Need JVC DVD owner's opinions.... (1 Viewer)

[David Coleman]

... I know little to nothing about these players. What i'd like to get from some of the owners here are opinions. If you could i'd appreciate the following information:

Player Model
What do you think are JVC strengths and weaknesses
How do you compare them to brands like: Panasonic, Toshiba, Pioneer, Sony and the like rating (picture quality, audio quality, CD playback, DVD-Audio Playback, ease of use)
What special features does your player have and do you like/dislike them?
Are there items such as "bit-rate"meters and "time remaing"?
Do you recommend?

I thank you in advance for all responses.

Sincerly,

David

 

[Sean Moon]

I have a JVC 75GD which does DVD, DVD-A, CD-R/RW, MP3. It has built in DD/DTS decoders(which I never use), progressive scan outputs, coax and optical digital outs.
Have had it for about 6 months now and love it to death. Had a few minor issues with it, like not liking to load discs, but I did buy it open box. The main feature besides progressive scan that I got this DVD player for was scaling. Since I have a TV that locks into full mode on progressive signals, the player will reformat nonanamorphic and 4:3 material so that it appears undistorted on the screen. It even makes nonanamorphic material (Abyss, Office Space) appear to be anamorphic. The only other player that does this that I know of is the Panny RP91, which is out of my price range.
Supposedly other players have better progressive pic quality, which I have looked at, but the scaling feature is too important to me, since I have a fair ammt of 4:3 material to watch.
You can get a 7disc version of this player for under $300 now too!

 

[george king]

I have the newer 500 series player. I got it for $160, but have seen it for cheaper. Great player - wonderful progressive picture, no chroma bug. Have not had a single problem, except with the disc High Fidelity.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lyle_JP]

I have two mini-reviews of my JCV 502SL here on the HTF:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...175#post871175
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...466#post996466
The second one is quite a bit more critical as I am comparing it to the Panasonic RP-91 (and there's really no comparison).
One other thing I should mention is build quality: JVC doesn't really have it. The player weighs about as much as a paperback novel and mine, after about 6 months of abuse, is starting to radomly freeze-up in the middle of playback on some titles.
Basically, I would recommend the JVC as an essentially disposable progressive-scan player which happens to perform far beyond what it should for the money (albeit perhaps not for long).
-Lyle J.P.

 

[Dave E H]

I've got the 75GD as well. It's ok - I got it because mine is modded for multi-region and it's progressive scan - and about the cheapest I could find one that does this. It's ok, but I'd prefer something nicer. The build quality is kinda poor and I don't like the ergonomics. I've owned:
* Panasonic A310
* Toshiba SD-6200
* JVC 75GD
* Sony DAV-S300

so far, the JVC is my least favorite ergonomically and will probably look to replace it as soon as I can find a player with zero latency layer switching (that's not a HTPC) and probably sacd/DVD-A capable. I may not wait though, as my player started having problems last night reading my Macross disc. Quite annoying - it plays fine on my PS2.

All in all, it's a decent budget player with a great picture & sound. However, I think great picture & sound can be found on lots of players these days (my opinion, of course) and would really like something better ergonomically, as I find that important. To each his own of course - I'll still keep it for multi-region for the time being though.

 

[GrantM]

i've had the 95GLD (7 disc changer) for over a year with no problems.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the remote - this is by FAR the best DVD player remote I've ever used. it is very well laid out, IMHO.