Value for money? (Wharfedale 750 DVD)

Member Name: Islander

Product:	Wharfedale 750 DVD
Date:	21/09/00 (695 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Picture, Sound, Multi-region

Disadvantages: Slow

Yes, definitely! For me the three most important considerations (apart from price, of course) when buying my DVD player were Picture Quality, Sound Quality and Multi-Region capability, this player meets all three requirements easily.

The picture is excellent, and this is helped by the fact the player outputs an RGB signal through the SCART lead (although S-VHS can also be used – but in my opinion RGB is superior). The sound cannot be faulted (and I only listen to it through a normal stereo), and it can be put through either a Dolby 5.1 amp or a DTS amp. Multi-region capability can be enabled by entering a simple code, and I haven’t had any trouble playing any of the Region 1 discs I have. The build quality is good, and it also has a few extras (such as zoom control and multi-angle).

That details its good points, now for its bad ones. To keep the price down a few shortcuts have been made, the remote is small and poorly designed, the player is slow loading discs, and when responding to the remote, there are only two picture search speeds, and it has trouble playing a very small number of Region 2 discs (Jaws, please step forward!). Although there is a firmware upgrade available for older models (phone 0845 601 2549 for details), and I believe newer models do not suffer from this.

For me the good points far out-way the bad (especially now an upgrade is available), there are cheaper budget players coming on the market, but whether they can match the Wharfedale’s picture and sound remains to be seen.

Summary: