Plays VideoCDs recorded to CD-RW despite manuals claims otherwise

Refuses to play back 'long' discs

Bought in '99 as 'defective' (shoddy remote - just had to break it in) and is working "fine" over 26 months now, apart from rejecting CD-R VCDs. But is refusing to play back the new remastered Akira DVD as well as Cowboy Bebop and SFII V, so I think it's high time I took it out behind the barn. Anyone have any experiences with the ~ $250 Pioneer 5 disc model? Supposedly handles CD-R VCDs & SVCDs... =P

It looks ok and occasionally played movies well (when it was new, anyway)

Pretty much a worthless piece of crap

Overall, I have been VERY displeased with this product. Soon after its initial use, I noticed problems (pixellation, inability to play CD-R's, screen freezing, etc.) and would have to cut power to the player, plug back in, and try to pick up where I left off. Having never used a DVD player before, I had no idea whether it was the fault of the player or if perhaps dirty discs were the culprit. Now I know. At the current time, the player is frozen up and will not play anything (even after going through the "reset" procedure multiple times). What angered me the most was reading other users' accounts of JVC's lack of support for this product, even though it is obviously junk. Now, I feel like I have no recourse (unless I want to pay to have it repaired, which, according to a lot of other people that have posted to this page, may not fix the problem anyway, or at least not for long). If a class-action lawsuit is ever brought against JVC for this product, I hope someone will PLEASE let me know, because I feel extremely ripped off.

In case my review was not clear enough: NOTE TO ALL PROSPECTIVE BUYERS OF JVC DVD PLAYERS -- DO NOT BUY!!!!!!!!

Similar Products Used:

None

Good picture

Realibility

I'm in the exactly same situation that Paul Riley (other review). I'm not able to use this product anymore. It was in use for almost 2 years now... before it breaks! When I insert a DVD, the player just says "No Disc" and throw out the DVD (any)!

Be sure that I will not buy any other JVC product.

Similar Products Used:

none

Component video out

Everything

I would love to see a class action suit against JVC for this piece of crap that they peddled off as a dvd player. Mine worked for about six months. I was going to send it in but I couldn't find the receipt. I thought is was that I overheated it by putting it in a cabinet. I have not nor will I ever buy another JVC product again. After about six months it started to jitter and freeze the picture. And then say that there was no disc. I can't beleive that JVC doesn't realize that they have so many dissatisfied customers. I am going to e-mail this site to JVC.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Sony, PS2

Component video out

Everything

I would love to see a class action suit against JVC for this piece of crap that they peddled off as a dvd player. Mine worked for about six months. I was going to send it in but I couldn't find the receipt. I thought is was that I overheated it by putting it in a cabinet. I have not nor will I ever buy another JVC product again. After about six months it started to jitter and freeze the picture. And then say that there was no disc. I can't beleive that JVC doesn't realize that they have so many dissatisfied customers. I am going to e-mail this site to JVC.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, Sony, PS2

NONE

EVERYTHING

I bought this way back when it first came out. I played a VCD in it and it would not recognize DVD's after that point.

I returned it and got a new unit. It worked fine for about a year and a half, playing all DVD's (including problem ones), in fact, I have watched the Matrix nearly 100 times on this unit.

After this year and a half period, starting 6 months ago, the unit began to pixellate, drop sound, and lockup. I didnt know this was standard for this player, so I lived with it... Now I cant get more than an hour through a movie without the piece of junk locking up...

I would love to know how to join the law-suit... if anyone has any info

Similar Products Used:

various Sony, APEX, Toshiba, and Phillips

Looks, remote control

seldom quirks not up to the quality I learned to expect from JVC. But nothing near what others are reporting.

My JVC 501 has been pretty good to me and I would buy again if it weren't for all the negative reviews on this site. I tend to believe its not a few people reposting their problems because while mine has been good, a neighbor has a different model JVC with problems of not reading rental discs.

I had this unit on order before it was out and had it in my house before most stores. I enjoyed the quality of JVC in two of my tv's and a receiver that kept me happy until technology introduced 5.1. I must admit days before my new Yamaha 5280 came in, that 8 series receiver was showing some quirks. If other DVD players are not having any problems, then I would suggest not to buy this one. However, I have been happy for a couple years and only have one dvd that doesn't play for one minute-section (I think its a scratch) and have used hundreds (owned and rented). Matrix always plays as well as all other dual layer dvds, also no problem with 16x9 or 1.33. The first year I used the 501 on at 27" JVC, the last year has been a 16x9 projector (Sony VPL-W400Q) and have no problems with either format. The remote and front panel are great and wouldn't really change anything. I never tested dts and 5.1 before my new receiver but has been handling it fine without any jumps from dts. Sound and picture quality is great as I would suspect dvd to provide.

As for the quirks... The thing that bugs me most is that half of the time I turn off the power from the actual component (usually use remote), the power off doesnt work. Interestingly enough, if I hit the power button after I take the disk out (but leave the door open), it turns off no problem. So not really an issue for me even though it obviously shouldn't happen. It was kind of a bummer that it wouldn't play cdr's but there it was in the manual, so can't blame them for not telling me. I believe (vaguely recall) I had to unplug it a year ago or because it kept saying "no disk" (I don't remember what prompted it). But that problem hasn't repeated.

Sounds like they are not all bad... Trying to keep others comments out, I am fairly positive of this component.

Similar Products Used:

Laptop DVD players, a sony dvd player

Not much

Most everything

This was my first DVD player and it really dampened my
excitement. Shortly after the 90 day full warrantee ran
out I had so many problems that I was forced to take it
in for a chip set upgrade. The parts were free but the
labor cost $125!! It also took 7 weeks for the repaire
because there was a parts shortage. The player started
working fine then. Now a bout a year or so later, I'm
getting extensive DTS sound dropouts on some DVDs. I hear
there is a class action suit. Can someone e-mail me with
details so I can recover some of my investment too? Also,
The Matrix played well after the chip set upgrade but now
is pixilating heavily again. Poor parts? I am NOT very
happy with this unit. JVC so far has failed to respond
to my e-mails.

Kind of fun to take apart and see what the inside of a DVD player looks like, since it won't work any more...

Designed-in lifetime = 3 months (roughly $100 month). That's all you'll get from this piece of junk.

DO NOT BUY JVC, EVER!
My very first DVD player. Boy was I excited.
Boy am I angry now.
Of the several available where I bought it (Sam's Club), this looked to be a good, mid-range unit from a company I trusted (having previously bought a JVC car deck and tuner/amp).
I will never, EVER buy a JVC product again.
It intitally was a great player; great picture, great sound.
The only quible was the joystick on the remote caused my wife trouble (pressing it dead-center for enter could be a bit difficult). We bought it and it had to sit for 6 months in a (environmentally controlled) storage unit with our other appliances and furniture while we moved. Once we had it unpacked and running after only 3 months of use it started to stutter on certain dics (and not just known problem dics like 'The Matrix'). Screen pixelating, audio synch problems and lock-ups continued to get worse over a two-week period until 'The Dark Crystal' finally killed it dead. It locks up hard on any disc (including audio CD's).
Tried resetting the EEPROM (per JVC's nearly useless website). No help.
Tried to call JVC's technical support line, sat on hold for over an hour and was never spoken too. Tried again the next day and got told they were "experiencing high call volumes, please call again later" - and was promptly hung up on.
Called local service centers and was told I was out of warantee and probalby looking at $80+ to fix a $300 unit.
JVC is a despicable company, producing a defective product, with absolutely 0% care for their customers once they have you money. DO NOT BUY JVC, EVER.

Similar Products Used:

none.

alot of features,good remote and alot of lights on the
display,too many for some.nice color and sound.

too unreliable to have in main system

I had used this unit for about 1 1/2 years with no trouble
at all.Tarzan was the beginning of the end.I had watched this dvd about 3 times with no problem.tarzan would not
play anymore.Then all the disney's would not play.I took
some dvds back and even the new ones would not play.Several
other dvds that used to work would no longer play.I tried
resetting the unit per jvc's web sight and that worked a
a couple of times only to have the problem resurface in about a week or so.
The unit is now in the bedroom system.It is hooked up to
the television now but is used mostly as a cd player.
I would avoid this player.I purchased the entry level
535 from onkyo and all the dvds work again.
I will not buy another product from jvc.

Similar Products Used:

onkyo 535