Rating: Summary: A Lightweight... Review: I bought this player about three months ago, and here's my experience with this unit. -Design: 4/5. The unit is sharp-looking, with a nice silver chrome finish that's pretty durable. I have the purple "hip hues" version and despite its toy-like appearance it stands up pretty well to wear and tear, and the "psychedelic" look is unique. A point off for the lack of functions on the unit itself; it's pretty much play, stop, a/b view, fast forward and reverse. Everything else is on the remote, which could have matched the look of the unit a bit more. -Portability: 5/5. Small, sleek and easy to transport. Great if you want a unit that you can easily move from room to room, bring to a friend's place, or, of course, for traveling. Setup with the audio/video outputs (or s-video) is a snap for the majority of televisions and adapters are easy to find for monitors without a/v inputs. -Picture Quality / Sound: 4/5. Despite some limitations with Dolby 5/1 and surround sound (this won't give you the same bang in that area as most standard-sized players) the stereo audio is excellent on this unit. My dvd of "Showgirls" played with Cristal-clear sound ;), and Ditto for its mp3 playback, which comes with a nice onscreen display which lays out any folder structures your pc or mac creates on the cd-rom. More good news: the picture quality is superb, as good as any full-sized unit. Color and definition are outstanding. I hooked this up to a 27-inch monitor and played a DVD of "Last Tango in Paris" and it looked as good as on a full-sized Sony DVD deck which was connected to the same tv. -Performance: 2/5. And now the bad news...the majority of disks should play on this deck. However, the sad truth is that this unit will reject a good number of DVDs. I've been able to play about 90% of DVDs on this deck. Another 5% had problems with skipping or, most aggravatingly, picture freezing. The other 5% won't run at all on this deck, not even registering a DVD menu. The motor will turn, the player will struggle to register with the material, and after a couple of attempts the unit gives up. This player seems to play single-layer DVDs very well, which don't offer a lot of special features (i.e. only a trailer, a couple of stills). I tried to play my Criterion copy of "In the Mood for Love" which is packed with a fully rendered menu and special features; it was a disaster, the player couldn't even register the DVD menu. A rental copy of John Carpenter's "The Thing" which didn't have any noticeable scratches only played about fifteen minutes of the film, then froze. Another DVD which had a small scratch froze in the last five minutes and would only continue if I skipped ahead to the next chapter. On the upside, the majority of disks I've tried on this player have played acceptably, with only occasional problems (see below). It's just sad that the temperamental nature of this unit would generate more suspense in keeping you wondering if it will make it through a whole movie than anything in the actual film you are watching. -Engineering: 1/5. It's amazing that this thing made it through product testing, if that was even performed on this model. As others have mentioned, one of the major reasons this player malfunctions so much is that it doesn't have proper ventilation. It overheats, so after 1.5 to 2 hours of play (if not sooner) the picture will begin freezing and skipping. If you are watching a disk of television shows in half-and one-hour chunks, that might be fine, but curling up with three hours of "Apocalypse Now Redux"? Not too darn likely. And if your DVD is loaded with special features, the demands placed on this little cutie will cut your viewing time even further. All the special features - slow mo, step frame, a/b view, chapter search - work as they should (although you can only access most of them on the remote, so don't forget that if you plan on traveling with this player). Overall, the player's tendency to overheat renders it unacceptable for all but the lightest applications. Considering the possibilities of DVDs, that's a huge liability. Also, the remote's buttons are tiny and take some extra pressure to activate---and compared to my other vcr/satellite dish remotes, its lack of range is annoying. Basically you have to aim it directly at the unit, since it seems to have problems when used at angles. -Suggestions: as others have mentioned, the ac adapter packed with the unit is really bad. Replace it with a compatible adapter from Target or Radio Shack and performance will improve. Some users have mentioned cutting a hole and installing a small fan---for the mechanically uninclined like me, this is not an option. The ac adapter heats up if it's plugged into the socket even when the unit's off, so unplugging the AC adapter from the socket between uses greatly improves performance. Also, setting the unit on top of a well-ventilated area helps, especially if air can pass under the bottom. Overall, it's a commendable attempt by Koss to produce a small, portable DVD player for multiple purposes and situations. Had the design/engineering team resolved the player's basic problems - overheating, incompatibility with some high-performance DVD software, and erratic performance with even basic functions - this would have been a winner. Too bad. It could've been a contender.
Rating: Summary: Great value, but with caveats Review: I've played with one of these for about 6 months now. There is a bit of a heat problem as others have mentioned, I hacked mine to install a small fan (mpja.com part 12929 FN) and have not had problems since. I haven't found any format it won't read, from VCD to SVCD to CVD, DVD-R and -RW, JPEGs and MP3's on a DVD. (80 hours of music on one disk!) Outputs for composite video, S-video, and component video, as well as analog and optical digital audio. User interface isn't great, but it works. There are buttons for some functions on the player, but Koss didn't include enough to run a typical DVD, you will need the remote (which reduces its portability somewhat). Video filters are very sharp, which looks really good on some movies but introduces a little edge noise on some others. Runs on 12vdc, I've used mine in my small trailer with a LCD monitor, it's great to be able to take your movies and songs on the road.
Rating: Summary: I am using this item with my computer or the Intec LCD Review: Excellent With Intec screen Made for Gamecube for portable use. With computer allows fast duplication of DVD or to do captures to make posters or Sims(for the Maxis game) if you download anti-copyright software. Gamedrive program (also from Amazon, has utility that automaticly downloads cracks) Player is a little mors sensitive to bumps than I would like, but overall a great toy.
Rating: Summary: Cheap build quality - not recommended Review: I only managed to get 4 months out of this DVD player before it started to go wrong - the screen permanently has grey lines all over it. This makes it unusable. It has a very cheap feel to it - very plasticky and feels like you will break it every time you use it. Initially I was pleased with the quality of the output - seems very clear. But as others have said, it is prone to overheating (which makes it impossible to watch a whole movie without problems)
Rating: Summary: Informed, Experienced User Review: I have owned this unit for about 9 months and it just burned out. I traveled with it for business and used it approximately 3 times a month. It performed reasonably well over that time span, although it always runs hot. I researching before purchasing I learned that one reason it runs hot is the power supply included in the box puts out about 17 volts rather than the 12 it's rated at (and presumably the hardware is designed for). So I followed the instructions of one of the smarter users and bought a radio shack power supply that actually does run at 12 volts. This may explain why I got 9 months out of the unit and others get much less. Despite this fact it still runs hot. Other users in other forums talk about making sure you mount it on something where air can get underneath it. Ocassionally I would resort to putting it on a bag of ice during presentations to make sure it stayed cool (I would very rarely have this problem with my first generation Panasonic portable as well, though). While it was running it ran quite nicely. Picture is good, it has S-Video and even component outputs. The remote has all kinds of nifty, useful buttons. However it is a conventional remote, not a credit card sized one, which would be preferable for a portable unit. It's reasonably small (not as small as the Panasonics) and very plastic-y (the Panasonics feel much more solid). But ergonomically its quite well thought out and comfortable. I'm moderately miffed about the 90 day warranty: if it were one year and I could have gotten them to replace the unit and I could get another 9 months out of the second one, I would have considered this a pretty good purchase. There you have it. I'm off to by another portable dvd player. Not a Koss, though.
Rating: Summary: Koss DVP2161 DVD Player Review Review: This is an excellent affordable multi format audio and video compact DVD player with only some minor compromises. In my opinion, at this current stage of electronics, It's an one of a kind DVD player in It's class. I had recently purchased a new Toshiba DVD player with mp3 and multi format video playback... but there was something intriging about the compact Koss brand... I had to test It's capabilities against the Toshiba's. The Toshiba model played back the standard mp3 and vcd format, but I discovered that the Koss model would not only play standard formats, it also played raw data mp3,vcd and dvd backups in which the toshiba could not read. Both players have good video and sound outputs as well as nice control features such as 4x zooming. I've also looked at other brands in different electronic stores with the same basic features in the same price range; but overall I was sold on the Koss. The only minor flaw I would point out, because of its compacted size, it should have an internal cooling fan to ventilate circuitry like the PS2; which I want to inform will only read standard formatted disks; unless modified with a special chip. It also seems that this particular Koss model is a hard to find item in just any electronics store.... Despite It's minor flaws ,It's a very nice DVD Player. If they only made one that had a flip top screen that included a car kit, a cooling fan and game playing capabilites it would be perfect!
Rating: Summary: Cheap but Handy Review: This thing pays my friend's pirated DVDs she brought back from a trip in China. Nobody else's DVD players understand them. This until also lets you view raw video and JPEG files burned straight to disk. It's also Very Tiny! It's got the digital outputs and component, etc. that big units have. The hidden cool thing about it is the AWESOME sound out of the headphone jack. Koss primarily makes higher-quality headphones, so the HF jack had to be great. It sounds way superior to my other CD players, so I actually take it to work for listening. Now the bad part... it's got a jumpy (although clear) image. The power supply is wrong, so replaced it with a Radioshack 12v one like the manual says (how did they mess that up?). It will overheat unless you sit it on top of a videotape so the vents are not covered on the bottom. Heat still an issue since heat rises (so why are the holes on the bottom???). Worth checking out, but don't pay too much!
Rating: Summary: awesome player for the price Review: For the price ($69) this is an awesome player. It's very easy to make region free. It's easy to get an adapter for it no matter what country you go to, it's highly portable and you can bring it anywhere. The only issue is the power supply which is actually faulty. But that's easy to fix. Just go buy a new adapter. That will prolong the life of the player.
Rating: Summary: Not bad... Review: I bought this unit from the local Target for about $65(US). The overheating issue that others have described was a problem... After an hour or two of continuous use, I'd get some skipping. I was able to resolve the problem fairly easily. I bought a set of standard gaming dice, and a packet of adhesive velcro stickers. I used the velcro stickers to mount four dice on top of our 13" TV (the velcro makes the unit removable if necessary), and additional velcro tabs on the underside of the DVD player. The end result is that the player is now has a solid half-inch of airspace below it. Made me feel like MacGyver, I have not had any overheating problems since. I was also able to hack the unit's BIOS such that it is now region-free, and I have COMPLETE control over fast-forwarding and chapter-skipping, including during those annoying FBI warnings. :)
Rating: Summary: Don't Waste your time Review: (...) After only two days of use, the unit wouldn't hold a disc. On the outside of the small black circle that holds the disc, there are some tiny silver balls on a metal spring clip that are supposed to hold the disc in place. The piece came loose and fell down inside the unit. Not only would the unit not read a disc, but it also damages the disc because it is not seated properly and scrapes around inside the unit. It's sad that they don't fix this problem. Otherwise it is a nice unit with some high quality output capability - but I wouldn't trust it to be reliable in the long term.
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