Any recommendations on players? Ideally want something thats remote hackable if poss, able to switch off macrovison, digital and dts output etc. Oh, and also black to fit in with the rest of the kit!!! (Wots with all this new fangles silvery stuff?!)

How will RCE disks affect multiregion playing?

 

Have a quick search for posts in the last 2 weeks as there has been a lot of conversation on these topics.

 

I personally love my pioneer 525 but theres loads of player about sony 725 seeems to score well with mags, highly recomend buying one off

 

my dad just bought a Yelo dvd player. plays dvds, vcds, CDRs of MP3s, blah, blah, blah.

He paid a couple o hundred I think.

tish and pish - I paid 700 for my denon 3000 and it only outputs DD!

 

Sony 735 is "meant to be outstanding" ...
It IS outstanding.
There's a new Pioneer 737 and a machine from Phillips which are also very good.
Sony does have a Blue LED though, and you can save pictures from your favourite movies as Wallpaper which you really need to do
Techtronics sell them all ...

 

Sony 735 is meant to be outstanding. This is the replacement for the 725.

I just bought an LG 3550 from Techtronics. Plays multiregion dvds, CDRs of MP3s, can output NTSC as NTSC/PAL60/PAL, has very good sound and picture accoridng to the reviews. Just got it last night and it seems very impressive. Also comes with a free copy of "Walking with DOnisaurs". Cost - £230 inc VAT, multiple region changes by Techtronics and delivery.

 

Please excuse my bad spelling in previous post. I need this weekend...

 

Can't argue with the blue LED....

If you see it, you'll want it...

 

From yesterday, your local ALDI store started selling a DVD player for £129!!!!!
Some American make I think, but it's already PAL/NTSC compatible AND has both DTS and Dolby Digital outputs. It's also a nice silver colour. I'm off to buy one right now, so will let you know how it fares.

Stef.

 

I see Letsbuyit.com are doing a Pioneer DV-535 for £179

 

It might be worth you checking out the current issue of "What Hi-Fi" = they've got a DVD special which looks quite good

Kelvin

 

Currys & Comet have both got the Toshiba SD100e at £199.99. They also have Philips 701 at £199 and Philips 711 at £189 I think! - Apparently selling v. fast everywhere at the moment!

I quite fancy getting a Philips to match the TV & Video in silver - also the TV handset will work it. - Any one got any experience with them?

Mick

 

Just to add to the confusion, my Pioneer 737 has a Blue LED to.

I was seriously impressed at how much more detail the pioneer pulls off discs than my old Sony 715 DVD player.

 

Stef - how is the 'ACME' DVD player ?

Mick

 

Thanks for the info folks!!

Techtronics website looks good, tons of info on there. Looking to buy at the scrooge end of the market so Pioneer 535 (£179+vat) and Panny RV20 (£212+vat+ 3 disks!) top of the tree at the mo. Pioneer also has macrovision disabled, major puls for . . . err . . . backups.

Anyone got this machine?

Richer sounds are doing a deck for £120 - crazy!

 

Errr . . .just one last question . . . if a player can output PAL60 from NTSC . . . will most TVs be able to handle this? Whats the difference between PAL60 and PAL50? R1 disks are NTSC?

Ooops, sorry slipped a few more in there (oo-er missus).

Andrew

 

APJ

Yeah most tv's will be able to handle this my toshiba set which is crap at anything none standard does just fine, as for the difference IIRC the numbers stand for Hz so would be something to do with refresh rates the higher the number the better.

Si

 

OK peeps, a little update.
I bought my 'Medion' player form Aldi on Friday and I am very happy. It looks ace in silver, with a nice 'transparent' border round the front panel. It has a built in Dolby Digital decoder, as well as seperate optical and audio digital outs. It also has a scart and s-vhs sockets. Feature-wise it certainly compares with £250+ machines.
I initially took the machine round to a mate who has a very high-end AV system and did a comparison between his £600 Pioneer machine and the 'Medion' one. There were no visible differences in either sound or picture! I'm sure the real tecchies could spot some, but neither he nor I could, much to his disgust!
I also visited Richer Sounds at the weekend and noticed that they were selling an identical machine, albeit badged 'Limit' rather than 'Medion', for £199!!!!!
I commented about the fact I'd purchsed and identical machine from Aldi for £129.99 and he said they had already done a few price matches. In fact, they give you £10 if you buy a product from them and then find it cheaper elsewhere. So you could buy it from Richer Sounds, go back and say you've seen it in Aldi for less, and get a tenner. You've now only paid £119.99 for a machine that the normally ridiculously cheap Richer Sounds sell for £199.99! In anyone's books, that can't be bad.
Definitely worth a look if you're considering buying a dvd.

Stef.

 

PAL50 is normal PAL - normal UK signals.

Not all TVs will suport PAL60, although most modern ones will.

For more info have a look at

 

There's also a link from the URL I posted above to a site which has a list of TVs and what signals they support.

Be warned that manufacturers can be wrong. The to55ers at Hitachi told me that my 4 year old Hitachi 28" would definitely not support PAL60. They were wrong - it does.

 

Got my SCAN player yesterday
I aint tested it much, but it seems as good or better than my mates Sony 535
it was about 187 delivered (is multi region via a permanent hack)

only thing is its big, i.e its a full width "black box" unlike some that are narrower, so I now have a pyramid underneather my telly with sky, vid and dvd all different widths!

robski

 

The only way to compare the two properly is to hook them up to the same TV using the same leads. I recommend a decent SCART cable (e.g. from IXOS).

 

based on the fact that he is supposed to have a superior telly (a new sony) where as I have a soon to be replaced 5 year old philips which is not working 100%, and his is definately not better, I can assure you that its not worse, hence my post

robski

 

Stef,

call me Mr picky but its not the same machine is it!? A lot of the budget machines seem to rebadged, but they are not the same thing exactly are they.
Same thing in the car market acually if you think of the VW group!

At the end of the day, if your happy thats all that matters. My mates are like yours, they dont like to think a cheapy player will be as good, but its seems they are if you pick carefully.

robski

 

robski

The thing is that even with a worse telly and DVD player the difference between cables can make a big difference.

i.e. your TV and DVD with good quality SVHS ot SCART will probably look better than your mate's if he's using normal AV connectors or the SCART supplied with the kit.

 

AWD,

he supposed to be using good cables, Im using SVHS as I would have to dasiy chain another SCART. Im not sure which is supposed to be better. Im also not sure what he is using, but it will be the best possible.

Ive yet to see proof of cables to be honest. There is a difference between really cheap cables, but Ive yet to see a real difference between good cables and the so called "super" cables.

robski

 

robski

The difference between very good and super will be minimal. Diminishing returns and all that.

I have only seen the difference between normal cables (i.e. cr@p ones) and decent £30 cables like the ones from IXOS.

 

OK,

I am alos impressed with teh quality of the cables that came with the scan machine.
1 scart cable
1 SVHS
1 3 wire thingy that does audio and video(god Im just sooo technical )

robski

 

To reach the top you must use words like:

thingummydoodah

.. can you tell I'm bored?

 

Robski.
It is EXACTLY the same machine both inside and out apart from he name on the front.

Stef.