on time with both players. The T.E. also responded (same day!)with what finally swayed me; Both are excellent players, but if it were him purchasing, would take the Pioneer for a 4:3 display, and the Toshiba on a 16:9 display. Sold to the man with the 4:3 set. Took about 10 minutes to connect and setup. 30 minutes to calibrate picture (I'm picky and want a clear, sharp display). Started the first movie (Godzilla 98) and could not stop grinning. Excellent picture, great sound even from Pro-Logic receiver. Heard no transport noise at "low theater" volume. No problems with The Matrix. Why only four stars? Nothing is perfect, but I haven't found anything wrong. Excellent player!

I've had mine for a few weeks now and must say that it is a great performer, especially for the price. It plays CD's and DVD's extremely well without making you pay for unnecessary "bells and whistles."

The build quality is pretty typical of what you'd expect for an inexpensive player. The buttons feel light but ok, while the tray is a little bit noisier opening and closing than I'd prefer, but tolerable. The remote buttons ARE small and close together, but the player works fine with my universal remote (since I used the DVD remote to set the player up, that is.)

I use the digital output (copper, not fiber) for CD and DVD audio and the component video outputs. The picture is very crisp, and the sound is very clean and dynamic. My CD's have never sounded better.

My only nit is that the Scan feature for DVD's (i.e. scanning forward or back while watching in order to get to a particular scene) is a bit "clunky." It either crawls along, hardly faster than normal play, or else races so fast that you pass the scene you were looking for. This is the only thing that my VCR does better (it's seek speed is adjustable from the remote). Scanning audio CD's works well.

I know not many people may be after this little beauty because its at least 3 years old now. But I have to say mine still has the best interlaced picture I have ever seen. I recently upgraded to a Sony for the SACD capabitlities but, in a head to head picture face off in interlaced mode the little Pioneer roared ahead. It plays any DVD I throw in it. and the sound piped thru my Outlaw 1050 is great. It has a little noise at first then it fades away, layer changes are as fast as any DVD player Ive owned and the picture thru the componet connections to my 32" Phillips tv is stunning. Many people have asked me about the DV-525 when I first got it and Im so glad I did. If one is around somewhere you may still want to get it. It is alot more basic than todys units but it does what it does so well. Im also very pleased with CD playback. It seems to pick up very subtle sounds on yhe disc and relays them quite smoothly. I have used it as my CD player as well now for the 3 years I have owned it. All I can say is Highly Recommened.

Panasonic DVD-RV30 (older model w/o MP3 capability) was rated excellent for picture quality in the Consumer Report magazine.I found that is true also for this RV31 (silver) model. Unlike my older JVC dvd player, this player allows me to set different black level (light and darker); it allows users to set contrast, brightness, sharpness, color, and tint--features used to be only available in more expensive players. The picture quality, of course, is outstanding. I could notice more details in the black/dark areas when I set the brightness a little higher than factory preset. Among the 3 dvd players I've owned, I find this RV31 to have the best (user-friendly) on-screen menu. This player, however, lacks a screen saver to prevent phospher burn-in. In addition, it lacks a coaxial digital output. It comes with optical output, and of course also regular (a/v) rca outputs. It has component video output as well. The remote control is fine. I didn't think the keys are too small; however,it is not a universal remote. MP3 player, honestly, works flawlessly. I expected that it wasn't going to work based on other reviews. To my surprise, the player was able to read and play all my tracks on every MP3 cd-r and CD-RWs I have. It could be that I have saved all my music files in bit rate of 128 or higher. It does say in the manual that if the bit rate is 96 or lower, it may have problem reading the files. All in all, I was very happy to have purchased this player. I have played DVDs, MP3s and my Hong Kong VCDs without running into any problems. I also like the silver finish (you can purchase in black, as well.)

After several years of trying different players, I keep coming back to this one. I have always strongly preferred Panasonic and Sony as name brands, and this DVD player comes close to the best, most user-friendly player available. It is without a doubt, the best Panasonic unit I have ever come across (including the newer models), and when you factor in the low prices of used ones now that this little gem is no longer in production, you can't go wrong. I have had mine for 1 and 1/2 years and I just purchased another one for the bedroom rather than settle for a newer model.

I am somewhat of an audiophile and manage the electronics department of a major retail store. Of all the 'stand-alone' players I have owned, this one is by far the best. I have purchased/ tested dozens of DVD players over the years and I keep coming back to this one for my own personal home use, as well as to recommend to customers. Every now and then, we will have one to sell, but usually the best buys are used ones on Amazon. THESE ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND AT THIS POINT--PANASONIC'S BEST AND MOST RELIABLE MODEL!! The picture quality is outstanding! Mine has lasted for 3 years and is still going strong!

After 6 months of using this unit it went completely dead. I took it to an authorized Panasonic repair service center several weeks ago. The service center told me that the needed part, a circuit board, was backordered from Panasonic. The service center also told me that 3 different promise shipment dates for the needed part were not met by Panasonic and there was little they could do. So today, I am still without any idea when the unit will be repaired. I would avoid this unit.

We bought the Panasonic DVD recorder three months ago; we still haven't pressed all of the buttons on the remote. And it still functions beyond our expectations. We wanted to save old VHS programs and we wanted to time-shift television programs to watch later (a VCR). Perhaps very little to expect from a device that costs $500 but over twenty years ago we paid $1000 for a Mitsubishi top-loading, two-head VCR. Enough history.

It took almost three hours to hook up to a VCR, a Sony receiver, another DVD player, two TVs and the digital cable box. But when it was turned on, it was fantastic. We used the hard disc drive immediately. Playback was broadcast quality. We dubbed from the VHS to DVD-R; the quality actually improved. We recorded a test DVD-R disc from a commercial DVD and VHS and those both played back flawlessly. The big test came when we recorded a TV program onto DVD-R for a friend who didn't have the cable channel. Her old Sony player played it.

The instruction book is intimidating; read what you need and just keep the book handy. The prompt screens are somewhat intuitive. The most important buttons (after three months of use) are the 'Functions,' the 'Enter,' the four arrow buttons and the stop-pause-play buttons. We expect to learn more the longer we use the recorder.

The Panasonic recorder (with Hard Drive) is an excellent piece of electronic equipment. Well worth the price and deserving 5-stars.

This DVD Recorder is exactly as it should be. It's better to record to the HARD DRIVE, the acceptable quality of LP speed is about 70 hours - enough for most people. You do have to use the remote but you can trim off the beginning and middle of shows (commercials). After editing, you can the transfer to a blank DVD-R (you can fit 2-4 hours on 1 disc). Other thanthat, it works exactly like a VCR but there are some additional great differences. For instance, with this Panasonic, you can be recording something on the air now and start to watch something you recorded last night or you can even switch and watch a DVD and it does NOT affect the recording going on (be careful - some recorders do NOT have this feature!). It has a great 100x forward and back so you can skim through a movie in a 5 minutes in perfect clarity. If you want a more indepth review, click on the info about us - metroxing and there's an url with a more indepth review (I'm guessing Amazon doesn't like outside urls in the middle of reviews).

But now, to answer some of the questions for people unclear on what they're getting.

If you have premium/digital channels - yes, this unit cannot change channels on your cable/satellite box - not Panasonic's fault - it's the cable/satellite company!

Picture quality - just because it's a DVD recorder does NOT mean you will achieve the quality of a retail DVD movie. You will essentially get a reasonable facsimilie recording of the exact reception you are getting now - which is actually pretty good. Yes, your cable/satellite reception is compressed - most channels are 5 to 8:1 - most premium movie channels (HBO/Showtime are only compressed 3:1 so they always look better). And yes this DVD/HDD recorder compresses a little bit more - store bought DVD's are also compressed from the original film - on the major releases, they go through frame by frame to adjust it - buy a cheap DVD disc and you can see where they save money. As with compression, you will not get perfect blacks - in a perverted twist, it's because the quality is better, you can see it, VHS tapes with their much lower quality obscures this.

So, yes, it's not as good as a major studio DVD but on the other hand, with blank DVD-R's costing about $1.00 each, that's about $.25 per hour for a pretty nice quality disc with all the functionality of a DVD (fast searches, etc ...). I'm not sure why some people believe they would get a better recording that what they're watching - it's just NOT possible with any machine! But keep in mind you are either taping something because it's cheaper than buying retail or because it's not available, what better way that a tiny disc that holds 4 hours of footage?!

It also has lots of plugs - a set on the front is perfect for hooking up your camcorder and transfering to disc.

If your expectations are in line, this is a great machine and really well designed in setting up recording and using ... it's not a miracle machine, it's just a great DVD/HDD recorder!

After minimal use, it won't play a thing!

I purchased the JVC XV-N50BK DVD Player which plays all formats, including my below mentioned VCD, without any problems. I am very happy with the JVC XV-N50BK, and this is the best in the market. Incidently all my other AV components and TV are JVC, and which can all be linked and interconnected with the JVC Compu-Link control system.
Previously ten days before, I purchased the Panasonic S35S DVD Player because I needed a player to play ALL formats including VCD, WMA, MP3, CD-R, etc. Unfortunately, when playing one of my commercially produced VCD's, the Panasonic S35S Player would play for awhile, and then lock and freeze the screen forever, until I turned off the power. And the Panasonic kept on doing it, repeatedly. Sadly I returned the Panasonic for a full refund. (The VCD was not defective, because it plays fine on my older JVC player, and on my computer.). I then purchased the above JVC XV-N50BK DVD Player which plays everything, works great, and looks fabulous.

I just bought this player a couple of weeks ago and i am extremely pleased. I initially bought a Sony in the same price range (maybe 20 or so dollars more) and took it back because it wouldn't play some of my DVD-R's (although the picture and sound were decent). I'm glad I switched to the JVC. The picture is much better than the Sonys. The colors are WAY more vibrant and the blacks much sharper. Far superior picture quality. I also like the zoom and play at 1.5x features that the sony didn't offer. I have noticed absolutely no stutter. Those concerns seemed to have been adressed. As far as the light goes...I don't like it either so I turn it off by using the dimmer button on the remote. I believe there are 3 different settings for the light. The only problem being (for some) that it also dims the LCD. Personally I like the simple, sleek look (lights out). Also, if you buy this or any other high end player be sure to invest in some good component cables. You get a much better picture. I believe you can get the monster cables for 30 dollars or so. Well worth it.

After minimal use, it won't play a thing!

I purchased the JVC XV-N50BK DVD Player which plays all formats, including my below mentioned VCD, without any problems. I am very happy with the JVC XV-N50BK, and this is the best in the market. Incidently all my other AV components and TV are JVC, and which can all be linked and interconnected with the JVC Compu-Link control system.
Previously ten days before, I purchased the Panasonic S35S DVD Player because I needed a player to play ALL formats including VCD, WMA, MP3, CD-R, etc. Unfortunately, when playing one of my commercially produced VCD's, the Panasonic S35S Player would play for awhile, and then lock and freeze the screen forever, until I turned off the power. And the Panasonic kept on doing it, repeatedly. Sadly I returned the Panasonic for a full refund. (The VCD was not defective, because it plays fine on my older JVC player, and on my computer.). I then purchased the above JVC XV-N50BK DVD Player which plays everything, works great, and looks fabulous.

I just bought this player a couple of weeks ago and i am extremely pleased. I initially bought a Sony in the same price range (maybe 20 or so dollars more) and took it back because it wouldn't play some of my DVD-R's (although the picture and sound were decent). I'm glad I switched to the JVC. The picture is much better than the Sonys. The colors are WAY more vibrant and the blacks much sharper. Far superior picture quality. I also like the zoom and play at 1.5x features that the sony didn't offer. I have noticed absolutely no stutter. Those concerns seemed to have been adressed. As far as the light goes...I don't like it either so I turn it off by using the dimmer button on the remote. I believe there are 3 different settings for the light. The only problem being (for some) that it also dims the LCD. Personally I like the simple, sleek look (lights out). Also, if you buy this or any other high end player be sure to invest in some good component cables. You get a much better picture. I believe you can get the monster cables for 30 dollars or so. Well worth it.

I have had great luck with a Samsung VCR and Samsung DVD-709 DVD Player in the past so I was loyal to my confidence in Samsung products by purchasing the Samsung DVD-M301 DVD Player. What I found out was that not all DVDs would play correctly in this machine. I had played 4 movies without any trouble and was impressed by the video display quality of this model. But when I tried to play Artisan Entertainment Studio release "Bad Boys" with actor Sean Penn it would not play the audio for this movie at all! This is not some high-tech movie either - it is a basic real-life film made in 1983 with no special effects like most of the newer movies have. It displayed the video portion just fine but there was absolutely no sound during the playing of this DVD. The movie had played fine on my older Samsung DVD-709 model so I know it was not a problem with the DVD itself.

I wanted to know if it was a defective player or a product design flaw in the M301 Player so I took it to a local store who had the same model Samsung DVD-M301 Player that I could try the "Bad Boys" DVD with. Well it was the same result with the store's player also - NO AUDIO! That made my mind up for me to return the Samsung DVD-M301 and I purchased a Panasonic DVD-RV31 player instead. The Panasonic plays the movie just fine - audio and all. I did not feel comfortable keeping the Samsung not knowing how many other DVDs I would buy or rent that would have similar trouble.

I am writing an email to Samsung about this player and my experience and hopefully soon they will address the problem and correct it on future models. Until then BEWARE!

I got this unit from e-bay and it was worth the effort I spent in trying to outbid other e-bay members. The video output is excellent (I hoooked it up to my 31" Philips HDTV) and the audio reproduction is really as advertised - it simulates surround sound as if It were connected to a surround system. It plays cds and cd-r without a hitch and sounds great on my Kenwood VR-6060.

this xmas was the breakout season for getting dvd players. my purchase was based on sound & vision magazine review. so far, the player's performance has been excellent. no skips or freezes so far. the best video is with the component inputs, but the cable prices are very high. also with wide screen versions of most dvds, it's better to have a big screen tv. my 20 inch jvc has large black bands above and below the picture and i would prefer a full screen version. be sure to read the manual for the player; don't assume it' just enter and play. sometimes you have to set the audio on some dvds. i have also rented several dvds with no problem, but you'll find yourself buying a lot if you're not careful. that's how good dvd is.

On paper this sounds like a great DVD. I was looking to upgrade my current DVD and also a unit for my Dad to go with his HD TV.

I kept the one for my dad but returned mine. The picture's fine and it operates OK as a DVD player.

My complaints:
Lacking 5.2 audio outputs (guess i should have read the specs better). But where this baby really misses is MP3 playback They advertise it. But not all the files were listed. The others were all listed twice. Only 8 characters were listed on the screen display it could not use the ID info on the disc. But absolutely worst of all the files it did manage to find to play were full of clicks and sprts and whoops and other weird artifacts. Definately lo-fi minus. I have a Rio Volt and its simply fantastic at finding and playing files - of course it took until early last year B4 firmware upgrades made it work right - but the SD3750 can't even take firmware upgrades off the CD-ROM. No hope at all. Certainly a mega-corp like Toshiba (and other brands as well!) should be able to hire decent programmer/engineers to make the MP3 work right.(my daugther's P********c brand can't read the directory right either but at least the songs it finds it plays w/o artifacts) Maybe the market staff for DVDs isn't into MP3 at all... Best take a sample MP3 disk to the store if this is omportant to you.

When I bought a new DVD player, I was looking for a wide range of formats, because there's no stereo in that room. This player is advertised as being able to play MP3 files. That's not quite true, as I discovered. It can play <128Kbps, old-style 8.3 filenames, and not always perfectly.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that the remote could have been better designed; I find that it's difficult to do by touch because the buttons are very close together. Also, the arrow navigation is a little awkward; you have to use Up/Down/Left/Right the way Toshiba wants you to (keep hitting right, and it won't go to the next line, for example).

In the grand scheme of things, though, these are relatively minor flaws. I bought this unit to play DVDs, and it does that well--good picture and sound quality. I don't use the progressive-scan feature (I bought this model because it seemed to offer the most features in my price range; the PS was a bonus) so I can't comment on that.

If you want to play DVDs, and maybe some CDs and CD-Rs, this is a good unit to buy.

You can not go wrong with this very nice DVD player. It has everything you could want except for DVD-Audio, which is okay since the selection of them is so limited. By the time the selection is better, this DVD player will be old and in need of replacement anyway. This player has an excellent picture, good sound, and a nice menu and button layout. The remote is good. For the money, this player is a winner!

This DVD player was a gift. One great feature of the s330, as an entry level DVD player, is its optical output. Except for the problems I'm about to describe, I have been very happy with this DVD player for over 4 years.

This DVD player has consistently had problems with the soundtrack and video getting out of sync. It makes feature films look like poorly dubbedHong Kong Kung Fu films.

I also frequently have difficulty getting the DVD player to synch up with my Sony AV receiver when they are both powered up using the DVD input button on the AV receiver.

Finally, I also just lost the power supply in a lightning strike. Now this is not Sony's fault, obviously, but it caused me to do research, indicating that power-up problems are frequent.

We've had this player for a short time, but it works flawlessly, providing all the functionallity you would expect. This is the low-end model, but the only obvious missing feature is the analog 5.1 surround output. Unless you have a receiver that requires that, don't worry about it. (I firmly believe that the surround sound decoding belongs in the receiver, for use by multiple components.)

One thing you can't do with Sony DVD players is play CDs that you make yourself with a CD-R drive. So forget about custom audio CDs and video CDs. You'll need a DVD player with a separate laser for CD playback to use CD-R media.

This player is great if you're just getting into the DVDs. Now, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but if you're looking for quality and reliablility in a DVD player, then the Sony DVP-S330 is the way to go. It's priced very nicely, and you get plenty of bang for your buck.

The player has all the essentials, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS support, although it does not have a built in decoder. Many of the reviews I have read speak of a mysterious sound-synch issue, in which the sound is not perfectly in synch with the video. I have watched hundreds of movies on my player, and from what I've seen, the problem is nonexsistent. The remote is very easy to use, and will even control your television and surround receiver, provided they are both sony brand. I have had mine for about a year and have experienced absolutely no problems with it, aside from watching scratched up DVDs from blockbuster because some people just don't care for them. This is a great buy, and anyone who says otherwise needs to check their research.