toshiba hd-ep30

Im not sure what the hell Amazon is playing at with my order, ordered on 31st March and sill 20th April no DVD player. You are breaking rules and will loose my custom in the future as i was going to order a PS3 from you. But bak to the EP30, my friend has one and wow this shines over blueray. What are you thinking to stop making this toshiba. I think they should bring it back and keep both formats. Hope you get your sooner than me. At £59.99 and 2 films what a steel.

It's NOT multi-region

Picture fine, sound fine. But lots of wires trailing round the car. Abd I share the concerns of the reader below about the plastic stalk that could break.
But to me, the key thing is that this is locked to region 2. I never knowingly accept this kind of nonsense, and wouldn't have bought it if I'd realised.

Great product - highly recommended

I installed this yesterday mornining, and after one day of use I'm here writing this review. It's easy to set up and so easy to use it's unreal. My wife was a bit hesitant about using it to record stuff, but programming via the electronic programme guide is a sinch, after about 5secs she had the idea.

It's important to ensure that you get a NEW model, don't buy secondhand or you could end up with having to run a firmware upgrade to make the EPG programming work properly- visit sonyeurope.com to download the firmware upgrade if you have made that mistake.

Upscaling to 1080p is superb, I tried it out with Casino Royale and A Scanner Darkly. I had my neighbour round as I was trying it out, she was so gobsmacked by the quality that she decide to stay and watch for a while!

This little box is a winner. The only downside is that for DATA DVDs you are limited to the DivX codec, whereas most internet downloaded TV stuff is XViD, hopefully there's a way round that. But hey I've only had it a day.

Samsung have big problems with this player!!

In essence this looks like a really good DVD player, and I must admit it looks great too. However, when I received the player and connected it through my Samsung AVR710 AV Amp - guess what they're not compatible with eachother!!!!! Firstly I thought it was a faulty DVD player so Amazon replaced it (thanks Amazon :-) ), but the second player was the same. The HDMI signal won't stay connected through my amp. So - if you are thinking of connecting this through Samsung Amp...dont buy it!! I've spoken to Samsung and they have hinted at interoperability problems but they wont commit to it.
I have also spoken to Richer Sounds (who I bought the amp from) and they have also had a lot of returns of this player due to similar issues, or it not playing all your DVD's.....Sorry to be so negative but BUYER BEWARE!!

All round good value for price

This model has excellent looks and is great value for money - the best there is for the price, its a reliable make and I will always go back and buy the Philips portable DVD's. Sound quality and picture is good too.
(Previously had the silver 7inch model which withstood 3 years of toddlers and children usage, finally broke when one of my children stood on the screen, otherwise would have kept going!)

You CAN'T transfer transfer your purchased VHS collection to DVD with this

Good
* The Freeview digital tuner images are great (no analogue tuner at all - unlike the earlier EZ45 model I bought for my Mum).
* Electronic Program Guide (EPG) can be configured to remember programs for quick start-up (unlike my Humax).
* Video and DVD images are crisp.
* DVD records and plays every option imaginable (+R, -R, +RW, -RW, DL & RAM - RAM is most flexible).
* It's great for copying home video into DVD, either from VHS or direct from your camcorder via a DV socket.

Bad
* Most commercial video is Macrovision encoded and this device deliberately stops you copying them to DVD - even from an external source.
* Menu and Titling options on home burnt DVDs are not as flexible as I'd like.
* No SD Card input which the earlier EZ45 model had.
* Remote control crowded and hard to find all the options.

Very disappointing

Ordered two of these. The first one was faulty as it had a massive scratch behind the screen within the LCD panel itself, and the replacement had dead pixels, making it unwatchable. The build is what you expect for a cheap TV. The packaging is awful and its badly supported in the box which means that it can get knocked about a bit in transit. Sound quality is average and the colour takes a lot of messing with to get a fairly average picture. The DVD is very noisy, but is multi-region which essentially the only thing that this model has going for it.

I'm impressed - amazing value...and great sound and picture too !

I got this unit to go with my new Samsung LCD TV, and I wanted to see my standard definition DVD's in all their glory.
I am not disappointed. Very easy menu system. Easy remote to use.
And the picture on my TV is superb - I did not expect standard DVD's to look so superb. The sound, too, is great via coax to a surround amp.
An inexpensive way to watch DVD's until Blu-ray gets more established and the price of the films comes to a sensible price...then I'll be upgrading and not upset at having spent a small amount on this.

Great value DivX Player and DVD Recorder

I just don't understand some of the negative reviews here. I've used it for a few months, and have found it to be stable and reliable (no matter how cheap the discs I've used are). The picture quality is great and I haven't had a problem with it yet. The remote control is average, not great but not bad either for a modern unit with all the functions it needs to make usable. Its as responsive as any remote control I've used. I haven't tried to extensively edit discs, I've merely added programmes onto discs and accepted the default menu structures. But anyone serious about editing DVDs would edit discs created with this unit on a PC. I can only think some reviewers have received faulty units or set it up wrong. Compared to other DVD recorders in this price bracket, its great, but then perhaps thats because my previous one was an awful Bush DVR3003.

Speaker cables

I got this system the other day and when I went to set up this afternoon I discovered there was no speaker wires. can anyone let me know if this should come with wires and if not any ideas where I can get them

thanks

J

Sony DVPFX850B Portable DVD Player

This unit has the build quality you would expect from Sony, and it feels like a serious piece of kit. The screen is one of the best available with its 800 x 480 pixel resolution. I would estimate the useful viewing angle to be around 90 degrees. The battery clips on at the bottom of the player, and is not required if plugged in via the mains adapter or via the car plug. It also has a"video in" socket so you can use it as a monitor. The USB connection can be used to access thumb drives, but only JPG and MP3 files can be played from it. It will not play movie files from the USB port. There is an optical-out audio link, but Sony did not provide the cable for that. The accessories that are included: Remote control, AC power adaptor, 12 V car cigarette lighter adaptor, and stereo audio and composite video cable, and carry bag. Sadly, there is no s-video or component video output on the player. A waste of the 12 bit video DAC in my opinion. The sound from the inbuilt speakers is barely acceptable, and you will need to provide and use your own headphones or external speakers. There are 2 headphone sockets so you can listen with someone else. The carry bag feels cheap and tacky. It almost feels wrong to put such a nice player in it! Mine was a tight fit. They should have made a better felt-lined bag.
Even with it's faults, this is still one of the best disk spinners out there, primarily thanks to its awesome screen.

PROS: Swivel screen transforms from"laptop" mode to"tablet" mode.
800 x 480 screen is amazingly clear.
Good build quality.

CONS: As with most portable DVD players, not all content is presented in full screen. Unless it is 16:9, it will display in"black box" with black bars all around. 4:3 content displays with black bars on either side. High price.

Tries to do too much

An excellent well made piece of kit. The VHS player although adequate is not as good as the Sony one that I replaced. It is a shame that it will not copy, copy protected tapes but did not expect it to be able to. I would like to see a facility that monitors the signal being copied and stop the copying when the signal ceases. The manual is very complicated and the machine seems to have a vast quantity of facilities that I will never use. I would like to see a simple machine. Also it is claimed to upscale to 1080p but does not seem to.

DVD player

I have not bought this item yet. But I will.
I think the person who was moaning about play back had either not read what the DVD player can do or just wanted to plug another brand.

This will be a great product for the weeks I spend In Hotels away from Home

You CAN'T transfer your purchased VHS collection to DVD with this

Good
* The Freeview digital tuner images are great (no analogue tuner at all - unlike the earlier EZ45 model I bought for my Mum).
* Electronic Program Guide (EPG) can be configured to remember programs for quick start-up (unlike my Humax).
* Video and DVD images are crisp.
* DVD records and plays every option imaginable (+R, -R, +RW, -RW, DL & RAM - RAM is most flexible).
* It's great for copying home video into DVD, either from VHS or direct from your camcorder via a DV socket.

Bad
* Most commercial video is Macrovision encoded and this device deliberately stops you copying them to DVD - even from an external source.
* Menu and Titling options on home burnt DVDs are not as flexible as I'd like.
* No SD Card input which the earlier EZ45 model had.
* Remote control crowded and hard to find all the options.

Great Player

I have bought this DVD to play mostly avi and dvx movies. Tryed about 20 and so far it played all of them. People complaining about slow loading and slow reading DVD's at start up. I didnt accounter this issues at all. It is nice and stylish player that will play most formats.

Excellent discs

These are great dvd's, unlike other people i found them very easy to remove from their case. they are designed to be either used in the case if you have a compatable dvd recorded or out of it. The cartridge is a great idea to prevent fingerprints or damage to the disk.

Great Price, Great Player

It arrived before the arrival date (thx amazon) and It is great. The picture, audio, and playability. Comparing it to a £450 sony one it looks the same. It worked straight out of the box and sets up automatically. The remote is easy to use aswell. The only problem is it doesnt give you a hdmi cable! I don't know why but I got one from the tv upstairs so you may need to buy one fist
Overall go buy!

all very well BUT

Superb sound, set up etc,
However, if you have, or will have an HDMI tv, (and everyone will have, when the current tv dies or needs replacement) then this system is destined to be a hi-fi set.
Consider it's purchase to be akin to buying a very good value 8 track or record player. remember those?
the speakers of course could be married to a new tuner/high def dvd; in a couple of years you might wish that you had delayed the purchase or have bought into 2008 technology.