Info and forum posts by 'Gray'

This user hasn't used our main site yet, so has no main account at present.

Joined on: Monday, 27th November 2000, 19:34, Last used: Monday, 27th November 2000, 19:34

Access Level: Mostly Harmless

About this user: New to the whole DVD thing. Recently purchased a cheap and cheerful SCAN SC2000 player, looking at investing in a decent surround amp.

This user has posted a total of 19 messages. On average, since joining, this user has posted 0 messages a day, or 0.02 messages a week. In the last 30 days, this user has posted 0 messages, which is on average 0 messages a day.

Recent Messages Posted:

RE: SC2000 firmware filename

The blue shadow thing RUINED the film. What is the point of DVD if the picture is screwed up? I`d rather watch good quality VHS than have this blue shadow thing. The blue shadow only appears on fast, `action` scenes, so this was the first time I`ve seen it (not a big `action` fan you see).

I do definitely want to upgrade, I couldn`t sleep last night because I was so p***ed off that my Scan was yet again screwing up! If picture quality isn`t great on 2.23, what about an earlier version? Is 2.14 any good? I`m not that bothered about MP3 playback or VCR firendly. I heard that 2.14 screws up VCD playback though. How bad is the picture with 2.23?

SC2000 firmware filename

I`m biting the bullet again and upgrading my SC2000 firmware. I have ver 2.06 and have only just seen the `Blue shadow` thing, in The Mummy incidentally (what a BAD movie!)

I want to make sure I get everything right this time, as last time I killed my machine! So I have a couple of questions:

1) In the secret status menu the expected firmware filename is TDVD-001.ROM, now the firmware I have just downloaded has the filename TDVD-000.rom. What do I do? Change the name of the fie or change the name of the EXPECTED file? (Bugger! I just went to check that and it`s gone to TDVD-002.rom, I pressed volume up and it went to 003, guess what? you can`t change it down! do I have to go all the way round back to 000 via 999? For f*cks sake!)

2) My encoder device is the ADV7172, will the firmware 2.23 on nivs`s site be OK with this device? I think this is what caused the problem with my last upgrade.

Cheers

RE: All in one! any good ?

Save up for a bit and get the best that you can afford, if you buy cheaper stuff just because you`re impatient, you`ll end up hating it.

A Scan SC2000 owner!

RE: SAMSUNG 511 OR SCAN 2000?

If MP3 and VCD playback are important to you, get the Scan, if all you want to do is watch DVD, get the Sammy.

Oh, I`m speaking here as a Scan owner... who wishes he`d got the Sammy 511. Samsung make great players, the (now discontinued) Sammy 709 is the best DVD player I`ve seen.

One other thing to consider, I`m not sure if there is a convenient region hack for the 511 yet, so R1 playback could be a problem.

RE: FAULTY Scan 2000 DVD Player

My two cents worth on the whole pixellation ishoo.

My original player, v1.64 had bad pixellation on 3 of my discs:

The Beach (Chapter 23, glowing, pixellation)
REM: Road Movie (R1)
Wallace & Gromit (It`s the girlfriends, honest guv)

My new player (v2.06) still has problems with Road Movie and Wallace & Gromit, but the Beach now looks top banana!

Who knows, it`s a mystery? All the other discs I`ve played on it have been OK.

Sorry if this has been a bit irrelevant. Anybody else had problems with The Beach?

RE: Scan DVD 2000 not playing audio CD`s

Early firmware versions had trouble with longer CDs, my player v1.64 would not play the new Beatles album (which is 79 minutes long for Gods sake, I`m surprised ANYTHING plays it!) or the Texas greatest hits CD. My new Scan, v2.06 plays both of these now.

You obviously have an older SC2000, which is unfit for the purpose (playing CDs), get Scan to give you a replacement with the latest firmware.

Hope this helps

RE: Help SCAN SC2k Dead

Scan were very helpful (once I got through). Don`t bother with e-mails just call the returns number. They should sort you out with a replacement, although it might be dependant on who you speak to. Phoning mid-afternoon appears to be the easiest time to get through to them, the lines seem to be busiest in the morning.

Just for the record, this is the first weekend I`ve had at home for weeks, and no DVD / CD player : ( Oh well, should be sorted next weekend!

Gray

RE: Help SCAN SC2k Dead

Scan were very helpful (once I got through). Don`t bother with e-mails just call the returns number. They should sort you out with a replacement, although it might be dependant on who you speak to. Phoning mid-afternoon appears to be the easiest time to get through to them, the lines seem to be busiest in the morning.

Just for the record, this is the first weekend I`ve had at home for weeks, and no DVD / CD player : ( Oh well, should be sorted next weekend!

Gray

RE: Nelley from Scan - Look in here please!

Errrrrr, try picking up the phone, you can get a response RIGHT AWAY.

Gray

RE: Help SCAN SC2k Dead

Same thing happened to me. Call Scans return number 01204 474766, they should be able to help you out! My missus wasn`t too pleased either... "Why do you always have to FIDDLE with things?"!

They have a new batch of players due in on Thursday. Out of interest, did you try upgrading directly from 1.64? Some people said it was OK to do this, others said to go via 1.80.

Gray

RE:

I assume they will be shipped with the latest firmware 2.04s which fixes a lot of the `bugs` (low volume through SCART, CD Audio stopping / skipping, better mp3 support, long filenames, etc...) and is also Macrovision free (if you feel the need for VHS versions).

Although... they could even be shipped with the latest latest firmware 2.08, which nobody knows much about yet.

Hope this helps

RE: REPLACEMENT SCAN -WORSE THAN FIRST ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Must be mad to drive 100 miles eh, not as mad as wasting an entire day waiting for a hairy arsed delivery who won`t turn up and then having to take another day off work only for him to drop the player off, and for it to be duff again, and then go through the whole process all over again.

I have friends in Bolton so I can go pick the player up, no wasting all day waiting, take it to my friends, check it`s OK, if it`s not take it back to Scan and keep trying till I get a good one.

Call me a pessimist, but I live by the rule that anything that can go wrong, will. Going to pick it up personally just removes another element in the chain that might (and probably will) screw up.

I haven`t forgotten that I`m a `customer`, I`m just resigned to the fact that you will get treated like s*** by ALL retailers, sadly it`s a fact of life living in the UK. Currys were spectacularly unhelpful when it came to my dodgy telly, I just don`t have time to argue with them, just like I don`t have time to wait for delivery men. I can go to Scan and back before lunchtime, no worries, and I don`t mind paying for the petrol when I KNOW I`m gonna come home with a 100% OK player.

Am I mad?

Shot in the dark - 29" Sony TV

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I guess everyone with a DVD player has to have a TV so I guess I`ll ask anyway.

I have a 29" Sony (KV29X5) which has audio out on the back of the set in the form of stereo phonos. My problem is that the sound produced from this output is very slightly distorted at certain frequencies, but enough to irritate the hell out of me. Obviously for DVD I take the audio source direct from the player.

I`ve tried it hooked up to 3 different Amps (one of which an Arcam alpha 6) and numerous speakers (including a pair of Kef Q 15`s) so it is DEFINITELY the TV thats at fault. I`ve tried expensive phono leads and even tried coming out of the second SCART socket with a SCART to phono lead. This is the second set I`ve had, and they have both had the same fault.

Does anybody have this same TV and have the same problem, or does anyone have any ideas if anything else could be causing it?

Sorry for the off topic post, but everyone in this forum is just so helpful, so I thought no-one would mind : )

Gray

RE: REPLACEMENT SCAN -WORSE THAN FIRST ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry to hear about your troubles xeno, like you I am a big fan of the Scan, for £175 it`s a bargain, it`s just a bit `hit and miss` as to whether you get a 100% machine or not. I tried upgrading my machine to 2.04s lastnight, but it went totally tits-up and is just dead when I power it on. I should hopefully be getting a replacement SC2000 from the Jan 25th batch. Lets just hope they chuck that batch of 60 old ones away and don`t just hand them out to unsuspecting customers.

I`m actually travelling up to Bolton to pick my replacement up on the 27th (can`t be doing with courier firms) so I hope they have some left. The guy I spoke to on the Returns number was unwilling to put one aside for me (which seemed a bit mean, seeing as I`m actually gonna travel 100 miles to go pick it up)

Ho-hum, the Scan saga continues. Maybe we should start up a support group or something, Scan Owners Anonymous?

Gray

SC2000 Firmware Upgrade - Player Busted :(

I just tried upgrading my SC2000 firmware from 1.64 to 2.04s and now the it`s just bust big time.

I loaded the CDR I got a bluey / pinky / garbled screen, but it had the name of the file and said `writing` or something.

The CDR popped out, i removed it turned the player off and back on, then....

No LCD display (its just blank)
My TV flickers as if it`s trying to lock onto a signal

Can anyone PLEASE HELP ME!!!! I can`t even get the tray open to re-load the CDR and have another go. Is there a cold restart I can do to get back to the original firmware???

Somebody please HELP ME!!!!

Gray : (

Scan SC2000 Problem Disks

Does anybody else with a Scan SC2000 have problems with any of these disks??....

The Beach (pixelation and glowing, v evident in scene 23)

Texas `The Greatest hits`
The Beatles `1`

Both CDs are particularly long (70 minutes plus) this might be fixed by later firmware I`m not sure. I have a player from November and I`ve not updated the firmware yet.

Does anybody else have problems with these disks and can anyone tell me if later firmware sorts it out?

Cheers
Gray

SC2000 firmware upgrade anyone?

Can anybody shed any light on where I can get the latest SC2000 firmware upgrade from, and details of what exactly it fixes? Oh and how can I find out what my current firmware version is?

Does it improve the picture quality at all? I watched The Beach the other night and the quality of the blacks was terrible. I`m beginning to think maybe I should have got the Samsung 511 as the picture quality is no doubt superior and I`ve found that the mp3 playback and multiregion capability aren`t as important as I thought.

Ho hum, we live and learn (when I`m rich I`ll buy a Sony!)

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Gray

RE: I want a player for under £200 - which one???? help!!!!

I may be wrong, but the only player under £200 which plays MP3`s is the Scan SC2000, available from, errrr, Scan funnily enough, at www.scan.co.uk.

You`ll have to pay carriage on top of the £175 price tag, but it still comes in at under £200. You`ll hear rumours of people having problems, but I`ve just bought one and I`m very pleased with it. It has a simple multi-region hack, picture and sound quality are also better than you`d expect for £200. It`s played all my CDR`s so far and plays MP3 CD`s, it`ll play your Video CD`s too.

If you don`t like the sound of the Scan I`d go for the Samsung 511, only because I have a friend with a Samsung 709, I`ve heard good things about the Samsung, only problem with the 511 is the lack of a permanent hack (at the moment).

Hope this helps

More Scan SC2000 Problems

I`ve recently bought a Scan SC2000 (16/11/00) so I`m presuming its from the new batch. I`m not very happy with the audio output from it, so I`m posting here to see if any other SC2000 owners have the same complaint or if it`s just my machine.

CD Audio playback is awful, it is just incredibly loud and distorted, I have to turn the DVD volume down to 2 or 3 (max 16) before it becomes at all listenable. Audio playback on movies is slightly better although there is still some distortion in the high-mid region. To get a decent sound level I have to turn the DVD volume down to around 12. I don`t think it is acceptable to have to change the volume so dramatically to produce a good sound, and I`m sure by lowering the DVD volume so much I am losing quite a lot of the signal.

On the plus side I`m very happy with the video output from the player, top banana for 175 notes!

The player is connected to my TV with a decent SCART lead, and the audio fed to my hi-fi from the audio out on my 29" Sony TV. the audio out from the TV is fine, before you ask, as normal TV sounds great, so it`s NOT the TV that is causing the distortion. The distortion persists even when connected to the hi-fi directly from the Audio out on the SC2000. There is still some distrotion when listening just using the speakers on the TV, bearing in mind again that this is a decent Sony telly which doesn`t distort even at high volumes.

It appears to me that the distortion stems from the SC2000 and it`s not a problem with any of my other kit. Anybody else had similar experiences with this player. Oh, and what is this firmware update I`ve been hearing about? Does it address any of the problems I`ve mentioned? where can I get a copy and how do I find out what version of the firmware I have already?

Sorry about all the questions, but I know you other friendly SC2000 owners will try and help me out!

Cheers
Gray