Hitachi DV-PF 3 E

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Simple to install and use
Disadvantages:	small niggles

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Two years ago, my partner and I caught up with this area of technology when we realised that DVDs were the new videos. We needed to buy a DVD player for our new DVDs but also a machine that played our extensive collection of videos. So our search centred on a machine that would do both and also would be as simple as possible enough to operate for our poor technophobe minds. Without really any research or recommendation we chose this product.

It came in an appropriate box, well protected by plastic and polystyrene foam. The latter and the box were soon purloined by the children for their own games. It has a nice look (you can have it in any colour as long as it is grey metal!) and fitted easily on the top of our portable television in the kitchen. There is a fully detailed manual included and the initial set up was easy and straightforward, even for us. The supplied accessories are: a remote control plus two AA batteries and an aerial cable. Initially we attached the wires to the television and the plug, and then we retuned the television video channel. (We didn't use a scart because our television is so old this hadn't been invented when it was made!) It was then straightforward to tune in the television channels. Later we transferred this player to the living room and placed it under our even older television without any transfer incidents at all.

The playing of videos and DVDs could not be simpler. For videos, you just push it in gently and pre-recorded ones start to play immediately. Others will play on instruction from either the machine itself or the remote control. The symbols are the same on both, which is helpful for us. For DVDs, you need to press the eject button first to place the DVD in. If you are doing this via the remote control then you need to press the DVD button first for the machine to realise this is what you want and not the video ejection. It often seems to default to video so if the machine doesn't appear to be responding when you are using a DVD then you need to try this DVD button before panicking. One little negative is that the location of the two eject buttons are not consistent with each other. The DVD eject is right next to the DVD whilst the video eject is not in the same relative position to the VCR. Instead the on/off button is there so sometimes this gets pressed in error.

Our television is so old, as I stated above, that it doesn't even have remote control. However with this machine we can watch the television through the machine and take advantage of its remote control. As long as the children don't bypass it by changing the channel direct on the television!

We still use the video part quite a lot, as not only do we play videos we also record from the television. This can be done two basic ways. One is to press the record button on the remote control for instant and continual recording. This button is a little too close to the change TV channel up and down buttons and I have been known to press the record button by mistake. However you usually hear the whirr of the video start up and a red light comes on at the front of the machine to tell you it is recording so stop it quickly! The other way to record is to set the timer. You can set eight programmes to record on specific days, daily or weekly within a one-year period. This is perfectly adequate for us. We usually only preset the maximum when we go on holiday and that amount fills up a videotape.

For playback of videos recorded from the television, it has a couple of useful functions. It has index search, which allows you to rewind or fast forward over your set required number of recordings and time search, which allows you to rewind or fast forward over a specified length of time. Also there are slow and pause buttons. What I find that it does lack, however, is a way to estimate the remaining time left on a playing video. Also when there is a video inside, whether you are playing it or not, the counter is displayed on the machine. There is not an override to be able to see the clock instead, so you have to eject the video to be able to see it. This is not helpful when you are looking to stop the video at a particular time or when you are simply watching television and you want to know the time to turn over channel. I know you could look at another clock but we do not have one nearby. A useful feature, though, is for video playback of videos recorded on another machine. By pressing the channel up/down buttons you can track the video to a clearer picture.

The machine is quite sturdy and has stood up to the treatment that only young children can mete out. They find it easy to use as well and they are very proficient at its use in playing videos and DVDs without supervision and they can use the remote control to change channel, find what they want on videos and DVDs and even play the games that some DVDs have as Extras.

The following discs can be played on this DVD/VCR: DVD video, DVD-R, Audio CD, CD-R/RW and MP3. The following discs cannot be played on this DVD/VCR: DVD with region codes other than 2 or ALL, DVD-ROM, CD ROM, Photo CD, Video CD and various others that I have never heard of.

Overall we find it to be a very good piece of kit. We watch quite a bit of television, videos and DVDs so we needed something reliable, long lasting and easy to use. We find that this machine meets these criteria very well.