Price Paid:  $180.00 from the brick

Summary:
Ok, I'm not sure what you other people are thinking about saying that this is one of the best DVD players you've ever used. I have had nothing but problems with mine, after warenty expired the damn thing stoped working, as though it had an internal counter for failure. It always spun up with to much noise, but while it was covered under warenty it played what I wanted it to, DVD's. I have every other peice of equ you could think of, as I Prefer having one unit for one function. But getting a Konka KD-1800U1 has been such a piss off. It was a Christmas gift from a family member not bright enough to hold onto the bill by chance that I hated the bloody thing. Other models I've used need minimal care and give out better performance. Even units that I've had for over 5 years and have stoped working at some point, were not as agravating as this POS. There are no online support sites for repair, and from the cost of the unit to the cost of repair from a manu it would be cheaper to get another unit. In other words This company builds lemons on purpose knowing that we the consumer trend will purchase a new dvd player before getting this one repaired. Thus borderline robbing us of our money. I truly hope that the Konka Electronic's company goes out of business and the the CEO is charged with some sort of criminal act.

Strengths:
None, the looks are out of date. Some might say it's sexy, if that's the case for their taste I'm sure your also the chubby chasing type as well. It's ugly. Others say good picture and audio... You must be using a crappy amp and a TV with a tub so out of warp that every thing comes out the same. The picture sucks, and the audio may be decent, but not up to my standards. The top strength of this product is that I don't know the people running it, mushroom stamps on all of them if I ever do.

Weaknesses:
It simply is a POS. People impressed with it are those that find spinning tops to be a wonder, and are still probably trying to understand, "the wheel".

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Techniques, RCA, And a product for future use will be a wooden slugger baseball bat, maybe I'll record the bashing and post a link to see yourself how much I truly hate this

Price Paid:  $150.00

Summary:
I bought the Konka on a whim and I regretted it right away. Firstly, it claims to play all discs (cd, dvd, vcd,s-vcd,audio) I have to disagree with that. The first disk that I tried was a vcd. I couldn't get it to work. All I got was an error message saying incorrect function. After that I went out and rented a DVD to test it. After about 5 minutes of fiddling, and getting extremely aggravated, I finally got it to work. It was terrible. I had to wait for 3 minutes (I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but it is!) for the menu to load! That's unacceptable. I regret buying it and returned it the next day.

Strengths:
Looks nice

Weaknesses:
Doesn't live up to its claims of easy usage and ability to read any cd.

Similar Products Used:
ElectraHome

Price Paid:  $139.00 from Frys

Summary:
While I had the use of the Konka, the quality was of Laser
disc varity. I own a pioneer CLD980 laser disc for about
10 years now, the same one with no problems. But with the
DVD it did not hold up and I am very dissatified with the
unit and cost to have it repaired. I took it to frys for
repair which they do not do and it would have cost me $49
just to send it to the factory for repairs. Since it was out of warranty for two months they estimated cost to run
approx.$150. That is more than I paid for unit. The
Warranity sucks. Try to get repaired locally and not one
repair shop could do it. All I have to say "WATCH where
you buy." I would not own another Konka unit I am sorry
to say.

Strengths:
Great picture quality. Good audio quality

Weaknesses:
DVD does not last.DvD picture folded over then went black.
No power. Cost to get it repaired unreasonable

Similar Products Used:
Oritron DVD200

Price Paid:  $129.00 from Fry's Electronics - Fountain Valley

Summary:
I have had this unit for over 2.5 years now and have absolutely no problems. I have the unit hooked up with a radio shack a/d converter on my coaxial only TV. Ok, Ok, so I am not a video and audio enthuiast. Basically, I want a player that plays any disc when I stick it in. It's got to have a good picture with good sound. Honestly, I can't tell the difference between the Konka and Sony, Panasonic, and Pioneer. Except that the Konka plays EVERY disc. The konka is for someone who wants a AWESOME unit for the cheapest price. This is IT!

Strengths:
Plays every disc known to man. Video is perfect. Audio is great.

Weaknesses:
Needs MP3 format support.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Panasonic

Price Paid:  $180.00 from 800.com

Summary:
I purchased the KD-1800U after scouring the web for an affordable (sub 200.00) DVD player. The CSR's at 800.com were quite helpful in my decision, and gave me advice, live, on-line, at the time of purchse (no, I'm not paid by 800.com). The rep pointed me to a review from Sound and Vision Magazine which was quite informative, and as I later found myself, to be quite accurate (see URL below). Also important to my decision was the avaiability of digital out for the future addition of a surround receiver.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/FrameSet/0,1670,_sl_SoundAndVision_sl_Article_sl_0_cm_1653_cm_111_2832_1_cm_00,00.html

The only thing that concerned me when reading the article was the hum he described. Even using the analog audio, I never experienced any hum during playback. I've since switched to digital COAX with the addition of my new Harman/Kardon AVR-110, and the sound is even better.

The fuse mentioned in the article, and in other reviews, has never been an issue for me.

I've always used the S-Video outputs, and have never experienced any artifacts, or noticeable pixelation. The picture is quite sharp. I have had occasion to use the analog RCA video out with decent results, still no artifacts, etc...

Overall, I'm VERY pleased with the purchase(value= 4 Stars) not a "Giant Killer". I would reserve that for perhaps a later model.

The weaknesses: (-1 Star)
1: No DTS (hasn't been a big issue, yet)
2: The angle caption shows up from time to time on certain
DVD's, but it will go away after a few minutes.
3: I have yet to find a universal (non-learning) remote
that will control this unit.

I contacted Konka USA for information about the "mystery codes" for use with a UR. Their response is as follows:

"Im sorry , but at this writing there are no codes for any Konka products, the universal remote companies who make the remotes for satellite, cable box, and all other types of universal remotes have been given our IR data and our remotes so they can have the info captured. They say about the end of April they will release to their vendors, thanks, Don Erwin CSM" (donalde@konkausa.com)

I'm not sure I'll wait for this, as I intend to purchase the Cinema 7 (URC-7800) universal learning remote to resolve this issue. I've read some impressive reviews for this remote.

Overall, this unit is a considerable value. I would like to have DTS, although I've yet to find out why. The only DVD I've got that has DTS (a bonus track), and NOT 5.1 is the Eagles - Hell Freezes Over, and my HK AVR110 does a fine job of creating ambience using the VMAX-M (HK proprietary) setting.

I'm not sure if this model is even available still, but I would watch Konka for a newer versions, perhaps that "Giant Killer" is just around the corner!

Strengths:
Price, Compatability, Reliable

Weaknesses:
No DTS (this model KD1800U), Angle caption, Remote Codes.

Similar Products Used:
None