I thought that as this superb player seems to be under-represented (in terms of postings) in this forum, I would knock together a quick review for you peeps. Compared to the likes of Dansai, or Scan, there seem to be few threads - whether this is because the Kiiro is a well kept secret, or everyone hates them, I don`t know.
OK, firstly, the features (excuse me if I miss any - feel free to post additions). Plays DVDs, audio-cds, Vcds, MP3cds, CDRs, CDRW. It is multi-region out of the box, requiring no hack, or even a menu selection - it auto-detects regions. It even plays RCE dics, although not having one I have been unable to test this. Macrovision is disabled out of the box. It is also a dolby DTS decoder. Outputs are RGB scart, s-video, digital and seperate audio outs.
Visual quality is superb. Crisp, vibrant colours, with perfect black. There seem to be no artifacts whatsoever. Sound quality is also excellent, as is MP3 playback (which is handled through an on-screen browser).
It is also worth noting that the 838D has a "midi" footprint of w.30cm, h.6cm, d.25cm (approx). Thus it is very small (almost half the size of my Matsui!) and is therefore suited for bedrooms (although it is well capable of being part of a home-cinema set-up).
Bad points? Well, the remote is a bit on the large side, and some of the buttons aren-t logically placed. Also, the player `pings` whenever the (slightly flimsy) tray opens, which may be a problem for some of you. Also, it only has one scart socket, although with macro disabled, this is less of a problem than it might be.
The price for all this quality? £139.99 from http://ukgames.com (Special Reserve). You have to pay an extra £1 to order from them, as they are a club, but it is worth it I can assure you.
So, in conclusion, the Kiiro 838D is one of, if not THE best,sub £150 players one can buy today. I am thoroughly enamoured with it, and it would be interesting to hear other people`s comments. As I said above, if I missed anything please don`t hesitate to add/correct me.
Cheers everyone!
Billy Boy
