There are many budget players out there on the market, so why should you buy the Matsui 110? Because it's cheap, (£150 in Currys, Dixons, etc)? Because it is multi-region player, capable of playing any DVD regardless of region, (using the remote control to hack the player)? Because of the good picture quality, and sound (It's a DTS machine)? It is capable of playing VCDs, (again, once you have used a remote hack)? NO! You should buy this machine because I like it!! (hehe)

Now for the serious stuff. First off, the connectors. At the rear of the player you will find one SCART socket, which can output RGB, two composite video out jacks, two stereo out jacks and a coaxial digital output. It will take you all of 2 minutes to set this machine up. It really is that easy to use. On the front of the machine, we have the usual buttons..open/close, play, stop, etc.

The remote control looks a bit cheap, but makes up for it in its ease of use. Accessing the menu button via the remote allows you to change the player's various settings, and again the menus are very easy to understand. You can select to output video for either 4:3 pan-and-scan, 4:3 letterbox, or 16:9 widescreen. The digital out options for both Dolby Digital and MPEG can be set to either Bitstream or PCM. DTS can be set to either Bitstream or off. The menu contains the usual parental lock controls, the option to have the on-screen displays turned on or off (useful if you dislike having the obtrusive messages pop up every time you skip a chapter), language and subtitle options and an Audio Set menu that offers two options - Channel and Speaker Out. Pressing the menu button a second time in the root menu brings up the Macrovision and Firmware details. A hack to disable Macrovision is being looked into as I write, but it has yet to be found.

The all-round build quality of the Matsui is very impressive, it feels just as solid as many of the more expensive machines on the market.
There's no flimsy disc tray on this machine! Playing a disc reveals an excellent quality picture, which is as good as any of the higher priced players around. The colours are both vibrant and sharp,(I used the SCART connector for RGB output as this provides better quality than composite). The 110 is capable of both PAL and NTSC playback. The sound quality is excellent, but I have yet to try an amp with it.

The 'special' features are as follows: There are four levels of fast forward/rewind speeds, and four levels of slow advance/review. There is also a zoom facility, but this is only a one level zoom. The player also features the usual pause/frame advance, repeat playback and multi-angle options. The 110 also plays audio CDs, and pressed VCDs. It will only play the better quality CDRWs, but not CDRs.

Although this player has been known to suffer from a few problems in the past, Matsui has corrected them all. The Matrix, and other "problem" discs all play fine on this player. Unlike other budget dvd players, there are no "lip-sync" problems on this machine, and no flicking on region 1 discs, etc. As long as you buy a new one, you will have no problems.

Here are the remote hacks for the Matsui 110:-

To make make the Matsui Multi-region:

1. Press the Menu button on your remote control
2. Press the 9 button on your remote control
3. Press the Open/Close button on your remote control, note the draw will not open
4. Press the 5 button on your remote control
5. Press the Mute button on your remote control when presented with the region selection page
6. The word ALL will appear on the screen and your player will now play discs from any region


To enable the Matsui to play VCDs:

1. Insert a music cd in the player.
2. Press the Stop button on your remote control
3. Press the Menu button on your remote control
4. Press the 9 b
utton on your remote control
5. Press the 1-All button button on your remote control
6. Press the Open/Close button on your remote control
7. A menu will appear sayin Enable VCD 1-YES/2-NO, press 1.


I would recommend this player to anyone who, like me, can't afford to spend a tremendous amount of money on a home cinema system. It does everything you need it to in order to enjoy DVD movies, and to the same standard as the more expensive players. It is a bargain at £150!