Alba DVD165

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Good
Sound Level	Good
Range of Features	Above Average
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Excellent value for money
Disadvantages:	No stand - by

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

After many years of use my trusted DVD player finally gave up the ghost, not surprising really seeing the amount of daily abuse it received. So, not wanting to be without my main source of entertainment for long, I decided to buy a cheap DVD player as an interim measure until I had the time to research the purchase of a more substantial machine. With the price of a low range DVD player not being much more than a newly released DVD itself, I didn't object to the small expenditure as long as it worked properly.

So having browsed through the Argos catalogue, I selected a very cheap model made by BUSH and went about purchasing it. When my DVD player arrived at the counter, I was surprised to see the word ALBA on the side and after questioning this; I was informed that the ALBA and BUSH machines were in fact identical. Not overly fussed about the manufacturer, I accepted this and was now in possession of an ALBA DVD165.

The Look
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Okay, so this machine was never going to be as stunning looking as some of the high end players with there transparent perspex fronts, and strips of shiny aluminium, but for a machine that cost under £30, it doesn't look to bad. Constructed out of light weight plastic, the machine feels sturdy enough, but I would not be over keen of stacking anything on it. The width and depth of the machine is pretty standard, but at under 5cm in height it is, in my opinion, very slim and unobtrusive. The body of the machine is silver in colour with a black strip across the front. On the left of this is the power button and the display panel, which when the machine is on shows up as blue. The disc drawer is in the middle of the machine, and like the machine itself is very thin, maybe a little to thin as it does feel a little flimsy. Being thin, it does not have an overly deep impression for placing the disc in, and you should make sure that you have placed it correctly before closing the drawer. Too the right of the machine and just above this black band are the controls which consist of eject, Skip backwards, skip forwards, stop and play.

The remote control, like the machine, is silver in colour and made of plastic. There is a wide selection of controls on this, with the most used ones featuring at the bottom. One thing about the remote control which I find annoying is that it has a concave back, which is designed to fit on the arm of your chair. Good idea in theory, but in practice I find the handset slips off far too easily. Although it feels reasonably robust, dropping onto a hard surface will more than likely cause damage to the casing and the battery cover.

Connectability
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The machine comes with a single Scart socket which is more than adequate for most home users. It also comes with audio/video out put via phono connectors along with a socket for connecting to a decoder for Dolby Digital (AC-3) processing. This is more than enough for anyone who is looking for an affordable machine for general use. What would be annoying for someone who is buying this as their first machine, is that it does not come with a Scart cable.

Features
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As well as being able to play standard DVDs, you can also play recordable discs, re-writable discs, audio discs and photo compact discs. The DVD features are standard such as play, stop, slow forward, skip scene, scene select etc, everything you need for day to day operation, and don't need any real explanation. It also has a screen saver for when the machine is left on with no disc inserted. A very surprising feature is that although the machine is marked up as only Region 2 compatible, it will in fact play all regions. A particular pleasant bonus, as my last machine had to be sent away to be chipped to allow me to have this privilege. One feature which is missing and is very frustrating, is that you are unable to put the machine on stand-by via the remote control, forcing you to get up and manually switch it off from the front control panel. Lazy, I hear you shout, but having got used to this feature on my previous machine, it is annoying not to have it. The only other real bugbear I have with this machine is the blue digital display. Although very nice, when you are watching a DVD in the dark, the display shines quite brightly and there is no way of dimming it or turning it off. You can't even easily cover it as the remote control sensor is right next to it.

Playing a photo disc is very easy, as when you insert one, you are presented with an easy to follow menu. The photos will automatically play as a slide show, appearing on the screen for approximately 5 seconds. You can pause the slide show at any time using the "pause" button and restart by using the "play" button. You can also step through the pictures using the skip forward and skip backward buttons.

Paying an audio CD is just as easy, with all the tracks appearing on the screen when you insert the disc. Selecting and listening to tracks is done via the remote control, with the use of the arrows buttons to select the track you want to listen to and then the play button to start listening. It works in the same way as a normal CD player works and really doesn't need explaining.

Picture Quality
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Having used this machine now for a few months, I can say that the picture quality is very good. I have tried it on several different TVs and the only time I noticed and picture deterioration, compared to my old machine, is when I connected it to a 50 inch rear projection screen. Saying that the quality was still very good and only someone who was looking for crystal clean viewing would find room for complaint.

Audio Quality
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Again, there are no real complaints here. For what the machine costs it has excellent sound quality, too rival many machines which appear in the middle to high price bracket. Of course it is not exceptional, and when plugged through an amplifier there are slight drop outs in the audio tracks, but again unless you were an audio expert, you wouldn't even notice these, and it definitely won't spoil the enjoyment.

Ease of Use
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Firstly, the machine comes with a very good User guide, not overly bogged down in technical detail and clearly laid out, making it very easy to read. Too be honest I never looked at it until I went to write this review as setting up and using the machine is very self explanatory. What I did find surprising is that in this day an age is that the guide was only in English. Nice and quick for anyone who's first language is English, as there is no need to flick through all the other language selections, but not very useful for anyone who's first language is not English.

The set-up menu on the machine itself is very easy, and allows too alter such things as the picture sharpness, brightness, On Screen Display Language and TV Type (Pal, NTSC, Multi). A very helpful menu feature is to set up a parental control password which allows you to stop your little ones watching something their not meant too.

As I mentioned earlier, the remote control has been set out with all the important buttons located at the bottom of the handset, making operation very easy and quick. If for some reason, the handset stops working (which has not happened yet), the controls on the machine itself will allow you to continue to operate the machine until a replacement can be sourced.

Price and Availability
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Having purchased my model at the end of 2005, I picked it up for just under £30.00, but it is now available at:

Argos for £24.99 (also labelled as a BUSH DVD2049)
Amazon for £27.14

I do believe they are stopping making this machine and the Argos price is for clearance purposes.

Miscellaneous Information
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Having accidentally left the machine on all weekend, I was expecting to find the machine feeling a bit hot. Surprising it was only warm, as if it had only been on for a couple of hours. Of course over time this will not do the machine any good, but it is reassuring to know that if accidentally left for a period of time it won't over heat.

The machine also runs surprisingly quietly. Having seen a couple of other cheap DVD players in action, I noticed that they emitted quite an annoying whirring sound, which came whilst the disc was playing. I half expected the same with this model, but thankfully it has a near silent system.

Conclusion
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Now having used this machine for several months, I have shelved any plans of purchasing a more expensive machine, which may offer some other high end features. Yes there may be a couple of niggles with not being able to put it on stand-by and the bright display panel, but for under £30.00, this machine is exceptional value. For the average family this DVD player will be more than adequate, and with the ability to set parental controls it allows you to control what your little ones watch. Whether this machine will last as long as my previous DVD player is yet to be seen, but on its current form, I can see it lasting for a good couple of years yet.