First I would like to give a 5 star for its looks. This dvd player is sharp when it comes to video and audio. I have it hooked up to my Awia NSX-MT 960 Mini Theater and the 5.1 channel sounds tight. I've only had one problem and thats the manual. It was so difficult to read the directions for correct installing.

Before you venture out into the DVD world, you need to know that there are not that many movies on DVD and many new movies that release on VHS don't come out on DVD for months (if at all). I have to question why I have one at all since Ithought it would replace our VCR.

Well I've had this for about 2 weeks now. Here are my pros and cons:Pros:
Price...paid roughly $350 including shipping
features...lot of bang for the buck
sound and picture quality, also i like the styling...it's a nice looking unit
i like the graphic menu, but the screen savers suck...

Now for my gripes:
when I purchased this player i bought 7 dvd movies...over a period of a week I've watched the movies and I thought one of the movies was defective...the movie started skipping, audio was not synchronized, and the picture sometimes would scramble up(kinda like a dss if you are not getting good signal, digital distortion)...after examining the disc i noticed it wasn't scratched or anything
so i assumed it was defective and sent it back for replacement...next time i watched one of my other dvd movies i notice maybe 30 minutes or so into the movie the picture and sound started messing up the same way....damn.... i think it just might be that the dvd player is causing the problem because this has occured briefly on all the movies I bought...all the movies can't be defective...can they...i don't think so because sometimes i can watch the movie w/o any problem straight through then watch the same movie another time and have that problem...Here's something else kinda strange that has happened since i've bought this dvd player...my Sony 32" tv has went bad....NO SOUND!!!!...I can raise the volume on my remote to maximum and you can barely hear a thing or sometimes nothing...so now the tv has to go to service...I've never had a problem with the tv till i attached this dvd player...maybe it's a coincidence... My conclusion is that i might have gotten a defective dvd player..unfortunately i destroyed the box so i can't send it back for replacement...but i will however take it to the jvc service center and tell them to fix it or give me another one....Has anybody else had any problems playing back discs???

Besides these problems... It's a great player...so i have to give it a 3...also for anyone that cares it's made in Japan

This is an update on my previous posting. Audio dropouts are indeed common onDTS discs-Dragonheart, Waterworld, and even the DTS #3 demo which was not the case earlier. Two of these were brand new discs & one played flawlessly on a Sony DVD in DTS mode at our high-end store. A very sympathetic individual at the JVC Aurora, IL center suggested that he will relay the problems to his friends on the design team after reading all the posts here. Hopefully there will be a factory fix in the not-to-distant future. So the unit gets a 4+ for DD but a 0 for DTS. An unweighted average is a 2, but since > 95% of movies are DD you might give it a 4. I'll split the difference.

We purchased the JVC 701 July '99 although its DOM is 1/1999. So far, all movies we have rented have never had the dreaded lip-sync problem or dropouts that several of the Sony's are plagued with. (We returned the Sony 550D). On our Pioneer 50" Projection TV, the JVC-701 produces absolutely phenomenal picture quality. I never have noticed any jitter or video noise. The sound is also excellent, however, we don't use it for audio CD's. As mentioned in previous reviews, the ENTER key does need to be held down a 1/2 second to function. This is not a big deal to me. I wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't previously pointed out to me. The unit's features and construction seem much better than most of its competitors. I like its larger display, footprint, and weight. No complaints with this player. The owners manual could be written clearer. We bought ours from "The Good Guys" so paid a bit more $$ than mail-order. We've had problems with DOA's with previous mail order purchases or find the dreaded sticker on the box that says "factory refurbished". I know it costs more to buy from a retailer, but they have always stood behind what they sell which is worth it to us. JVC products tend to have a good reliability record.

I purchased this unit from U-Bid for $350. Audio and video are great!... but after a month, while watching the last part of the BEE GEES Concert (One Night Only), the disc began scrambling and then completely froze up. I tried other DVD movies and CD's but the unit couldn't read the disc. The display just said "NO DISC".Now I have to send it to JVC repair service center. JVC reliability is ????....

TRUST ME: This dvd player is one heck of a machine. I bought it at 800.com foronly $405 with a 10% disount (normal price is $449), and that included $100 of free movies and free shipping and handling. You can't be that price anywhere. I've had the machine for 2 weeks and I've played around twelve movies on it. Let me tell you something: once you watch a movie on this thing, you'll never want to watch VHS again. Believe me. The picture and sound are just amazing, even on my prologic surround system. The picture is so clear that I can watch a movie only 4 feet away and not be distracted by pixelation or dot crawl or loss in resolution. It's just AMAZING!!!! I'm hoping to get a DD/DTS receiver, maybe the sony str-da30es or str-da333es, to really handle what this dvd player can dish out in terms of sound. I can't imagine getting a better dvd player for less than $650, let alone $450. Also, I don't think there is anything wrong with the remote. If you think about it, it has an ingenius design. very ergonomical.
If you know what is good for you, you'll get this machine.

I bought my DVD player about 2 months ago. Purchase price was $359 from an online retailer.
I love this DVD player!

Good picture quality, good sound quality, easy to setup and use. Bear in mind that this isn't a $1000 DVD player. However, for the price, I don't think you could do much better.

My only gripe, at the moment, is the enter button on the remote. The enter button is used by pressing down on a joystick-style controller. The problem is that I sometimes press one of the four directions on the joystick at the same instant that I press down. That causes me to miss the menu item I was trying to select.

I watch 2 to 3 movies a week and listen to a couple of CDs a day with this unit. So I put it through reasonably heavy use. It works well with my existing JVC A/V receiver.

In summary, a very good value for a reasonably priced unit.

5*****Stars - After a month of researching I selected the JVC XVD-701BK, and it arrived a couple of days ago. It is a fine machine, screen saver, good remote, gold plated connections, clear display, and a really cool on screen interface. After two DVDs I mastered the remote and menus. Also, I have used about every feature including DTS, 5.1 Surround, which means even the analog and optical outputs. The manual is about 100 pages and it is still too brief, particularly the section on DTS/5.1 hookup. In fact, I still have a call into JVC as to why it displays "2 Channels" when connected to the optical in stead of displaying "5.1 Channel" (Dolby Digital) or "6 Channel" (for DTS), it may be connected incorrectly. Anyway, all hook-ups are different and I wouldn't let this deter anyone, sometimes connections are just difficult under some conditions. The DVD settings of which there are three audio modes to select from is a little confusing or, it is to me. My unit was packed by JVC with two movies Austin Powers and Baraka (a fantastic National Geographic DVD), 8 free DVD rentals (no obligations, 2 or 3 coupons $10 each toward DVD purchase at netflix.com. I paid $336 including shipping at UBid.com lastweek, a steal. They had them there today, 09/10/99. NO lipsync problems, at all. A stoic movie-buff friend of mine and I watched "Dark City" last night in 5.1 and he actually gasped a couple of times through the film.
My big system is downstairs, so this unit is connected to a new stereo that I acquired in the last month for another room and listed below FYI:

1 - ONKYO TXD-S474 75W/6ohms DTS/5.1 Ready
4 - KEF Coda 7 (6ohm)CHEAP little bookshelf speakers (not bad)front & rear
1 - KEF 95C Q-Series Center, extremely powerful and accurate (overkill)
1 - KEF 12" Self-Powered Sub (overkill, but nice sometimes).
1 - SONY 27" with SVideo
Lots&Lots - Overpriced Monster Cable connecting everything. From RG6-Optical.

I give this 5***** Stars. Considering, the category of Player, Price, Latest Features/Modes. What else is one to want for the money? Don't answer that.

I just placed a review a few days ago on the XV-501 page about DVD's suddenly not being readable by my JVC player. On the chance that someone may miss my post under the XV-501, I am posting here on the XV-701 as well.
I had checked the JVC service web site before, but missed the right area. Today, I happened to check it again before calling JVC Service, and found their FAQ area which includes EEPROM RESET procedures for all JVC DVD players. It simply involves unplugging the unit, pressing "On Screen" and "Title" keys, then "Enter". Turn the unit OFF, then back ON and it's reset. I tried this with my unit, and now it is playing "bad" discs! For more information on the 501, 511, 701, 1000, and 2000 players, go to this web page: http://www.jvcservice.com/custrel/DVDfaq.htm.

It may not solve some of the particular problems I have read below, but it should help those of us who have been happy with the unit only to find it suddenly not working any longer.

4 Stars for having the information available online. (5-stars if we did not need it!)