Price Paid:  $649.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I bought this system due to the price for the features. It has a cool looking design and is good for a small area. It can be hung on the wall to make it more out-of-the-way. The bass is nice and loud but it over powers the high end. I had to turn the bass down and the highs up to on movies. As the other reviewers have said this thing has big problems with ejecting disk. A big hassle and not something i'd expect for the price Ii paid. I also have many problems with inserting and reading DVD's. Sometimes it takes 15 minutes of screwing around just to watch a movies. Sort of takes the fun out of it.
Based on the problems mentioned above and the "too bad you should have bought an extended warranty" attitude from JVC I would NOT recommend this product to anyone unless they get it for free.

Strengths:
Looks nice, Good bass from sub woofer.

Weaknesses:
Getting DVD's in and out of the system is a big hassle. Does not have a good surround sound speaker setup. You are not able to adjust individual speakers.

Price Paid:  $400.00 from overstock.com

Summary:
I bought this systm refurbished so my confidence was a bit shaky but I was very pleased in the end. When you first open the box the sat speakers feel sort of cheap, plasticie and lite, not much substance to them. The sub on the other hand is very heavy and actually a lot bigger than i anticipated. The dvd unit is small but very cool looking. Set up was simple and you could be playing it within minutes. I put this system in a small sitting room(15 by 12)with a sharp aquos lcd tv, which seems to be a good match. I have to admitt out of the box it will take a bit of time to get the subwoofer to sound right. It is very boomy and music sounds rather hollow at first. After a bit of tweeking and lowering the sub output about 50% it started to sound right. I must admit the highs are not all there and cymballs don't sound all that extrodinary but for the price its excellent. For movies- the main problem I found was with the tiny center speaker, it doesn't give a rich distinct sound but again the price. I was very impressed with the output at high levels, there was little distortion on both ends, though the sub starts to sound muddled in extreme cases. The features are rather impressive for a system this small, they pack a lot of stuff into this box. I constantly Play MP3s on my system and some discs have over 100 songs- i love that. Also, having a receiver included in the unit is a great addition. There is a limited number of outputs but that is expected on such an affordable system. As for DVD output quality, I have it connected through component cables to my LCD. I bought the system with my LCD tv, so its hard to compare the video quality. In my opinion video quality is average. All in all I bought the unit to save on space since the amp is integrated in the sub, and its a radio. It was a great purchase

Strengths:
Handles loud music very well. Cool design Many features- radio, mp3, sleep, multi brand remote etc Price

Weaknesses:
cheap feel to the satellites No wall brackets for front speakers Highs aren't very sharp

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Good Guys

Summary:
Paid a bit more than the other two reviews but I think this system is worth it. I use it in a small workroom. It sits on my U-shaped desk with a flat panel TV. It's like wearing headphones! But really, the system will not fill a large room. It is for a small area. The sound is great for a small system, right up to the tinkling of triangles in Star Trek I intro. Did not have any problems with the DVD mechanism. Plays music very nicely. Even old converted analog recordings sound good. All the music can be heard at all volume levels. Good sign! Has S-video and component output for progressive scan. Has auxillary input for sound but not for video. No RCA out jacks so you can't hook up a cassette recorder for tape recording. Still this is a nice stylish compact all-in-one system and definitely worth $500 or less.

Strengths:
Great looks, great size, great sound. You can even hang it on the wall!

Weaknesses:
Could use just a tad larger size for the main speakers. I am used to Advent Pearls in my main system. No other weakness at all.

Similar Products Used:
None

Price Paid:  $0.00 from FutureShop

Summary:
A whole new design concept and ease of installation makes this unit a winner! The integrated remote is very nice as I can now throw away my other remotes (with the exception of "input" on my TV remote). The controls are well laid out and easy to operate. The efficiently small speakers are well put together and blend in nicely with their surroundings. Overall, a very nice system worth the money.

Strengths:
Sound. The bass is penetrating and bone rattling. This is just like being at the movies.Not many regrets about this purchase.

Weaknesses:
Sluggish eject feature. Every once in a while, a CD gets stuck and it takes some playing around to get them out.

Price Paid:  $350.00 from California Outlets

Summary:
Very stylish unit! Everyone who comes to my place is very impressed with it's beauty and sound.

Strengths:
There is a lot of boom for the buck. Even if I were to pay the full retail amount, it still would've been worth it. It was easy to install and easy to operate. I live in an apartment and it has more power than I will ever be able to take advantage of. The base hits hard! The center channel is exact. For what I payed for it, it is the deal of a lifetime. If I were to pay full price I would say that it was a good deal.

Weaknesses:
I bought my unit and right away it was damaged (remeber I payed $350 for it). I took it in for repair. It would not eject the disc. I got the unit back 2 MONTHS LATER! Now it works for the most part except it still is a little sluggish with the ejecting of the DVD's and CD's. I am going to try to trade it for a new one and see if it is just my unit. Hopefully it is, because I love this thing.