sideview1

Hi, this is my first post, and it's going to be a long one:
I have a problem. I have the JVC 6 disc +1 cd player (I absolutely love it), but it finally died on me after about 8 years. I haven't tried seeing if I can fix it. The problem looks to be like it is not sending a signal, it reads the discs (tracks, minutes), but no sound comes out. Anyway, I'll take a look at that later. My problem is, that since it broke, I was going to take advantage of this and go ahead and buy myself a multi-disc DVD player. I currently have a philips DVD player, and absolutely hate it. Fast Forward speeds are only 4x, 8x, all movies have viewable layer changes, and the overall "extras" are non existant.

I've been searching around, and I want a DVD player with the optical out, s-video, components, etc...Also, I'm looking for one that plays CD-Rs (like my cd player did) and, now that I see it's available, plays MP3's. Well I can't find any multi-disc's that do this. I know the Apex does, but there is no optical out on the model I found at CC. I went to 800.com and they recommended:
http://www.sampo.com.tw/english/show/dvdplay/dvd660.htm

which looks like it has everything I want. But i haven't heard word one about them. 800.com sells it for 140 on sale, and buy.com has two models, one with the decoder for 200+ and the similar model for 160.

So I guess I'm asking two questions. Has anyone heard about Sampo, and anyone have a recommendation of a dvd player that fits my needs? or should I just get a new single disk dvd player, and fix my old cd player/buy a new cd player?

So any suggestions on how good the Sampo is? They say it's been around for a long time, just not available in the US. ANy suggestions on a different dvd player that does all this?

Thanks

Navparker

I vaugely recall hearing the name Sampo... but I can't recall even what product it was! It sounds Korean.

I usually say if you ain't never heard of 'em, avoid 'em. (However, my mom never heard of JVC... so there you go!)

And paying $160 for a multi-disc DVD sounds like it's too cheap to be any good.

I'm highly impressed with single disc players from Toshiba and Samsung. I think Samsung makes the best remotes in it's class. Smart, efficient button layout.

raytrade

based on the URL above for the Sampo site, they must be a Taiwanese company. I recall seeing quite a few Sampo products in Hong Kong, and they had a booth at CES this week. I didn't get the sense they were a "no-name" junk company, but rather a smaller company trying to break into the US market.

sideview1

thanks for the info, what's CES exactly?

What's everyone think, is it worth getting? or should I stick with my crappy philips for a while longer?

jpcamb

I've read some good things about their 16:9 TVs, also economical and fairly well recieved. The only bad thing I recall hearing was the only S video input was on the front for the TV. Did you check Audioreview.com yet? May be some stuff there....

sideview1

yeah, checked audio review, and didn't see anything on sampoooooo.

raytrade

quote:<HR>Originally posted by sideview1:
thanks for the info, what's CES exactly?

<HR>

CES is the Consumer Electronics Show, which just took place in Las Vegas. It is the largest audio/video trade show each year, with booths from all the major mannufacturers. I think I remember seeing a sizable Sampo booth, along with booths from Apex, Shinco, and other smaller dvd brands.

sideview1

thanks for the clairfication

speedyray

A friend of mine works at an electronics store and they took one apart. He said it was a huge empty box with a computer DVD ROM and a card placed at the back. He basically said there was no way he would even try to sell the things. The newer multidisc units I have not seen or heard about though.

DaveNinja

"Bring me a Sampo" (MST3K thing)

my wife has an old (like 20-25 years old) Sampo tv. So theyve been around for ever.

daveninja.com

raytrade

quote:<HR>Originally posted by speedyray:
A friend of mine works at an electronics store and they took one apart. He said it was a huge empty box with a computer DVD ROM and a card placed at the back. He basically said there was no way he would even try to sell the things. The newer multidisc units I have not seen or heard about though.<HR>

Many of the smaller brands like Raite and Apex all seem to use computer DVD-Roms as their "brains". This no longer seems unusual to me.

sideview1

Thanks for the help, I've been trying to win the Toshiba 3205 5 disc on ubid for $200

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