Advantages: Price and quality, and options
Disadvantages: None

...I bought this DVD player for £300 and now it is selling for £400 - Hitachi have obviously realised that they have undersold this highly-well received player. Voted the best DVD player in the under £300 category when it originally appeared on the marketplace its classy silver exterior is a sure sign of its high calibre. Numerous options including multi-region capabilities and multiple speeds along with a great zoom function make for a very comprehensive list of additional features. The picture playback is where this little gem really shines however - you won't be disappointed with the sharp, crisp images... Read review

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Advantages:
Disadvantages:

..."With the news of the Sony PS2 launch in October, some magazines and newspapers are talking of the end of standalone DVD players. After all, if you can have a top games console with DVD capabilities for £300, why spend £200-£500 on a box that just plays DVD's? However, this type of thinking is totally stupid. Sure, the DVD option on the PS2 is very useful, and will be used by many buyers, but the quality of the sound and images is nothing like even the cheapest DVD players. The original Playstation played CD's, but people didn't throw away their CD players for the simple reason that the Playstation playback was pretty poor. Yes, people will play DVD's on their PS2's, but standalone DVD players will continue to sell well." - So what a lot of PS2 users wont have DVD players and you cant deny it - The PS2 DVD quailty can be beaten by £500... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Not as good as £500 models

..."With the news of the Sony PS2 launch in October, some magazines and newspapers are talking of the end of standalone DVD players. After all, if you can have a top games console with DVD capabilities for £300, why spend £200-£500 on a box that just plays DVD's? However, this type of thinking is totally stupid. Sure, the DVD option on the PS2 is very useful, and will be used by many buyers, but the quality of the sound and images is nothing like even the cheapest DVD players. The original Playstation played CD's, but people didn't throw away their CD players for the simple reason that the Playstation playback was pretty poor. Yes, people will play DVD's on their PS2's, but standalone DVD players will continue to sell well." - So what a lot of PS2 users wont have DVD players and you cant deny it - The PS2 DVD quailty can be beaten by £500... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap
Disadvantages: Not as good as £500 models

..."With the news of the Sony PS2 launch in October, some magazines and newspapers are talking of the end of standalone DVD players. After all, if you can have a top games console with DVD capabilities for £300, why spend £200-£500 on a box that just plays DVD's? However, this type of thinking is totally stupid. Sure, the DVD option on the PS2 is very useful, and will be used by many buyers, but the quality of the sound and images is nothing like even the cheapest DVD players. The original Playstation played CD's, but people didn't throw away their CD players for the simple reason that the Playstation playback was pretty poor. Yes, people will play DVD's on their PS2's, but standalone DVD players will continue to sell well." - So what a lot of PS2 users wont have DVD players and you cant deny it - The PS2 DVD quailty can be beaten by £500... Read review

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Advantages: Brilliant games; DVD capabilites; Internet
Disadvantages: Poor DVD playback

...With the news of the Sony PS2 launch in October, some magazines and newspapers are talking of the end of standalone DVD players. After all, if you can have a top games console with DVD capabilities for £300, why spend £200-£500 on a box that just plays DVD's? However, this type of thinking is totally stupid. Sure, the DVD option on the PS2 is very useful, and will be used by many buyers, but the quality of the sound and images is nothing like even the cheapest DVD players. The original Playstation played CD's, but people didn't throw away their CD players for the simple reason that the Playstation playback was pretty poor. Yes, people will play DVD's on their PS2's, but standalone DVD players will continue to sell well.... Read review

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Advantages: Visual Effects Are Great, Characters Have Surprising Depth
Disadvantages: Apparently Historically Inaccurate (SIGH)

...As a movie fan I was very excited to get this DVD after missing it in the cinema. One thing that strikes you instantly is the breath-taking visual effects (which apparently took longer than the filming of the movie itself). Though i'm no history expert, I was informed by a friend of mine that not all scenes were factually correct. As far as I'm concerned - that's Hollywood. My enjoyment was by no means ruined by a few historical inaccuraccies, and I could see my self watching 300 again and again. This movie is great wheter you want intense (and I mean intense) battle scenes, or an intriguing storyline. Everything down to the music was just great and superbly directed. The casting was superb, Gerard Butler was particularly impressive. I would advise you to be warned before picking up this DVD, because when you do you... Read review

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Advantages: Quality of picture and sound
Disadvantages: CD playback not as good as CD separates

...Ive been looking to replace my PC as a source of DVD playback, and after much searching and demoing, I found the Pioneer DVD 535. I have still not seen any reviews of this machine in the press, however going on the well known quality of the 525 I shelled out £209 and have definately been more than happy. I have seen some forums discuss a noisy platter, but compared with most I demoed it was nice and quiet. Have a look if your in the market for a £200-300 DVD player....you wont be sorry.... Read review

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Advantages: Based On The Original Graphic Novel By Frank Miller
Disadvantages: None

...Were do I start? This film is legendary in every aspect and depicts epic scenes you will never forget with a story to match. 300 is based on the original graphic novel by Frank Miller who previously did an adaptation of the film Sin City. 300 is set in 480BC and starts off by introducing the town of Sparta. This is a civilisation who was born to fight in combat and has a well respected king, King Leonidas. A messenger comes from the 'God king' Xerxes who tells Leonidas, Sparta will be the next town to surrender under his power. Leonidas reacts to this by kicking the messenger and his men into a nearby well. Leonidas soon finds out that Xerxes bribed Sparta's religious elders. Due to this Leonidas, by Spartan law cannot use his army to defeat Xerxes. So Leonidas upon himself takes 300 volunteers/bodyguards and marches them to the Hot... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap, n cheerful
Disadvantages: Bit outdate now

...This was the first DVD Player I ever owned. I believe it was the first to be available for the PC, and most definately the DVD solution available in the UK for under 200 pounds, possibly even 300! It's a breeze to install the kit, which consists of a DVD drive, and an MPEG decoder (with tv output - to either S-Video or composite). Quality-wise its amongst the best I've seen, even after all this time, and the sound output is limited only by your soundcard's quality. It can be quickly hacked too with the use of Remote Selector, which can remove Macrovision (copy protection used on DVDs and Digital TV movie channels), and region protection, allowing you to view all 6 lovely DVD regions.... Read review

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Advantages: Prints direct onto CD's/DVD's. Excellent printing direct from Memory card
Disadvantages: Poor quality printing from PC

...I bought the Epson R300 printer last week having decided I needed to print directly onto DVD's in addition to my other printing needs. Althought My previous printer (HP Deskjet 970cxi) is still functioning fine I was tired of printing labels and fiddling about attempting to centre them onto discs! The design of the Epson R300 is stylish, chunky and appealing and not a great deal bigger than my previous one. It has an LCD display which is useful for printing directly from Digital Camera Cards and works easily with the card reader making direct printing very simple. Connected by USB cable (not supplied) the first printer I installed did not work but a replacement was given and it now works fine. The printer takes 6 individual cartridges which saves throwing them away if only one colour runs out. The software that comes with the printer... Read review

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