Once you have DVD, you'll never go back to VHS
Written: Dec 06 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: All the output jacks you need, nice picture
Cons: pauses or gives colored squares from time to time
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| jimyster's Full Review: Hitachi DV-P305U DVD Player |
One of the main reason's I bought a DVD player is because the guys at work use to watch DVD's on there computers. And exchange them with each other, and I couldn't join in on the fun. So I thought I'd try a DVD player out, and Sams Club had the one for me. I bought a demo model, because the rest were sold out, mine was $184.00.
THE DVD EXPERIENCE:
If your new to the DVD world, a DVD movie will take a little bit of getting use to. First off, most all the movies are in letter box format. Meaning you'll have a top and a bottom black border with no video. The advantage to this is that you see the full width of the movie like in the theaters. Because in order to make it fit to a square television, they must pan and scan the movie, which chops off the left and right ends. This border size can vary depending on the DVD movie. Because of this border, I'd recommend nothing smaller than a 27" TV with S-Video connection myself. For me, it didn't take long to get use to the borders. The trick was to make the room as dark as possible by covering the windows with blankets, and turning off the lights. And you really need to use to S-Video jack, this will almost double your resolution on the movie it seems. You should be running it through a stereo reciever to get the full sound effects. Unlike a VHS player, all DVD's you purchase will have a menu on them. And there are four way arrow buttons on all DVD remotes to interact with the menu. This is how you view the added bonus features included on DVD's. And you'll love not having to worry about rewinding a DVD, unlike a VCR. Because it's kind of like an audio CD, verses a cassette tape.
THE DVD PLAYER:
The DVD player itself is a good looking component. It's all black with a digital readout for timing the DVD's, and for telling you the status of the player, like, loading, menu, etc. It does offer operation from the player with buttons located on the front of the player. This is a single DVD unit, and can handle only one DVD at a time. It has a standard two prong power cord, so you don't have to worry about ground adaptors. The player will pickup where you left off on a DVD, so you don't have to start from the beginning again, even if you power the unit off. However, once the DVD is removed, it will not remember your DVD location unless you bookmarked it electronically. Also unique, when the DVD player is done playing, it doesn't have an all blue screen. It fades in and out a rainbow of colors with Hitachi DVD Video spelled out in it. So if you fall asleep, this fading in and out will most likely wake you up to turn it off. The back of the player pretty much has every type of jack you need for todays technology. I use the S-Video with a monster cable, and standard RCA for my audio.
THE REMOTE:
This is where most your play time will take place. The remote is a good size, not super long and heavy like some now. It's about eight inches long, by two inches wide and black with rubber gray buttons. The arrow key buttons are located near the bottom half of the remote for easy thumb access. The batteries go on the bottom where there is a slide off cap, that comes off with a little presure. This is where you place two AA batteries that will last a long time, even with cheap batteries like I have.
FEATURES:
The player offers virtual 3D sound that works fine with my cheap surround sound stereo. By default, this feature is turned off. It offers a zoom, two about 4X I think. Combine this with the pause and arrow buttons, and you can pretty much zero in on anything. You can electronically bookmark a position on a DVD to go back to it later. Through the remote setup you can setup the audio for surround or 5.1 dolby. It also has other features I've never used like repeat.
SHORT COMINGS:
From time to time the player pauses briefly during the playing of a movie. Or it may give colored squares quickly. But it doesn't happen that often, and only for a second or less. It only holds one DVD at a time, unlike some of the newer ones that hold five or more, but not for this price.
CONCLUSION:
People who don't own a DVD player don't realize what they are missing. This is a good beginner to intermidiate DVD player in my opinion. The picture is a quality one, and has all the output jacks you need. For under two hundred dollars, this a very good bang for your buck! But because of it's pauses, and has colored squares from time to time, it loses one star though. Overall, I'm very happy about this purchase.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jimyster
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Location: Carrollton, TX
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 3 members
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