This is indeed a great DVD player. It is also the most attractive one I've seen. The features are great. I especially like the zoom feature, in that you can zoom in and then scroll around to any position on the screen unlike the Toshiba players that limit you to predefined regions. I just wish it would scroll faster. I was waiting for the Toshiba 3109 to come out but I couldn't wait any longer and I'm glad I didn't. I really like the remote too, compared to others in this price range. It is a joystick remote. I wish the joystick enter button required a little less pressure though. Everyone has spoken of the Lethal Weapon 4 problem, that side 2 of the disc would not operate. I borrowed the disc from a friend just to check it out and it worked fine for me!I did have one major problem with a disc so far that I haven't seen anyone mention yet. The widescreen version of The Cable Guy doesn't work. There is no video and the audio is choppy. I'm going to try the disc out on some other players though before I claim fault to the JVC. I have also noticed small audio pops in certain exact places on the Southpark DVD's. Another issue that I have seen others mention is that the audio pops when you are exiting forward or backward scan. This happens about 2/3 of the time. The player does seem to sometimes choke on the pause/zoom/slow-mo routine when you are switching from one to the other. For instance if you pause, slow-mo scan backward a ways, then hit pause again and then zoom. It sometimes doesn't zoom until you go back into play. Hmm. The player also locked up on a couple of DVD menus, but I think every player does this from time to time. I had one thought on the strobe function. This is where it will show the next nine frames in succession on the screen at once. It would be nice to be able to select one of these frames with the cursor and then enter full screen pause on that frame. I also have heard of a DTS audio dropout problem with this player (namely on Waterworld). I only have a DTS music demo but with that the audio seemed just fine. I have also read comments that indicate that this problem is not the fault of the JVC player and instead the particular decoders fault (namely Technics, but that is the one that I own). Anyway these are the little problems I have found. I have fallen in love with this player, so I can overlook these small flaws. In fact I knew about a few of them before I bought the player but I did anyway because it looks so good!

I bought the JVC XV-501 DVD player from Sound City for $359. I am very pleased with this DVD player. Considering the useful options JVC decided to include for this entry-level player, it's one of the best equipped DVD players on the market for the money.
I originally bought the Toshiba 2108 but did not like the sound drop outs and I thought it had a lack of options for the cost. The JVC is a much more substantial unit both in the way it is constructed and the options included.

My list of praise would be the excellent on screen menu system with the guide lights (it also allows the user to watch the movie in a box while making adjustments, the guide lights help the user navigate through the menu options), the video fine processing control, RGB outs, and a very useful remote with joystick style controller. My list of complaints, none. It's an excellent unit for the money and has so far worked flawlessly. My only suggestion would be to include a coaxial digital out with the digital optical Toslink connection.

I would also like to commend Sound City (www.soundcity.com) for their good business practices. I saw the unit advertised on their web site for $429 with four free DVD's. When I called to order I was told the price was now $359. When the unit arrived (double boxed and packed with foam) the four free DVD's were not included as advertised on their web page. After calling JVC and being told that was a promotion that ended last December, I e-mailed Sound City explaining their ad did not say it was a JVC promotion just that there were four free DVD's with purchase. The people at Sound City apologized for not updating the web page and sent me the four DVD's free of charge. Included in the Lost in Space DVD was a coupon book for a free pair of JVC headphones with the purchase of a JVC DVD player. I got an excellent DVD player for a great price and delivered safely along with four free DVD movies and now a pair of JVC headphones valued at $129. Not a bad deal. In fact, it's a fantastic one! My thanks to Sound City for treating this consumer fairly! I highly recommend them for a mail order purchase.

I like my 501 except for the audio dropping problem experienced in my unit as well as a few other here. 20 reviews and 4 problems does not bode well for QA at JVC. It a feature-laden machine, but I cannot endorse something that interferes with the function for which it was designed.
BTW, my ecxperience with the audio skipping is most noticeable on dts DVDs. Dragonheart skips at least 15-20 times throughout the movie, and even a few times on the 'Digital Experience' intro!

This is an update to my review below. I did bring my Cable Guy disc into a store and tried it on a few different players. Of course, it didn't work on the JVC. Both sides of the disc played on a Phillips 815, a Toshiba 2008, and a Panasonic 310. Interestingly enough the Pioneer 414 could not play the standard side of the disc which is the opposite of my JVC player. I even exchanged the disc for a different one and had the same problem. I'm just surprised I haven't heard anyone else comment on this problem. Please email me if you have seen this problem with your JVC 501. I still don't know if this is a problem with the player or the disc. Maybe those other brands just handle these slightly incompatible discs better. I hope this is the last problematic disc I find.

I have had this unit for the last (6)months and have to say that I very pleased with it. It's jam packed with tons of features like zoom, picture sharpness adjustment, and chapter digest. The remote is a little hard to get use to (so many buttons and hard to read) and the center cursor button does feel a little cheap, but you do get use to using it. The picture quality is great and the 5.1 sound is out of this world. I have had no problems at all with this unit. I have rented dozens of DVDs and no dropouts or lip sinc problems. I paid $341.00 delivered and got (5) free DVDs, 13 free rentals, and also a great pair of JVC headphones, that I had to sent for. For the price of all the extras I just about got this unit for free. Wow what an offer!!!! You can't go wrong For the price and features. Check out this unit, you won't be sorry.

I have used this review site and others on the internet to educate myself over the last 2 years regarding superior audio/video equipment. All in all, I have completely revamped my Home Theater/Stereo setup because of it (damn you all), but believe me I now have a great HT situation at low cost (thanks to agressive internet shopping - I am now the "contact" man for all my friends!)
Anyway, my point is that I kinda owe back quite a bit and to move on, I am a proud owner of the JVC501. Hands down it is an excellent DVD player. I have had zero, count em, zero problems with it. The picture is sharp, the audio is superior and I am one happy movie watcher. Cds play with excellent sound as well. I see no quality drop using it vs my high quality and expensive CD player.

If your a newbie, just make sure you have a receiver with Dolby Digitial on board. There is no reason to pay the extra cash to have a decoder on your DVD. I have watched alot of people do this and what a waste of money.

Enjoy the digitial age!

-S.West

Having a JVC home theatre already, it was easy to opt for a JVC DVD player. I must say I am very satisfied with this unit. The picture quality is beautiful and the sound is awesome. The unit's menu is simple and has some very nice customizing features. I recommend this unit to anyone wanting to enhance their entertainment system by adding a DVD player. For the money, this unit is simply unbeatable!

Wanted to add my 2 cents regarding the JVC 501. I've had the JVC for about 2 months now and for the most part have been very satisfied. Picture is very sharp, the sound is wonderful, and the onscreen GUI is a nice feature. The only problem I've had, which has not been mentioned in any of the previous reviews, is consistent audio dropouts on DTS DVD's. The dropouts are very brief, but occur throughout the movie, which is very annoying. This has happened on the one DTS movie I purchased (The River Wild), along with several DTS DVD's I have rented. Haven't had any problems with Dolby Digital. I have seen several posts on other Audio message boards complaining of this same issue with the 501. Thusfar, JVC tech support has been a joke. One of the support personnel actually asked what DTS was. Anyway, off of my soapbox. Except for the inability to watch DTS movies, I would give this unit a 5. Since DTS was one of the reasons I purchased the unit, however, I will lower my rating to a 3.

I decided to buy the JVC XV-501 after having trouble with the Toshiba SD-2109and the Pioneer 414 ( downconversion and lip-sync-well documented here and other
sites). I also didn't like the look of the Sonys as much as this JVC.
(Personal opinion, I didn't see any problems with Sony). So far I have been
very happy with this unit the picture is excellent. I really think the ability
to adjust the sharpness and noise reduction puts this unit ahead of the many
players that don't allow for this. The sound is also excellent, I'm only using
pro-logic but its nice to know my player is ready for dolby digital and DTS when
the times comes to upgrade. This unit also has way more features and a WAY
better remote then most of the others at this price. The final thing I noticed
was the build quality of this unit, it is strong and weighs about 10 pounds. Don't ask me why the weight matters, I just feel better about it. The Toshiba
looked great but it felt very cheap. 5 Stars for great output, extras, and value.

The DVD player is good. Have not had problems with it yet. The picture and sound are astonishing.The enter joystick button is a little hard to press, but the PLAY button works as enter as well, so it is not really a problem.

Get them while they are hot at www.ubid.com. I got mine for $267 (click HERE for a discussion on getting the best deal on www.ubid.com)