ambdon

DV-Rec Test SilverCrest 6511

2007-05-01T17:32:00.000+01:00

DVD divx player capable of playing from SD card and USB2.0 for under 30quid !

However according to the manual apparently it doesn't support over 512 from the card or usb, which makes it pretty redundant as a usb media player :(

But it seems that people have reviewed it with varying degrees of success with playing from usb drives.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055020022

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055003074

http://www.mysilvercrest.de/foto/support/KH6510_11_UK.pdf

http://www.dv-rec.de/test/player2006/silvercrest/6511/6511.html

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=328024

http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20070405.p.DVD_Player.ar5

Exclusive: Pictures of Mick Foley at the Borders Book Signing (London)

2007-04-19T19:21:00.000+01:00

WWE Superstar Mick Foley was in London today (19th April 2007) doing a book signing for his new book "Hardcore Diaries" at Borders in Oxford Street.

I'm a massive fan of WWE and Mick Foley's books, and was sadly at work so wasn't able to make it, but my sister works in Oxford Street and sent me these pics! She even got a security guard to help her take the pics!! LOL

She said Mick Foley seemed like a really nice guy and waved at twice as she was taking the pics, but sadly they came out blurred!

Here are the pics! Please leave the link on the pics and add a link to this page/our site if use them on your website!

Smile 'WANT IT MORE' U-MYX

2007-04-18T14:44:00.000+01:00

[ U-MYX.com ]

Buying stuff from Amazon - topping up your super saver delivery!

2007-04-18T12:34:00.000+01:00

http://www.filleritem.com/uk.html

Nice!

(oh and you can use this: http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/ to find cheap dvd's!)

Testing a new look for Google?

2007-04-18T11:34:00.001+01:00

Probably been seen before, but did a search in Google (in IE7 using the search box top right hand corner) and got a tasty new look.

Search results (top half) - click for full pic

Search results (bottom half) - click for full pic

Google "menu" - click for full pic

Search "header" includes options for alternative/related results - click for full pic

Also at the bottom (click for full pic)

Main thoughts:
- clean look (less clutter)
- restructured header/footer (time taken moved to bottom, results moved to left)
- related searches more prominent
- good old web 2.0 fade in the house!!

I was only able to replicate this at work around lunchtime - has anyone had any luck since?

Any thoughts?

Philips 5960 - Easter Prices

2007-04-05T20:23:00.000+01:00

Comet have knocked down the price to 49.99
http://www.comet.co.uk/cometbrowse/product.do?sku=322237

Amazon have also knocked it down to 55

Looks like we're getting there!

Various film reviews

2007-04-05T11:34:00.000+01:00

Liteon 1105hc+ Review

2007-04-02T14:58:00.000+01:00

This has since been relaunched as the Lite-On DD-A100X Mini Dual Format Multi-region Capable DVD Recorder with DivX (snappy title eh!)

It does effectively provide the same functionality as the 1105hc+

This dvd player is a real find at under £100 and you will struggle to find a DVD recorder with Divx capability which can match it at this price.

Firstly the unit itself is very small and neat, very portable and easy to set up with plenty of connections including AV, firewire and 2 scarts (although unfortunately no USB support)
One factor which may have driven the price down on this unit is the lack of on unit display. The unit functions virtually entirely from the remote control with the user only able to turn off/on and eject the disc from the unit itself.
This doesn’t present a problem however as the on screen menus are clear and easily accessible from a simple yet intuitive remote.

A common complaint about this DVD player/recorder is the time it takes to read discs when they are inserted. Generally an original disc can be playing in about 10seconds from the time its put into the machine, however discs containing various media formats such as Divx and jpegs and mp3’s can often take twice as long for the player to read and prepare the media format.

Recording is simple, either one touch or via a timer function, the unit allows up to 8 hours recording time on SLP or 1hour on HQ. The difference is noticeable but to be honest the difference between 2 or 3 hour length recording times and 1hr HQ recording times is negligible, it also features a handy ‘just fit’ option which auto adjusts the recording quality so it fits onto the remaining disc space.
Finalising the discs is supposedly required to make them compatible with other players although depending on the player this is not always the case but is good practice to do anyway if you wish to keep the recording.
On screen disc labelling is possible although quite fiddly with the remote control and the menu screen showing chapters or recordings can be quite slow to appear (especially if you have recorded an SLP disc)

Overall picture quality is good, although I wouldn’t say its anything amazing, certainly you would be looking at least an HDMI upscaling player if you intend watching films and recordings on an expensive HD ready flatscreen.

But for a multipurpose cheap player which plays virtually anything you throw at it and copes with troublesome skipping discs extremely well often playing them seamlessly when they jump on more expensive DVD players, this is a recommended player.

All it lacks is HDMI upscaling and USB support!

Technical Data (from Amazon.co.uk)

Recording media - DVD+R DL disc, DVD+R / DVD+RW disc, DVD-R / DVD-RW discPlayable media - DVD+R DL disc, DVD+R / DVD+RW disc, DVD-R / DVD-RW disc, CD-R / CD-RW disc, DVD-Video disc, SVCD / VCD disc, Audio CD disc, MPEG4 video disc (support avi file), DivX® video disc (support avi/div/divx file), MP3 / WMA music disc, JPEG photo discRecording features - One touch record (OTR) (30-minute interval, 30-360 mins) depends on the recording mode, Just fit (auto adjust recording quality to fit disc space)Video editing features - Title editing (rename, erase, protect, overwrite), Automatic chapter mark insertionFunctionality - Easy Guider" on-screen menu, Channel editing (move up/down, insert, swap, rename,channel turn on/off), DVD title browsing with thumbnails, DV controlGeneral - Power Supply AC 100-240V 50 / 60Hz, Power Consumption Approx. 36W (operation), Operating Temperature +5°C to +40°C (+36°F to +104°F), Operating Humidity 5% to 80% RH, Dimensions (W/H/D): 280 x 52 x 250 mm, Net Weight: Approx. 2.0 kg

Review: LG DNX190UH

2007-04-02T14:49:00.000+01:00

There is another option which is very similar to the Philips 5960 That is the LG DNX190UH

This has a pretty impressive list of features including the all important USB support allowing you to play back divx files, jpegs and music files such as mp3's direct from an external hard disk or usb stick.

At £76 its a bit more expensive that the Philips 5960 and has also been discontinued, however this means its likely to be available at a discounted price in the near future.

The videohelp.com forum has a comparison thread about the 2 players here:

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t312199.html

EDIT: (Amb)
Can pick one up from Richer Sounds!
And here's a review too:
http://www.homecinemachoice.com/cgi-bin/displayreview.php?reviewid=6987

Some forum posts:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=405809
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=385179 (multi region)
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360807 (mixed)

Official Product Specs

Research: Philips DVP5960

2007-03-28T22:41:00.000+01:00

We've recently had big discussions about sorting out a multimedia setup....

As part of getting a xbox 360, I've got a HDTV and decided that I wanted to get a HDMI upscaling dvd player that plays divX. However, during our lengthy discussions - we started looking for this with USB support (so we can stick in either usb sticks or an external HD)

At first, we started looking at some of those cheap brands - and then as part of the random searching - found this Philips dvd player which seems to do the business and has some good reviews!

Our intention is not to review the products - (maybe if we end up buying it, then we might!) - it's just to get all the research that you'd do in one spot!

Philips DVP5960

Stylish front shot

Shot of the USB - just for Don... LOL!

Basic Summary/Checklist

HDMI: Upscales DVD's to 720p / 1080i
Playback Video: CD, CD-R/CD-RW, Video CD/SVCD, DVD, DivX, DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/-RW
DivX Certified: DivX 3.11, DivX 4.x, DivX 5.x, DivX 6.0, DivX Ultra
Music and Pictures: MP3, WMA, JPG
USB 1.1: Plays music, video and images from USB devices (as long as the device is FAT32)

Detailed Technical Specs:
Product Information (official)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
http://www.play.com/

Reviews:
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/
http://reviews.cnet.com/
http://www.epinions.com/
http://www.epinions.com/
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/ (Benchmarking)

Forums:
http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=301465 (Using USB)
http://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=313992 (USB compatibility)
(User Feedback)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=675600
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=485430
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=378401

DivX certification:
http://www.divx.com/products/hw/detail.php?p=335

Multi Region "hack":
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks.php?dvdplayer=dvp5960&hits=50&Search=Search

Firmwares:
Support (Official)
Firmware (Official)
http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=4372

Places to buy:
http://direct.tesco.com/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
http://www.play.com/

Any people out there who have bought one or thinking of buying one? Or should I not get one?

Leave us a comment with your thoughts!

Welcome to our blog

2007-03-28T22:25:00.000+01:00

Welcome - thanks for checking out this site!

We're not really sure what we're gonna do with this - but think of it as a platform for the results of our daily msn conversations while at work!

If you have any suggestions on what we could do with this site - then let us know as we're happy to write about anything!

Amb