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JVC XU-301BK 3-CD/1-Minidisc Player/Recorder Review
The XU-301BK is CD text-compatible, reading and displaying the title and track information encoded in many newer CDs. But even with older CDs, the XU-301BK lets you input (via the front panel, or, as we prefer, via the remote control's mini keyboard) a disc's title, artist, and one of 27 preselected musical genres.
Other features include JVC's Compu Link remote operation capability, a sleep/timer, a full array of inputs and outputs (including optical-digital as well as analog-line and microphone inputs), a CD pitch control, and a sampling-rate converter to allow recording of digital audio from sources whose original sampling rates are either 32, 44.1, or 48 kHz (the standard CD sampling frequency is 44.1 kHz).
At first glance, the XU-301BK's busy front panel and remote control may seem intimidating--after all, this machine does a lot. But once you've used it for a while, the XU-301BK is actually pretty straightforward; record buttons are even highlighted in red.
Playing CDs and minidiscs with the XU-301BK is easy, and you can mix playback between them using one of three program modes or the random mode. We especially like the XU-301BK's unusual jog dial control, which lets you rapidly skip forward or back to the next track with either format--not just with minidisc.
The XU-301BK sounds great with both CD and minidisc: well-balanced, open, detailed, and natural, with excellent separation and imaging. The bottom end exerts good authority and the player sounds quite neutral, with no exaggerated sonic coloration.
Recording is also a breeze. With the press of a single button, we could record to minidisc an entire CD or the first track of each CD loaded into the player. We also enjoyed using the XU-301BK's many editing functions, which let you splice tracks, rearrange tracks, and erase any or all tracks with ease.
The XU-301BK is not CD-R/RW compatible, but chances are that if you're buying this component you've already settled on minidisc as your digital recording format of choice.
JVC has produced one of the most versatile record-playback devices we know in the XU-301BK. All of this flexibility does come at a cost, but the excellent array of features, solid construction, and one-year warranty make it well worth its price tag. --Wayne Garcia
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Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player Review
Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies in Full HD1080p and improve the quality of DVDs to near HD with the Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player. Play your favorite movies faster than ever and access a wide variety of movies, TV shows, and music streaming from the Internet plus turn your Apple iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control by downloading a free app.
 Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies and DVDs or connect to the internet and access movies, TV shows music and more. |
With the quick start feature turned on, the start-up time is quicker and disc loading is faster than previous models--with a start-up time from power off in about 3 seconds.
If you have an iPhone or iPod touch or compatible Android-powered device, you can download the free BD Remote app and then use it to control playback on this Sony Blu-ray Disc Player. Additionally, you'll have the ability to access a Blu-ray Disc's details such as jacket artwork, actor, and production information (via Sony's Entertainment Database Browser using Gracenote technologies) as well as search for additional video clips online.
With BRAVIA Internet Video content, you can connect to the Internet and instantly stream a wide variety of movies, TV shows, videos and music from leading content providers including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, Slacker, and more.
Full HD 1080p Video Output: Get the most out of your 1080p player with Full HD 1080p output. Enjoy Blu-ray Disc movies in brilliant high-definition resolution or upscale the quality of your DVDs to near HD.
Quick Start/Quick Load: Begin enjoying your entertainment faster than ever.
BRAVIA Internet Video: Instantly stream a wide variety of movies, TV episodes, videos and music from a large selection of entertainment apps including Netflix, YouTube, Pandora, Slacker--the list goes on and on. (Learn More)
Cross Search: Easily search select BRAVIA Internet Video partners for entertainment or information related to the disc that you are enjoying.
Gracenote Metadata Service: Instantly gives you access to detailed information about the movies you are watching.
Share Personal Entertainment (DLNA): Share music, videos, and photos between compatible devices using your DLNA home network.
Dolby TrueHD internal decoding and bitstream output via HDMI: Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD (Master Audio and High Resolution Audio) codecs reproduces high definition sound with 7.1 channels of discrete audio so you can enjoy uncompromised audio.
Mobile Device Remote Control App: Download the free "BD remote" app to your iPhone/iPod touch or compatible Android device and turn it into a versatile remote--access movie info, search entertainment topics and more.
USB Input: Share your videos or photos on the big screen or listen to your favorite music. Simply connect your digital camera, USB-enabled MP3 player, or USB storage device.
Wi-Fi Adapter Ready: Easily connect to your wireless broadband network with a USB Wi-Fi adapter.
BDP-S370 Blu-ray Disc Player, remote control (with batteries), AV cable, operating instructions
Have your favorite internet content delivered to your TV screen via this Sony Blu-ray Disc Player with BRAVIA Internet Video. Stream movies, videos, music and more with BRAVIA Internet Video from a wide variety of sources and services, including:
 | Amazon Instant Video provides instant access to over 50,000 hit movies and TV shows directly on your Sony BRAVIA HDTV. Watch new release movies as soon as they're on DVD and TV shows the day after they air, with thousands of titles available in HD--all commercial free. |
 | Netflix: Instantly watch thousands of TV episodes and movies streamed from Netflix right to your Sony BRAVIA HDTV--watch as much as you want, any time you want. (Netflix unlimited membership required for Netflix feature functionality.) |
 | Crackle: The next-generation video entertainment network with hundreds of movies, TV shows, and original series from the vast Sony Pictures library. |
 | Pandora Internet Radio: Free, personalized internet radio playing only music you love. Pandora brings an effortless personal soundtrack into your living room. Enter your favorite artists and enjoy stations created just for you. Rate songs as they play, because Pandora caters to your tastes and adapts stations to your feedback on the spot. |
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Sony DVP-NS55P/S Single Disc DVD Player, Silver Review
Precision Cinema Progressive
While other DVD players detect image changes at the scan line level, Sony's Precision Cinema Progressive (PCP) system detects them at the pixel level. This makes the picture more faithful to the source--whether film or video--because the technology uses separate, optimized algorithms to handle the differing pixel behavior. It also uses separate algorithms to process the moving and still parts of an image, resulting in sharp backgrounds with moving objects that are virtually free from motion artifacts.
MP3 and JPEG File Playback
The DVP-NS55P/S plays MP3 sound files and JPEG photo files. Simply insert the disc and use the remote control to navigate through your folders to your files. The player also recognizes image files on a Kodak photo disc.
Home Theater Compatible
The player is compatible with Dolby Digital and dts decoding and includes 96KHz 24-bit coaxial digital output and a 193 KHz 24bit audio digital-to-analog converter for analog RCA audio output. On the video side, it features a 12-bit video digital-to-analog converter with 108Mhz processing for a sharp image.
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Samsung DVD-R135 DVD Recorder Review
A front-panel DV (FireWire IEEE 1394) input enables you to connect the family video camcorder and edit and record footage directly to a DVD disc--all via a single cable and without losing image quality. The EVQ (Enhanced Video Quality) feature provides sharper images and truer color reproduction for both movies and home videos. EVQ reduces pixel noise produced during digital signal processing, mitigates the cross color phenomenon occasionally produced by separation of Y & C signal.
You can program recording via the timer, or choose easy one-touch recording (initiating playback at 30 minutes and adding 30 minutes with each additional press of the button, up to the available disc time or 240 minutes, whichever is sooner). Chapters are created when you record your favorite TV show or video clips from a camcorder onto a DVD disc. The chapters are automatically created, which eliminates wasted time searching the whole DVD to find the right spot. Up to 99 titles can be recorded onto one disc. With the simple and easy edit function menu, you can delete, copy, rename, and lock, among other things. You can also create a playlist and edit video in a specific sequence.
It offers the following connection options:
Tech Talk
Component video (also called Y/Pb/Pr) features a three-jack video input, which provides separate connections for luminance (Y), blue color difference (PB) and red color difference (PR). This results in increased bandwidth for color information, resulting in a more accurate picture with clearer color reproduction and less bleeding than you would get with S-Video or composite (RCA yellow video plug) connections. You will need a separate RCA left/right audio cable for sound.
What's in the Box
DVD recorder/player, remote control (with batteries), printed operating instructions
Samsung DVD-R135 DVD Recorder
