Curtis Mathis DVD player---Review

[Erwin]

I went to K-mart today (yes, the bluelight store )
I had my VCDs with me and I placed one VCD that I made the other day that I haven't been able to play on any DVD player except for my DVD-ROM on my computer. This Curtis Mathis DVD player played this disc without any difficulty. Another positive about this player is that it is very fast with it's access time. In fact, when it changed tracks, it was smooth like there was a fade-to-black. The player is $159 and it looks kind of "kiddy". It has a bright florescent blue light under the disc tray/drawer. I look all over online and I can't find any information about this player. Does "Curtis Mathis" even have a site. It was the best player I have found so far..this standalone DVD/XVCD player search is getting to be one Loooong Adventure.




<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-03 19:30:15 ]</font>

[AntnyMD]

I havent heard of Curtis Mathis as a brand name since about 1978. Thats incredible it's being revived as a Blue Light Special. I think I heard the last Curtis Mathis showroom burned down or something.

[Erwin]

Yeah, I remember my grandparent buying one those HUGE Dinosaur Size Television Cabinets by Curtis Mathis when I was just begining elementary school. K-mart seems to have bought their name though because they had a full line of Televisions and VCRS. I would post a picture of the DVD player, but I can't find it anywhere online. I even went to Ebay and K-mart(online) themselves.

[low_iq_88]

I picked up one of these players, and it plays everything I throw at it very nice. The only thing it wont play was a miniDVD that i have made a while ago, on the same cdr brand that wroks great for vcd and svcd. I recommend this player 100 percent. The only beef I have with the model is that you have to point the remote pretty much in the exact direction of the player. On my television's remote, I can point the thing backwards and it still reads, so this leads me to believe that they could have done a better job in this aspect. I am looking for any method at all to hack this for no macro and for region. Maybe with some work I can get it to play miniDVD too? If anybody knows anything, can you please take a moment to contact me at disposed@optonline.net? I will be glad to answer any questions about this player as well. Peace.

[Erwin]

How long have you had this player? What's the reliability like (does it ever choke on DVDs/XVCDs or does the sound ever go out for a second?) Did you get it at K-Mart? What is the max speed it can handle on Kpbs? I saw it at K-mart, but I could not find any boxes of the model- it was $159. Does it play DVDs pretty well? It's nice to know someone owns this player out their that into making XVCDs. I know, I ask alot of questions, but I'm interested in this DVD player. Maybe a universal remote might solve your problem- it helped with my receiver. Thanks--Erwin

[low_iq_88]

I have had the player about 2 weeks now. I rate the reliability 10 of 10, even though that is based on the short amount of time I have it. I did buy it at my local K-Mart for $159.93 plus taxes. Thw signal output is ntsc, dolby digital decoded 5.1 channel outputs, dolby digital down stereo mix, dolby digital output (digital of course), dts digital output - the output terminals are composite, s-video, y cb cr component - it doesn't say what the max is for speed, but all the dvds i play on it are excellent quality imho. It even plays a region 2-6 (the player is reg 1). The disc is "Dream Theater - Metroplois Part 2 - Scenes From New York", the only non-region-1 disc i own. The only problem is that it is not responsive to the menus on the disc, but there are things you can do to play what you want. I have not hacked the player in any way yet. There has not been a single glitch in the video or audio of any disc I have ever watched on this model yet.

[low_iq_88]

I should ad that there is optical and coaxial dolby digital/dts digital outputs.

[Erwin]

low_iq_88, thanks for your feedback. I just bought the Curtis Mathes(this is the correct spelling just incase anyone wanted to know, I didn't at first)DVD player today. I will post an good-size review about this player later this week. Right now, I am taking my time throwing XVCDs and DVDs at it. I don't want to be to quick to judge this player like I did with the Sanyo DWM-370. You are definitely right about the remote, low_iq_88, but I can live with this if it turns out playing XVCDs decent. If this player does not work out, I'll probably try the Apex 500.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Erwin on 2001-09-03 20:20:10 ]</font>

[Glenn Waters]

Here is a really great site for information about the real Curtis Mathes Company:

http://curtismathes.webs.com/

There are a lot of great Curtis Mathes DVD players turning up on EBay and other sites, not to mention thrift stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army Stores. They are selling for really low prices and work wonderful for their age.