JVC XV-NP1

(No chocolate review again just yet, sorry to my fans!)

As you can see from the image provided by Ciao, this DVD player is slim, modern looking and would look good in many homes. Although sometimes, looks can be deceiving, does this DVD player, manufactured by JVC live up to its appearance?

Well, yes it does. What makes this DVD player so special is the fact that the player actually accepts any kind of memory card available. The player allows you to view your pictures (ones you may have taken with a digital camera, and uploaded/saved on to discs), whatever the memory format you use may be.

The DVD player features SmartMedia, Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick and CompactFlash .

In simpler terms, all this enables you to access things such as listen to MP3 music on your TV, as well as view photographs and so on; regardless to what format your PC, MP3 player or digital camera uses to create such media.

The player arrives in a box, along with clear, easy to read and follow instructions. Simpler yet, is the actual set up, which is, well - simple!

As mentioned before, the slim, classy looking player is rather attractive, and I hear you asking, how can it be with all those 'cards' in it? Well, the cards are hidden under a flap, so you don't have them exposed, thus ruining the nice looking player. To the bottom right, at the face of the unit, there are the basic function buttons, such as play, stop and power on/off buttons. The thing is rather compact, and measures: 435 x 48 x 271mm. The unit also weighs in at weight: 2.1kg!

The player also comes with a remote control, featuring all the standard buttons from the unit, and an array of others, such as rewind/fast forward/ pause/ Subtitle menu/ Key lock, and so on. The list is quite lengthy and the remote control is clearly labelled. The buttons on the remote respond quickly and effectively to the touch.

This player plays DVDs almost perfectly; you get the occasional jitter, where the movie may freeze for a second or two, but that may be down to the CD in any event and not the actual player. The DVD player also conveys good sound quality to the DVD being played as well as presenting a crystal clear quality image on the screen.

So overall; this player is great, especially for a family, primarily because of the feature that allows you to insert a CD of your own photographs and such. The range of features are wide as you may have gathered already, and also durability wise, we have never had a problem with it at all! Now, for the cost...well actually, the cost isn't bad at all! They can be purchased from around £74.95 from Pricerunner. This player is definitely one of the best players ever to have passed through our home.Other notes on the features/specs. noted on the player's box:

Plays DVD-Video, DVD-R/-RW, VCDs, SVCDs, MP3/ JPEG CD-R/RWs, reads SD.