Samsung baby (Samsung DVD 709)

Member Name: roger_smith

Product:	Samsung DVD 709
Date:	04/10/00 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: vlue for money

Disadvantages: Overheats

When you don’t consider the price tag this DVD player is average or maybe even just plain lousy.

I mean, after all it won’t even read dual layer gold disk when you take it out of the box. To watch a movie pressed on this format such as The Matrix, you have to take it back into the manufacturer, wait two days for them to change out the laser and then go through the hassle of reconfiguring the 5:1 speaker outputs back into your receiver. Also Samsung, like many other DVD manufacturer skimped out on the CD portion of the player. Most DVD players only have one laser for reading disk pressed on the DVD format. Don’t get me wrong, these lasers can read store-bought CD’s but the kind people at the help desk for my CD-RW have banned all calls from my number because of a little issue that DVD lasers have with CDR’s.

I burned a grand total of 4 disks before I learned the hard way that DVD lasers cannot read CDR’s very well. The sound would be great at the beginning of the CD and then decay into mush by the end.

I use my DVD player for my primary CD player in the living room so I had no way of knowing that this was an issue until, out of desperation, I got on the net and did a lot of research. That was when I found out about the laser issue.

The only manufacturer I know of who equips their players with both a DVD laser and a CD laser is Sony. If you are planning to use this as your primary CD player and you are into burning your own mixes please don’t make the same mistake as me. Buy a Sony. I could have save myself from a lot of sleepless nights if I had just known.

Finally, the Samsung overheats. True you have to watch the equivalent of about 4 movies to get it to do so but when it does some weird things happen with you have a chapter transfer on the disk. Depending on its mood it may skip the chapter entirely or keep playing it over and over again until you get up and press the advance
button. I’m not saying that I’ve ever watched four movies in a row but when you use your DVD system as a CD player you can really rack up the hours so beware.

Now let talk about the Sanyo DVD player and think about the price. It’s cheap folks. Real cheap.

For the money you get a lot of bang for your buck. You get a 5:1 decoder for sound, a fiber optic adapter port for your stereo receiver, and a great remote that is so intuitive I can’t believe it.

The Sanyo will not be the best or the cheapest you can buy but it has a very fair price tag.

If you aren’t into sound get a system without a 5:1 decoder. You can buy those for quite a bit cheaper. If you have the money, by all means get a Sony or a Pioneer. If you are young and without a big savings like myself but you love to watch movies in their best possible form go for the Sanyo. You can get the laser upgraded to read The Matrix for free (HOLD ONTO YOUR RECIEPT) and it’s a pretty good little gizmo for the money.

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