Good but could have been much better

I decided to acquire a BD player that was able to decode HD Audio like Dolby True-HD. I therefore traded in my BDP S300 and exchanged it for the higher end model - the BDP S500.
Despite preferring HD DVD formatwise, I really wanted to be able to experience the best of all films in Hi Def and that meant going purple and getting both formats.

The drawbacks of the BDP S500 are primarily that it is a Profile 1.0 BD standalone player. Blu-ray is an incomplete format, rushed onto the market so as not to be left behind by HD DVD which is a completely finished Hi Def format.
There are two further Profiles that are forthcoming for Blu-ray players (there may even be a profile 3.0 but that remains unconfirmed):
Profile 1.1 sees the introduction of extras such as picture in picture etc that are available on HD DVD players but are not available on Blu-ray until very recently, with the introduction of a few players like the Panasonic DMP BDK30.
The other is Profile 2.0 which has not yet been introduced and at this time there are no signs of any players appearing enjoying that profile.
This profile features full internet connectivity via an ethernet connection, another function enjoyed on HD DVD players but completely missing on BD Players.
Obviously being Profile 1.0, the BDP S500 enjoys none of the features that will be available in Profiles 1.1 or 2.0 nor is it possible to upgrade this player to incorporate these features. As a result the arrival of Blu-ray discs that have these features will simply be a case of playing the film only for the BDP S500 and its fellow Profile 1.0 players.
- Another drawback to the BDP S500 is that it does not decode DTS-HD Master Audio. Therefore, any discs in that format will be decoded as normal DTS.
It is rumoured though that Sony are going to provide a firmware update which will allow DTS-HD Master to be decoded via this and other Blu-ray players. The sooner the better frankly.
- Like all BD machines, the BDP S500 is limited as to what CDs and DVDs it can play. Anything outside of a conventional CD or DVD eg a CD-R or DVD-R etc will not be able to play.
My last criticism of this BD player is the clunkiness of the Java menus and the time that they take to load, particularly when playing a 50GB Blu-ray disc chock full of extras eg Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.
That said this loading time and overall Java interactivity has been helped though by Sony's recent firmware update 3.50 for the BDP S500 which I recently I applied to my player.

So what is good about the BDP S500?
- It decodes Dolby True-HD superbly, giving a deep and very rich sound indeed when played back via my Onkyo HDMI Amp. Films like Close Encounters and The Fifth Element are simply superb, sound is beautifully clear across all channels with no distortion whatsoever. Surround sound is amazing and is never intrusive.
- Despite not(yet)being able to play back DTS-HD Master, the BDP S500 can play back DTS-HD and conventional DTS sound. Both are superb and give an incredible audio experience.
Ditto for its ability to playback Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus.
- Visually the BDP S500 plays back a stunning 1080p Hi Def picture and this fantastic picture is really what the Hi Def experience is all about.
- Lastly the build of this machine is really good - it looks and feels well made, and I just love the the robotic front fascia that lifts up and down prior or after the disc tray opening and closing.

So there you have it, a mixed bag. I bought the player for its strengths and was fully aware of its aforementioned limitations. It has not disappointed me in my expectations of it but just be aware of the Profile 1.0 concerns and others that I have outlined. If like me, you can do without those features then go ahead and pick one up because this is a fine Hi Def player which will be even better if it gets its rumoured firmware update to be able to decode DTS-HD Master Audio.

Does not do exactly what it claims

Just make sure you have plenty of conversion software, thank goodness I know how to use batch processing in macromedias fireworks to enable me to convert all my jpeg images to lower spec jpegs so this unit will play them. I have also had to convert my AVI files to a lower spec AVI. This unit will not play original DVD's only copied DVD's with the copy protection removed.

BTW Pixmania have dreadful aftersales service.

Not a bad machine, just too noisy

This machine has some very good points, but its too noisy to be used in a living room. Ours was RMAed.

On the plus side:
- Discs are initalised quickly, you can be recording on DVD-R within 20 secs.
- The menu system is clear and easy to use
- The DVD playing machanism is very quiet, you can't hear the disc spinning at all
- The DVD-R disc recorded played perfectly in Pioneer DVD (Dv464), Argos in Car DVD and PC.
- It can play CDs of Jpegs.

However the downsides out weight these good features:
- Its very noisy, there is case fan at the back, that is always on when the recorder is. Watching Planet Earth with the DVD recording is, unconfortable, there is a constant whiring. Its 3 or 4 times noisyer than my AV reciever and I thought that was noisy!
- remote control is"boxy" and square, hence unconfortable in the hand.
- DVD-R take a LONG time to finalise, over 20 Mins.
- It cannot play DVD-R discs of photo JPEGs burnt on my PC, that my Pioneer DVD player plays fine.

Hence only 3 stars I'm afraid ....

Floral head scarf

Generally this is lovely piece of kit. It never seems to crash or misbehave. I’ve had one failed finalisation attempt with mine, which left the disc empty, but I’ve no reason to think that this was the recorders fault - it reported a data error (perhaps the disc had just failed). My main gripe with it is that, I can’t for the life of me get it to record from it’s input SCART using the RGB signals - it all seems to be stuck on composite video. This, for me has meant that the picture from my freeview box is noticeable poorer than if I wire the freeview box directly to my TV. The picture quality is still good, just not excellent. It also has a fan in the back, which is whisper quiet, but seems unnecessary and might perhaps pull dust into the unit over time - we’ll see.

Recording time is up to 8 hours. For 1 to 2 hours, the picture quality is pretty pristine, after that artefacts do show a little - most noticeably on overlaid text. Still quite useable, mind and better than VHS.

Trimming of video clips is possible only on DVD-RAM or DVD-R formated as DVD-VR which is incompatible with most DVD players, and is really only a fairly rough affair - enough to remove adverts, but not to edit a wedding video.

Divx and MP3 playback work a treat. It does seem to be able to play SVCDs and VCDs, but unable to play MPEG1 and MPEG2 files (which seems odd). There’s also a multi-region hack available on the web, which works a treat.

As a rule, it’s dead good. If only I could get it to record from RGB signals though.

Goodmans GDVD301RP

I have had this DVD recorder for a while, have now replace it with a Daewoo DR-2100P dvd recorder.

With the Goodmans GDVD301RP, I found it very easy to use, it only recorded using DVD+Rs, there was not any problems with this model, recording was exceptional quality at 4 hour recording. this model is also multi-region, so can play region 1 to region 0 discs.

Only problem I had with this model, is, if you tryed playing bought dvds, any regions, there a delay in audio speech sync, its only 2/3 seconds, and I could not find any settings/thing to fix this problem, and I found this frustrating. So I replaced it, to one which records using +Rs and -Rs.

Amazing product - super calm upconverted picture

Did require some adjustments to work with my Panasonic 42PV7 to get acceptable deep black levels (i.e. LOTR). Seems to look best in 1080i, not 1080p. Many cheaper upconverting DVD players looks great in foreground details, but have large"fuzzy/smeared" areas in the (less noticeable) background, but the Oppo DV981HD is sharp and calm all over the screen. Terrible setup menu though.

hmmmm

i was impressed at first nice blue neon lights in the dark looks good and plays dvds fine however tried to play region 1 and it all went funny the films go black flicker and jump every few seconds!needles to say i informed the seller they made me send it back not cheap either and promised me refund for dvd player and return postage ....im still awating refund they wont answer my emails!

Awesome bit of kit

I bought this dvd recorder for approx [...]from amazon about 9 months ago.

It's a fantastic bit of kit. I use it a lot and have recorded loads of stuff from my tv and satellite and the recording and playback quality has always been superb.

The menu system is a piece of cake to use, really easy to play/delete or edit stuff you have recorded, and the timer record system is also childs play to set. It also has video plus facility built in.

You can set the timer to record up to 20 different programs I think, great if your going on holiday!

The hard drive is more than adequate, I have recorded loads of football matches and tv shows and have still not got close to running out of storage(I record in Long Play which is still great quality and gives you even more space).

The system is also reasonably quiet when its running (certainly not loud) and its also very easy to transfer a file you have saved to the Hard Drive onto a blank DVD should you wish.

To sum it ive had this for nearly a year and its been faultless and as an added bonus it looks great too.

Buy with confidence!

A great value entry level DVD recorder.

Alba has a reputation of providing cheap and cheerful products. This DVD player is no different and provides fantastic value for money.

It is easy to set up and use and provides decent picture quality. When connected to a surround sound system the quality of audio is indistinguishable from more expensive models. The recording quality is fine and provides a picture that looks virtually the same as the source. I have recorded a lot from Sky and it looks pretty much the same when played through the DVD player as it did when I was watching it"live".

It has inputs on a drop down panel at the front which are perfect for recording onto a DVD from a camcorder.

It's not perfect though. The biggest problem is it takes approx 30 seconds from when you turn the player on for it to be ready to either play or record a DVD. I know 30 seconds isn't long but in this technologically advanced age it feels like you are waiting forever. This however is a minor problem and with a little patience its fine.

Overall this is a great entry level DVD recorder for those on a tighter budget. Don't be put of by the name or price. It is much better than the 50 quid price tag would suggest.

Good Unit but poor Support

The record quality is very good with 5 quality options. To get a 2 hour film onto a 4.7gb DVD the quality setting needs to be on SP (The middle setting) and the reproduction is as good, if not better than the original.
The 80Gb Hard drive is ample for fast recording and transfer to DVD, but if you are looking for a unit to store your favorite films on, look for one with a larger hard drive.

The control facilities are better than some DVD players, they include Fast forward up to 80x and fast backwards also.

The audio is supoosed to be 5.1 but my particular machine has an audio problem. I get sound for around 1 hour after power up and then it disappears until disconnected from the power for 1 hour. I have contacted Mustek and they have told me to return it to the factory at my own expense for assesment and to include the purchase receipt. This was a Christmas gift so I have no receipt. I will probably scrap this and Buy a Panasonic or something that has a better after sales service.

A pity because all round the machine it self is well worth owning as long as there are no manufacturing faults with it.