Solid performer
Written: Aug 22 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great picture and sound
Cons: The horrible manual
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| iann's Full Review: Hitachi DV-P250U DVD Player |
This was Hitachi's only DVD player in 1999 and it is still available in some stores even though it has been replaced by the 305/505 models for 2000. It is similar to the 505 in terms of specs but should be available for less money. You might even be able to get it for less than the 305 as retailers clear their stocks.
The DVP-250U has a two-laser system. This means it can read just about any form of disc, including music and video CDs, CD-R and CD-RW. Obviously it also handles DVDs. I think it will also read mini-discs but I haven't got any, so don't take my word for it. The twin lasers should mean lower error rates and so better quality, but more about that later. The video signal can be output as composite video, component video, or S-video, which should allow just about any TV to be connected. The audio can be output directly from the built-in Dolby Digital 5.1 decoder or as stereo through standard phono plugs. You can also hook up your own decoder using the optical or coaxial connectors, which support DTS if you need it. So the audio is pretty much completely covered as well.
The player has all the normal play features, allowing track skipping, random play, repeat, and all that jazz. Of course, you can actually watch a movie from start to finish as well, and most of us will do just that. For those extra special moments, there are semi-useful features like zoom, fast/slow, and single frame advance. Another feature you won't find on many players is Hitachi's Disk Navi system. It reads the first frame of each scene and displays it to you on-screen so that you can pick individual scenes to watch. In practice the first frame is not always very helpful, and the DVD's own menu is usually much more useful. What is useful is the "last play" button. The player remembers where you were in each movie (for up to 16 different movies) when you stopped watching and you can go straight to that spot by pressing the last button instead of the play button. Now that's better than being able to play scenes in random order!
Getting a bit more technical, movies can be output in NTSC (normal US format), PAL (normal European format) or PAL-60 (NTSC for a PAL TV), depending on the disc coding. In practice, you won't likely find a region 1 disc with PAL coding and even if you did, your US TV wouldn't understand the PAL output. So nice features, but not much use to the average American.
Build quality appears to be excellent and the player itself is very solid. All the connections are secure and the controls on the front of the player feel very nice. The tray operates smoothly and discs play quietly. The remote is a bit more tacky. Its plastic and it feels it, but it works well enough. Just don't let your kids use it as a toy. Also, there's no backlighting on the remote so you'll have to turn on the lights if you want to use any of those fancy features. The last annoying feature of the remote control is that Hitachi's top-of-the-range, multi-functional TV remotes, which control your VCR, your set-top-box, and probably your microwave as well, don't work on the DVD. When will manufacturers realise that DVD players are just as much a part of the home entertainment system as a VCR?
So what's it like to use all those features? Its pretty easy for a beginner to connect a TV and play a movie. So far, so good. If you want to start playing with the advanced features or the setup, things get a little bit tricky. The menus are not the simplest to work with and it is a simple fact of life that the out-of-the-box settings just can't be right for every home entertainment system or every DVD/CD. And don't expect any help from the manual - its quite the worst piece of Japanese transliteration I've ever seen. Hitachi's regular top-notch technical writers obviously never got near this booklet.
Now you've all been waiting for the important bit - how well does it work? The video is simply excellent, as it should be from a DVD player. You are not likely to find much better pictures from any player, at any price, and your TV or connectors will probably be the limiting factor on the quality of the picture you end up watching. The audio is also excellent, up to a point. The built-in decoder is very good, and most people will be very happy with the sound they get from decent surround speakers. But it will not equal a high-end Dolby Digital decoder, so don't expect it to sound like those systems you hear in the home entertainment stores which hurt your ears and make you bounce up and down when the bombs go off. Also, the virtual surround (for two-speaker systems) is not even close to 5.1 surround sound, but then you can hardly expect it to be. With those provisos, the sound is excellent for any system you connect it to. It will happily power most surround speakers, and for those who want something more spectacular, there are connectors for high-end equipment. The CD sound quality is also very good, again not audiophile quality (although you can hook it to a high-end audio amp with very good results), but satisfactory for most uses and users.
In summary, the performance and quality of this player is as good as you will find without spending a lot more money, but it slips a little on ease of use. If you can pick up one of these players being cleared at a discount, you are getting quite a bargain.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
iann
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Member: Ian Nartowicz
Location: Falls Church VA
Reviews written: 62
Trusted by: 55 members
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