PYE PDV560VR

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Satisfactory
Sound Level	Satisfactory
Range of Features	Limited
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Satisfactory

Advantages:	It works fine without much fuss
Disadvantages:	Not top of the range by a long shot .   Annoying child - lock

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Ok. i don't actually OWN this. It's the one we rent from Martin Dawes but we've had it for about 12 months now so we know a bit about it.
Over ll it's OK but nothing more than that.

It's a dvdvideo combi so its fairly bulky - more bulky than some similar ones I've seen. It's about 45 cm wide and 15cm tall and it actually aligns perfectly with the sky box that sits on top of it. The front has got the cd and dvd trays sitting atop the array of control buttons and digital display.

Turn it round and there are 2 scart sockets, 2 audio outs, coaxial, aerial in and RF out. Nothing special here. Nothing at all for the audiophile! No dvi - it's nit in that budget range.

I installed it myself with ease - there isn't a lot to do!

The remote is small and unobtrusive with a fairly intuitive array of controls. They are a bit small and fiddly though.

Playback is fine. Nothing special but nothing thats compares poorly to most similar units. The video unit is a 6-head long play affair and it will record from the dvd player or TV with the usual timer options. I've never used it and I'm not sure it serves a purpose in the world of on-demand tv and hard-drive recorders. DVD playback is again, nothing special but there's nothing that bad about it either. You can play mp3's and photoCD's. It won't do divX or any other video formats though.

Again, the sound quality is fine, nothing special. No special outputs or anything like that though.

The one annoying thing is the units strange desire to apply the child-lock on a whim. The only way to unlock it is to use the remote which is a real pain if you can't find it (not unusual in our house). it's a minor niggle but one that crops up a lot.

I have absolutly no idea about the units current price. I would say that if you see it cheap then you can't go far wrong - it's the sort of thing you could pop in a kids bedroom and it'll do them fine. However, I'd make sure it was a bargain price because it ain't worth more! if your and audiophile or you want something to show of your HD home cinema then forget it.