sampo 620 dvd player first impressions
#1
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just received this player from buy.com. it looks crappy, feels crappy, remote is crappy, and seems to have loose bits inside that i can hear rattling. but then, it only cost $150 and the region selection seems to work fine (at least with Leon R2 japan).
press SETUP, 38883 anytime and you get the region selection screen that says "you should not be here" which i found to be kind of funny.
overall, i am happy with the purchase.
young
ps i was told that you had to press STOP, STOP and then Setup, etc. but it didn't seem necessary? is there a difference?
press SETUP, 38883 anytime and you get the region selection screen that says "you should not be here" which i found to be kind of funny.
overall, i am happy with the purchase.
young
ps i was told that you had to press STOP, STOP and then Setup, etc. but it didn't seem necessary? is there a difference?
#2
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Just got mine today too but haven't opened it yet. I was waiting for confirmation of the region selection actually working.
After ordering it from Buy.Com (with coupon) I read on a few other sites that the region option was taken out of this model. Glad to know that wasn't true or I'd be returning mine unopened.
Now I can open the box and see how crappy this player and remote control is! Just wanted to thank you first for your post and for the advanced warning.
After ordering it from Buy.Com (with coupon) I read on a few other sites that the region option was taken out of this model. Glad to know that wasn't true or I'd be returning mine unopened.
Now I can open the box and see how crappy this player and remote control is! Just wanted to thank you first for your post and for the advanced warning.
#3
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the rattling was caused by an errant screw... but nothing seemed to be loose or missing so i think its ok. maybe it was dropped inside during assembly?
inside, it looks like a dvd-rom drive screwed down with a few add-on boards... simple. auto-switching to pal/ntsc (although i haven't tested this) according to the manual.
again, i think for the deal that it was, it was a very good buy for a multi-regional player. and just for your reading pleasure, "CRAPPY!"
young
inside, it looks like a dvd-rom drive screwed down with a few add-on boards... simple. auto-switching to pal/ntsc (although i haven't tested this) according to the manual.
again, i think for the deal that it was, it was a very good buy for a multi-regional player. and just for your reading pleasure, "CRAPPY!"
young
#4
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beastie boys multi-angle does not work. the multi-angle works on my toshiba though.
also, the video quality is not great. when watching wings of honneamise, whenever there is movement on the screen, thin horizontal lines sort of break up the part that moves... kind of distracting. this could be due to the composite video connection. i'll test it with a s-video cable later.
also, the video quality is not great. when watching wings of honneamise, whenever there is movement on the screen, thin horizontal lines sort of break up the part that moves... kind of distracting. this could be due to the composite video connection. i'll test it with a s-video cable later.
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Hello,
I also got this DVD in the recent Buy.com special buy. I wanted a second player for backup and also for playing non R1 DVDs. I've got a copy of Buffy Season 1 from England - it plays well on the Sampo. Region selection works as advertised, as does the PAL - NTSC conversion. Playback is occasionally not tremendous, but this is a secondary setup using composite video to an older 19 inch TV. There are reports of drive failures, but RPC1 DVD-ROM drives are reasonably cheap and can be readily swapped in by a moderately proficient person (unlike the optical mechanism on my Panasonic A110!).
Recently on the Sampo player forum (located here: http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/list.php?f=11 ), someone hacked the ROMs and found another hidden menu. It is accessed with setup 590419, and controls MAV and CSS.
Basically, this player is very similar to the old Apex, but the price is a little steeper than the sub $100 pricepoint that player hit.
I also got this DVD in the recent Buy.com special buy. I wanted a second player for backup and also for playing non R1 DVDs. I've got a copy of Buffy Season 1 from England - it plays well on the Sampo. Region selection works as advertised, as does the PAL - NTSC conversion. Playback is occasionally not tremendous, but this is a secondary setup using composite video to an older 19 inch TV. There are reports of drive failures, but RPC1 DVD-ROM drives are reasonably cheap and can be readily swapped in by a moderately proficient person (unlike the optical mechanism on my Panasonic A110!).
Recently on the Sampo player forum (located here: http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/list.php?f=11 ), someone hacked the ROMs and found another hidden menu. It is accessed with setup 590419, and controls MAV and CSS.
Basically, this player is very similar to the old Apex, but the price is a little steeper than the sub $100 pricepoint that player hit.