impressive sound/picture quality, output features, CD-R/RW compatibility

lag time w/ loading CD's & DVD's, remote is flimsy

I bought this entry level JVC player for several reasons, one no less being cost. It has all the features I was looking for, such as optical digital out and component video, for when I end up buying my home entertainment system, so I didn't want to spend extra cash getting one with a built-in decoder.

As most reviewers have complained, there is enough of a lag time to get annoyed with the player when loading CD's, although I have to offset this by saying that I'm very impressed with the sound quality... good sharp and clear sound across the lows to mids to highs. As for the dual layer DVD's, such as Saving Ryan's Privates, there is maybe a one second delay between layer changing, and I'm wondering if that occurs on other products aside from this JVC player.

The one damned thing I can't figure out for the life of me is why it won't allow me to record my DVD's onto tape? I tried this with several DVD's and my 2 vcr's with NO luck. Then I figured, copyright... BTW, this only occurs with the image, not the sound...

I've played TONS of DVD's and CD's so far without any skipping at all (knock on wood), basically it's been working flawlessly, and that's all I gotta say about that!

Features such as zoom, 3D phonic and "theater position" I very rarely use, but I do have them if I ever want to...

Similar Products Used:

none, but tried out the Sony DVP 360, Pioneer DV 333 & 434

Good looking machine, seems solid

finiky remote, VERY slow loading of cd's, slow to react to remote, locks up on some cd's that are playable on other macchines

My first unit was this JVC unit... thought it was great.. I was dissappointed at the awfully slow lag on recognising cd's... you put one in and 1 minute later it reacts... irritating. I figured this was normal for a home dvd player.. one caveat is that it does play cd-r and cd-rw disks without any problem..However I recieved a cd for Christmas..X-MEN.. the player would lock up and the picture and sound went crazy at a certain part in the disk, tests in other dvd players were fine it played ok!..the cd was unscratched..and flawless.. but it would not play it!..I returned the player to the store and got a Pioneer DV-333, and what a difference, it reacts instantly to cd's, and plays EVERYTHING i can throw at it.. and the picture is far superior. the JVC remote was a little hard to follow..with badly placed buttons. I much prefer the Pioneer..maybe the JVC was just defective, but i believe the sound and picture quality was below that of my Pioneer unit. Shop around I think there are better deals out there than the JVC...good Luck!

Similar Products Used:

toshiba 2100, Pioneer dv333

Full featured (for this price) including CDR/RW compatibility. Good picture and sound quality. Very quiet.

Remote is good for this price but requires 2 hands for some common functions (ie: you must hold down one button and press another) I suppose this reduces the number of buttons and simplifies it somewhat but it's still awkward.

I like this player. It has behaved itself while playing many of the known "problem" DVD's. I've watched 15-20 movies on it and so far, the only one that has had any glitches was a VERY badly scratched rental. Even that played surprisingly well with only a couple of drop-outs.

Compares very closely to the 414 but has more features, better menus, and a better remote. The Apex doesn't come close.

Overall, this is a great player.

Similar Products Used:

Apex AD-600a, Pioneer 414

Great Picture quality, menus, features etc..

Just the remote control, but that's really being picky.

This is my first dvd player. Needless to say I'm quite impressed with this unit. It certainly doesn't lack many features, and it contains just about every kind of audio and video outputs you'll need, on top of that it'll run cdr/cdrw/vcd and of course dvd's flawlessly. This machine will definetly be my DVD player of choice, at least until recordable dvd players come out for a reasonable price. (That should be a little more than a couple years from now)

Now all i need is the proper television and a/v reciever to compliment my dvd player and im all set.

Similar Products Used:

none

Support for CD-R and CD-RW and multiple outputs

Remote control is flimsy and special function access is sluggish

This is my first DVD player and it was a Christmas present from my wife.

My primary need was for a DVD player for rented movies. In addition, I saw the possible need to play CD-R and CD-RW recorded on my computer. In the price range (C$300) the only other choice was the Pioneer DV-333, I went with the JVC mainly because I already owned a JVC TV. The XV-521BK is the same (except for colour) as the XV-523BK sold in the states.

The picture quality and audio are excellent. The remote is a bit flimsy and some of the key combinations are confusing; however, I haven't had any problems using it. I hooked up to my TV using the supplied S-video and audio/video cables and everything worked straight out of the box. I'm not using an external amplifier but I do have external speakers and wireless headphones connected directly to the JVC TV.

I didn't notice any difference when using the 3D phonic function. I found the DVD output volume levels very low compared to the TV and VCR. Audio CDs played fine and a CD-R, prepared by a friend, also played well. I like the parental lock feature. I found the unit sluggish when accessing picture functions (zoom, multiple pictures on the screen, camera angles). I have a shuttle knob on my Sony VCR and never use it, so I don't expect that I will use the one on the JVC XV-321BK.

I have still to see how the XV-321BK will handle less-than-perfect rented disks but don't anticipate any problems. Overall, I'm very pleased at the ease of use of a DVD player (don't have to worry about tracking, spped at which I can to jump ahead or backwards).

Similar Products Used:

None