Rating: 
Summary: Problems with the JVC XV-501BK DVD Player
Review: After a power fluctuation, my JVC player would only play G-rated movies, even with the parental controls turned off. Found out that the EEPROM needed to be reset and it solved the problem. I haven't had any problems with it where multi-layers is concerned. In fact this is one of the few machines that I haven't had that problem with. Anyone having problems with their machine should see about resetting the EEPROM. Great player otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: Problems with the JVC XV-501BK DVD Player
Review: After a power fluctuation, my JVC player would only play G-rated movies, even with the parental controls turned off. Found out that the EEPROM needed to be reset and it solved the problem. I haven't had any problems with it where multi-layers is concerned. In fact this is one of the few machines that I haven't had that problem with. Anyone having problems with their machine should see about resetting the EEPROM. Great player otherwise.
Rating: 
Summary: Problems with the JVC XV-501BK DVD Player
Review: As one of the earlier reviewers has written, the player could not play "Cruel Intentions" additionally my Player would not read "The Mummy" or "Saving Private Ryan". It will read my other DVDs. Question is what should I be looking for on the DVD to determine if my JVC will be able to read it. From the reviews it appears to have problems reading a "double layered" DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Player - Don't worry about the horror story below.
Review: As usual, the horror story review below has one grain of fact and the rest is false. I just bought this player, and the picture quality is nearly perfect, by far better than any in it's price range (if you use the SVideo or Component out) and almost as good the several thousand dollar Sony Reference Player. As far as not being able to read dual layer discs - that's not true - the player has problems with the movie Cruel Intentions, but that's because of parental lock problems with disc, and has nothing to do with the laser. Sad, but true. That movie is being recalled for that reason. Should you try to play this movie you'll have to 'hard reset the player' - to find out how to do that call JVC - not enough room to write it here. Don't let the problems with one lackluster DVD (which is going to be reissued anyway) prevent you from considering this player - most DVD players have some issues with some discs or amplifiers or lip-sync problems, etc. Knowing the issues with a player beforehand is better than just assumming your DVD player has no issues and is perfect. Usenet groups are a great source of information. If you hear a horror story about a product, always go there and voice your concerns, you'll most likely find what's really going on. Trying to squeeze useful information from an electronics 'superstore' sales person is pointless - they can point out the store's restroom and are pretty useless after that. The only thing I wish this player had that it doesn't is a K2 Interface to reduce jitter. Only the 7xx series has it - but it's a pretty high end feature. You'll really like this player and the remote is awesome. Don't worry - the problems are because the 'Cruel Intentions' DVD this player has problems with are not to specifications, this DVD player is great.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT!
Review: EXCELLENT ! BRAVO ! I, too, own this player. The bright blue flourescent digital readout face is visible-friendly.The JVC XV501BK even has the appearance of a high-end DVD player. It also rivals more expensive players with regards to sound and picture quality.The construction of the chasis feels solid. This player, although not a Denon, could still give Sony and Toshiba a run for their players. After comparing it with other players close to or surpassing this model's price range and features, JVC has blasted away some of the competition. The consumer gets more bang for the buck ! Sony is way overpriced... There are TONS of DVD titles available (minus the StarWars Trilogy or the Indiana Jones Trilogy). In fact, I receive very informative DVD new title release information updates every week from a highly reputable movie video company/retailer over the internet. Also, cost production ,by far, is cheaper and faster for manufacturers than the old VHS standard (more mechanical moving parts). Plus, while you can still record on VHS, you cannot get the outstanding resolution and clarity of dvd in both picture and sound. S-VHS may rival DVD but it doesn't cut it...
Rating:
Summary: After looking at several other players, I like this one.
Review: I have a part-time job in a stereo store, and there are several DVD players running on demos. What I particularly like about the JVC is the quiet operation, just a little "whoosh" when the disk comes up to speed compared with an extremely annoying high-pitch whine other players, notably the SAMSUNG made. I also like the counter showing the total time elapsed, unlike the SONY which shows only the time per chapter. Finally, when I brought it home, another unadvertised feature I really liked versus the SAMSUNG and the PANASONIC which I also tried at home, was that when you put it on pause, it stays on pause until the cows come home, unlike the others which just shut off and good luck trying to find your spot. The screen will go dim, but when you come back from fixing yourself a sandwich, all you have to do is hit "play" again. SONY and PIONEER handle it differently, after so many minutes on pause, it stops the movie, but when you hit play it will resume at the point where you left off. This is annoying though if you want to restart the movie from the beginning, you have to hit "stop" TWICE, then "play". Unlike the gloom-and-doom reviewer, after playing some 50-odd DVD's I have had no problems whatsoever. I have four JVC VCR's, including one ten years old which has seen daily use (until I got the DVD player), all I ever had to fix was the rewind, once, on that one player. I think JVC is a good bet for reliability.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Value
Review: I was looking for a great DVD player that wouldn't send me to the poor house. For the price range, this one does it all! I needed component outputs, plus DTS and DD5.1 output on optical. I also wanted a great sounding audio CD player. This one does it in spades.
Rating: 
Summary: JVC's machine does not play every Region 1 Disc.
Review: I was orignally attracted to this player for its top of the line features. Indeed, it does have several. However, behind all of these features is an inferior machine. How would I know? Well, I have owned two of them now and both malfunctioned the exact same way. The player is supposedly capable of reading all Region 1 discs, but this is not true. I ran my first purchase for a month without problems until I purchased and tried to play a region 1 double layer disc (not double sided/both widescreen and normal on one side). The machine attepmted to read the disc and then locked up only accepting the power off from the remote. After this disc I tried others that I had already viewed and they no longer worked. I returned the player and recieved a new one. I got it home set it up and watched a movie no problems. I then tried to watch the disc that the other would not read--the same thing happened. The tech at the store said that the JVC laser must not be able to read the double layered discs (every other one in the store could) and when it tries it damages the laser.
Rating:
Summary: Good buy for the money
Review: If you are looking for a very nice and good futures DVD player, this could be one of your best choices.
Rating:
Summary: JVC vs Panasonic vs Toshiba - JVC wins!
Review: Picture and sound quality for sub-$500 players is pretty much splitting hairs. There are lots of goodies on all these players like DTS, Digital Dolby, optical outputs - but for me, these features don't really mean much to my system that consists of a 1984 Sony KV25XBR bolted to my stereo. What I was looking for was reliability, ease-of-use, price, cool features like zoom and some control over picture quality. I compared the Panasonic A110 (rented the machine), and a Toshiba 2109 (friend has one). I also looked at the Pioneer DV414 and DV525 at the store. The Panasonic seems to be a solid bare bones player, the remote was okay, but not great (tiny buttons) - construction seemed flimsy. The Toshiba 2109 was looking like the machine for me, except that I would toss the remote as far as possible and replace it with a universal. My friend with the Toshiba believes that using the remote is giving him carpal tunnel! Enter the JVC XV501BK - the remote is FABULOUS and the joystick is, well, a joy to use. The computer style GUI is a snap to navigate. The 4x ZOOM and PAN is great, and the VFP is neat - you can tweak the sharpness of the playback. The fit-and-finish of the player seemed just a cut above the Panasonic or the Toshiba, and more professional looking as well. And so it went - the JVC won my heart. I don't know if this model is being discountinued, but the store was clearing them out so I purchased this little gem for all of $269. I have now entered DVD heaven...
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