When I left my ex partner I literally left with nothing so had to start again from scratch so of course a television and dvd player were two of the things I needed. I didn't have a great deal of money to spend so I decided to go to Tesco and choose one from there. There was quite a range to choose from and I am totally not technical at all so I thought I would choose one that looked quite stylish so decided to opt for a black one. The dvd player I chose was the Toshiba SD 170E-K-TE and it was on offer for around £30 (if I remember rightly, but it was definately reduced in price).

As with all dvd players it came packaged in a flat cardboard box with plenty of polystyrene to hold it in place and protect it well. Removing the dvd player from the packaging was simple and the polystyrene didn't end up in bits all over my floor as it can do! The dvd player itself was in a plastic bag to prevent any scratches which was a good job as straight away I dropped the plug on it!! Along with the player there was the remote control and instructions which I have to say I never even glanced at.

The Toshiba dvd player is certainly, in my opinion, a nice sleek and stylish looking player and it appears a lot more expensive than it actually is. It is quite a thin design which when compared to my old one made that look like a huge brick!! Looking at the dvd player it is quite plain looking which I like, at the far left hand side is a round silver button which is the power switch. Then comes the drawer, led display and three further round silver buttons which are the load, play/pause and stop functions. Under the buttons is a long silver strip which I think just makes it look really stylish.

Setting up the dvd player really couldn't be more simple, literally just attach the scart lead from the player to the television and plug into the mains and then you are ready to watch! As soon as I switch the dvd player on my television automatically changes to the dvd, now this may well be the same with most peoples but my with my previous dvd player I always had to change the source on the remote. Using the player is just as simple as any other, once switched on press the load button and the drawer will open so the disc can be inserted. Once the disc is inserted, simply press load again (or play) and the drawer will close and the disc will load up. To play the dvd you can use the buttons on the player or on the remote control whichever you prefer.

The quality of the dvd player is very very good which is really what I would expect from a dvd player from a reputable company like Toshiba. The pictures from the dvd's are always clear as crystal and even now, a few years down the line it is still working perfectly whereas my mum's dvd player which is a budget one is already starting to go faulty and just stops in places during movies (and that isn't as old as mine!).

The remote control looks quite complicated as there are a lot of buttons on it, a lot more than I have personally ever seen on a dvd remote previously. There are the usual on/off, play, stop, open/close, and menu buttons. There are also subtitle, zoom, display, audio and skip buttons along with the numbers 1-9. I really only use the remote to put subtitles on as I am one of those people who likes subtitles on all the time. The remote control require to AAA batteries which were supplied with the player but they did run out quite fast but as I don't use it much I haven't had to change them since.

This dvd player also plays cd's, this is not something I have done often but before we got Sky in I did listen to some cd's in the evenings. If you are wishing to play cd's, you can use the remote to skip through the tracks just like you would with a stereo.

Technical information:
Product Description Toshiba SD 170E-K-TE - DVD player
Product Type DVD player
Dimensions (WxDxH 36 cm x 20.9 cm x 4.3 cm
Weight 1.35 kg
Media Type CD-R, CD-RW, SVCD, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD, CD, Video CD, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL
Media Format NTSC, PAL
Video D/A Converter:14bit / 108MHz
Audio D/A Converter:24bit / 192kHz
Remote Control Remote control - infrared
Sound Output Mode Stereo
Form Factor Tabletop
Enclosure Colour Black


I do really like this dvd player, it looks great and it sits well on the tv unit with space either side for photographs which I have next to mine though it looks equally nice with nothing on the shelf as it doesn't look like it is too small to be there on its own. The only downside to this Toshiba dvd player is that it isn't multi region but obviously that was down to my choice at the time, it is only now that I have a few dvd's that aren't region 2 that I have realised this is a problem!

I have had this dvd player for a few years now and as I say it is still in perfect working order and actually still looks brand new. I tend to watch films many evenings once my daughter is in bed so it has certainly had a lot of use so I have more than had my moneys worth with it. I would recommend this dvd player very highly but looking online I haven't been able to find it so I can only presume it is no longer available so I would have to recommend the Toshiba brand rather than this particular player.

Thank you for reading my review.