Norcent DP315 Progressive Scan DVD Player
Oh dear, oh dear.
Last year I purchased a Daewoo DVD player for about 30 bucks at my local Sam's Club (mainly due to its ability to play international DVDs at such a low price). <br />I recently needed another cheapo player for my bedroom (my home theatre system seems to wake up my 2 year old).  I figured after the surprising value I got with the Daewoo that maybe these cheap players were not actually that bad...not so. <br /> <br />The actual phsysical appearance of the player is just what I would expect for something so cheap, but once I noticed the series of \\"lamps\\" on the front of the machine (yes, that *is* how they are labelled) I had a sick feeling.  The pigeon english instructions and labels on the machine just added to the feeling of worry.  <br /> <br />Upon loading a disc, the drive makes a noise like a cross between a jet turbine engine and a washing machine on high spin.  This seems to be mostly at start-up....sometimes it disappears only to re-appear at random throughout the movie. <br /> <br />The experience is very like going to the movie theatre only to have the guy sitting next to you pull out an electric shaver and commence grooming himself. <br /> <br />The burning question I have is...who *is* Norcent???  I have a mental picture of some guy armed with a soldering iron running to Radioshack to pick up parts to build these substandard machines. <br /> <br />I defy anyone from that company to reply and justify the poorly engineered products they are tainting the marketplace with. <br /> <br />Oh, in case you hadn't noticed all the glowing reviews here....do not buy this product.  There are plenty of alternatives for the same money out there of higher quality.