Norcent DP300 DVD Player , Silver

• Dolby Digital output through coaxial digital-audio jack for immersive surround sound (with compatible AV receiver)
• 500 lines horizontal resolution-image digest viewing, A-B repeat, and picture zoom
• Composite- and S-video outputs
• NTSC/PAL System Conversion Output

Much like paulandjulchen, I received my first unit and it was defective. Would not recognize any discs. Made the return and Amazon shipped out a replacement right away with 2 day shipping. It seems like quality control might not be a top priority at Norcent. But the second one arrived and worked as promised.

It's a basic player, small footprint, lots of plastic. But when it works, it works as advertised and plays my cdrs and mpegs too. We thought a $... VCR a while back was a great deal, this is even better. If you are just looking for an entry level DVD player and don't need all the bells and whistles, this is a good first step into the world of DVD. Our one seems to play fine through the VCR so not sure whether Macrovision is enabled or not. There are various hacks online to edit various functions of the player but it sounds like it is hit and miss.

Added 09/03 three months later.

Ours is still working fine. It gets used every day to play kids DVDs. AsIt also plays VCDs and mpeg files but not DivX. Some other reviews mention that you can only turn the unit on and off by the button on the machine. That is true but you can put it into standby mode via the remote.

Final update 02/05

This DVD player died the other day. Well beyond the warranty so I opened it up and took a look and it appears a couple of capacitors leaked and are dead on one of the boards. It has been a great DVD player and probably saw service just about every day. For the price we paid, I can't complain too much. RIP.

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...Since this is my first player, I do not have a real comparison, but the picture seems good enough, it is capable of running at voltages from 110-240V 50-60Hz, plays PAL/NTSC DVDs, I made mine region-free (OPEN/CLOSE -> Setup -> 8888 -> Next -> Version -> Region Code -> 0 :o)...) so I can even take it back to Europe when I go. I was able to play couple DVDs, also one VCD that I made. I do not have any DVD-R/RW to try, but it's supposed to handle them too as well as MP3 CDs. For [the money] what else do you want for this price? Sony doesn't even make models that can run at 220V/50Hz, nor do they make models that can play PAL DVDs, let alone region-free...(that's what they wrote me).

I highly recommend this unit. Especially at this price.

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I purchased this player in Feb of 2003.

All I wanted was to play DvD's. That's it. Nothing else. And that is exactly what I got in this player, and much more. The fact that it plays CD-R/W's and CD's and MP3's (contrary to another review, THIS PLAYER DOES NOT PLAY .MPEGS or .AVI's!) is a delightful bonus, and one I expect to take full advantage of.

Overall, I'm happy with this player for the price. But there are a few minor complaints worth mentioning. The remote is feature rich, however its layout stinks; the buttons are oddly placed. It is very slow to load a DvD or CD and be ready for play. And here's a legitimate bad point: it can not be powered up with the remote; you can only operate the standby feature from the remote; you must hit the on/off switch on the unit itself. And also, the power button is so stiff I have to hold the unit down to push the button, otherwise I'd push the unit clear off my TV.

Other than that I'm quite happy. 5 stars!

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I got this player mainly for the multi-region function hack that I read from other customers, and for my daughters been able to watch the dvd+r's that I made for them. My first generation Sony player(cost 33 times of what I paid for this machine) that they were using did not read recordable dvds. Well, the multi-region hack did not work on this machine(yes, it didn't claim to be able to.).

Some observations that I'd like to share with others:

My player came with a manual that seemed to be returned, it had finerprints all over it. I looked inside and saw that the drive and the circuit board were marked manufactured Nov 2002! My guess is that this might be a reconditioned unit with updated firm ware.

Some people complained about the sound. Try go to audio in the menu and make adjustment in SPDIF.

My 4:3 Sony XBR tv.s auto Anamorphic function did not work with this player. It seems the DP300 only down convert picture to letterbox resolution, but I could be wrong.

I am keeping this unit. It works within its limitations as advertised. Picture quality is ok if used with tv screen no more than 27". But if you have a wide screen projection tv I would get a progressive player for just a few dollars more.

p.s. make sure you are careful loading disc into drawer as I found with the new less expensive dvd players it's easy to ruined laser tracking if accidently put in more than one disc at a time(stacking).

You cant beat this DVD player for the money. I recently bought a Sony DVD/VHS Tape player for 5 times the cost and returned it because it skipped and froze while playing back DVD's. This one works flawlessly. Plus it has every DVD function that you would ever want. Zoom, shuttle, FF, plus many more functions. More than you will ever need or use. The only complaints I have are the instructions are rather lacking in detail, but hookup is intuitive and easy, also the button labeling on the remote is a very tiny font that is difficult to read. However, for the price, this can be easily overlooked and you will soon memorize which buttons on the remote you use most frequently. Definitely a best buy in my book.