Page 1 of Best £100 DVD player
Hardware Forum
Anyone recomend a good £100 player and where to buy it??
CD`R playback would be nice and I know I`m pushing my luck for around £100 but MP3 also?????
mixed reviews, but the CyberHome 528 seems to do it all - I`ve heard more positive than negative and my brother picked one up last month - no reported problems.
RE: Best £100 DVD player
I`ve got a Cyberhome 528 too and think it`s an excellent player. I have had absolutely no problems whatsoever, although I gather that as a brand they are not the most reliable and there are quite a few faulty machines produced too. Can be got from WHSmiths for £99 with a 2 year warranty, which means at least you can go in and bang on the desk if you`re not happy, as I gather all other retailers of this machine defer to Cyberhome for support and they are apparently very bad at customer services, but Smiths should replace the machine for you if there is anything wrong with it.
The other good thing about the 528 is that it has a 5.1 decoder in it, so for 5.1 sound you just have to buy a set of active 5.1 speakers which can be got for £100 or sometimes less, and there`s no need for a separate decoder (unless you want DTS that is).
Chris.
NB. It does play CD-R (although not all brands) and mp3 (but has annoying bug that cuts first second or two off songs), along with VCD & SVCD.
This item was edited on Tuesday, 5th February 2002, 16:10
I can tell you what to avoid, as I have bought all the following and returned them -
Cyberhome - It went wrong shortly after I started using it. Cyberhome decided to replace it with a reconditioned unit that had something rattling inside it. I demanded a new unit and they twice again sent reconditioned units. A friend also bought one from WH Smith and it was totally dead. If you want to take a BIG risk then buy one. When it worked it was actually quite good, but the ethics of the company and build quality will keep me clear of them
Pacific 750 and 1000 from Asda - The 1000 has a washed out picture that is no better than a VHS tape. The 750 I then got was faulty and only played in black and white.
Oriton 1030 from Comet. Good colour, but poor definition.
I`m giving up on the bottom range as they are all dreadful. Try Richer Sounds, you get a two week home trial. If you don`t like what you buy they will take it back. 3 year guarantee is £20.
Check out reviews on Dansai 852 £ 99.49 -Tesco.easy remote hack for multiregion & to disable macrovision.
It`s got to be the Dansai 852 at only £99.49 at Tesco
It plays all my home made VCD`s on CD-R/RW`s and Mp3 and also Mpeg 1 video burned as data (you can make a disc with music videos and Mp3 music)
You can make it macro and region free with a simple hack!
Plays DVD`s well as well!
What more could you want for under £100!!
Just got a Pacific 750 from Asda at £89-97 with 3 year waranty.
Seems fine to me, suggest you take a look at it, appears to be well featured.
i had to return my cyberhome too. it wouldn`t play a number of my discs and was very selective in what CD-R`s it would accept. i bought it from Scan - BIG MISTAKE. there customer service is probably the worse i have ever come across. But like you`ve read, you can get lucky and get a good one.
RE: Best £100 DVD player- Medion MD4310
I`ll recommend the Medion MD4310 from Toys R Us for 99-87. For this it plays virtually everything, and comes with a DD5.1 decoder! You also get a 1yr guarantee. Another plus is that the comapny has a UK address, not unlike say Cyberhome. I also bought the Packard Bell 5.1 speakers for 59.99, so for £160.00 I have a perfectly functioning home cinema set up!
RE: Best £100 DVD player- Medion MD4310
My dad, a casual DVD`er got an ALBA 113 I think. For just £85.00 the picture and sound is very impressive. A bargain if you ask me. Subjectively, its a cracker and the remote control is nice to boot.
Pete.