Best DVD player iwth USB

[kaverao]

yes, its a century old lucky goldstar company

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

I totally understand boss. But keep the faith . Hey was that a Samsung Showroom ?

Nope, it was a local shop here, but an 'Authorized' dealer. I complained to them several times, and this Monday I got a call from Samsung that they will recall the unit for 'software update'. On Tuesday, their local engineer (same guy who had turned up at my place) called up to tell me that they will 'soon' have it picked. Wednesday's over, it'll soon be Thursday... let's see how much time they take to have all of 2Kgs worth of equipment picked up!

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

Are you serious ?

Yeah, he's right: I used to have LG CDROMs several years ago (decade?), and they used to be labelled 'Goldstar'.

Just a little known thing like 'JVC = Victor Company of Japan'. Sounds silly, but they really made it big!

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

So I took the player back to the shop I bought it from... of course, they couldn't find anything wrong with it (except that it sometimes wouldn't work). As for the stretching of videos, they said it was a 'feature', since it's actually filling up the screen which is good (the player was stretching anamorphic 'cinemascope' movies to fullscreen... so everything was almost twice the size vertically). A 'feature' you can't turn off. Anyway, they have taken the player back and said they will take it up with Samsung... looks like the owner of the shop had better sense. Lets see what happens.

Meanwhile, at the shop, I tried the same movies on multiple players... it was stretched on all Samsungs, while it was perfect on a Philips (as well as very sharp, I must say). It's definitely the divx decoder on the Samsung that's screwed up, and it looks like they have been using an old one forever. But shopkeepers, and even Samsung engineers, don't understand this... they talk about lens being dirty for the hazy picture and all sorts of nonsense.

This particular shop guy looks like he just might trade it in for a Philips 5996, lets see where that goes. Otherwise, I'll probably buy the Philips anyway. Damn, had I known I'm going to spend twice, I would have bought a Oppo or a Pioneer to begin with!

Meanwhile, Samsung finally sent someone to pick up the player in the afternoon (Friday). They had called me about the pickup on Monday morning. Nice.

 

[moserw]

So I took the player back to the shop I bought it from... of course, they couldn't find anything wrong with it (except that it sometimes wouldn't work). As for the stretching of videos, they said it was a 'feature', since it's actually filling up the screen which is good (the player was stretching anamorphic 'cinemascope' movies to fullscreen... so everything was almost twice the size vertically). A 'feature' you can't turn off. Anyway, they have taken the player back and said they will take it up with Samsung... looks like the owner of the shop had better sense. Lets see what happens.

Meanwhile, at the shop, I tried the same movies on multiple players... it was stretched on all Samsungs, while it was perfect on a Philips (as well as very sharp, I must say). It's definitely the divx decoder on the Samsung that's screwed up, and it looks like they have been using an old one forever. But shopkeepers, and even Samsung engineers, don't understand this... they talk about lens being dirty for the hazy picture and all sorts of nonsense.

This particular shop guy looks like he just might trade it in for a Philips 5996, lets see where that goes. Otherwise, I'll probably buy the Philips anyway. Damn, had I known I'm going to spend twice, I would have bought a Oppo or a Pioneer to begin with!

Meanwhile, Samsung finally sent someone to pick up the player in the afternoon (Friday). They had called me about the pickup on Monday morning. Nice.

Hi dirtyBlueJeans,

Just hang in there. A Philips or a Sony would have been a better idea in the first place, and I am in total agreement about the Oppo. Coming back to this bad apple, try to exchange with a Philips from the shopkeeper. If things still do not work out in your favor threaten them with going to consumer court/consumer forum etc. That always helps!!! Hopefully I am not being militant here, but I have had so many friends/relatives and even personal experience from substandard Korean products from Samsung and LG conking out suddenly.

 

[Dushie]

Hi dirtyBlueJeans,

Also audition the LG dv388,its cheaper and a good player for the price,
many users on the forum including myself have bought the same and are happy with it .
Do audition the same when u go for buying .

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

Hi dirtyBlueJeans,

Also audition the LG dv388,its cheaper and a good player for the price,
many users on the forum including myself have bought the same and are happy with it .
Do audition the same when u go for buying .

Well, my option is a bit limited here, since that particular shop sells only Samsung and Philips. If I am left with no choice but to purchase another player again(I really can't watch stretched movies!), then I'll definitely check out the LG (I've always had LG players, and they have been great).

Philips has CEC, though, which is also a plus for me.

 

[echo77]

Well, my option is a bit limited here, since that particular shop sells only Samsung and Philips. If I am left with no choice but to purchase another player again(I really can't watch stretched movies!), then I'll definitely check out the LG (I've always had LG players, and they have been great).

Philips has CEC, though, which is also a plus for me.

IMO, you won't go wrong picking Philips 5996 over LG 388. Both are equal. LG has better price.

 

[Dushie]

Yea, that's why audition the players and check the pricing out too,
Then buy whatever you like, one of our forum members sankarrv just got the same player for Rs 3600 without the hdmi cable yesterday,

Ensure you check regarding the stretching issue , then go for the purchase

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

Yea, that's why audition the players and check the pricing out too,
Then buy whatever you like, one of our forum members sankarrv just got the same player for Rs 3600 without the hdmi cable yesterday,

Ensure you check regarding the stretching issue , then go for the purchase

3600? The Philips? In Delhi? From where?

oops.... too many questions

 

[echo77]

On a related note, would anyone know if I could play DivX movies with a PS2 if modded? It has USB 1.1 I believe.

 

[moserw]

On a related note, would anyone know if I could play DivX movies with a PS2 if modded? It has USB 1.1 I believe.

Hi echo,

I am not really sure so I am open to correction here, but from what I know USB 1.1 does not support video, only JPEG images. You will need USB 2.0 for movies/videos to play. At least this is true for LCD TVs with some LG models not even reading/recognizing DivX or AVI files on the USB stick, but reading the .jpg files perfectly. Later on learnt that the USB was version 1 on the LG and only version 2.0 onwards would play movie files.

 

[Dushie]

3600? The Philips? In Delhi? From where?

oops.... too many questions

dirtyBlueJeans in Delhi you can get it much cheaper than that, sankarrv got the same player for Rs 3600 without the hdmi cable in Bangalore.

In Delhi it is cheaper than Bangalore.

Dunoo, whether the LG DV388 has usb 1.1 or 2, but it plays all avi files from the thumb drive and powered external HDD,i have tested the same myself at home.

 

[echo77]

Hi echo,

I am not really sure so I am open to correction here, but from what I know USB 1.1 does not support video, only JPEG images. You will need USB 2.0 for movies/videos to play. At least this is true for LCD TVs with some LG models not even reading/recognizing DivX or AVI files on the USB stick, but reading the .jpg files perfectly. Later on learnt that the USB was version 1 on the LG and only version 2.0 onwards would play movie files.

Do you mean this specifically for the PS2 (playstation 2)? Because people here have said movies play, albeit with slower ff/rew, on thumb drives in DivX players with USB 1.1.

I can play backup DVDs on the console, even though it is said that backups cannot be played. But it doesn't recognize anything that I put in the USB drive. I guess that is because it is not modded.

 

[moserw]

Do you mean this specifically for the PS2 (playstation 2)? Because people here have said movies play, albeit with slower ff/rew, on thumb drives in DivX players with USB 1.1.

I can play backup DVDs on the console, even though it is said that backups cannot be played. But it doesn't recognize anything that I put in the USB drive. I guess that is because it is not modded.

I meant regarding USB 1.1 profile. Not sure about the PS2 though. I am a PC gamer and have not really played with XBox or PlayStation much so no idea about them. Shall check with a friend who has PS3 and get back to you with any details.

 

[echo77]

I meant regarding USB 1.1 profile. Not sure about the PS2 though. I am a PC gamer and have not really played with XBox or PlayStation much so no idea about them. Shall check with a friend who has PS3 and get back to you with any details.

Thanks! A PS3 is a more advanced blue-ray player. I think it should have USB2.0 as well, so that could be a different experience.

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

Hi echo,

I am not really sure so I am open to correction here, but from what I know USB 1.1 does not support video, only JPEG images. You will need USB 2.0 for movies/videos to play. At least this is true for LCD TVs with some LG models not even reading/recognizing DivX or AVI files on the USB stick, but reading the .jpg files perfectly. Later on learnt that the USB was version 1 on the LG and only version 2.0 onwards would play movie files.

Actually, the USB version has nothing to do with images or video... other than the transfer speed. For highly compressed movies, even the lower speed USB1.1 has sufficient bandwidth for video. The USB standard is for getting data from point A to point B, irrespective of the type of data.

The TV that you would have checked out probably lacked a DivX decoder, which is why it didn't recognize the files. Actually, from what I've seen, only LG TVs come with USB that recognize video files (Samsung only recognizes images). It's also possible that there could be a version issue with the files (DivX goes to v6 I think) - if you have the latest version, it may not be able to play with older decoders. I think only the Philips DVD player currently supports DivX 6.

Hope that helped!

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

Thanks! A PS3 is a more advanced blue-ray player. I think it should have USB2.0 as well, so that could be a different experience.

Well, a PS3 is definitely able to play blue-ray as well as DivX movies... but that comes at a price!

I'm personally a Nintendo Wii guy, as it gives me a much needed workout. But I guess that's a discussion best saved for another forum! It doesn't play movies, but it's cheaper, and with the difference you could buy a 'real' player.

 

[dirtyBlueJeans]

dirtyBlueJeans in Delhi you can get it much cheaper than that, sankarrv got the same player for Rs 3600 without the hdmi cable in Bangalore.

In Delhi it is cheaper than Bangalore.

Dunoo, whether the LG DV388 has usb 1.1 or 2, but it plays all avi files from the thumb drive and powered external HDD,i have tested the same myself at home.

Again: are you referring to the Philips player or the LG? I know the LG can be had for about 3700 at eZone (don't know if it's with or without the cable).

I got my Samsung (including HDMI cable) for 3800 (after exchange of a very old LG player I had lying around for 500 bucks), but look where that's got me! Would rather spend a few hundred bucks and get something for which I don't have to bang my head with the store guys or engineers.

 

[illusion]

Again: are you referring to the Philips player or the LG? I know the LG can be had for about 3700 at eZone (don't know if it's with or without the cable).

I got my Samsung (including HDMI cable) for 3800 (after exchange of a very old LG player I had lying around for 500 bucks), but look where that's got me! Would rather spend a few hundred bucks and get something for which I don't have to bang my head with the store guys or engineers.

@dirty blue jeans - please go for a pio dv 610, if you have the budget . All pios have excellent quality.

One more thing , stop thinking and just go and buy a pio 610. If you dont have the money save by watching all new bollywood releases at home . With the pricing of the tickets nowadays, if you stay at home for just 1 month you end up saving more than half the cost of a pio 610.