Hitachi P42H401

Advantages: Good tone quality, looks, reliability and functions
Disadvantages: no cassette player facility

...I wanted a portable CD player for my home-office desk, because I found that playing CDs on my computer whilst I was working seemed to use up memory and sometimes caused my computer to crash. I wanted one with a decent tone, but one that would not take up too much room on my desk. My birthday was coming up (last year), so that answered my wife's question of what to get me for a present. Off we went to Comets. When we arrived there were many CD players that would have suited me for around the £20 mark, but my wife pointed to the Hitachi CX68 saying how good looking it was with it's round, blue-lit window on the front that indicated radio stations or CD information, depending on what was being played. I noticed that it also played MP3s, and that I thought, would be great if I wanted to download music from the internet. I've never... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very neat - seemingly a lot of kit for the money
Disadvantages: Noisy FM in weak reception areas. Choosy CD player

...Just when I thought that I’d NEVER think of anything else to write about, being ‘challenged-out’, having used all my ‘any old c**p from A-Z’ options and not a new gadget in sight, there comes a howl from the galley slave. ‘This bloody ghetto blaster in the kitchen’s never played CDs properly – can WE do something about it?’ I like the ‘we’. Anyhow, some people are never satisfied - I paid good money for that, I’ll have you know – it was all of £12! OK, so maybe ‘ghetto blaster’ is a bit of an exaggeration - this baby couldn’t blast the ‘ghetto’ of Legoland let alone Harlem. However, to keep her in the kitchen was obviously going to cost me a few sheckels more than £12 this time, so off I set, in search of a ‘proper’ mini hi-fi, possibly with separate speakers, and a decent FM section and CD player. If some kind person were... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good looks, easy to use menu, great picture
Disadvantages: haven't found any yet

...This is great piece of kit and is a worthwhile addition to any home cinema setup. The look of the panel is very smart with its integrated speakers and blackish finish. This would be classed as a middle of the road plasma. Not cheap, but not overly expensive. I think it gives a good balance of cost and quality without breaking the bank. It has loads of great features on the easy to use menu system and enough connectors to keep an army of technophiles happy. The picture quality is fantastic but dont expect that as a given. As with any 'sensative' technology format you need to make sure you have the right combination of contectors, source signal, picture setup etc. Get it right and the Hitachi will provide hours of endless picture (and sound) satisfaction.... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful