Q DVD Player. Any good?

[Pavey]

As title really.
How does it compare to say,the XBox,which i think is pretty good. Whats the best way to output aswell?
Lastly, are Lik-Sangs and Play-Asia's the same,menu wise etc...
Thanks fellas.

[007]

Doesn't do RGB mate.

[PlayingKarrde]

Not as good video quality as the Xbox, but better features and will play any media flawlessly.

If you have component then that is the best way to use it, otherwise s-video.

It's also quiet though so beats the Xbox on that count too.

[Pendragon]

... will play any media flawlessly.

Do you mean to say the Q can play DVDRs? If so which brands? I've tried Maxell DVDRs, which didn't work on the Q, but worked fine on my Pioneer player.

On a side note, does anyone know if there's any way of getting the Q to play SVCDs?

[bcass]

Q's can play any brand of DVDR so long as its properly (and fully) moded. Considering it doesn't have RGB, the S-Video picture quality is superb. It is certainly quieter than an XBox, but it isn't the quietest DVD player I've ever had.

[Pendragon]

That's odd as it won't play my Maxell DVDRs and I've got it fully modded - it can play R2 PAL DVDs and US R1 DVDs without a problem... Have I missed something?

[spinpug666]

I've got it fully modded - it can play R2 PAL DVDs and US R1 DVDs without a problem... Have I missed something?

How did you get it to play PAL R2?
I thought it was techically not possible due to the buffer not being big enought to cope with the extra lines of the Pal format

My Q is modded and will play R1-6 NTSC, but not PAL!

[bowser123]

Err, mine plays PAL DVD's absolutley fine and DVD's from every other region.
It's PAL games that don't work.

As for the playback quality it's good but the lack of RGB is a big loss.
But be honest, we all didn't really buy one for the games or the DVD did we?
It's an aesthetics thing.

[007]

Aye that's true bowser. Just looks bloody amazing!

Does it do Componant? That's better than RGB isn't it?

[Pendragon]

How did you get it to play PAL R2?
I thought it was techically not possible due to the buffer not being big enought to cope with the extra lines of the Pal format

You're correct in saying that the Q can not play Pal DVDs... out of the box, but it can be fitted with a extra memory chip.

http://www.shoyle.f9.co.uk/dvdchipsuk/panaqupgradesdiy.htm

[bcass]

That's odd as it won't play my Maxell DVDRs and I've got it fully modded - it can play R2 PAL DVDs and US R1 DVDs without a problem... Have I missed something?

I honestly don't know. There seems to be a number of variants of the mod(s) that can be done to it, maybe there is something else that needs to be done to make it read DVDRs?

[ThoseOfTheUnlight]

Mine reads everything with no problems.

Its a crap dvd player though, you would be better going for a Pioneer ?90 multi region job tbh!

[Matt Horne]

I think its quite a good DVD player.. its is basically a standard panasonic job. (hence you can use there old manuals if you want to find stuff out on it -- though I realise it does not have RGB.. but the s-video looks pretty good with a decent cable!).

Mine is hooked up to a 17" LCD screen.. component for games and s-video for movies. Also I find it a better picture if you set the cinema setting on..(at least on my LCD where it improves the contrast).

Great machine.. though after using the DVD switching to Gamecube seems really noisy with the fan.

And mine also plays PAL stuff no problems.. the later mods added this by increasing the size of a buffer chip internally somewhere!

I use it as my bedroom system at the mo...
Matt

[bcass]

Mine reads everything with no problems.

Its a crap dvd player though, you would be better going for a Pioneer ?90 multi region job tbh!

I'd say that was a slight overstatement. As previosuly mentioned, its actually quite a good DVD player IMO, even with just s-video. I've been through quite a few DVD players (some quite expensive) and the play back quality on the Q compares very well. My only real complaint is that its a little bit noisey, but still nowhere near as noisy as a PS2 or an XBox. Again though, it depends entirely on your TV - some sets are a lot better at handling an s-video signal than others.

The good thing about the Q is that you can use a proper high quality s-video cable as it has an actual s-video output on the back, rather than a Nintendo socket. I used to own a US Cube before I got this, and I noticed that the s-video picture was better on the Q than the s-video you get out of a normal NTSC Cube (possibly because I wasn't limited to using Nintendos cheapo s-video cable).

[gIzzE]

I would put the dvd player in the crap bracket too.
The colours do not look brilliant and there is lack of detail in the blacks as well as noise in that area as well.

but if you are happy with the Xbox as a dvd player you will love the Q