THE CURTIS MATHES CMD5000 DVD player REVIEW

[Erwin]

The Curtis Mathes (CMD5000)DVD player Review

Well, the results are in, research has been done, some surprises have been discovered...prepare for the review.
[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0NAD**4oRHraXIaWzEx9gRLD1!4cNiaEpLaTjJRoXy6r6gViHE !nSAbuBzx5yPjC02UhLLzPvIigm3wlMn7vsRQ/CURTIS1.JPG[/img]


The Look
The player looks pretty nice. A little different than the standard black DVD players on the market. It has a dark grey shade on the front panel along with a bright blue flourescent light. The light will blink when it starts to read the disc or when the tray is opened. Probably my favorite feature which distinguishes this player from other DVD players. The buttons are big on the front and the eject and play buttons seem to be a bit misplaced. I think the buttons should have been different sizes rather than the same. The only buttons different are the navigating menu buttons. The nice thing about this player is that it can still be used if the remote is absent. The digital readout on the front panel is very useful and easy to read. It displays the time, chapter, title, type disc, whether it’s dts or DD5.1, vcd, svcd, mp3, or CD along with the usual animated disc rotating while in play.

Video
This is one of the player’s strongest areas. MPEG1 and MPEG2 playback looks good. I have tested Pioneer, Apex, JVC, Sanyo, GE, RCA, Phillips, Sony, Memorex, and the picture on this player is downright incredible. I have it hooked up to 32' and pixels seem to rarely come even on XVCDs that were capture at a very low rate when I didn’t know as much about capturing (now the JVC is a darn good player as well). It gives the picture a very smooth clear look. Having several DVDs, I tested several and the DVDs looked good too. Almost as good as my trusty ProScan. I read one report where someone saw “jaggies”, but I didn’t see any and I’m pretty picky. You can either hook the player up though S-Video, component, or composite.

Audio
Another strong area. I have yet to hear this player hiccup or present a strange noise when playing XVCDs or DVDs like the JVC XV65 or the Sanyo DWM-370 did. XVCDs and DVDs sound good on my Yamaha DD/dts HomeTheater Receiver. Mp3 files sound good and the access time is faster than other players that I have used. It does not present the whole name of the mp3 files, but I guess one could live with that feature. You can also play the mp3 files though digital or analog. You have an option to play the audio through optical, coaxial, or RCA .

Performance
This is one key area that I am sure most people would be concerned with if they are into playing XVCDs. The performance is very smooth. The player is fast, not quite as fast as the Apex, but it’s fast. The chapter pauses are there, but it’s very tolerable (1 and half to 2 seconds at the most). The player has blazed though all of my XVCDs and DVDs without a problem or strange occurrence. The player seems to adapt very well to noncompliant XVCDs. Audio and Video does not go out of synch. The player is very quiet.


Surprises
Well, this is where it gets very interesting. After taking apart an Apex, I was just dying to take apart this Curtis Mathes player. I was wondering why this player was doing such a good job—“What was inside this thing?” Well, Apex ain’t the only DVD player with a DVDROM. The Curtis Mathes has one as well. So, I attached the cables to my Hi-Val. It opened and closed, and it played. Then, I decided to push the fast forward button. The screen locked up. I unplugged it and it did the same thing again. Then, out of curiosity I decided to hook up the Apex DVDROM to the Curtis Mathis cables and IDE, and it worked without any flaws. I don’t know if didn’t like my Hi-Val player or that card underneath the DVDROM has something to do with the Apex working because the Curtis Mathes has a card under it too.
[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0PABGAD0WJ66cWhqVjJc4zAwvhZJz*NT14922IkTXTFrzl74aS 6rD8qekZz!N2J1l*E4xgCrZ3R9g*SQvdD4OavnegT0RbatD/curthivaldvdrom.jpg[/img]
Here is the Curtis Mathes with a Hi-Val DVDROM which only partially works. You gotta love that blue light.

Here it is with an Apex DVDROM conected to the Curtis Mathes DVD player and it works fine. I am sure someone knows why this ROM worked but the Hi-Val did not.
[img]http://communities.msn.com/_Secure/0NQAgVCITeQAK3mb7qNfafxy8g9NsNfBB105RIm5T9YQx5gcXE PfM0UX6VJsIDD9Y4P3N99fQ65GtPbJ*HqDHGQ/Curtside.jpg[/img]
A side angle displaying the video card/board and both DVDRoms.

Remote
It has everything you need on it. Very easy to use, but not particularly attractive.

Overall
I think this is an excellent player for anyone who wants a player that will plow through all their XVCDs (regardless of compliance) and DVDs without displaying unwanted and strange behavior. You can get this player at K-mart for $159.99 and you can get an additional year warranty for $16.








<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-08 18:44:28 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-20 01:32:36 ]</font>

[low_iq_88]

hey erwin, didn't i speak the truth when i previuosly recommended this player in the other thread dealing with the curtis mathes This thing is a pure workhorse, especially for the price!

[low_iq_88]

oh yeah! i am still looking for any hacks at all....please post if you know anything

[Erwin]

"hey erwin, didn't i speak the truth when i previuosly recommended this player in the other thread dealing with the curtis mathes This thing is a pure workhorse, especially for the price!"

And the truth shall be heard. I just thought this player deserved a long review with photos because she's been such a good girl so far. Oh yeah, this player has an auto-shutoff feature when it sits idling on the screensaver for a certain amount of time. I also failed to mention that this player does not get hot.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-08 22:29:24 ]</font>

[low_iq_88]

.....and like you say, you gotta love the blue light....hehehe

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-08 19:40:47, low_iq_88 wrote:
.....and like you say, you gotta love the blue light....hehehe
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

This might be why it's sold at K-mart. I did notice one strange thing that it did today; it's probably nothing serious, but I will report anyway. After my daughter watched "The Iron Giant", we turned it off and left it on standby. We came back after having a "family day" hours later. I could not turn the player back on eventhough the red standby light was on. I unplugged and plugged it back in and it worked as it normally does and we watched "Liar Liar". Here is picture; As you can see, my ProScan was getting jealous and insisted that I take a picture of him also in the picture.


In case anyone is wondering, there is some tape on the Yamaha Receiver power switch b/c my daughter used to love to experiment with it.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-08 22:25:21 ]</font>

[monsoon01]

hey, u guys wanna know the one fault with curitis mathes electronics? they all die or crap out in around 6 months, but until then they are great. just thought u'd like to know that.

[ilc]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-09 01:59:00, monsoon01 wrote:
hey, u guys wanna know the one fault with curitis mathes electronics? they all die or crap out in around 6 months, but until then they are great. just thought u'd like to know that.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Now I have more motivation than ever to buy this player.

Thanks for the tip!

[ilc]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-08 11:27:45, low_iq_88 wrote:
oh yeah! i am still looking for any hacks at all....please post if you know anything
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

I have some doubts about whether this player can be hacked. The main reason: it doesn't seem to be compatible with both NTSC and PAL. If you think about it, a DVD player that has both NTSC and PAL capabilities should be able to have its region setting switched...I mean, I doubt that the switch would be placed in there solely for the purpose of being able to watched bootleg PAL VCDs from China The Apex, Sampo, etc. players are all NTSC/PAL compatible, and thus they are all relatively easy to hack. But the Curtis Mathes player has no NTSC/PAL switch, which makes me believe that it was built for sale only in Region 1...

[thxkid]

Hey come back in a year and let us know if this player is still going, had my APEX 600a for 16 months now still going on strong no problems, by the way better test a toshiba out, they have one of the best pictures out there, my 2050 has zero artifacts in it and thats on DVD or VCD. I paid $67 for the Toshiba 2050 at Sam's Club, they had no idea what they were selling.

[low_iq_88]

hey ilc, thanks for yor thoughts on the hack situation.....i own all region 1 discs except for 1 region 2-6 disc (Dream Theater Scenes From New York) PAL. It plays this disc great with no hacking or mods. The only problem is that the menu screen is not functional, but by using the remote, you can get around it with minimal trouble. So, the player as stock, can play PAL discs somehow

[Erwin]

"I paid $67 for the Toshiba 2050 at Sam's Club, they had no idea what they were selling."

Is the player flexible with data rates on XVCDs and is it nit-picky about what type of CDR you use? Maybe I haven't tried the right Toshiba yet. All the ones that I have seen could not play XVCDs.

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-09 01:59:00, monsoon01 wrote:
hey, u guys wanna know the one fault with curitis mathes electronics? they all die or crap out in around 6 months, but until then they are great. just thought u'd like to know that.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
...and which products have you owned from this brand? TVs? VCR? Please, enlighten us. I know very little about this brand other than my Grandparents buying one of their TVs in the early 80s.

[monsoon01]

t.v. and a vcr, both crapped out in a little over 6 months, and i know of this also happening to a lot of other people.

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-09 20:15:38, monsoon01 wrote:
t.v. and a vcr, both crapped out in a little over 6 months, and i know of this also happening to a lot of other people.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the heads up. Who actually makes their stuff? This is kind how I am with Panasonic. B/c I used to praise them to death. Then, my DVD player started doing very stange things like skipping chapters on the layer switch. The Panisonic A-110 has made me not want to recommend any Panasonic DVD player to anyone. I sold my Panasonic and got a ProScan DVD player when DIVX crashed, and it's been an exceptional player; it just won't play CD-rs. However, they make excellent VCRs. I have had my Panasonic PV-8661 for years with not one problem.

[low_iq_88]

for info on the company go to http://www.curtismathes.com/

[Erwin]

Here are some other features that the Curtis Mathes player has as indicated on their site that I failed to mention:
OSD Equalizer
MPEG Audio
Multi Screen Format
Large VF Display
Zoom Control (I will admit, the zoom on this player stinks; only JVC, Toshiba, and Sanyo have a decent zoom from what I have seen)




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-09 21:51:49 ]</font>

[Erwin]

Just to add more info. There is this one XVCD that I burned with 3 Simpsons Episodes: one of them is "Homer vs. the 8th commandment". I have watched this disc twice on the Apex 500w and this same problem has occured twice. When Bart is in Sunday School, the audio starts to speed up (out of synch with video). Santa's little helper jumps on the couch and Bart is talking long before they even show him. I played it on the CM player and this problem was not repeated. When this disc was burned, it met the white book standards in NERO 5.5.
I am waiting to see what happens NEXT

[rdad]

what were some of the problems u were experiencing with the jvc xv65 unit?

[Erwin]

"what were some of the problems u were experiencing with the jvc xv65 unit?"

I went to SEARS one day, and I found that they had a progressive JVC in silver which usually sold for $249 (I thought, man, this player looks beautiful), but it was the last one they had. Then the sales person said they would sell it to me for $169. I really was hoping this would be my last player for awhile.

Now, to answer your question. When you play XVCDs that are VCD compliant, it's a good player( kind of the opposite of the Apex, Apex is better with XVCDs that are not VCD compliant). However, when you play XVCDs that are not VCD compliant, it does things like this example: it will play for awhile then pause by itself during play for as long as 20 seconds, then it will either press on or skip to the next chapter. If all you do is make XVCDs that are compiant and watch DVDs, this is the player to get. This player has the best zoom of all players that I have seen. Sanyo has a good zoom, but you can't get rid of the text on the screen if you want to leave the zoom while on the JVC- you just push "angle" or "clear" and the text disappears.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-10 19:56:15 ]</font>

[next]

Erwin - thanks for the tips.

One question. What's the difference between compliant XVCD's and noncompliant XVCD'S?

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-10 11:22:59, next wrote:
Erwin - thanks for the tips.

One question. What's the difference between compliant XVCD's and noncompliant XVCD'S?

Okay, I feel better now. I was killing myself here trying to figure out how anybody could recommend a Curtis Mathes DVD player but it all makes sense to me now.

Plus I think I finally figured out where the weak laser really is. I was also killing myself trying to find it in my Apex's. I can stop looking now.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
I have edited my post just for you, next. I may only have a few months experience in VCD editing & capturing, but I know what you're getting at. Yes, there is no such a thing as a compliant and noncompliant XVCD. I mistakingly left out "a XVCD that is or is not VCD compliant" according to whitebook standards.
I thought I would take your quote from another topic since it was Curtis Mathes related






<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-10 19:37:59 ]</font>

[next]

So you are saying that the JVC can handle VCD ok but it has problems with XVCD? That's been my experience as well. The JVC also had major problems with SVCD. By the way, how is the Curtis Mathes with SVCD?

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-10 19:51:45, next wrote:
So you are saying that the JVC can handle VCD ok but it has problems with XVCD? That's been my experience as well. The JVC also had major problems with SVCD. By the way, how is the Curtis Mathes with SVCD?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

It handles homemade VCDs(CD-Rs) that are VCD compliant OK, but not homemade VCDs(CD-Rs) that are noncompliant. In other words, if you have to turn the compliance off when you burn a Video on a CD-R- it will not run properly on the JVC. I don't know how the Curtis Mathes handles SVCDs b/c I have never made an attempt to create one. So far, I only make XVCDs.

[low_iq_88]

The Curtis Mathes handles every one of my cdr compliant SVCDs flawlessly. Not one thing to report at all except exceptional playback. I have never had a single problem with any of my ~100 discs in any format so far. Like I previously said, the only disc I have made that it will not play is a miniDVD that had real DVD .vob files burnt to cdr. The .vob files were put through all the processes necessary to make a miniDVD with DVDit! software. The miniDVD does however play as a DVD great on my H+

[Erwin]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-09-10 23:02:04, low_iq_88 wrote:
The Curtis Mathes handles every one of my cdr compliant SVCDs flawlessly. Not one thing to report at all except exceptional playback. I have never had a single problem with any of my ~100 discs in any format so far. Like I previously said, the only disc I have made that it will not play is a miniDVD that had real DVD .vob files burnt to cdr. The .vob files were put through all the processes necessary to make a miniDVD with DVDit! software. The miniDVD does however play as a DVD great on my H+
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

This is good to know if I ever plan on doing SVCDs. Thanks low_iq_88 for the info.

[next]

The Apex 703 with the BT chipset can handle miniDVD with a simple patch. The 703's with the CS chipsets will be able to handle miniDVD soon - the patch is being written as I type here. The GE 5803P can do miniDVD as well but that's not a suprise because its a Shinco unit - like The Apex 703.

Just some info if it matters.

[Erwin]

I went to [url]www.audioreview.com[url] and here are some of the average scores given to DVD players.

This scale is based on a 1 to 5 scale:
Hitachi 505U 3.77
Apex AD703 3.07
JVC XV-s45GD 4.50 (this is last year's version of the 65)
Apex AD600A 3.02
Apex AD660 3.27
Sanyo DVD5100 4.00

These are just reviews from other people, but still, they are interesting to read.

Curtis Mathes is no where to be found due to it not being in existence long enough.

[Erwin]

Update:
So far, after 2 and half weeks of use, I haven't noticed any flaws. I would still highly recommend this player. The Apex has been a decent player too. As far as the Apex goes, it seems to be better for XVCDs in the noncompliant VCD format which is good because I rarely capture and save in the compliant format. So, what I would recommend is that if one wants to buy the Curtis Mathes, the additional year warranty would seem to be an intelligent choice to make b/c it's only $16 (which is not much if your DVD player dies). I don't know who makes the Curtis Mathes, but it seems to like to use the drive that comes with the Apex.

[Erwin]

It's been 7 months. I am here to report that this player still remains the player that will even play xvcds that will skip on certain Apex DVD players. Memorex CD-Rs may be the cause for this, but DVD players should be able to read all types of CD-Rs (but they don't, unfortunately). I have some new pictures taken with my new electronic toy. I am still surprized that this player hasn't taken off with all the diehard xvcd fans. The Apex AD-800 is the best player that I have found so far and it's really close to the quality of the Curtis Mathes. This player is fast and had all the features that the CM has (5.1 Decoder, all the hookups + it has progressive scan...not bad at all). This player is a must for Simpsons fans (_8^(I)