Koss DVP2161 Compact DVD with MP3/CD Player
Who's complaining?
Tired of complaining about my school's equipment--antiquated, erratic, remoteless, installed in inaccessible cabinets--I purchased this bargain-basement little machine as a last-ditch effort to regain control of my classroom.  It's sufficiently light and compact to fit in a book bag, it sets up faster than a drawer-type player, and so far it's handled every visual and audio source I've fed it (even my computer does a lousy job with VCD's).  The remote is not only intuitive but the most versatile one I've used.  It'll perform forward and backwards motion at any speed, freeze frames and even advance or reverse them one at a time.  As a result, kids are able to spot even the minute details in \\"Citizen Kane,\\" and I can set it to automatically repeat Hamlet's \\"To be or not to be\\" soliloquy until they get it.<br /><br />True, some of the previous reviews do not portend well for the durability of this little sanity saver, but mine has been going strong for two months.  At these prices, that's  good enough for me.  And if it fails next week, I'll order two more from Amazon just to be on the safe side.  Besides, I could use the extra remotes to put in my students' hands.<br /><br />[Follow-up: the machine got me through a 5-month semester, during which time I never played it continuously for more than an hour or two.  Now that summer is here, I've been using it more regularly for longer periods.  I'm afraid some of the negative experiences reported by other reviewers are becoming noticeable.  When the machine gets warm, it begins to become temperamental about loading some DVD's and sticks while reading the others.  What helps is to turn off the power at the player instead of the remote when it's not in use.  Over night the machine seems to restore itself--at least so far.]