Hackable Classic(EMI) DVD Player for $57.77 AR

[wakeboarder]

Ames has a classic DVD/MP3/CD/VCD Player for $97.77 with $40 mail in rebate. Limit one per customer.

Link to Ad

 

[Tung]

any info on this dvd player? is it hackable?

 

[wakeboarder]

Hack Info It is region hackable.

Lowest price I found elsewhere is $109.99 @ etronics.com. Suggested retail was $199.99 and now is $139.99. Anyone see this lower for a possible price match? Also called EMI DVD-102. EMI/Classic are the same/produce product for each other? Couldn't find a homepage for them. It appears they are being discountinued, which is why it is so cheap.

Classic DVD-102 - DVD/CD Player with MP3 Playback

Classic DVD-102 Features:

DVD video and audio/VCD/CD-DA/CD-R/MP3 playback
Dolby® Digital, DTS® and 3D virtual surround compatible
S-video, composite and component video output
Optical and coaxial digital output
16:9 and 4:3 selectable screen aspect ratios
DVD play options: fast forward, fast rewind, slow, zoom
Parental lock
96kHz/24-bit audio DAC
20Hz?20kHz
16.9" x 11.8" x 2.7"
Includes remote control

 

[Thump553]

Does anyone know anything about the quality of this unit? My first dvd player was a piece of junk. My second & current one is very good, but doesn't play cdr/cdrw's. This one, I assume, plays cdrs at least since it says its a mp3 player.

 

[Shippy]

<< Does anyone know anything about the quality of this unit? My first dvd player was a piece of junk. My second & current one is very good, but doesn't play cdr/cdrw's. This one, I assume, plays cdrs at least since it says its a mp3 player. >>



If you want to be certain, get an Apex 1500. Sometimes people get bad units (and if you do take it back) but if you get a good one you'll be able to play everything.

 

[Jened]

To make this a flaming hot deal, go with a person 55+ and have them sign up for a 55 Gold Card for free to save an extra 10% on Tuesdays. The drops the price of the player below $50 to $47.99 as you will save an extra ($9.78). Ames has offered this player several times but not for this cheap. My Ames usually stocks at least 100 of these units so it's probably not low in supply, but i'm sure it varies from store to store! I believe I read this is a Mustek player. Macrovision can not be disabled but region free is no problemo!

 

[Tung]

argh! no ames store in my area.

 

[dnkroz]

What does hacking do for you? *OK, flame me if you want*

 

[tydas]

<< What does hacking do for you? *OK, flame me if you want* >>



Probably so those pimple nosed XXX can play their Japanese anime...

I'm not usually bad like this but i couldn't resist...

 

[SimMike2]

The only hack that really counts in my opinion, is the macrovision hack. The region hack is kind of limited appeal, except to people who travel or know people in other regions. Being able to turn off macrovision means you can make excellent video copies of DVDs. Not very many DVD players have this kind of hack.

 

[Thump553]

I went to Ames last night to check out this unit. They had a display model out but not operating. Its physical appearance looked like cheap quality, if you know what I mean. Does anyone actually own one of these and how is its performance?

BTW the Ames I went to had at least 10-12 on the shelves and this is a small Ames.

 

[spankyj]

Sim Mike is right. Region hack is pretty much useless for most people. A macrovision hack is what you want.

 

[wakeboarder]

A region hack is somewhat useless even if you know people in other regions. All the Europe stuff is in PAL, so you need either a PAL TV or a PAL to NTSC converter to be able to view the output.

 

[energyman]

I bought it yesterday.
1. It plays DVD, VCD, CD-R, haven't tried MP3 yet.
2. Plays NTSC and PAL on NTSC TV.
3. It is hackable. But no "secret menu", it works when you use "setup ,then vol up/down".
4. Doesn't work with CD-RW.

 

[wakeboarder]

Region Hacks for old and new versions

Specs

review - well kinda

Best I can tell you can't macrovision hack this.

 

[wakeboarder]

Are you sure about the PAL/NTSC on NTSC TV? Does this have a convertor built into the box that converts the PAL over to NTSC, because if it does I'll have to go pick this up for my friend. Since they have season 1-5 of Buffy out in europe, but only season 1 in the US, he wanted a cheap way to view the PAL format discs from europe on his TV.

 

[energyman]

I am sure about the PAL to NTSC convertion on the TV. This is the reason I bought it.

 

[wakeboarder]

Sweet, then I will definitely have to pick one up. Thanks for the info energyman.

 

[Jokeram]

goody.. I have a bunch of both region DVD's

 

[Replay]

CD-RW rewriteable cd's and regular CD-R's play fine on the machine I picked up Tuesday. Created a VCD on a rewriteable and it played flawlessly. Didn't try any SVCD's yet.

Listened for hours to several CD-RW discs of 160kbps MP3 audio. Found one CD-RW disc, in ten, that it wouldn't play properly, and this disc was made in my old burner, as it was starting to go bad. YMMV.

The unit handles 32KHz 44KHz and 48Khz MP3 sampling rates, but doesn't seem to work with lower frequencies. The MP3 title display is pointlessly deficient, it only displays the first seven letters from the ID3 tag for each album or title. Oh well, it works. The headphone jack, with a volume control on the box and on the remote, is a handy feature for me.

Repaired the remote already. Several buttons went dead. I had to open the unit and resolder the legs on the main IC.

Awesome deal for a region hackable DVD/CD/VCD/MP3 player featuring component video outputs. Tuesday was take-a-senior-citizen-to-Ames-day, so the box will cost just $47.99 + tax (AR).

EDIT: The MP3 display shows the first few letters of directory and file names. It does not seem to use ID3 tags.