I purchased the codefree Malata N996 DVD Player around 8 years ago for about $200, because members of the AnimeOnDVD & DVDTalk forums said it coverted PAL > NTSC the best at the time. It has been a great player for all these years.
So, Friday night (11/10) I get ready to watch Dog Bite Dog. I turn on my faithful Malata, and I hear this loud POP! It kind of freaked me out. I didn't know if it was my TV or the DVD Player. The lights on the DVD Player still worked, so I'm thinking everything is OK. I put in the Dog Bite Dog DVD, close the tray, and I hear another loud POP! Screen doesn't look right, and the tray no longer will open. After all the love the Malata and I have shared over the years, it tries to eat my disc. I DON'T THINK SO! Now, I'm in the tech business and went to ITT, so I'm not afraid to do an autopsy on mere electronics. I get out my trusty screwdriver, and go to work. What I find inside, is not pretty. Two capacitors decided to explode! And, I do mean EXPLODE!
Obviously, I am very disappointed at this point. Not only do I not have a DVD Player anymore, but I wouldn't be getting my movie fix that night. So, I go to BestBuy.com and do a little research on the models they carry, by checking them on VideoHelp.com (great resource for finding out about features that are not listed on the box. If you know what I mean?).
I settled on the Toshiba SD-3990 ($49.99), purchased it online and picked the option to pickup in store. Next day, picked up my new player. That night, I go to hook everything up and lo and behold, it doesn't have an optical jack. It takes an RCA coaxial cable instead for digital sound. Off to Fry's I go for another $15 cable. Oh well, at least I'm watching DVDs again!
I really like the player. The tray is a little flimsy, but it is codefree and converts PAL > NTSC just fine. It also has 100X fast-forward and rewind. 0_o Warp speed!
Thanks for listening, and remember: Electronics DO fight back!
CROSE
3 comments:
I read on videohelp that some dude had a problem with the subtitles - they were in the middle of the picture. That's good if you're watching Man on Fire, but probably not so good for regular foreign movies.
Did you lose any features going from the Malata to the Toshiba?
I gained: 100X FW and RW. Just incase you want to watch a movie in 3 minutes. And, I now have a Zoom feature.
I lost: DTS decoder (Receiver has this, so no loss) and the optical out.
Another cool feature: It will power off, if the screensaver is on for 20 mintues.
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