Page 1 of Sub £250 DVD players - Any good?

Hi,

I`m only referring to the Budget class (£250 and below), eg. Samsungs,Toshibas,JVC`s,Wharfedales,Matsui`s and Pioneers.

We all love are individual players thats human nature.....but is anbody honest enough to post stories of dodgy players in this class that they are not happy with. I`m sure this will help alot of first time buyers into making their purchase decisions.

If I had my chance all over again I may be swayed to the new Wharfdale 750 (exclusive to Tesco stores). Excellent value for money. I presently own a JVC XV515 which I am more than happy with.

Hey you can even post good stories about players in this class if you like.

This forum is tops - lets talk!!

Rugrat.

My Toshiba was less than £250 and its great (apart from me breaking it after 24 hours of owning it), the picture quality is excellent and the black is actually black, it also has great zoom features and scene skipping is at a decent speed.

As for others I wouldn`t trust Matsui as far as I could throw it (which I probably would knowing my luck), I myself and others have had matsui products and all have broken quickly usually about 1 year and 1 day after owning it so there is no longer a warranty. I mean how can you really trust something that is £100 less than all the rest, the parts must be crap.

Anyway that is my opinion and I strongly recommend spending that little bit more for something decent or you`ll just regret it later.

I subscribe to the following theory:

DVD players are (firmware problems on some models aside) very much like CD players, in as far as the quality of their cheapest models far outways anything a more expensive analogue device can achieve.

If you can tell the difference between a £150 CD player and one that costs £400 then fine. But if you can tell the difference, and this difference isnt worth the extra £250 then you`d be a mug to buy the more expensive machine.

I also believe the higher quality your TV is, the more likely it will show a difference between models. So a £700 32" widescreen telly will show much less of a performance improvement on a more expensive player than a TV costing twice the price.

It seems your the man when it comes to DVD Robert,

I hear what your saying. At that price level the picture quality and sound are pretty similar. 32 inch screen or not. The only way of getting any comparable significant differences is when the experts get their meters out and give their statistical analysis in the various magazines you can pick up.

I suppose where the obvious differences the layman may realistically observe is the trick play options, build quality, looks and such. All I can inform people about is my model I suppose, which I failed to mention in the previous message.

JVC XV515

Picture & Sound: in my eyes excellent but what do I know!! (reviewed in one magazine I have read 4 out of 5 with good picture and sound)

Features: DTS and Dolby Digital,One composite scart, one S - Video connection, one optical, analogue inputs and a lovely shiny DVD symbol on the front!!

Trick play: Zoom function x4 (hardly any difference in picture quality)
Angle, Audio, Digest (neat feature), strobe (waste of time), jog shuttle dial on front of machine. Remote small and cute - Excellent layer change 1/2 second - slow mode speeds good, both ways and plays the Matrix!!!!!

Summary: may not suit everyone looks wise, but does its job well - For £250 with 3 free movies you cant go wrong. (was originally £300 and exclusive to currys did not drop in price after christmas either). Highly recommended for those who don`t want to drop below the £200 mark..

Alternatives I would suggest in that price range: Toshiba SD2109, Hitachi 250, Pioneer 525 and Wharfedale 750. And believe me when I say I have done my homework on all those machines - the amount I`ve spent on DVD magazines could have bought me a bloody DVD player!!

Good luck everyone.....the world of DVD is one step i`m glad I made.

Rugrat.

If you fancy writing a fuller review, similar maybe in style to that already posted up on the following URL:

http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/news/columns.asp?columnist=225&Category=156

We`ll post it up there. :-)