Norcent DP-501M 720p/1080i Upscale DVD Player - $69.99 shipped

Braxus

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,595
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Ripped from our friends over at FW... Credit goes to mychaluva. Dunno why this hasn't really been posted (at least in detail) here but here it is!

Buy.com currently has the Norcent DP-501M DVD player (rebagged Lite-On LVD-2001) for 69.99 shipped.

Linky

What makes this deal toasty is that it can upscale to 720p or 1080i over component. Supposedly MP4 content (DiVX, xvid, etc.) looks awesome upscaled on the unit. Granted, it won't be the best upscale DVD player you can get when compared to the higher priced $200+ models out there. But for 70 bucks, it does a damn fine job from the reviews that people are giving it. In fact, I think there isn't really any upconvert DVD player available in the market for under 150.


FW Thread
AVSForum Thread on this player
Region/Macrovision Hack
Firmware Update @ AVS
 

Ghettocowboy

Senior member
Nov 24, 2004
467
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it is a great player, it up-samples to 1080 which is awesome, but it only good for 3 months of usage. The optical pickhead head is terrible, it breaks down so fast. Crappy built quality.
 

VooDooAddict

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2004
1,057
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I've got a samsung progressive that i picked up 2 years ago that i've already had repaired once ... and is again acting a little flaky.

My set does 1080i over component. (X-Box + Dragons Lair 3D can do it.)

This seems like the perfect solution since the set doesn't have DVI ... and all the samsung upconverting DVD players I've seen only upconvert over DVI.

I'm going to give it a try.

BTW looks like they raised the price to 74.99
 

harryd

Member
Jun 19, 2004
32
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It says it supports mpeg4. Does it play Nero Digital? How about Divx/Xvid/WMV? I have Philips 642, only thing it doesn't do is Nero Digital.
 

VooDooAddict

Golden Member
Jun 4, 2004
1,057
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Price up to $90

I still need something that can upconvert over component. So I'm going to order it anyway. Have a buy.com coupon that i'll use.

Ordering it now. (Along with some wireless xbox and PS2 controlers to cleanup that mess under the TV)
 

SimMike2

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2000
2,577
1
81
I got this and my opinion is somewhat mixed. The price is reasonable so that was positive. Overall the picture is not as sharp as my JVC progressive scan player, so that is negative. I thought for sure the upconvert to 1080i would yield a sharper picture. It doesn't. But the contrast and black level of DVDs is outstanding. It looks very film-like, which some people might really like. It also does a better job playing mediocre DVD transfers. Back to the negative side, the remote is terribly designed. Possibly the worst DVD remote of all time. And I can't find the code for my universal remote. One more positive is an easy to find hack which makes it region free and macrovision free.

So my review is mixed. Not sure about Dvix, AVI files, MP3 or picture card capablities. I pretty much just use it for DVD playing, whether original or burned copies.

If they had a sharpness control in the setup menu, this DVD player might be fantastic. As it is, it just has different strengths and weaknesses of my JVC player. If I could combine the two in one, I would have a dream player.

One final negative: you can't return to Buy.com. Exchanges directly with Norcent are you only option. So you buy it and you got it.