Price Paid:  $350.00 from Richerb Sounds

Summary:
This was the first DVD player I brought and after owning it for nearly a year, I can't really find anything wrong with it. The Silver aluminium finished player looks the part in any home cinema set-up, but the picture and sound quality is what makes it - and it definitely does that well. For the price, £350, it wasn't cheap and I could have easierly walked down to my local supermarket and picked up a £100 DVD player that include 50 films that no one has ever heard of, but since I wanted a player to play audio CD's as well I didn't believe that a £100 piece of Jap plastic could cut the mustard. When I brought the player home in its neat Cambridge Audio box, I was surprised to find on pulling it out that it was covered in its own cloth bag (now you wouldn't get that dedication on 100 quid player). Set up is fairly easy. You have a S-Vid/scart and video phono output as well as a number of audio phono outputs from its built in Dolby digital decoder, 6.1 might I also add. I went the scart route, since I would have had cables running out of the front of the TV (no s-vid on back of the telly), however, the picture quality is just as good and I noticed a great difference it cable qualities - so its worth spending 30 quid on a decent scart cable. The picture is bright and extremely clear on my Panasonic TV and I must say that my TV isn't the most suited TV's for film use (is slightly grainy). But onto sound. It is great! I’ve compared it to a Denon CD player (252 I believe?) that cost £600 and I couldn't tell the difference and that’s from a music producer’s point of view. Right through the frequency range its crystal clear and sharp on every note and with a decent preamp/power amp set-up I can see it being even better. However, like another reviewer, it can at times be slightly bright on the top end but I wouldn't be worried about that especially for the price. But, now onto the disadvantages of the player. The famous rattle - its noisy, but i've only noticed it on the start-up of a DVD/CD and during the first chapter of a film. After that it’s quiet, very quiet! CD Tray - For my liking it’s a little flimsy and light and would have been nice if it was a little more solid, but its nothing major. Display - a proper LCD display would have been nice, especially for the MP3 support (scrolling the ID3 tags etc). Also a dimming function would be a great improvement, especially since the display is very bright and stands out like a sore thumb in a dark room whilst watching a film. Search (Skip) - It seems to search in 5-second blocks, which is great on a DVD player, but pretty much useless when playing an audio CD. But again, its main purpose is a DVD player and not a CD player replacement.

Strengths:
Very good DVD player, sharp picture and top notch sound quality. Plays most media formats, DVD, MP3, VCD (not sure about SVCD) and CDR, CD-RW's.

Weaknesses:
On the expensive side, few minor problems (rattle, display etc).

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I purchased this unit in August of 2002 but have waited until now to do a full review, after fully "breaking it in". Overall, I am quite pleased with its performance. The DVD picture is sharp and the colours are vibrant. So far, the unit has played well over 50 DVD's flawlessly. Layer changes are smooth and I've only noticed slight pauses on 3 or 4 DVD's. The sound quality is also terrific, both during DVD and CD playback. In fact, the CD playback might make you consider using this as your primary CD player. It produces a full, rich, well rounded sound with an excellent soundstage. It's performance is not in the same class as my Arcam CD72, but for a DVD player, it's very impressive. (I should also mention the mp3 playback on this unit is terrific as well). As for its drawbacks, as was mentioned in another review, the unit does hum/vibrate during the initial tracks/chapters of certain CD/DVD's. This eventually completely fades away to nothing by the 3rd or 4th track. After this, the player is essentially silent during playback. Whether this develops into anything more serious remains to be seen but I'm keeping my eye on the 2-yr warranty. I have also had NO problems with gaps between continuous tracks as others have mentioned, BUT the unit DOES cut off the final 2 to 3 seconds of the LAST track on a CD. Most of the time, this is not noticeable, since most tracks do fade away before these last couple of seconds are reached. However, it is a significant flaw if you wish to use this as a CD player. Finally, the unit's display is very limited...you really need to have the TV on to access all the features during CD or mp3 playback. I also recently noticed that it has no option for "shuffle playing" CD or mp3 tracks. I don't know whether this is typical for DVD players, but it would have been a nice option to have.

Strengths:
Excellent picture. Very sharp with rich saturated colours. Excellent sound, even on mp3 playback. Quite smooth (almost seamless) layer changes. Lots of connectivity options. Extremely solid build.

Weaknesses:
Depending on CD/DVD, unit hums/vibrates during the playing of the first few tracks. Limited display (need to have TV on to access all features). Cuts off last 2 to 3 seconds of the LAST cut on a CD.

Similar Products Used:
This is my first DVD player.

Price Paid:  $331.00 from Audio Advisor

Summary:
I've finally convinced myself to step above the realm of analog and into the mindboggling world of DVD video. After searching long and hard amongst the gazillion different brands and models, I settled with this Cambridge model (couldn't affrord the Arcam model or any of the Pioneer Elites). From looks alone, the 300 is quite a looker in the silver finish. Build quality (solidity) is quite good, with substantial mass. However, looks can be deceiving. After reading some of the nightmare reviews on this page, I did encounter the now famous "gap" in between tracks on audio CDs. Consequently, this gap also appears as a momentary "freeze" between chapters on DVD discs. It is even more audibly noticeable when there are quick cuts in the soundtrack or dialogue between the two chapters. Other than that, performance is quite good. CD audio is acceptable unless compared to something like a Cambridge 500SE or a Rega Planet (or the like). Overall, its aesthetics are more impressive than performance. However, for $399 MSRP, it's an audiophile bargain.

Strengths:
Build quality. Fit and finish. SCART outputs. Upgradable AC cord. Minimalist, yet stylish front fascia.

Weaknesses:
Of course, that annoying gap that the folks at Cambridge should fix (any user reading this review that has fixed their units, please email me with your suggestions). Search function on audio CDs is not as precise.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $299.00 from Richer Sounds

Summary:
I bought the Cambridge Audio DVD300 2 months ago and traded it in with my Samsung 709 (Super Deal), so far I have had to take it back and have the software updated (from a CD obtained from Cambridge Audio), because the player was adding a gap between continuous tracks, worth checking out with a 'Mixed' CD before you leave the shop. Sounds good, and great for a no thrills no features DVD player as explained in the strengths and weaknesess.

Strengths:
Audio Good, Picture Good, Lots of Connections, looks sexy. Plays MP3's! Great if you just want the mere basics.

Weaknesses:
takes a while to read some disks (Not very quick), and sometimes it doesn't recognise the disk! (CD's mainly) On some DVD's/CD's the player vibrates as it spins the disk (quite noisy), bit like a 32 X CD ROM. So far it wont play 'Dark Crystal' DVD (Extra Features) The players Display is a bit limited and very basic, and after all who wants to have there TV on all of the time when playing CD's and MP3's. You can't seem to forward through MP3 tracks (Would be a Handy Feature) The Search through CD tracks is very jumpy and irritating.

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Archive Audio

Summary:
This seemed like a great unit but it has, what for me was, a fatal flaw. It cuts off the last 1 - 3 seconds off of the last audio track on an audio CD. The vast majority of audio tracks have faded off into silence before the last seconds are encountered. And for those few tracks that do not what are the odds of them being the last track? The first audio disc I selected was Robbie Fulks, "Country Love Songs." When the player was playing the last track "Steel-Headed Man" it was quite obvious that the last note was not played. I checked the disc in other players and the problem was not the disc. I tried several other audio CDs in the CA DVD300 and sure enough each time the last 1 to 3 seconds did not play. A damn shame. The US Importer Audio Plus was very helpful, sending me another unit, where I verified the same problem. They also sent FedEx to pick up both units. While this may be the most minor of problems I cannot justify $400 for a product with a flaw of this nature.

Strengths:
Great Audio sound, great DVD picture.

Weaknesses:
Cuts off the last few seconds of the last audio track on an audio CD. When you press the Open/Close button after inserting a disc it starts playing automatically (this does not seem to happen with MP3 discs).