Page 1 of DO NOT BUY THE ALBA 103 DVD PLAYER!!!!!!

it is a very average machine with bad picture quality and doesnt play all discs. on dark images the machine pixelates green and the sound isnt the best ive heard. RCE affected discs dont work and some other R1 discs ie, T2: ultimate edit dont work properly. there are also problems of R2 discs not working too such as Go! and colombia/ tri-star films, as well as freezing on layer changes on certain dual layered discs. to be honest its worth paying a bit extra for a decent player. dont be sucked in by certain dvd publications and the cheap price tag..........

To add fuel to this fire the Alba guys don`t know their product - apparently one hapless adviser didn`t know what RCE was. Probably don`t know what DVD stands for, or how to record programmes from the telly on one....

They should stick to clock radios, the bumbling budget electronic pioneers....

I spoke to the guy at Alba who confessed that he didn`t know what RCE was.

I had one for 5 weeks before taking it back, and buying a Pioneer dv530 from techtronics.

My grannys vcr on her mono telly looks/sounds better.

AVOID

Have to add a further voice of condemnation. Despite widespread praise in the magazines I was disappointed by the picture quality - slow tracking shots in Magnolia jump and jive all over the shop. Got a Pioneer DV530 instead and now rest easy.

I have one linked up to a 28" widescreen Phillips TV and the picture is far better than my £350 panny vcr!
With regards to the region2 disc probs, well haven`t the 750 for instance had probs with reg2 discs - gladiator disc 2 anyone? Plays fine on my player.
Pixelation - granted it does NOT like dirty discs - but if the dvd is clean I suffer from NO pixelation unless it is an artifact present on the disc (this has been replicated on a different player in every case).
Almost ALL of the budget players have had problems with certain discs - matrix, gladiator etc so the Alba is not unique in this respect!
For £140 odd quid it outperforms a vcr 3 times its price! Nuff said.
It may pale in comparison to a £200 dvd player - but then for £60 more it should, shouldn`t it?
Until the DVD format settles down (and by that I mean that each and EVERY disc plays without fault or glitch a la CD) I will hold on to my budget player and upgrade when I feel the firmware issue is completely resolved.
Happy alba owner.

I too have just bought the alba 103 and it does exactly what i got it for,plays mp3,cds,region 1,vcds,cdrw all straight from the box.not to bothered about region 1 it sounds good through my old sony receiver,but would like to know the difference using a receiver with a coax or digital connection so i might treat my self to one .anybody tried the yamaha
£179.00 from richer sounds?

the alba a great machine i no saving partive ryan i have to press play 2 times and the picture is great and sound do you know how to work your player because i have no touble at all now read the instuctions and dont change the region settings leave at it is ok thats the touble with people there see a setting in ameua and p***ing change it now everyone stop picking on the poor little alba 103

It`s so funky they`re bringing out a new version called the Alba 104 - dunno when, but an ad in What HiFi suggests this is the case...