Page 1 of Which one?

Hi all, total newbie here wanting some advice.

Want a cheapish player to get me started. Looked at some reviews and would like to know whether the SC-2000 or the Cyberhome 528 gets the biggest thumbs up from you guys.

It`ll be teamed up with a Philips Pro-logic Widescreen TV, so I`ve got SCART and S-Vid inputs, don`t know about this RGB thing though.
Also can both these players play RCE disks and does it really matter?

Also, on virtually every DVD player I`ve seen from the cheapest to the most expensive I`ve noticed artifacts in big blocks of colour (such as the profusion of black in The Matrix) - is it inevitable or should players be able to get around this these days?

Thanks all.

I havent got one myself but if you read the link about Scan customer services it makes for scary reading so I would steer clear of them for that reason alone. Have you considered the Toshiba 200E? This comes highly recommended from people on this site, only downside is it needs to be chipped to be multi region and some people have complained the drive mechanism is a bit noisy.

As for the artifacts, do you have 2 scart sockets? Quite often one of them is RGB compatiable and I find it gives a much better picture on my Hitachi than S-video.

Hope this helps

Thanks,

I`ll give the 200E a look. I have to admit I have purchased pc components from Scan many times in the past and never had the faintest whiff of trouble, maybe I`ve been lucky.

As long as nothing goes wrong, you`re fine - but if you ever have need to call them....
I may be wrong, but hasn`t the 200E been superceded by the 210E - I don`t think it`s quite a direct replacement? Also, if I were you, I would ensure that you get a multiregion version - there are several companies offering these players set up to work multiregion.
There have been several posts re where to get multiregion 210E`s recently. Expect to pay around £190 or so, so it`s not as cheap as the two players you mentioned in your initial post.
I have the Cyberhome 512, and have found it fine.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 16th October 2001, 08:15

Thanks Richard, is there any significant difference between the C/H 512 and 528 models?

Right, this is my 3rd attempt at posting an answer....

Have a look at http://www.cyberhome-help.de/tadl528_english.php4 for a review - the English isn`t the best, but perfectly understandable.

Also have a look at the forums there - that will give you an idea of what`s going on with the players.

My feeling is that the 528 needs a fixed firmware before it is sorted, but of course we don`t know when/if that will come.

The main difference apart from those discussed above is that you have to alter the firmware to get the 512 to be multiregion. It is easy to do, but you need access to a CD Writer - instructions are on the above site. Other thing is that the 528 cannot have Macrovision disabled, if you are bothered.

Hope this helps!

Thanks again Richard, I really appreciate your input.

In the early days of laserdisc there were plenty of criterion collection discs.Lots of extras and directors commentaries.I cant believe that ive
spent £80 on certian discs.
nilesh

The cyberhome is covered by their own service centre.You will not have to go through customer services or returns.
nilesh

Comes to something when a Scan employee makes emphasis of the fact that if you buy a certain player from them, you DON`T have to use their own customer service desk!
Anyway, the 528 is also available at http://www.unbeatable.co.uk, WHSmiths (I think). I think Richer are still doing the 512, should you decide to go that route.
Other people on this forum have also spoken well of the Alba players Argos are punting out for £100.
Really depends how low you want to go.
When I bought mine, I was thinking along the same lines - buy cheap, build up some discs. I sometimes wonder whether I ought to have gone straight for a Tosh 210 or equivalent. Anyway, I`m happy with my machine, and in 2 years time when there are loads of funky new players around, I won`t feel bad about chopping it in for something nicer.