Advantages: Good value for money
Disadvantages: Mono not stereo sound

...I really hit on a bargain for once in my life. Shall I tell you what it was:- THE MATSUI 14" COMBINED TV & VIDEO I know a lot of people go for well known names such a Sony, Sharp, Bush etc. So I suppose you are wondering who the heck is Matsui. Dixons store group, cover Currys and Dixons. Before the two stores merged Currys own brand was Saisho and Dixons own brand was Logic. When Dixons bought Currys out they merged their own brands and thus the new name own brand Matsui was invented. This may not be a well-known brand to many people, but because it is their own brand it is very reasonably priced, it enables more people from all walks of life to own and enjoy this TV/Video combi. Curry's Price £169.90 Is that a bargain or what. Now this is small enough and light enough to be easily moved from room... Read review

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Advantages: Good screen and unit size, nice and portable, pretty lightweight when battery isnt used
Disadvantages: Had problems with the disc tray opening (has now been fixed), battery pack heavy

...'t last very long but thats because mine is a second hand model that had been used before, so I wouldn't say thats a disadvantage to this model as my particular unit might well have been used alot in the past and so the battery is probably quite worn down, hence I just use it with the mains adapter now. Another useful piece of information is that I've discovered you can buy new battery packs for this model through Partmaster online, as they supply Currys and Comet stores I believe and Matsui is one of their makes. They currently cost £33.99 and they also sell replacement remote controls, mains and car power adaptors, as well as earphones and audio/video connection cables. So basically you can buy replacements for everything through that site (Partmaster.co.uk, obviously search for Matsui PL800 for the right parts). Okay so Matsui... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: does the job efficiently
Disadvantages: the dtr3 is better

...Matsui make great freeview boxes, i have the dtr2 and dtr3, this dtr2, is dead easy to use and really quick, the signal is also great with the remote and can probably extend to like 7 metres (with full battery),( the remote takes two triple a batteries) OK let me explain why I say the signal is good...I use my matsui dtr2 freeview box upstairs in my room, on my 5" TV ! I have the freeview box under my 2 interconnected beds. I got a small indoor aerial for £5.00 from ebay which I connected to the freeview box and I get good reception! - the trick is to update the freeview box when you are in good reception that way you will get all the channels from then... anyway back to the matsui dtr3, this box is quite large, like the horizontal length of a VCR player but not so high, there's a red light on the left that shows when the box is off... Read review

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Advantages: Multi Format Playback, Small and Sleek
Disadvantages: Menu System

...I've always liked Matsui. I purchased a Matsui DVD Player many years ago, and once I had hacked it to multi-region, it proved to be one of the best purchases i'd ever made. It played anything I threw at it and lasted years. I picked up this DVD recorder second hand about a week ago and I thought i'd try and write a review. First impressions are very pleasing. It's small, silver and quite sleek. Compared to some of the large and clunky budget recorders on the market, it looks a lot more expensive that it actually is. It's Dolby Digital compatible and has 3 S-Video sockets, 2 on the rear and 1 in the front panel. It plays MP3 cd's, along with JPG picture CD's and is also compatible with all format DVD's - plus and minus R and RW. It also has 2 rear scart sockets and the usual RF inputs for recording from TV. Now... Read review

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Advantages: Few
Disadvantages: Many

...Worst purchase i've ever made ... 3 days out of warranty and it started crashing half way through a program. Have to restart the program and cross my fingers it finishes the cycle, sometimes having to repeat the cycle as many as three times. If only washing a half load, i have to drain and respin the load because there is still a puddle at the bottom of the drum considering that it has a 1400 spin i find this very annoying. There is 3 handles/ridges on the inside of the drum, in the past week 2 of them have come off. I've complained to Matsui about the problems i've had, and told them how disappointed i was with the short lifespan my machine, first problem occuring just 3 days after the warranty expired. The reply i've received states that there was an extended warranty available to me at time of purchase, which would... Read review

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Advantages: Very light, good features for the price, above average picture and sound quality. Very reliable
Disadvantages: Cheap solution to the DVD/VCR, Does what is say on the tin

...I bought this product from Bargain Madness for the unbelievable price of £89.99. My 2 year old daughter has stuffed chip packets, dry dog food, bank cards and flowers into the vhs flap and it still works fine which amazed even me. Key Features: Combined DVD Player and VCR Nicam Sound Quality (VCR) NTSC Playback - Plays American Tapes Long PAL - Doubles recording capacity Long Play - Doubles recording capacity Real time tape Counter - for easy UK DVD Zoom - Don't miss the action Parental control DVD, CD Playback 2 SCART connections Audio Quality Dolby Digital Show View (VideoPlus): Yes Super Video CD / Video CD Playback: Yes This Matsui product offers good quality at a very reasonable price. I have yet to be let down by a Matsui product It does all the basic functions easily enough, putting VHS tape... Read review

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Advantages: Plays a Wide variety of disc formats, Formats and Erases + RW disc, Good Features, Brilliant I/O connection variety, Value for Money, Free remote Batteries, RW disc included
Disadvantages: Odd remote layout and shape, noisy cooling fan, takes a while to format discs, long boot up time, skips on some cheaper RW discs

...lag , odd remote layout and occassional mishaps with recordings on cheaper media (i've started using imation and Philips discs now) stop me from fully recommending this recorder. A good shot as always from Matsui - you definately are getting what you pay for. Good for an entry level machine for DVD recording, but enthusiasts and more experienced and needy recorders might want to look elsewhere!... Read review

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Advantages: Value for money.
Disadvantages: No 14:9 support.

...I bought this television because, in my opinion, it represented the best compromise between features, picture quality, and (most importantly) price. It cost me £450.00 back then, which might not seem all that cheap now, what with every budget label under the sun having widescreen models for well under £300 (in fact Matsui now make a 32" T.V with Dolby Pro-logic for the same price), but for the time it was still quite a surprise. Investigate a little and you'll discover that this T.V was originally manufactured by Grundig, and is internally identical to one which they sell for about £550-ish - proving once and for all that you only really pay for the name. In fact, if you were to go for a Panasonic or Sony (for example) for this money, you'd be forced to stick to 24" at best. Interestingly enough, you can also get a Bush based around... Read review

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Advantages: Another winner.
Disadvantages: The colour.

...OK, I've been buying things at Currys again. I really only went in to get a new microwave, honest! A Matsui DVD 120 was sitting on the shelf saying" I'm only £128.99,please buy me". Well that’s cheap enough but how cheerful is it? A guy named Gary, with whom I've dealt before was close by so I asked him the obvious question--is it any good? The reply,” Yes its got the same insides as my Grundig". Never! I asked to buy one but Gary said he’d only got refurbished stock at the moment, but they are reduced to £110 with a years guarantee. When I got the machine home I was pleased to find a SCART cable in the box, so I Immediately swapped it for a shielded one. That’s the downside to this machine and many others, one SCART socket. You can daisy chain through a VCR but with most VCRs you won't get RGB signal only analogue. I connected... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap and it works
Disadvantages: Looks

...A while back I was looking for a small portable TV which I could stick in my spare bedroom for guests and more so to use with my PS2. After looking at a few I decided that a cheap TV would do the job and so arrived at the Matsui 14" Portable TV. This particular one is a 1420 T. I bought it for £60, more than enough to spend bearing in mind the usage it was going to get. The TV is the usual black plastic with vents all over the place. The plastic quality is far from great as you would expect but it is sufficient and looks reasonable enough. The screen is 14" which I think is about 34cm and runs at 50MHz, not the biggest or fastest but suitable for a portable without paying silly money for an LCD. In fact the screen is not even flat. Picture quality is surprisingly good on the TV with good colour definition and plenty... Read review

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