No comments about Philips DVP3960/37 1080i Up Converting DVD Player.

5 comments about Zenith DVB412 Ultra-Slim Progressive-Scan DVD Player.

1. I bought this player just after christmas. For what I paid for it, it was a great value. I especially liked that it played both
   +/- DVD formats. The remote is standard and easy. Lots of players like the Panasonics only play the -R DVD format. I create my own home movies on both + and - R DVD disks and have not had a problem with the display formatting. I noticed others were complaining about the sound. I have not seen what they are referring to but will look more closely next time. LOTR 1-3 all seemed in sync to me. The only issue that I did see was that when I created my own DVD's with a background video running, the background video only ran for 10 seconds and then stopped. The foreground remained correct. I checked it on a couple other players and did not have this problem. This troubled me, but for such an inexpensive player, if I ever really get annoyed I'll just toss it out and buy something else.



2. after having over 15 dvd players ive come to expect the worst it seems u need to be lucky to find a cheap good quality dvd player i paid over a $100 a piece for 2 sonys both skipped i replaced one with a sumsung that also skipped so i tried cheaper ones like the cybertron and it skipped i tried a sanyo and it didnt skip but 2 units in a row couldnt detect the remote now i have this zenith thin line dvd player my first impression was o great more poor construction as i noticed only 2 of its legs touch the ground meaning the dvd player could rock back and forth if the musics too loud and thats obviously not helpful for a skipfree performance so before i returned it i decided to test it i played 4 new dvds all 4 have played perfectly thats 8 hours in a row of movies with no skips and no out of synch audio and the picture and sound is better than i expected and easily rival the sonys i paid twice as much for the dvd player itself is very cool looking and the remote is big easy to use and includes batteries so im going to rent a few movies if they play well as the others then ill be convinced i finally found a reasonably priced dvd player that works well remember it seems every brand of dvd player has problems and many are damaged in shipping so you just got to find one and test it if it works on several dvds its good as youre going to get so keep itUPDATE WELL ONCE AGAIN ANOTHER DVD PLAYER IS JUNK I THOUGHT I FINALLY FOUND A GOOD WORKING DVD PLAYER BUT AFTER A FEW MONTHS PROBLEMS HAVE OCCURED MORE AND MORE IT SEEMS THE MOUTHS ARENT IN SYNC WITH THE VOICES ITS LIKE WATCHING FREAKING KUNGFU THEATRE IT DOESNT DO IT ON MOST DVDS BUT IT STILL OCCASIONALLY HAPPENS ALSO BECAUSE THE MORON WHO MADE MY PARTICULAR DVD PLAYER DIDNT DO THE LEGS RIGHT ON THE BOTTOM ONLY LIKE 2 LEGS ARE TOUCHING SO IF YOU GOT A BIGSCREEN AND TURN UP SURROUND SOUND IT SHAKES THE DVD PLAYER MAKING IT SKIP OWELL IF YOU GET ONE WITH BETTER LEGS(IM SURE YOU WILL) YOU GET A DECENT DVD PLAYER FOR 50 WITH AMAZING PICTURE AND SOUND BUT OCCASIONALY SOME DVDS LIPS DONT MATCH THE VOICES IM NOW GIVING IT 3 STARS INSTEAD OF 5



3. I should have read these reviews before-and not after-purchasing one of these players, for I experienced the same problem described by the reviewer from Canada. After one week of use, the unit began to reject certain discs that would play without any difficulty in other DVD players. Either it failed to read a disc and gave a "disc error" message or it read the disc but failed to show the movie. Not wanting to deal with the frustrations of a possibly defective unit, I returned it at once to Circuit City for a full refund and bought a Panasonic player (model S29), which, as of this writing, is working just fine. For those of you considering this Zenith product, my advice is "Let the buyer beware."



4. After having suffered for nearly three years with a three hundred dollar Sony DVD player that continually skipped, froze, and refused to play some discs, while giving out the dreaded error message, I finally tossed in the towel. I decided to go cheap and picked up this attractive compact DVD player for sixty dollars.
   
   I have had it for six months, and it has worked perfectly. I have experienced none of the audio-synchronization issues about which other reviewers have complained, and I watch many, many films. It is easy to use and has never once skipped, froze, or given out an error message.
   
   So, I am quite satisfied with its performance, which, thus far, has been stellar. If it should break down in a year or so, I will feel that I will have gotten my money's worth. I am sorry to say that I could not possibly have said that about the Sony DVD player that I ended up junking.



5. I bought the DVB412 through Amazon in December 2004 and it failed in August 2005. For many months after purchase it was almost unused. After about 3 months of use it gave "ERROR" on the display and rejected all DVDs I tried to play. Cleaning the DVDs was no help. I called Zenith's 800 number, and the lady immediately said "bad laser", but said unplug the unit for 30 minutes and try again. This did not help. I called Zenith again, they are willing to exchange the unit for $45 under the warranty which after 90 days covers parts only, not labor. (Guess it costs them $45 to ship out another one!?) I am thinking this player could be a lemon.

No comments about Teac DV-L800 Progressive Scan DVD Player.

No comments about Jolida JD 700: Vacuum Tube DVD Player.

5 comments about Memorex DVD/ VCR Dual Deck Player - MVD4541/43.

1. This product is embarrasing! I bought a brand new one for my dad for his birthday because his old, crappy, Polaroid version stopped working. I plugged this in, hooked it up and turned it on. I opened up the dvd player, put a dvd in, and it played fine. Just ot test it out, I turned it off about 2 minutes into it playing, then turned it back on. The dvd part of this POS didn't work at all!!!! The VCR part of it worked fine, then when I switched to dvd these was NOTHING on the screen. I couldn't even eject the dvd from the unit OR from the remote control. I turned it off and on back on about 5 times and finally got it working. I got the dvd out, put another in (just in case it was the dvd) and tried it out again. It didn't work. I turned it on and off about 5 more times to get out the dvd out and packed it up.
   
   Before you buy a dvd player, do some research!!! You usually get what you pay for.
   
   This will not work right out of the box. STAY AWAY!!!



2. I returned the player because the remote did not work with the unit. A second player was sent and it had the same problem. The remote that came with these players is generic with no brand name or logo and is incompatible with the unit.



3. Wish this review would allow a 0 or 1/2 star rating! Don't waste your money. Spend a few extra dollars and buy one that will work for more than half a year. Bought this (name brand, should be good and what a value!) - sucker! DVD stopped working within 4 months. Memorex offered to repair - for $75 plus the cost of shipping to them. Why would I want to pay more than it's worth to have this piece of junk fixed? Spend the extra money you'd be spending anyway!



4. Don't waste your money! This thing is a piece of garbage. The VCR will not play recordings in SLP mode. It also started chewing up tapes within a week. The DVD player is a nightmare too. It is not compatible with the TV we bought only a year ago. It also has a habit of freezing up. Save your money and use it on a brand name that makes products which actualy work. This machine will give you nothing but a headache!



5. It's not the best piece of equipment around, but it does it's job and works.
   
   Only issue with it is that within 5 minutes of keeping the DVD player on pause, it automatically shuts off, which is quite annoying. But no problems so far.

5 comments about Pioneer DV 563A - DVD player.

1. Fantastic Video, excellent audio, heavy feature set, and looks great...but that's not why I bought it.

   In the past, if you wanted max format compatibility, you had to sacrifice video quality. Sure, you can stick a slice of pizza in a Sony DVP-NS725P and it will play a Little Caesars commercial, but the video quality is horrendous. I searched high and low looking for a player that can read a wide range of formats, including DVD +R, without having to sacrifice quality...and just when I was about to give up, someone turned on a Grail shaped beacon.

   Enter the Pioneer DV-563A. I dropped in every +R that I have and it played them flawlessly. No skipping, no laser chirping. It even played disks on lower quality media that were burned right to the edge. Absolutely awesome.

   By the way, the specs do not advertise +R and I am using a recorder that supports bit setting so your mileage may vary.




2. This is a great multi format player. So far I've been playing a lot of DVD-R's with excellent results. I was having a lot of problems with my previous JVC player.



3. I have had this player for some months now, and am very pleased with the performance all round. Video always looks good, no problems there. Every existing audio and video connection is available on the back, very nice indeed.
   What makes this player truly great though is that it is a universal player - apart from the usual video, mp3, etc capabilities it also plays DVD Audio and SACD (super audio cd) - and it does so smashingly. The new formats are played back beautifully. It also gives you the best that your regular cds have to offer.
   
   I would really give this player the full five stars, except that it has one baffling, and extremely irritating feature - while it actually does PAL to NTSC conversion (very nicely I might add), it is not region free, nor can it be rendered so easily.
   I ask you, how many region 1 PAL discs have YOU seen on the market?
   Because of this I have to keep a second player (one of those no name brand bargain basement ones - does an excellent job by the way) for the sole purpose of playing my region 2 PAL discs (expensive legitimately purchased discs of material that simply is not available in a region 1 version).
   Of course if you do not own any other region discs (nor plan on ever getting any) then this will be irrelevant to you.
   
   In conclusion, an excellent player all around, I fully recommend it - but with that one glaring error in design (Pioneer really let down their customers with that one).



4. I'll keep this short and sweet because so many people have already sung the praises. I have logged numerous hours with this DVD/Universal Player and have not seen any problems. Picture quality is amazing and the High Resolution Audio Capability is superb. SACD and DVD-Audio have never sounded so good. This is a true giant-killer and worth its weight in gold.



5. This unit has been thrown across the room once and dropped three times. It still works perfectly. The overall picture is not quite as fine-grade as the DV-45A/655A-Import, but it does not crush the reds in the way those do or have such an oddly-dark picture that you must compensate for.
   
   Like the 655A-Import, the SACD playback is nearly flawless and if you've set the speakers all to large/On, the original Sony DSD chip just sends the pseudo-analog 1-bit signal directly to a filter and then to the volume-controlled output opamps. So all you're really hearing is the quality of the power supply, the filter coil, some caps, and the opamps with SACD's when it's set up properly.
   
   DVD-A playback is quite good with very extended high frequencies and none of the upper-midrange artificial smearing or texturing the 45A/655A-import units exhibit. Homemade DVD-A's of 24bit DJ mixes from vinyl sounded more neutral overall. The 563A does lack the refinement that the other Pioneers and many receivers are capable of in this category, though. Cirrus DACs, such as those used by Harman, Marantz, and Rotel amps, tend to excel in this department. Unfortunately, this early Universal was unable to send 24/192 through its digital out.
   
   CD playback is surprisingly lucid in its detail, but otherwise thin, lifeless, and fairly boring. The good thing is again the extension on top and lack of overt distortion. If you think there's a slight lack of refinement to 24bit PCM from this player, however, you're in for a cold shower with 16bit. The DAC architecture and its PCM-fed filter stage are clearly tailored to DVD-A, and are budget-quality at that. You will get better results with practically any amp's own decoders for Redbook 16/44.1. In all honesty, the 44.1 format is pitiful and should have been 48khz from the beginning. It takes expertise to get it to sound good. It isn't painful or offensive here, per say, but the unfortunate low-point of the player. There is no finesse, no warmth, no real midrange inner-light or liquidity. All the details are there and it is not rolled-off, but the music isn't quite...uh...musical.
   
   For DVD-Audio and Video, this is acceptable performance. For SACD, you cannot do much better than this without spending much more. The 563A is also easily moddable by any of the reputable online companies to bring it into the Sony SCD-1 territory concerning Super Audio, which would also improve its DVD-A and CD playback to some extent. The Sony is in another universe when it comes to Red Book, though, and no amount of modding any Pioneer is going to change that. My modded Denon DCM-370 HDCD changer is smack dab in audiophile land, though. A different character than the Sony, but at least they're on the same planet and possibly in the same nation...o.k., I'm taking this metaphor a little far here.
   
   The biggest thing about it, though, is its incredible durability. Being it was the first domestically-released budget universal player on the market, this is an amazing achievement and is a testament to Pioneer as a company. As an audio transport (sans SACD and 24/192) you cannot do any better than this.

5 comments about Coby DVD-537 5.1 Channel DVD Player with Progressive Scan.

1. This product does what it advertises and not really much else. It has progressive scan playback with component out and digital audio out. Playback quality is passable though it does not contain the technologies in higher-end dvd players to prevent pausing during layer-changes and buffer through skips and dirty disc sections. But then again, it's a $40 dvd player. The remote is, well, a remote you'd expect with a dvd player of this price.
   
   This player will not take abuse or excessively heavy use. But if you break it, take consolation in the fact that you can buy 9 more before you have paid up the same for a quality Sony/Onkyo/Denon/etc. player.



2. I was able to use this product twice before it ceased functioning. I watched one DVD over 2 sessions and when I attempted to watch another one a few weeks later, it wouldn't even power on. Truly you get what you pay for.



3. I bought an $80 Sanyo DVD Player from Best Buy that lasted a month before failing. Best Buy wouldn't refund or replace the broken DVD player, so I went online and bought this one for $35. I have been using it for about 5 months now (about 4 times a week) and I have had no problems with it. My 3-year old also figured out how to use it in under 5 minutes. I see that some people had problems with theirs but if it broke tomorrow I would still say that I got my money out of it.



4. I had this product for several months, but only used it a total of maybe ten times before it stopped working completely. Even in earlier uses it didn't work as advertised, because it wouldn't play my DVD+Rs correctly. Also this player has the worst remote control I've ever used. The buttons are completely flat and extremely hard to push. I had a similarly priced unit from Magnavox that lasted for years, so I don't buy the whole 'you get what you pay for' argument. This product is just poorly made. I won't be buying any more Coby DVD players.



5. I've this DVD player more than a year and works great! Its cheap and compact. It's much better than those named brand like panasonic,sony etc etc ...

No comments about Geovision GV-IR.

5 comments about Audiovox VBP700 7" DVD Player in a Bag.

1. BROKE WITHIN SIX MONTHS AND ONLY HAS A 90 WARRANTY BUT NOT TIL AFTER THE BATTERY CRAPPED OUT AND I BOUGHT ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS THING.



2. GOT THIS UNIT ON MARCH 28TH 2005 AT CIRCUIT CITY HAD IT FOR EXACTLY 2 WEEKS AND THE DISK STOPPED SPINNING! TOOK IT BACK TO THE STORE AND THEY DIDNT HAVE ANOTHER ONE SO THEY TOLD ME I COULD PICK IT UP AT ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR STORE LOCATIONS AND IT WOULD BE "READY FOR ME" TO PICK UP! PICKED IT UP TOOK IT HOME AND COUPLE OF DAYS LATER WENT TO USE IT AND IT DIDNT SPIN!!! RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX!!! TOOK IT BACK TO CIRCUIT CITY AND THEY SAID THEY COULD ONLY FIND THE RECEIPT ON FILE FOR THE FIRST ONE(THAT GOT RETURNED) AND NOT FOR THIS ONE--- AFTER MUCH DEBATE NOTHING GOT DONE FOR ME AT CIRCUIT CITY BECAUSE THE RECEIPT THEY GAVE ME BACK WAS THE OLD ONE AND NOW I'M STUCK WITH THIS PEICE OF JUNK I PAID $369.00 FOR AND CIRCUIT CITY SUCKS TOO! CALLED AUDIOVOX TODAY 7/19/05 (WAITED A WHILE I WAS BUSY GIVING BIRTH AT THE END OF MAY)AND THEY TOLD ME THE 90 DAYS WERE UP (BY 10 DAYS!) AND COULD ONLY FIX IT FOR A FLAT RATE OF $93.00 PLUS SHIP!!! I AM PISSED OFF



3. This DVD player has worked perfectly for me plays dvd's great and plays video games great too. It has never had anything wrong with it. I highly recommend this dvd player!



4. This player is very convenient for long trips. If you want to save the money, you can get it Free from this web site: awesomestufffree.com/portabledvd



5. At first it wasn't a bad unit. But it broke within a year. Now that I read the past reviews, I see I'm not alone.....

4 comments about JVC XVM50BK 3-Disc Triple Tray DVD Player, Black.

1. I think this is the best choice of DVD player. I like the fact that I can leave 3 disks in it at the same time and watch them whenever I want to. It can play DVD, VCD and CD. I thought the price also very reasonable. I like the zoom and the multiple language functions. The picture quality is also exceptional. Buy and enjoy it.



2. I have had the unit now for a few weeks and remain satisfied with it. It is the first DVD player that I have had, though I did a lot of research both online and in stores. For the features that you get for your money, it is hard to beat. The three disc trays are very nice to have - I personally cannot understand buying a unit with only one disc capability.

   The operation is pretty much plug-and-play, and the set-up was fairly easy. The picture quality and sound are very good - a vast improvement over VHS tape.

   The only negative thing that I have found is that on two occasions, the unit made a fairly loud humming noise after shuttling between discs. It went away after a minute, but I still don't know what it was.

   Overall, a nice player and I am happy with it.




3. The JVC XV-S50BK is a triple-tray 3-disc DVD/CD changer. It plays both CD-R and CD-RW discs in addition to regular DVD-Video, Video CD and CD-Audio.

   The Style

   The S50BK looks solid and has three separate trays on its front panel. It also features buttons for basic functions, three buttons for disc selection and three separate eject buttons.

   Inputs

   The rear panel has both optical and coaxial digital audio outs in addition to analog stereo jacks. It also has an S-Video and component video outs in addition to composite video out.

   Both S-Video and component video out provide better picture quality than composite connection, since S-Video allows you to transfer chrominance (color information) and luminance (brightness information) separately and bypassing the TV's comb filter - the device that is responsible for the separation of the composite video signal into chrominance and luminance.

   Using S-Video or component out, you bypass the comb filter and eliminate the possibility of your TV mistaking chrominance for luminance and causing so-called cross-luminance artifacts and rainbow-like Moire patterns.

   The 50BK also has 2 AV CompuLink jacks for connection to JVC AV CompuLink-equipped components. There is also a AC power jack of standard configuration.

   CD-R/W, VCD, etc

   Although this model doesn't play MP3 files, it accepts CD-R and CD-RW discs. It also plays Video CD in addition to CD-Audio and DVD-Video. Video CD features 352x240 resolution at 23.97 or 29.97 frames per second.

   Picture and Sound

   The picture quality of DVD playback is excellent and far superior to VCD, VHS, Super VHS, 8mm or Hi8. The horizontal resolution reaches 500 lines and the images are solid and film-like.

   The sound quality, when the player is connected using one of its digital audio outs, depends solely on the receiver it is connected to. The sound from analog jacks is excellent and virtually noise-free.

   Features

   The triple-tray design allows you to replace two discs while the third one is playing. However, the mechanism that changes discs is a little slow and noisy.

   The player has a zoom function, that enlarges the image to two-times normal size. It also has multi-angle capability and a "digest" and "strobe" functions, which allows you to grab a still frame from the start of each chapter for display on a nine-image screen pages (you can use it at any point of the movie).

   The S50BK has a rich set of features: "Strobe" combines nine consecutive still frames on the screen. The player has six different speeds of slow motion in forward play (1/32, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2) and five in reverse (1/16, 1/12, 1/8, 1/4, 1/3). The fast search can be conducted at five speeds in both directions (2x, 5x, 10x, 20x and 60x).

   The player can display menus in English, Spanish and French. It also has other features like angle select, soundtrack/language select, subtitle select, A-B repeat, random play, program play and parental control.

   There are four levels of "Theater Position" feature: Off, 1, 2 and 3, which allow you to select progressively darker picture. The "compression" level allows you to adjust "sound compression" - dynamic range of the soundtrack. The player has a screen saver and resume function.

   If you don't have a good Dolby Pro Logic or Dolby Digital sound system, a 3D Phonic virtual surround-sound mode will give you better sound effects using just two speakers. It broadens the apparent sound field at the expense of clarity.

   Remote

   The remote control looks good and has intuitive button layout. The 2 AA-size batteries are included. The remote can control some functions on TVs of several manufacturers (Sony, Panasonic, RCA, Sharp, Toshiba ...), including some you probably never heard of (like Gradiente, Beijing/Noblex, etc.)

   Bottom Line

   The S50BK is a very good deal if you want a 3-disc DVD/CD changer with triple-tray design. At $... it is also a good value. It plays CD-R, CD-RW and VCD, but not the MP3-encoded files. If MP3 playback is important to you, check out the alternatives.




4. I finally made the transition to DVD after my daughter bought me a movie for Christmas. I did plenty of research into my purchase.... I looked at either a single play or a 5-disc device, but I finally settled on this 3-disc JVC unit. Sure it doesn't have all the greatest options (i.e. SACD), but to play DVD's or CD's it fits the bill just fine. All of the performace parameters (i.e THD, signal to noise) greatly exceed those of my eyes and ears. I would shop around though, I was able to find the same unit at ... for under $200.