Rating: 
Summary: Better than expected
Review: I was looking for a good DVD. I didn't expect a great DVD player! This DVD player was easy to hook up and the picture is fantastic. I've had no problems with my JVC.
Rating:
Summary: This baby's got the goods - for an incredibly low price!
Review: I'd heard a great deal of buzz about JVC's new XV-S60BK DVD player - much of it revolving around the low ... list price and the anticipation that it would deliver artifact-free progressive-scan images. Buzz aside, the player looked unassuming enough when I removed it from its box. The sleek front panel has only the most essential control buttons, plus an indicator that lights when the player is set to its progressive-scan mode. The back panel is equally streamlined but has all the usual outputs. The component-video jack is switched to progressive mode by pressing the Progressive Scan button on the remote and holding it for a few seconds. In a new and very welcome trend that saves you quite a few bucks, JVC packages a set of component-video cables with the player. The JVC's remote control felt substantial, with large buttons I could easily locate by touch in the dark. The controls you'll use most often are on the lower half. Directly above them are buttons for less used functions like picture zoom and shrink, Digest (displays a grid of images from each chapter on a DVD), and picture-quality presets. The remote can also be configured to control your TV. Pressing the On Screen button near the bottom of the remote during playback shrinks the movie to a quarter-screen window and fills the rest of the screen with a control panel. Several functions can be accessed from this panel, including repeat modes, time and chapter search, and selection of soundtrack and subtitle language or camera angle. It also includes bar graphs indicating elapsed time and the disc's data-transfer rate. When you're playing a CD, a similar onscreen control window is available to set up repeat modes or program track order - if you don't mind turning on the TV. The JVC's 2x fast-scan mode delivered smooth, fluid playback. Another neat feature is aspect ratio control, activated by selecting the 16:9 Normal setting in the setup menu. This will prove useful if you have a widescreen HDTV that locks into a 16:9 or "full" display mode when it receives a progressive-scan signal (a number of them do). Set to its 16:9 Normal mode, the JVC player formats standard 4:3 images so they'll appear on widescreen displays with correct geometry instead of being stretched out to fill the screen. Like the Marantz changer, the JVC effortlessly sailed through my progressive-scan torture tests. Scenes with fine horizontal lines combined with moving cam erawork all came through without any artifacts. Colors, too, looked solid, with no combing visible in either the bright reds of Yellow Submarine or the catcher's orange chest protector in For the Love of the Game. When I switched to another reference DVD, the Hitchcock classic North by Northwest, I thought at first that the JVC came up somewhat shy on picture detail. Checking the sharpness control in the player's Normal preset, however, I noted that it was a notch below maximum. Bumping it back up let me clearly see both the texture in Cary Grant's impeccably cut gray suit and the details in the intricate furnishings of James Mason's library. Setting sharpness to maximum added slight ringing artifacts to the lines in the resolution pattern of Ovation Software's Avia test DVD, but I didn't notice any with movies. The JVC XV-S60BK is an all-around excellent progressive-scan player that's also very reasonably priced. Having finally gotten my hands on it, I can attest that it more than justifies the buzz. Order yours today!
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding machine for the price
Review: If you have a TV or monitor which will play progessive scan than you want to have a progressive scan DVD player. I knew that switching to progressive scan would make a difference, but just had no idea how big a difference. How can you tell if your TV will play progessive scan? It will be billed as HDTV or HDTV ready and it will have a component video input consisting of 3 RCA jacks; one blue, one green and one red. Shop around, you should be able to get this DVD player for $200 or less. Some places are still selling it for over $200. Don't waste your money. Oh, don't let the dealer sell you a set of component video cables either. The salesman at the place I bought mine tried real hard - I already had a set from the machine this one was replacing. Then I got home and opened the box to find that JVC includes a set. A real nice (and rare) extra.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Picture and Sound
Review: Just purchased this unit in gold, and must say that I am thrilled with the picture quality and sound...my Bose system never sounded so good! Installation was easy (except I did need some help from Bose regarding re-connecting my other audio components).
I'll echo the other complaints though. The remote is pretty poorly laid out. It's much too confusing and the manual isn't much better. Having said that though, the unit itself is great. Perhaps a universal remote is on my wish list.
Rating:
Summary: Great Player, remote is confusing
Review: No problem setting up the DVD player, and it does a great job. We got it a couple of weeks before Christmas '01 and have played it almost every day. Flawless performance, nice features. We chose black to match our other components. The picture made our 9 year old 31" TV look terrific! We have a DISH satellite connection and this blows the doors off of that. VHS now looks cheesy. I don't know if that is the DVD or the player, but we're very satisfied with the performance. There are several cable options for connecting to the TV. Everything was very simple. The display dims after about 5 minutes to act as a kind of screen saver. We've played CD, CD-R and DVDs in it. The only odd thing is that the red display light is "ON" when the unit is off. It goes out when you turn it on. This was our first DVD, and we opted for the progressive scan so we can use it with the wide screen coming next Christmas ;-) Given the performance we have now I can't wait to see what it looks like on that. I agree that the remote could use some work. I don't like having to use a switch to control the volume then switch back to make DVD selections. Most of the buttons aren't used, and they should have put the numbers at the bottom, not top. The various controls for FF, REV, pause/play need to be changed to be more in line with other remotes. Don't let that stop you from buying it, though. it just takes a little getting used to. (Why can't all of these manufacturers have ONE frequency and agree on a standard so I don't have to have a basket of remote controls in the room!) But it can't be too bad since my 6 year old was able to figure it out without any help from me. ---------------5 Months later and we're still very satisified. I've even learned how to use the remote, although still no kind words for it. The unit hasn't even hiccuped since we got it. It does a very good job. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.
Rating:
Summary: 4+ actually
Review: This is one great DVD player. But it is more than a DVD player. As its promotional literature notes, it plays audio CDs, VCDs, MP3 encoded audio disks, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs. But, contrary to what the manual states, it also plays DVD-Rs recording on Apple's iDVD software. (Gotta get a new iMac if you really are interested in making your own DVDs.) The picture is splendid, you get easy, full access to all the hot CD features, plus of bunch of other digital goodies. Indeed, the picture quality is superior to Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, and Pioneer. I purchased mine for just under $200, and consider an amazing bargain.
Rating:
Summary: 4+ actually
Review: This is one great DVD player. But it is more than a DVD player. As its promotional literature notes, it plays audio CDs, VCDs, MP3 encoded audio disks, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs. But, contrary to what the manual states, it also plays DVD-Rs recording on Apple's iDVD software. (Gotta get a new iMac if you really are interested in making your own DVDs.) The picture is splendid, you get easy, full access to all the hot CD features, plus of bunch of other digital goodies. Indeed, the picture quality is superior to Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, and Pioneer. I purchased mine for just under $200, and consider an amazing bargain.
Rating:
Summary: Cool And Nice, but Ugly Remote
Review: This is one of the best deal DVD on market nowadays.
With CD-R. CD-RW, MP3 compatibility and Progessive Scan, it has the same level with Panasonic RP-56 and Sony DVPNS700P.
But it also has one more extra cool ability "ZOOM".
That's the extra star is for.
I just hate the remote.
With its color (pale grey) it looks so cheap.
It does not match the "cool" view of the player itself.
It does matter to me, as the remote is the only part of the DVD that will always be near me whenever I watch the movie.
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