Good looking, but will it last?
Written: Dec 18 '01
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Pros: Sleek look, picture quality, multi-format
Cons: Reliability?
The Bottom Line: The only thing keeping from giving it 5 stars is its durability. Otherwise the player is great.
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| narenji's Full Review: Zenith DVD2381 DVD Player |
Zenith has gotten some really bad reviews for the quality of their other DVD players. This progressive scan model is new, and has gotten pretty good reviews in most places. I couldn't resist this player when Circuit City had it for $159 with Progressive Scan! I bought this player because I gave my older but good Samsung DVD player (that review is here: http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2DD7-27406187-3A21E0E9-prod5 ) to my parents as their first DVD player.
The Zenith player looks sleek, as it has a silvery top and a light gray lower portion. It will stand out in your home entertainment center if this is the only silver component you have. The box is plain, but the packaging is solid. It comes with the S-video and composite a/v cables. The front display features a circular CD-like pictogram showing what the disc is doing. To the right is a dot matrix display which will display track info as well as titles from MP3 CDs. The player is multi-format, and will play almost anything you can throw in there. It does take its sweet time to load a DVD, almost 15 seconds.
The player includes a lot of features. It has a full set of jacks in the back- coaxial and digital audio out, as well as s-video, component, and composite video out. The component video can be switched from regular to progressive scan mode. The front panel features a power button with a green/red led, and play/stop/skip forward/backward, and three buttons to control the menu. The buttons are on the small side, but they contribute to the sleek appearance of the player.
The remote is large for a DVD player, and has large buttons. The remote will control a TV, VCR, and cable box. At the top are buttons to control the tv channel and volume, and these buttons also double to control the DVD menu. under these are the play/stop/ff/rew buttons in a circular fashion. Below that are buttons 0-9 to enter a particular channel. Under these are small buttons to control the DVD audio mode, subtitles, languages, etc. The remote also has zoom and marker functions. The latter is to bookmark various parts on a DVD if the preset chapters aren't enough for you. The bottom of the player includes a shuttle dial to control the forward and rewinding of the disc. The more you twist the dial, the faster the disc will move. It's a well designed remote, but the only gripe I have are with the menu buttons. They're too far up, and their functions could have been replicated by the play/stop/ff/rew buttons. I often find myself hitting play thinking I'm controlling the menus.
Speaking of menus, the player has a pleasing menu system with easy controls. The player also includes a nifty bouncing ball screen saver. The menus work quickly, but as in the Samsung, they can only be accessed when the disc is stopped. Only minor adjustments can be made while the disc is playing.
The picture quality of the player is excellent, even better than the Samsung I had before. It doesn't have the weird brightness problem I had with the Samsung where the picture brightness would randomly change sometimes, but then later return to original levels. It is possible to adjust the picture size between letterbox, pan-scan, and 16:9 widescreen. The sound quality seems fine, but again, I'm no audiophile. Unlike the Samsung, the Zenith does not have the capability to hear audio while doing 2x forwarding. You also cannot adjust the audio volume levels. It plays back all DVDs fine, except those with scratches. It has more difficulty playing scratched DVDs than the Samsung. The player seems to get confused as it tries to figure out what do next. Major imperfections causes large skips-usually to the next chapter. The Samsung would only skip the bad part, not to the next chapter.
Surely there are better players out there, but this one seems very competent. The only question that remains is that of the durability of the unit. It plays all formats, and that is a plus. I bought a progressive scan model for the future. I do not have a HDTV at the moment, so I cannot comment on Progressive Scan picture quality. I am also auditioning a Pioneer DVD player to see which ones fits my needs best. Zenith seems to have put out a good product with some thoughtful features and good design. At $159, there isn't much else that compares to the value that this player has to offer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 159
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Epinions.com ID:
narenji
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Location: Glendora, CA
Reviews written: 99
Trusted by: 33 members
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