ASPIRE to great heights with this multipurpose player
Written: Jun 22 '04
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Pros: Excellent picture and sound. Wide range of controls. Plays all kinds of discs.
Cons: Remote has some buttons that look too similar to each other
The Bottom Line: You can buy a more expensive player, but not a better one.
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| dr-rjp's Full Review: Aspire Digital AD-1100S DVD Player |
If you want to know just how good a low-cost DVD/CD player can be, just do a real, head-to-head comparison against the players offered by major brands that cost twice as much. I am doing that comparison -- not by choice -- but by virtue of the fact that I sent my Aspire 1100 off to be replaced by another one after 6 months of flawless performance.
Despite the fact that the image went "bye-bye" on the one I sent off, I cannot wait to get another one back. It is that good.
Around Xmas time, Buy.Com was running a special on this player -- actually the AD-1100, and not the AD-1100CDG (the difference is that the former does not come with microphones). The regular purchase price was $59, and with Buy.Com's rebate offer of $30, the price dropped to $29!
At the time, I knew nothing about Aspire Digital products. I figured at $29, I was willing to take a chance on this unit. My plan for it was to set it up in the kitchen so that I could watch DVD's and listen to CD's while in that part of the house. I have a Pioneer DVD in th living room which is a great deck in its own right, but I needed something closer to my TV in the kitchen.
As it turned out, I used the Aspire 1100 a lot more than I ever used my Pioneer. Some of that has to do with the time I send in the kitchen, but a lot of the credit goes directly to this great player.
Now, while my 1100 is off being replaced, I am trying to find a DVD/CD player to fill the void. So far, I have yet to find its match among such notables as Sony, Panasonic, and Samsung. now, mind you that all of these name-brand players do a great job of playing a DVD, but as far as being able to play any kind of disc that I throw at it, and have total control over how I want to picture to look and the audio to sound, the Aspire 1100 leaves them in the dust.
In light of that, the Aspire has more controls than the average person will ever find the time to use. But, if you do find the time, you will be well-rewarded.
For example, how many under-$60 DVD players do you know of where you can control the output volume as well as its sound characteristics like treble, bass, and "Super bass," channel delay, the size of your speakers, and a digital signal equalizer to create eight different sound environments?
You also have complete control over the video as well with options to modify the sharpness, brightness, saturation, gamma, hue, and luma delay.
The 1100 can output audio to both Dolby Digital and DTS decoders, as well as analog audio. It has 5.1 channel and 2-channel connectors, coaxial output, optical output, S-Video output, YUV/component video outputs, and composite video output.
Basically, it will hook up to everything out there, and play every kind of disc as well: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, mini-DVD, Kodak Picture discs, MP3s, and JPEG pictures. Oh, did I mention it also does Karaoke?
About the only thing it will not play are WMA and HighMat audio files.
Setting up the 1100 is not difficult at all despite the many options one has of modifying it. It is mostly a "plug-and-play" affair.
The display is well-lit and the controls on the main unit allow you to do most of what the remote can do. The remote is the one and only weakness of the 1100: many of the buttons are the same shape and size which requires you to read their labels carefully (in case you have not memorized their location).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29
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Epinions.com ID:
dr-rjp
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Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 2 members
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