Zenith DVT412 200-Watt Home Theater System with Progressive Scan DVD

Rating:
Summary: 4 Stars For Being a Bargain...
Review: Got it at Circuit City for $120! Lots of bang for the buck. Plays almost all types of DVD and CD out there. So it's got only one audio input (and RCA at that), the 200w is more than enough for a medium size room.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing value. Great for smaller rooms.
Review: I am not an audiophile, but I have been very skeptical of these small home theter systems for many years. They're just so small, especially the speakers, that I couldn't believe the sound was very good. Well, I was wrong. I bought this system because we bought a new television for our bedroom. I had attached some JBL bookshelf speakers to our old set, and they were so nice that I wanted to use them for the new set, too. Well, as I expected, the new TVs don't come with external speaker jacks anymore, just audio outputs for amplifiers. So, because of the limited space available, I decided to buy one of these systems to kill two birds, as it were, by replacing the old DVD player with a combination DVD player and Dolby surround-sound amplifier. The set comes with 5 micro-speakers, but I used my 2 JBL's for the front left and right. Easy install. Comes with miles of speaker wire, so no worries there. Right away, the quality of the sound impressed me. Good depth, nice separation, and healthy volume. I could probably have done away with the JBLs and been just as happy with the micro-speakers, as they were more than adequate. I balanced them with the built-in controls and am very happy. Surround sound is a very different experience from standard stereo, and the 5 channel sound really does enhance movie watching. My only regret is that if I'd known how good these small systems were, I might have bought one with more power. The maximum volume this system delivers isn't going to bowl you over, so if you're looking to have the same deafening sound levels you find at your local cineplex, move upscale. But I think most people would find this system has more than enough oomph. The subwoofer will do justice to everything from overtures to battle scenes. I could nit-pick the Zenith DVD player about the clunkiness of the hardware and tiny buttons on the remote, but overall we're tickled with this little beauty. It makes a great add-on to a new TV.

Rating:
Summary: Disk squeaks on playing; low volume in the rear speakers
Review: I bought this system 2 days ago and I was expecting a decent system as I'd made the purchase after studying the reviews; unfortunately I wasn't pleased.

First thing I noticed is that a AV patch cable wasn't included, Amazon says its included on Amazon.com, but Zenith's customer service clarified to me that its not one of the included accessories. So, its really not a one-box-has-all system as its made out to be on amazon.com.

Next, on playing the disks I'm getting a squealing sound and the sound is quite loud. Perhaps the moving parts are rubbing against themselves, perhaps they're rubbing against my disks - I'm just concerned I might be damaging my cd/dvd collection in this player. The picture and playback quality from the cds/mp3-cds and dvd is very good, there are no gripes about playback quality.

Finally, while using the unit as a reciever I noticed that the volume in the rear speakers is very low when compared against similar units. I was quite dissapointed with the surround effect I was enjoying.

Overall, all I can say is - You get what you pay for; for the price I paid I think its a decent system.



Rating:
Summary: Worked great, until it didn't
Review: Super easy to set up, on screen set up was wonderful. Took only a few minutes to set up, and picture and sound were good.. until about 30 mins into playiung the disk something in the unit "popped" and then: no sound.

Had a lot of fun taking it apart and returning it.

Rating:
Summary: Broke right after warranty
Review: Worked great for first month. Now no longer plays DVDs. Will still play CDs. DVDs either not recognized by player or will freeze if the player by chance recognizes the DVD. BTW, the DVDs are not the problem since they play perfectly fine on another DVD player.