MPEG / xViD DVD Player in Dunnes for €40.95

Sleepy

Just picked up a Plustron DVX-2250 in Dunnes for €40.95. Very happy with it so far, was surprised to see that it came with a 2ft scart lead. I can't find any pics on line but it's a tiny unit about 10" wide, 1.5" tall, 12" deep, silver plastic with a navy stripe across the front and a blue lcd ring around the eject button when powered on. Picture quality seems fine though I'm only using it with an old portable TV.

Specs (as per side of the packaging):

Compatible with DVD / MPEG 4 / 3.xx / 4.xx / 5.xx / XviD
Compatible with DVD / SVCD / VCD / CD / MP3 / CD-RW
Strong Error Correction
Multi-Region (I tested this with a Region 1 disc)
2.1 Channel Output
Dolby AC-3 Digital Output
DTS Digital Output
Remote Control
Progressive Scan Function
Scart Output
PAL/NTSC System

FranknFurter

Will this play DivX by any chance?

b

Ruu_Old

I'm pretty sure it will. Can anyone else verify this? I know XviD uses similar compression standards to DivX.

bazcaz

so this player would playback a couple of xViD files burned directly onto CD or DVD??

Ruu_Old

Correct.

Conar

Compatible with DVD / MPEG 4 / 3.xx / 4.xx / 5.xx / XviD

The "3.xx / 4.xx / 5.xx" are the DivX versions that it plays.
So yes it will play DivX's!

Sleepy

Yep, plays DivX's

Think it's great value myself, though I have noticed there are some of my .avi's that won't play on this. I assume they've used different codecs than the standard one's to encode the files though tbh, I don't know a whole lot about it.

Happy out with this so far myself

MunsterCycling

To find out what codec a file is encoded with you can download 'g-spot'

http://www.headbands.com/gspot/

eorpach

Thanks for the info Sleepy!

Just wanted to clarify that this player is definitely Multi-Region out of the box? Am interested in purchasing it but only if it will play any Region 1 and other foreign purchased DVDs that I throw at it.

Thanks in advance,

eorpach

Is it available in all Dunnes stores?

Cactus Col

eorpach wrote:

Thanks for the info Sleepy!

Just wanted to clarify that this player is definitely Multi-Region out of the box? Am interested in purchasing it but only if it will play any Region 1 and other foreign purchased DVDs that I throw at it.

Thanks in advance,

eorpach

Played my region 1 dvd's, although I found it didn't seem to read it at first, had to switch it off and turn on once or twice (found the same when I put in discs with avi's on them)

dancin

Yep, it's multi region out of the box. But it wouldn't play DVD +R disks. No good to me as I have a philips DVD +R recorder.

Dunnes were fine about me returning it.

Went into dixons and got a Matsui for 35, multi region and it play's my +R disks. Peace reigns in the household again.

EyesOnly

hmm mine works with packard bell dvd+rw's dunno if theirs a differance between +r and +rw ?

OSiriS

Mine has no trouble reading the +R disks ...

eorpach

Thanks for the replies Cactus Col and Dancin.

Dropped into Dixons and found the Matsui DVD228 for €36 that you mentioned. Its Multi-Region (once you press setup and type "1389") and its amazingly well kitted out for such a cheap little player! Really happy with it!

Cheers,

eorpach

the corpo

does anyone know if dunnes still have any of these fellers in stock?

degsie

the corpo wrote:

does anyone know if dunnes still have any of these fellers in stock?

Here's an idea...get off your ass 'n ring them. Information here.

muppetkiller

They're still for sale I picked up mine yesterday in Galway works like a charm and is a tiny wee thing.

TerrorFirmer

muppetkiller does this actually play Xvid as suggested in the thread title? Because it would be great if it did, would sure beat having to hook up my laptop to the tv everytime my parents wanted to watch lost...:o

muppetkiller

It sure does ...it says it on the side of the box too.
They advertise the divx buy saying it supports mpeg 3.0,4.0 etc

justagirl

Can someone tell me which is the best one to buy please, the plustron or the matsui ? (I def. need multiregion). Thank you...:)

muppetkiller

I say go for the plustron..i'm very happy with it. And it's a very compact little player.

declantm

Do you know if either the plustron or the matsui have a digital audio output so i could connect it to my dolby digital decoder to get 5.1 surround?
I currently have a Philips Divx compatible DVD player (€100) and use it to play all my XVid/Divx movies but it's not a great player, it crashes a lot whenever i try to fast forward through a movie. I bought one of the Amstrad Divx players (€40) from Dunnes a few months back and it seemed to be much better than the Philips, i would have bought one for myself but it didn't have the digital audio out

dancin

@ justagirl

The matsui works fine for me. There is a code on the dixons website (mentioned above in thread) you enter to enable the multi region capability. This works fine. We've a bunch fo US dvd's for teh kids, and the all play fine.
The other major factor was playing back DVD's we recorded from SKY for the kids. We've a bunch of cartoons they watch over and over, which we recorded with a Philips DVD recorder. The Plustron would not play them back, and the matsui does. So for my purposes it's the better player.


@declentm

I'm pretty sure the matsui has a Co-axial output to connect it to a sound system (will check when I get home). But the blurb on the box says it's a 2.1 sound player, with Dolby Pro Logic. I think that Pro Logic takes a 2.1 sound source and 'fakes' full surround sound from it. I'm sure someone else will correct me on that 'definition', but I'm pretty sure the matsui will not give you proper 5.1 surround sound.

justagirl

dancin

The matsui works fine for me. There is a code on the dixons website (mentioned above in thread) you enter to enable the multi region capability. This works fine. We've a bunch fo US dvd's for teh kids, and the all play fine.
The other major factor was playing back DVD's we recorded from SKY for the kids. We've a bunch of cartoons they watch over and over, which we recorded with a Philips DVD recorder. The Plustron would not play them back, and the matsui does. So for my purposes it's the better player. [/UNQUOTE]

Thanks for advice dancin .... we've some OZ High 5 dvds so I'd be in big trouble if we couldnt get them to play!!!

justagirl

dancin wrote:

The matsui works fine for me. There is a code on the dixons website (mentioned above in thread) you enter to enable the multi region capability. This works fine. We've a bunch fo US dvd's for teh kids, and the all play fine.
The other major factor was playing back DVD's we recorded from SKY for the kids. We've a bunch of cartoons they watch over and over, which we recorded with a Philips DVD recorder. The Plustron would not play them back, and the matsui does. So for my purposes it's the better player. [/UNQUOTE]

Thanks for advice dancin .... we've some OZ High 5 dvds so I'd be in big trouble if we couldnt get them to play!!!:)

justagirl

So sorry about the double posting with mad

/[/UNQUOTE] 's ... but its just been one of those days........:o

indiewindy

Just had a look at the one in Dunnes,it looked lovely but no display on the machine. Does the matsui have a display on it?. Need one urgently as my yamada dvd player :mad: is dying a slow death

dancin

The Matsui had a Coaxial out, carrying a Dolby Digital signal (not pro-logic as I previously thought).

The 2.1 out is on the analogue output.

Yes, my matsui has a small display, only about 6 LCD characters though. It shows keywords like 'load', 'open' etc... And when playing, the Chapter number and total time into the film. There may be other display options, but I've not explored them. Am just happy it plays the kids DVDs.

TerrorFirmer

Bought this yesterday, stacks of them left thankfully, was afraid by the time I got around to investigating one they'd be gone.

Great machine, plays all the xvid and divx I've thrown at it so far flawlessly....great bargin. As long as it doesn't break after a month or two...

greglo23

Aldi have one at the moment and it says its divx compatible and 5.1 too.
http://tinyurl.com/69nkn

TerrorFirmer

But thats about 7x the price of the plustron model

greglo23

click on the page with the 40" tv. its 69:99.:p

Ruu_Old

Have Dunnes still got these? If so, how are they working out for people?

The_g-man

Have Dunnes still got these? If so, how are they working out for people?

I bought one of these, and found you definitely get what you pay for. I gave it a simple test, took a couple of discs with random types of files that had all played on my philips player[DVP-5100]. I was surprised in that it played some of the newer xvid clips that wouldn't play on my old philips player[DVP 630]. However any of the higher quality clips I had this player couldn't keep up, and was skipping 30 secs ahead then 2 minutes ahead all on its own. Then VCD clips wouldn't play properly, leaving one frame on the screen for several seconds before coming around. This was happening 3-4 times a minute. Several divx 3 files did not play but SVCD playback was smooth.
On the back there is a coaxial connection for dts output, but I didn't have time to test this. The two features that leave the philips player head and shoulders above this are the image being stretched to fill more of the screen, and the upsampling of the picture. This really smooths things out. Considering these are showing up on boards every now and then for €50-€60, it's not too big a price difference for such a quality gap.

If you still want one, Donaghmede shopping centre seemed to have at least ten on their shelves last week, Swords is sold out.

TerrorFirmer

I didn't test VCD or SVCD but those formats aren't really used so much anymore so I wouldn't imagine its a major concern.

I tried it with avi, divx and xvid, all of which appear to be working flawlessly.

TerrorFirmer

Great...

After exactly 14 minutes use, mine has crapped out. Won't read vcd, xvid or divx without first grinding and whining for about 10 minutes. Using same CDs/DVDs and have tried different brands, no difference.

Reading DVDs fine...

TerrorFirmer

What sort of discs is everyone using with this player?

I've found the problem to be only DVD+R discs.....others seem to work fine, regular cd's included...

Very annoying as I have almost 30 blank DVD+Rs.

the corpo

hmmm, my brother just got one. burnt him a load of things on dvd+r, and the playback has been pretty poor on most of them. synch and skip problems.

is the dvd+r thing a definite problem, or should we bring the player back?

the corpo

anyone?

muppetkiller

Guys I think everyone should pick up the new DVD player in Lidl on Monday ...it plays everything and even has a USB port for connecting you Ext HD
I'll be first in line...
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20061016.p.DVDPlayer

Conar

muppetkiller wrote:

Guys I think everyone should pick up the new DVD player in Lidl on Monday ...it plays everything and even has a USB port for connecting you Ext HD
I'll be first in line...
http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20061016.p.DVDPlayer

It doesn't mention which formats it plays.
Has anyone checked this?

TarfHead

muppetkiller wrote:

..it plays everything

It doesn't mention DivX which is why I'll be in me scratcher when you're first in the queue

lensman

TarfHead wrote:

It doesn't mention DivX which is why I'll be in me scratcher when you're first in the queue

oh yes it does, DivX is mentioned in the weekly handout, so set the alarm,..;)

TarfHead

lensman wrote:

oh yes it does, DivX is mentioned in the weekly handout, so set the alarm,..;)

my bad

Conar

lensman wrote:

oh yes it does, DivX is mentioned in the weekly handout, so set the alarm,..;)

On the website it shows it under current specials which would imply that its out already.
This right or is it definitely Monday?

muppetkiller

It's this monday alright 16th

gerryo

Re the LIDL player, on the web page, there is some text..

"Be it from your laptop, external HD, USB stick, memory card, (SD, MMC, SM, CF etc), or a DVD/CD in all common formats; This multimedia DVD-player plays it all!"

We can assume it plays DivX, etc, but what does the laptop bit mean?

Do they mean a direct USB connection to the latop, or is it a ethernet connection, or maybe nothing like that at all.