Bad remote

Originally thought this was a good deal, but now the player wont even play. It locks up, skips, etc. I got a replacement Sony, but that one sounds like a garbage truck coming down the street with all the noise from the disk spinning. Is there any reasonable DVD's under $500?

Great picture and sound, lots of output options.

No layer buffer for dual-layered discs, sort of ugly menus

Looks like this player is getting mixed reviews here, so I thought I'd throw in mine.

I had this DVD player on order for like a month, as everyone in town was out of stock on them it seemed. Once I finally got it, I must say that I am happy. It has lots of output options I don't need (yet - I don't have surround sound, but just bought a JVC receiver -- the RX-8000, which so far I like) but coming S-video out into my TV looks excellent. I see some people saying the picture is dark; The blacks are indeed very deep, but whether or not this is specific to this player or because studios are transferring their movies with a bit more contrast, I don't know.. I don't have another DVD player to have anything to compare it to. The look definately does stick out compared to regular TV which typically has poor quality control, so maybe it's more of a matter of it just being "different" and not necessarily bad.

I haven't had any odd disc problems (any incompatibilities) except for the class "Cruel Intentions" problem that "crashes" the player (mine didn't crash, but it didn't play it either) which actually turns out to sort of not be JVC's fault (lots of players had problems with this movie, it has some parental lock features that weren't widely used before I think was the problem).

My main beef is that there is no layer buffer to do seamless layer changes on dual-layer discs. I'm not sure how many players can actually do this, but it's worth asking -- I know our Apple G4 at work has a DVD drive, and it will play through layer changes seamlessly. This was never really that big of a deal to me, until I got The Eurythmic's "Peacetour" DVD; There is a layer change in the middle of the concert, so the sound and picture freeze for a little less than a second as it changes layers. Most other movies they hide it in a scene change where there isn't a lot of audio, so it's not as obtrusive. But, I suppose it's one more feature to consider.

I really like the remote, although there is a single button that handles up/down/left/right and select.. you click it like a joystick in the direction, or press down on it to select. Sometimes I accidentally click down or up when trying to push the button for select, but otherwise it's a handy way to do it.

The on-screen menus are kind of ugly, but you don't really interact with them much so it's not a problem.

Scanning is a bit chunky, as with most other DVD players -- Sony wins in this department with their 'Smooth Scan' or whatever they call it.

Overall I am happy with my decision.

can change settings for a very sharp picture, cds sound nice and tight, unit runs quietly, no chirps or ticks

you can confuse the player if you enter a lot of conflicting instructions and you will only wear it out by constant toggling. Give it 10 seconds before retoggling.

This is the 2nd 701, the first was doa. The picture can be very sharp and the JVC reboot is working for me, though I seldom need it. The unit runs quite warm but is sitting on a box and doesn't overheat. Other people may have thermal problems.

The 501 and 701 have been getting severely bashed as has JVC's Customer Service Department. Their customer service was great until they started making dvd players. They are leaking old customers and possible future customers as the news spreads. Me, I'm happy as a clam. I will followup with another review if my player tanks.

My display is a very adequate top of the line Magnavox that I received from the factory to resolve a dispute I had with Best Buy. People with larger displays may see elements that I cannot. Also, I have no dts experience with dvds.

Similar Products Used:

Proscan 8680, old Pioneer ld player 603, great machine

output options, features, integration with JVC amps

Poor relibality, poor compatibility, lack of support

First, let me say that I am (was) a big JVC fan. (Their amplifiers used to be fantastic quality for the price.)
The first day I hooked up the 701BK it seemed to be a great unit. The features are easy to use, and the sound and picture quality are excellent. After a few months of owning this DVD player, you will KNOW you have made a mistake. The unit has compatibility problems with some DVDs. The unit frequently LOCKS up and requires the eprom test cycle to revive the unit. The most irritating thing about this test is that the power cord is hard-wired into the back of the unit, so you must unplug it from the outlet (mine is behind my entertainment center).
Although I was a fan of JVC products, my experience with this DVD player and the 1028 receiver have lead me to beleive that JVC is not the same company that it once was.
Your money would be better spent on a higher quality DVD player, or a cheaper unit that might have the same level of quality as this pice of junk. If you can pick one up used, it would be much easier to tolerate the problems. It would be a good deal for $150.

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Kenwood, Dennon, Onkyo

Adjustable sharpness, you can check out your display's overscan as an undocumented feature.

Fragile remote, runs warm (when it's working).

This is my second review which I promised if my 701 should tank, like so many others. It has died.

I have no idea what sent it over the edge. The player displays a wide variety of video and audio "special effects" when it works at all. The image locks, pixellates, jerks about, stammers, etc. The reboot fails 80% of the time and another glitch will take the remaining 20% in a matter of seconds. It has become totally unreliable.

I will be back when JVC returns the unit. I will try to be kind.

Similar Products Used:

Proscan 8680 dvd player, Pioneer cld-603 ld player

Great opions. Good Picture. Easy to set up and use

None as of yet

I originally bought the Sony DVD player (can't remember the model #) as a Christmas gift for myself in 99. It kept freezing up so I took it back after a week. Bought the JVC instead. It has worked flawlessly for almost nine months now. I could not begin to tell you how many movies I have watched on it in the span of 9 months, but it has never failed. I see that some people are complaining about the darkness of the picture. I have not experienced any problems there either. I would defiantly recommend this DVD player to anyone.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVD Player

Picture and audio quality are SUPERB!

Picture freezes, digital distortion, then...KAPUT! (although CD's are so clear I can hear the guy in the control room!)

Well, I join the ever-growing list of unhappy consumers who purchased this product. While as a CD player I LOVE it, for its real purpose as a DVD player, it's just a shell of its former self...and I've only had it 2 months!

I am sending in a letter to JVC on behalf of all of us in this review forum along with many of the comments by you, so we'll see. I trust they will do the right thing, and if not, I will be as annoying as I possibly can be until they appease me. Anybody with me?

Similar Products Used:

nothing yet

Compact and effecient

Reliability

Let me join the crowd. This unit is 13 monthes old. I used it approx once or twice a week. Total hours used is probably under 100. Now its KAPUT! Unable to play any discs. Before dieing it froze in the middle of movies, digital frames spotty on the TV and the discs get hot.

I WAS a hige JVC fan, but in the last year, my JVC TV went, the amp died and now the DVD player is shot.

Great brand name with Bad quality products. This company should get out of the business. I wish national retailers read consumer reviews like this.

Qusetion...if the 501s and 701s are this bad why has the company not recalled the products?

Similar Products Used:

Denon amp, M&K speakers

Good picture, JVC compulink.

Locks UP, Skips

I have been very unhappy with this product. Not only have I had problems but a friend of mine as had the same problems with his. I would not recommend this product to my worst friends. JVC needs to get on the ball. I own all JVC equipment and this has been some what of a turn off.

Similar Products Used:

Older JVC dvd with external decoder.

Looks Nice and LCD is impressive

Where to begin? Lock ups, pixelation, skipping that got progressively Worse.

I was very happy with my JVC at first. This was the first JVC product I have owned. I always shyed away from JVC because I thought their products were inferior to Yamaha, Pioneer, and Onkyo. I should have stayed away but I learned a valuable lesson. I will NEVER PURCHASE JVC again. I started having problems after owning the unit for about 7 months. I noticed a few lockups and had to unplug the machine to get my DVD out and unlock the unit. Then I noticed a few DVDs with pixelation problems. I actually returned these DVDs and the new ones played fine. I thought they were just faulty DVDs. Now the unit in it's eight month is consistantly skipping and pixelating on all DVDs about hafway through a movie. I only play about two movies a week so it is not heavly used. JVC only warrants their product for 30 days labor and a year parts. I am getting labor estimates between $50.00 to $90.00 to repair this piece of garbage. I own a Pioneer five disc CD changer unit which is about ten years old. It has been bumped, banged, had drinks dropped on it and fell off a shelf. It has never skipped after all these instances. I am now the proud owner of a Pioneer DV-626D and I hope that Pioneer has put the same quality into this unit as they did my CD player. I will evaluate this unit in about 8 months so I can see how durable it is. One last note I noticed the Pioneer unit had a flatter output with less bleeding of colors than the JVC. The audio quality was also far better than the JVC unit.

Similar Products Used:

Replaced with a Pioneer 626