Great picture, lots of output options, easy setup, great price.

Haven't found one...

Man, after reading some of the above reviews, I'm confused. I really have had none of the problems reported by the other fella's. After looking at the features of this player compared to the others in it's price range and test viewing it against both the Pioneer and the Sony it was an easy choice. Setup was flawless using a component cable and the picture is just superb after calibration with the Avia disk. No stutters, no lock-up ever on any disk I have put in it including rentals. T2, Saving Private Ryan, Gladiator, the list goes on. I mean, I currently have 30 or so DVD's in the collection and not one has had a problem in this player. I can't find a fault and believe me, I've tried my best. Just to test, I hooked it up in all the different configurations I could think of to try to duplicate what you guys have experianced and I just haven't seen it. Sound is outstanding through my Denon 1801 and Energy Take 5's, DD and DTS is both excellent.
Are we reviewing the same player here?
Honestly, I'm sceptical of the other reviews mainly because I count myself as a descerning guy and think this unit is getting a bad rap.
Boy, I wish I could find a DVD it has trouble with but so far, no luck. I'll keep looking so maybe I can join the bash club and let you all know as soon as I do.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer 333.Sony 360...

Quiet, good feature set, CDs seem to sound better than my CD player (Pioneer PD-F1039 jukebox).

Occasional brief delays and pixelization (maybe once or twice per movie).

This is a decent first DVD player. The picture looks great to me, but I'm guessing all players impress in this category compared to VCR or cable signals. I chose this over a comparably-priced RCA (5215?) because of the digital audio choice, both coaxial and optical outputs. The remote is loaded, its layout is probably average but some buttons are tiny and have that "I'm cheap and I will wear out early" feel to them. I have to admit that the occasional burps mentioned under "Weaknesses" annoy me. If I had it to do over, I'd probably spend another $30 and go with the Sony 360 model that rates better and includes dual video outputs - Sony seems to have them all beat with that feature right now.

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None, first DVD player.

Component Out, quiet

Skips, blocks

Skipped on half the movies I played in it. In T2 Ultimate, many scenes became blocky. Returning it and getting the Panasonic RV-30.

Picture and sound was good (but I didn't compare to any others)... and I have an awesome home theatre system which sounds good anyway.

I could turn it off, but the only way to turn it back on agin was to unplug the unit from the wall and plug it back in.

The unit worked fine except for what I mentioned in "weeknesses". I was not 100% sure to buy anything made in Korea, but I took the chance and found out that I should have gone with the product made in Japan (Panasonic RV30) instead. I havn't tried the Panasonic yet, because I just switched it today, but from all the user comments on the Panasonic, compared with the Hitachi, I made the wrong decision purchasing the Hitachi.

Similar Products Used:

none

price was not too bad, but you get what you pay for.

Pixellating and skipping on many brand new DVD's, Digital and 5.1 sound difficult to get working. I would not recommend this unit to anyone looking for a DVD player.

Like many other first time DVD player buyers, I figured this was a decent unit. Based on some of the features - optical output, 5.1 compatibility, and such I would have thought it was a decent unit. Then the problems started. Brand new DVD's would start skipping, and pixellating halfway through a movie (very annoying). The same DVD played on my new laptop obviously does not skip. Maybe I'll get rid of the Hitachi and just use my laptop to watch movies. Next time I'll check this site and others before I buy.

Price at the time and available hookups for future use

Never had a problem with this unit..manufactured in april 2000..the odd blocky changeover

I've had this unit for over a year now i have not had any kinda of problems that some other people have had.. it works sweet for me..unless you count some of the bad rentals from the local blockbuster..a little cleaning never hurt them.. new dvds work fine except when it does the layer changeover..which is annoying but acceptable considering that happens to any dvd player..(i think)

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First stand alone dvd player used..unless you count computer dvd drives ?

Good all around player. Excellent picture.

Remote is weak. Occasional skip and/or pixelation

I'm quite happy with my purchase. Had it for about 9 months now. As I said there is the occasional skip but nothing major. Anybody know if there is a firmware update available?
Handles layer changes without a problem.

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1st Dvd player.

I just got this DVD home and found this site. I haven't even opened the box and I am returning tomorrow!

pretty much everything

remote buttons need to be pressed really hard to work....

I haven't had any problems with this unit either....i have had it since christmas and I have had no problems....I use it about 2 or 3 times a week... Sorry to hear of all the trouble with it from others but I have absolutely no complaints..I have a sony wega 27 inch tube and everything looks good.....

Similar Products Used:

none

Picture Quality, spot zoom is great and tons of other features

Occasional pixelation,blocks and hang-ups. However, they have been on rented scratchy discs. No prob's so far on new dvd's.

I can't figure out what to do with this unit yet. I've still got time to exchange it. However, for this price range there is only the Toshiba, Pioneer for the $300.00 Canadian mark. I originally thought about returning it after it skipped a section (10 seconds) on the Three Kings (rented Dvd). Then I tried the Toshiba and no skip. Then after I tried again on the Hitachi and problem gone. Don't buy the Toshiba, its reliable but picture isn't as good, features aren't as good.There zoom not as good as Hitachi. The display words (ie. play,stop,search and etc ) are UGLY. Compare the two players side by side and you know what I'm taking about. Remember to select the audio option to "bitstream" when you get the dolby digital receiver, otherwise you are playing regular Pro-Logic. I also started getting pixelation and blocks on "The Beach" dvd. I was determined to exchange that after that but I tried the disc on a Pioneer Elite DVD Player and the blocks and pixelations was even worse on the same passage. So all the negative rating might be exxagerated. You probably don't have to rush back to return this. Its pretty decent so far. Email me if you got any experience on these units. By the way.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1600