Samsung DVD-P401 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
Samsung DVD-P401
I was looking for an inexpensive DVD player with Progressive Scan and MP3 support.  I found it in the Samsung P401 <br />PRO's<BR>1. The unit is the good looking, and has execllent video & audio output.<BR>2. I have played 5 DVDs and had no issue at all.<BR>3. The Video, SVideo, and Component Video outputs all performed as advertised.<BR>4. The zoom (2X & 4X) functioned properly and responsively.<BR>5. I had zero issues with the load times (unlike others experience)<BR>6. MP3's play well, but Samsung needs to improve its funtionality and documentation (see CON's).<BR>7. Added Bonus Feature - N-2-2 Spatializer 3D sound option adds dimension to two speaker stereo set ups and functioned well.<br />CON's<BR>1. The manual is very short, and doesn't provide a lot of detail about the advanced features (doesn't explain the features well enough).<BR>2. The manual doesn't mention the MP3 capability of the player, with one very small exception (a brief \\"Note\\" on p.6 General Features It states that to make sure that your MP3's are recorded at a bit rate of 128Kbps or greater, and that if your MP3's are recorded with Varible Bite Rate (VBR) that your sound may come and go. (My VBR MP3's ran fine))<BR>Other than that the manual doesn't mention MP3 capability at all.<BR>One last note on MP3 capability there doesn't seem to be a way to randomize MP3 playback (hopefully Samsung will add this when they do a firmware update), and song titles are limited to 8 characters.<BR>3. Remote control is smallish, and is not backlit.<br />Otherwise this is a great player, and in my opinion a great value for a Progressive Scan player.<br />J. Murphy