JVC XV-N40BK Progressive-Scan Slim DVD Player , Black
What Can I Compare it To?
This is my first DVD player. I've had it since June 2003, and it still works. It lives here with me, and there are no kids around to destroy it, and it gets played once or twice a week. Why wouldn't it work? It's extremely slim, has a cool blue light when it's on, and I've been able to play everything I've ever gotten from Netflix. So, as far as I'm concerned, this player is great!<br />There are a couple of things I've noticed about it, and I don't know if this is common practice with VCRs or not. But not all my reviews are for ranting or raving; I like to inform, as well! So here's what I know:<br />I don't have cable, and I've noticed that if I sit the machine on top of my TV, the reception on the TV gets very snowy. It took me a while to figure out why my picture got so bad, when I had a powered antenna that usually brings in a great picture for me. This problem went away when I moved the DVD player off the TV and onto its own shelf.<br />I think the machine is very quiet. Mind you, I live in an apartment, and I watch my TV with stereo headphones, so machine noise as I'm watching a movie is not an issue for me. So if the DVD player is making noise, it's not enough to bother either me or the neighbors.<br />The remote has more buttons on it than I will ever use. Six months later, I still haven't figured out what they all are. All the important buttons that actually play the DVD are in white. If you switch to TV, you can turn the sound up and down and channel surf with the blue buttons. Other than mute and video, I've never touched the gray buttons, and frankly don't understand why there are so many. On the other hand, I've bought more DVD player than I need, so it's not that surprising that the buttons are a little daunting.<br />I have a JVC television (which I've reviewed some years ago), and that colored my decision to buy it somewhat. It ended up being a choice between the Panasonic and JVC, but ultimately, all other things being equal, I bought it for its looks. Being JVC, I knew it would be a quality device, and a delightful result of my decision is that it is already programmed to work with my three-year-old JVC 20&quot; TV! I didn't have to program it or anything.<br />I could have bought a ridiculously low-priced machine from APEX, but I'm old school and I don't like buying things figuring I'm just going to toss it later. I buy quality and I expect it to last. So far, the XV-N40BK is just what I need. If, heaven forbid, I'm ever crazy enough to spend more on a TV than I do my car, then the machine will be ready, since it is already progressive-scan. I don't know what progressive-scan is, and I cannot use that feature anyway. You don't have to use it to use the machine.<br />Part of me wanted to wait for DVD recorders to get real cheap, because I have a lot of videotaped TV shows I'd like to convert. Well, I figured why wait for what could be years down the road, when you can enjoy DVDs now. Tomorrow isn't promised to anybody! And I was a die-hard convert, too. I didn't jump on the DVD bandwagon; I had to be thrown! But I'm glad I made the move. I love the fact that you get extra stuff besides the movie on the DVD; audio commentaries are the best thing since movies started talking, in my opinion. And when you pause the DVD, it's perfectly still and will stay that way forever until you un-pause it. (My VCR only paused for 3 minutes, and you had some flicker with it.)<br />So, all in all, I think I've made a great decision on two counts: one, jumping on the DVD bandwagon (and if you rent you never really have to own any...no more bulky tapes! Imagine the storage space you save...); and two, choosing the  JVC XV-N40BK, a beautiful little black machine that says hello to you when it's activated and shows every indication that it's going to be around a long time.oks. Being JVC, I knew it would be a quality device, and a delightful result of my decision is that it is already programmed to work with my three-year-old JVC 20&quot; TV! I didn't have to program it or anything.<br />I could have bought a ridiculously low-priced machine from APEX, but I'm old school and I don't like buying things figuring I'm just going to toss it later. I buy quality and I expect it to last. So far, the XV-N40BK is just what I need. If, heaven forbid, I'm ever crazy enough to spend more on a TV than I do my car, then the machine will be ready, since it is already progressive-scan. I don't know what progressive-scan is, and I cannot use that feature anyway. You don't have to use it to use the machine.<br />Part of me wanted to wait for DVD recorders to get real cheap, because I have a lot of videotaped TV shows I'd like to convert. Well, I figured why wait for what could be years down the road, when you can enjoy DVDs now. Tomorrow isn't promised to anybody! And I was a die-hard convert, too. I didn't jump on the DVD bandwagon; I had to be thrown! But I'm glad I made the move. I love the fact that you get extra stuff besides the movie on the DVD; audio commentaries are the best thing since movies started talking, in my opinion. And when you pause the DVD, it's perfectly still and will stay that way forever until you un-pause it. (My VCR only paused for 3 minutes, and you had some flicker with it.)<br />So, all in all, I think I've made a great decision on two counts: one, jumping on the DVD bandwagon (and if you rent you never really have to own any...no more bulky tapes! Imagine the storage space you save...); and two, choosing the  JVC XV-N40BK, a beautiful little black machine that says hello to you when it's activated and shows every indication that it's going to be around a long time.