4 comments about Zoombox Zoom Box DVD Home Entertainment Projector Theater + Bonus Carrying Bag.

1. This is a good item for a good price for children. The picture is not high quality (to be expected) but the kids love it. They get very excited to put it on the wall. It is very light and portable so you can set it up in any room. I would highly recommend this for kids rooms!!



2. Just as mentioned in previous reviews, this is not for people who need excellent resolution/ high definition images. It is just for fun, to have a nice big image (low average resolution)and average sound. This is a cheap projector.. personally, I like it.. don't expect great, again, this is just for fun...( and the price is very good).



3. I purchased this latest Zoombox as a Christmas gift for my daughter who is a third grade teacher. My previous experiences with this product is through work. I have purchased two of these for my boss, who as well as an engineering company also has a non-profit organization, and uses Powerpoint presentations to show different groups and organizations the accomplishments and future plans of the non-profit. The non-profit builds and supports schools and a medical clinic in Haiti as well as miscellaneous other projects in undeveloped countries. My boss is totally non-computer oriented but has been able to easily use this product many times. He left one of the Zoomboxes in Haiti with one of the non-profit employees to use for classes and presentations. The best thing about the Zoombox is that it works quite well for our needs and is relatively inexpensive unlike other similar products which are costly and which have very expensive replacement parts (such as lenses that cost several hundred dollars).HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS - LOTS OF USES!



4. this product serves a purpose-it projects dvds onto screens or walls, but the image is poor and fuzzy, so much so my daughter returned it without using it.....basically not usable, except for kids under 8 who may not object to the poor image. A toy only.

5 comments about Philips HTS3400D/37 Home Theater System with DVD Player.

1. Well, I thought I had bought a Home Theater system about a year and half ago. Little did I know that I had also got a Hummer in bargain!!
   
   It's been a little over a month since it started humming on powering up. It is almost like it is a kid with a stomach pain - when I apply pressure on the top it cries cries out louder - as if my pressure just increased the pain that it is going through.
   
   Although the sound quality is about ok for the price, I would not buy it or recommend it. I am not sure if I will even look at Philips for my next Home Theater after this one either dies out or needs to be euthanised because of the intense pain it seems to be undergoing.



2. This system is a very good buy. The sound is quite good and with a
   simple hack code, this system can be made to play region free.
   In dvd mode(without a disc in the tray)press- play 1590 2379 390 play.
   This will change the region code to 0.
   I have not had any humming problems like other reviewers.



3. I bought this home theater system from Philips last year and it worked fine for about 14 months, and then suddenly it wouldn't read discs any more. Any discs. I tried dozens of clean discs but each time the display would read "no disc".
   
   The warranty only lasts one year so I'm out of luck. Don't make the same mistake I did- don't buy this system. Try another, more reliable brand. Philips just doesn't cut it.



4. This is truly a complete system. In addition to excellent CD/DVD performance the built-in AM/FM stereo system is excellent.
   The surround sound on BOTH DVD's AND Cable broadcasts will surprise you.
   The system even simulates surround sound when the source is simple in stereo.
   You will love this system.
   It is best used in small to medium rooms. It might be inadequate in very large family rooms.
   The sound system has adequate power to fill your room and provide impressive sound effects. Planes will fly from front to rear and side to side.



5. We bought this last year for my in-laws and as with many, the DVD player already quit working after less than 10 uses. When we purchased the item, it also did not come with all the parts and when we called customer service, we could not give them the serial number because it had been scratched off with a knife (note to other sellers, only buy from Amazon and not third party seller if you aren't looking for a unit with the numbers scraped off). The surroud sound works pretty well, but it seems useless to have such a terrible quality DVD player with it. I think it would be better to just buy a system without a player built in and buy a player to hook up. We will definitely learn from our mistake with this one.

5 comments about RCA RTD209 250 Watts 5-Disc DVD/CD Home Theater System with Mp3 Player.

1. great for a bedroom loud clear and gets the job done.also note there is no eq tone controlls however the preset surround modes works good enough.



2. This was a Christmas gift for our son and he loves it. The sound quality is great and product arrived from shipper as stated. Will definitely utilize seller again if future needs arise.



3. This system is pretty much what I expected from reading prior reviews. It works well and does the job although it does not give "theatre sound" to a large room. Speakers work best with CDs than with the TV as the volume only goes to 50 and in a large room, that is far from booming. Overall, for the price, a great system. Love the 5 CD/DVD changer.



4. ...even though it's an overall decent system, you get what you paid for.
   -Sound quality is decent, good bass.
   -Love the 5-disc changer... I use it mainly for playing CD's.
   -USB is useful to play MP3's.
   Bottomline - If you can spend a few more dollars for a better system, do it. If not, this system isn't bad.
   UPDATE:3/3/2008 STOPPED WORKING AFTER 5 MONTHS OF USE.



5. I PURCHASED THIS HOME SYSTEM FROM MY LOCAL STORE. IT WORKED GREAT FOR SIX MONTHS, THEN STOPPED WORKING. THE SURROUND SOUND WAS GREAT FOR SUCH A LOW PRICE.

2 comments about BOSE (R) 5.1 Lifestyle 38 Series III DVD Home Entertainment System ( White ).

1. I have owned Bose electronics and have always been very satisfied. What I did not realize when I purchased this system was the difficulty in integrating it with additional elements throughout the rest of my house. Yes, it could be done, but at a very HIGH price. For example, just adding some additional ambiant sound to my adjoining kitchen area to where the system would be installed was going to run an additional $1,000.00 in equipment plus installation. And that was just the beginning. Sadly, this has sent me looking for alternatives and most likely picking various components from several name brands to do the job that I was hoping an "all in one" system would accomplish.
   
   Thanks and again, I love Bose products, but this one just isn't going to work out this time around.
   
   Kevin Bailey



2. Despite all the hype in the Product Description, do not buy this product if you plan to store and listen to jazz CD's. Unlike my ancient CD changer, the Bose sytem has no way of compensating for different volume level output on CD's. The result is that you constantly have to have the remote on hand to adjust the volume. And since one of the selling points of the Bose system is that it will randomly play songs from among the hundreds that you store on its hard drive, this means you have to be prepared to manually adjust the volume for each and every song. This is not the ideal way to spend a quiet evening listening to jazz. At the suggestion of my local Bose dealer in Honolulu--which installed my system at significant cost--I called the home office customer service department (1-800-905-2138) and was told that this generally should not be a problem with most CD's.....except jazz. Apparently, jazz recordings--even very recent ones--have greatly varying volume output levels. My old CD changer (which cost a few hundred bucks) could compensate for this, but not the Bose system, which costs thousands. Be warned. If you have a large collection of jazz CD's, as I do, many of them will be rendered worthless by this system...unless you are prepared to adjust the volume level every few minutes.

5 comments about Sony DAV-HDX501W Bravia 5-Disc Home Theater System with HDMI connectivity.

1. Picture quality is very good - upconverted DVD's have much better picture quality than with nonupconverted DVD's on an analog TV. Volume doesn't go very high - "normal" volume on DVD's is close to Max. Would have preferred faster single disk DVD changer to the slow, noisy multidisc changer provided. Not as many inputs onthe back as I would like. The large number of parts in the box were intimidating, however it went together easily.



2. This is for the HDX 501W.
   
   We bought a Bose 321 and returned it to the store (see my review on it). We then bought this much cheaper system, fully expecting to be disappointed and exchange it for the expensive Bose Lifestyle Systems - the cheapest of which is 3 times the price of the Bravia.
   
   However, we were pleasantly surprised, it has done well. The sound is good. The wireless rear speakers provide good support.
   
   We watched a DVD - and I thought a neighbor had shot off a rocket; one of the speakers was near a window and was playing a rocket being fired!
   
   - it has a 1080p upconvertor DVD player
   - rear speakers connect wirelessly
   - microphone + player configures speakers to acoustics of room
   - front speakers have stands, there is an ipod connector
   - hdmi output to connect to hdtv
   
   If there is any con, it is that there is not too much control for the subwoofer. Some tracks have a thump even with dynamic bass turned off; my wife doesnt like not being able to turn it off; we shall read the manual someday to learn how to!
   
   Otherwise, excellent value. I am quite satisfied.



3. Well, you'd think that a component with "HD" in its name would indicate that it would actually play HD format discs... NOT SO!!! 8-(
   
   While the Sony DAV-HDS501W seems like it should play HD discs, it only plays the following formats:
   
   DVD VIDEO
   DVD-RW/DVD-R
   DVD+RW/DVD+R
   VIDEO CD (Ver 1.1 and 2.0 discs)/Audio CD
   CD-RW/CD-R (audio data) (MP3 files) (JPEG files)



4. I bought the HDX 501W and Im very happy with the sound and picture quality. (It is also compatable with a Blu Ray Player.) It upscales all of my older dvd's to look new again. However...a few of my older rewrite dvds are not compatable with this player. Set up took me about 3.5 hours and is very simple. Follow the owners manual step by step. Concert dvd's sound amazing! You can hear every note with a clarity that is similar to being there live. Before buying this system I had purchased a 5.1 Panasonic with wireless speakers and it was horrible. I returned it and found the Sony Bravia to be my new favorite addition to my home. Great system for the price. I love it.



5. Picked one from local Sams club for 477. In my view this is below average home theatre system.
   
   1. Not so many connections. It should be 1080P/24 and should have HDMI in. Then only you can connect any BD / HD player or PS3 for high quality sound.
   
   2. Sound is fine but not many controls. Not so friendly Remote or on-screen display. Should have EQ displayed at least.
   
   3. Bravia synchronization, Wireless speakers and iPOD doc are nice features I fell for. Anyway spent 3 hours to unpack, install & Learn. I wish to adjust with this system since I do not have much time to return / exchange.
   
   I advise to go for a better BD/HD home theatre system even if you need to wait for. Do not care much for Bravia synchronization though the feature is nice.

5 comments about Denon S-101 DVD Home Entertainment System.

1. I love this unit and am still hopeful that I don't run into the same problems as many owners have. I've had this for six months with only one issue - the remote control stopped functioning completely. Although it would have been replaced under warranty, I was shopping for a universal (Logitech Harmony) remote already and just gave up with the Denon remote. The I-Pod functionality is great and the sound is rich and clear. It looks great and was easy to set up. Very happy with it at this point...knock on wood.



2. I have tried to get the radio (AM and FM) to recieve stations but cannot get the radio to work. I have tried verious antennas but none will work.
   My old set works but the new Denon will not bring in any stations.
   Therefore I would like to return the Denon set. Please advise the proceduer.
   Thanking you
   Thomas A Potter tagsp3@verizon.net 2301 Mariner's Mark Way #201 Virginia
   Virginia Beach, VA 23451
   Thanking you



3. I saw some mixed reviews to this product but I am delighted. The sound quality is fantastic, much better than the BOSE 123 I used to own. The I-Pod connectivity is an added plus as well. The remote can be tempremental but for the $400 price tag the system it is easily worth it. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a 3.1 system.



4. I have ALWAYS LOVED Denon products, especially their receivers. When I was looking for a bedroom system, I spotted this thing for $500 at the local retailer (which was 50% off). I almost ripped my wallet trying to get my plastic out! I brought it home and it sounded AWESOME after some minor fine tuning. I am an audio nut, so I knew better than to expect surround from 2 speakers, but it was definitely stereo on sterroids. In comparison to everything else, sound was a landslide better (esp better than Bose) Well here I am a year and 35 days later - just barely out of warranty - and I have a blown speaker. After reading all the disastrous reviews, I'm not even going to bother with it. I've changed out the speakers to a pair of old Polk satellites (which seem to survive anything) and life will go on until something else breaks. As of now, I'm FURIOUS with Denon and my days with the main unit working are probably numbered.
   
   My review (as of now) makes more bad reviews than good. Take that as a hint from an audio nut who's worked in the industry for quite a while.
   Avoid this product!



5. I bought the Denon S-101 2.1 home theater system to get rid of all the wires my wife didn't like! I thought the system sounded better than the Bose 3-2-1 system and I got a good deal from Best Buy when I bought my 50" panasonic plasama tv.
   
   The S-101 had decent sound, not great, but good. The sub woofer had adjustments but was not earth shaking! After using the system for 13 months the dvd player failed to recognize the dvd's and cd's I was trying to play. I called customer service and they told me to send it to a shop in VA for repairs, and of course the warranty was up and I would have to pay for the shipping and repairs. I was told it could cost as much as to $400.00 to repair. Hell, I could buy a new system for less than that!
   
   I would definitly never buy another Denon home theater system again, or any system with the dvd player integrated in with the speaker system.
   If the dvd player fails, your screwed!

5 comments about JVC THD50 Integrated DVD Home Theater System.

1. Good sound, can not complain for the price. Looks nice. I plugged in my iPod, played CDs, DVDs, Divx, MPEG-4. I am using it with a 57 inch Toshiba projection HDTV via component connection. Works great, lots of functionality.
   Remote is ok; could be more user friendly. Same for setup and manual.



2. Sounds pretty good. But just confirmed with JVC's Tech Support that when you play an MP3 disk and then turn off the power, you have to start the disk at track 1 every time you start up again. You might have expected this 10 years ago, but now it's inexcusable. And you're limited to 150 songs without creating extra "groups".
   
   But most limiting: there is only one external audio input called "Video". So if you want to hear the TV sometimes and sometimes another device like an XM receiver, you're out of luck, unless you continually reconfigure the inputs.
   
   Just too limited for a receiver - going back to where it came from.



3. I'm disappointed that no one previously reviewing this item cared to mention that the 5-channel stereo ONLY works when listening to CDs or watching DVDs on this particular model. If you want to watch cable or satellite TV movies with surround sound and not just 2 channels, you have to get the next model up. It's right there in the convoluted instruction manual.



4. Ok, for one thing, i could care less that if it doesnt play from where i left on my mp3 cds. Another, mp3 cds are like 5 yrs ago. The sound i get from my ipod is amazing. To connect was very simple, has built in brackets, save money, i have yet to put it to max volume because even at the volume of like 35 it gives very crisp clear sound. The bass doesnt distort the music or dvds. I also have my 360 connected to it, and that to sounds amazing. For the price i got it, very quality sound. If u see it this for under 300 bucks, buy it without hesitation because u will not be disappointed at all. If u have the movie transformers, watch it in this system, amazing.



5. I purchased this system for a small appartment. I wanted a classy looking home theater in a box that would look good with my 42 inch piano black flat panel. This system looks great, sounds great, and I love how you can play movies off of the usb drive. The ipod docking station is a nice touch too.

5 comments about Sony HTD-DW995 Full HD 1080p Component Home Theater System.

1. This unit is "well" worth the price. Exceeded all my expectations..hook up was easy and sounds awesome. Extremely happy with this system!!



2. I am not up on electronic technology, but I know how to make comparisons and the Sony system seems to offer much more bang for the buck. Systems in this range did not tend to offer the 1080p resolution as does the Sony.
   There is Dloby digital, HDMI capability and plenty of input/output connections to do just about any hookup. The sound is great. I tested my DVD player through the receiver by watching the "Bourne Supremacy" DVD and believe me, the system will rattle the walls. The only thing that is kind of annoying, is the sub-woofer is powered seperatly, so you have to turn it on or off when you use the system.
   The strangest thing is the volume control. On a scale of 0-65, you have to get it up into the 45-50 range to hear it, but as I said, it has plenty of power to bring down the walls. I just don't understand why all the dead air below 40.
   I highly reccomend this system. For the price you will definetly get your money's worth.



3. If it were not for the difficulty in hooking this up, I would have given it 5 stars. the instructions included are confusing, they don't tell you in plain simple detail how to connect components, needless to say I have been installing audio systems for 20 years, so I had to figure things out on my own. When I first connected everything, my cable box via HDMI, and my Panasonic DMP-30 blu-ray disk player, I could not get sound, only picture, I kept trying only to reach the point where I was about to pack it up and return it, finally after trial and error, I got it to work.
   Well I must say that this system ROCKS!! With the sound coming through HDMI, it is plenty loud, I read other reviews saying the volume had to be at 50-60 to hear it, that's true if your audio is output via analog or coax audio, but through HDMI it did not disappoint.
   Other than the crappy instructions the only thing I don't like about this system is you have to turn the power on and off on the Subwoffer manually
   which is pretty annoying. Bottom line, if you have patience I highly recommend this home theater system, for $359 you can't go wrong.



4. I've had this system for about a month and for the money it does a good job. My living room is pretty big (18x16) and was concerned that it wouldn't be powerful enough when I really wanted to crank the volume, but was pleasantly surprised and it definitely has more than enough power to fill the room with great sound. The powered subwoofer is a plus, and I really like the whole system itself because it's an actual receiver, a real subwoofer and speakers, and could be used interchangeably with other system components (which is different from other traditional HTIB systems where the components are exclusive and if the sub or the receiver dies then all the rest is worthless).



5. This is great I purchased it for my second PS3 setup and couldn't be happier. It has HDMI plus a mic and self calibration feature, which is very nice. The display could be a little more up to date or have more graphic capabilities, but what it has gets the job done, and is no different then most other systems on the market. The stock speakers worked gret for my application, and in the smaller room (15x15) it is plenty loud even on low settings such as 15 I have never went about 20 on the volume and it goes to like 60+, great for a PS3 setup, or Blue ray setup in small room or large rooms, can't beat the price on Amazon for a entire system in one box with free shipping and no Tax. Great quality as always from Sony, nice looking, would purchase again.

4 comments about Yamaha YHT-680BL Home Theater in a Box (Black).

1. I ordered these on the recommendation of a friend of mine. The box arrived on time and in good shape. Everything was well packed to prevent damage. I unpacked and set up speakers around the room using the included guide. It was very easy to set up. The sound quality is really good. Very rich and full.
   
   My only complaint was that i needed about 25feet more wire, but I also have a large living room so most will be okay.



2. Great performance for an excellent price! I previously had a Yamaha receiver that lasted me over 20 years! It actually still works so I knew I was buying a quality system. I wanted to upgrade to a newer system that has smaller speakers and can connect to an iPod.
   
   The sound quality is excellent. I have never had a subwoofer, and although I think this is a pretty small one, it adds a nice punch to the bass.
   
   I also purchased the Yamaha iPod dock - one feature I was excited about was having the receiver show what song is playing from your iPod, but I have yet to get this to work. I think you may have to connect with a separate cable which is not included; odd since it comes with a nice Dock Cable. Perhaps I am not using properly.
   
   The only thing I think would be better is for the system to come with better audio cables and speaker wire. But I think most Home Theater Systems come with the same standard cables, which is a shame. Cables aren't cheap.
   
   That said, Yamaha is great. You really can't go wrong - especially for this price.



3. I purchased this home theater system because of the Yamaha brand name,but I found the instructions voluminous and complicated. Also I was a little surprised that the cable to hookup the speaker system had to be stripped and didn't have snap in and color coded connectors.



4. I ordered this product and had it on my doorstep in 4 days. TigerDriect was great! Everything works great. A bit of a challenge to set up with the HD TV between the HDMI cables, digital opital cables, coaxial cable, regular cables... I'm not a tech person, but I figured out. The sound is very nice.

5 comments about Bose 3-2-1 GSX DVD home entertainment system - DVD surround system - radio / DVD - graphite gray.

1. I am a fan of Bose and their quality sound systems - or at least I was so far. The 3-2-1 GSX is a great idea and the sound is very good. But the box has so many glitches that it is extremely frustrating. The biggest problem is that DVDs tend to freeze or stop playing at the slightest imperfection. We rent DVDs from Blockbusters and almost never had a problem on our old DVD player. Really bad discs would cause some image distortion or strange effects on the screen but they would normally recover once over the bad spot and never freeze up. The Bose has a hair trigger sensitivity to the slightest imperfection on the DVD (and which rentals don't have a small scratch or dirt). The Bose will simply stop playing, display a message ("can't read DVD") and stop. All tricks trying to fast forward or somehow skip that spot fail. Imagine you are in the middle of a thriller! In all such cases we played the same DVD in our old player without any problem.
   I am in the high tech business and used to systematic fault isolation. So I took one disc that froze the Bose (in that case it did not even eject the DVD and I had to recycle the power) to the store where I bought the Bose and tried it on other high end players. It worked fine in all cases and got over the trouble spot. The I played it in the top end Bose Lifestyle system. It jammed for a while (also very sensitive) but it recovered.
   I had a lot of interaction with Bose support on this. They sent me a software update CD which made no noticeable difference. The dealer just says such a high quality system is very sensitive to disc defects. That's balloney, 80% of all rentals from Blockbuster freeze the system.
   I have given up having Bose resolve the problem since there is an obvious flaw in the DVD reader and they don't admit to it. I am now buying another DVD player to add to the system since I am tired of the frustrations with the 3-2-1 GSX.
   If you have a choice, don't buy this sytem.



2. I purchased this system a little over a year ago for my husband's birthday-we have been fans of Bose for a long time, but this system is full of glitches. As the other reviewers said these systems are very picky about what dvds they will play. We started having problems about one month after the warranty expired and had to pay the flat rate of about $70.00 for the repair-only to have it do the same thing about three months later-now under new warranty we ship it back again and it is "repaired" this time for free-we have had it back for about one week and already it is refusing dvds-even a brand new just opened never before played disc. I just got off the phone with Bose and we are shipping it back and they are replacing it. At this point I am not too optimistic. We purchased a cheap ($50.00) Memorex dvd player from Target for the times the Bose is not cooperating and it plays anything and everything beautifully, albeit, without the sound quality of the Bose, but what good is sound quality if it won't play the disc?
   In my opinion Bose should stick to audio.



3. We just returned our Bose 3-2-1 GSX system. When it works properly, it works great, but getting it to work properly is the key. We bought it for the features, sound and brand and returned it for it's quality.
   
   Though the sound is great, some remark that it has negligible mid-tones. This is correct, but didn't affect our enjoyment at all. The sound is great and the simulated surround is excellent. You have to set the small speakers so the inner edges focus on the center of the listening area. The subwoofer can be anywhere, but we placed it under the TV. The late-1980's-era LCD display cannot be shut off and doesn't have a clock display.
   
   The problems started when it couldn't read some tracks on some CDs we had. Then, when we tried to load CDs into the internal HDD, the system crashed. It kept powering on & off. Unplugging and doing a hard reset didn't work.
   
   On the plus side for Bose, we got through to tech support almost immediately, and this is on a Sunday morning. Of course, the tech had never heard of this issue, and he said they would send a replacement main-unit. I said that I would just bring it in to our Bose store and swap it out.
   
   Before I left, I read many reviews, including those here, and decided to return the whole thing. My recommendation is if you end up buying this, save the packing materials.
   
   It's astounding that Bose would let a product which has issues like this out the door. I hope they can figure things out before they loose their reputation.
   
   Pros: Excellent features, excellent sound, easy to setup.
   
   Cons: Poor CD read, poor overall quality



4. I feel angry and duped by BOSE. today I had my second, yes second, GSX321 system installed and it worked wonders for all of 7 hours before it began to shut down after a minute or less. Would never have believed the other negative reviews posted here had this not just happened to me. I bought the first unit two months ago and it worked for all of a couple of weeks until it too just began shutting itself off.
   
   for the second unit, today, I had the BOSE staff do the installation, so nothing would go wrong. boy was I foooled. another 400 dollars wasted.
   
   that bose knows about this and does nothing but ship out replacement units, and they do do this fast, must confirm they know it's a lemon and are just trying to hide this from the public.
   
   SHAME SHAME SHAME. Don't waste your hard earned $1500 on this garbage.



5. Unfortunately for me, I didn't do an in-depth research of this product, and was carried away by the promises of high quality and superb sound that BOSE boasts for its products.
   The 321 GSX broke down only after 3 months, during which I gave it little use. I was loading a CD into the hard drive and the equipment went crazy, turning on and off on its own, non stop. I had to unplug it to make it stop. Most embarrassing, I was hosting people and they were making fun of how much I had paid for a piece of junk (compared to their lower-priced but much reliable Japanese or Korean entertainment systems).
   After several (and useless) calls with technical service, they indicated that there was no fix (no way to reset it) and that I had to exchange the equipment. Doing some research, I realized that this same problem has happened to several other people, so evidently they have a serious quality control problem. Had I known this, I would have thought it twice!!!
   Unfortunately for me I was unable to return it, plus I had incurred in installation costs, so I am "stuck" with it.
   The worst sound quality is that you don't have, so don't be deceived by BOSE's promises of superb sound; if it breaks down, you won't hear anything. So save yourself some money, and don't make the foolish decision of buying this equipment, is really not worth it.