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Zenith DVB216 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

Zenith DVB216 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

List Price: $229.95
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Happy for only 14 months
Review: I purchased this unit after much research and was very happy with its operation until it stopped working after 14 months of average use. Then the unit refused to read any DVD. The inside was clean and the laser was clean and functional. I've always respected Zenith products, but I think this one was a lemon. I hope to hear from Zenith in the near future.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy Squeasy!
Review: I purchased this unit after reading the reviews, and I really appreciate this rating feature by www.Amazon.com. The DVD was really easy to hook up and start, and the operation is flawless so far. My unit is tied through a VCR and a Cable hook up all through a Modulator that I had to buy because my analog TV has no Dig-Cable hookup. All in all it was real easy to put together, but with a modern HDTV all you would have to plug in would be the Digital cable (what could be easier?. This is a super buy! And a beautiful silver cover (looks expensive) as opposed to some of the black entry level units. I hope that this review helps some of you to decide.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good unit, subtitles fine
Review: I read all of these reviews before purchasing this unit and was concerned about comments related to subtitles appearing and staying on throughout an English-language movie when the movie only contained a few subtitled scenes. So, we tested this with the first DVD we rented and had no problems. Without programming anything, the subtitles came on when they should have and stayed off for the English parts. We have only had the unit for a week, but this potential issue does not appear to be a problem for the unit we received.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Buy
Review: I was originally looking at this player and one manufactored by Panasonic. The shopping gods put this one in my Gold Box so I took the plunge. Afterwards I had read reviews on CNET.com that indicated that there was trouble playing certain DVDs including Stars Wars 2 in Wide Screen. I was able to play the entirety of Star Wars 2 in Wide Screen. I made my purchase around 11-10-02. So they may have fixed that problem.

It is probably one of the cheapest Progressive Scan DVD players. My TV, Sony 27fs100, does not accept progressive scan but does have component input. I am very happy none the less with running it in normal mode. The one feature that I did appreciate was both an optical and coaxial digital output. Which made it easy to get quality sound from my home theater system. (If you are looking for a quality Home theater system to match up with this DVD player check out Onkyo HT 650). Overall I consider both a very good value.

Added info after 2 months of ownership.
Everything still works fine.

The subtitles did come on for me automatically with one movie. It was easy to turn off with the remote. I did not have to look through the manual.

The appearance of the unit is much different than what is displayed on the Amazon web page. The face is reflective glass with a silver band going accross the front. The controls and the DVD loading mechanism are on the silver band. Each function such as rewind or play has a blue light above it showing the function. The time display I believe is green and amber. For a better view as to its appearance click on more pictures at the top of the page.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: From the beginning
Review: I've given up and replaced this machine with a cheap Memorex which works just fine. From the beginning this machine has given me problems that I don't have with the $30 Koss I bought at Sears. DVD's freeze continually and there seemed to be no remedy for this problem. Finally, the machine stopped working altogether. I've had it since 2/2003 and will just pitch it I guess. What else can I do with it? This machine was highly rated by CR. What were they thinking?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Broken in less than 6 months - Bad Warranty
Review: The player stopped reading disks less than 6 months after purchase. Since the warranty doesn't cover labor, it can't be fixed without paying twice what it would cost to buy a new one.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Excellent Picture but....
Review: The Zenith DVD216 has an excellent picture and the unit is atractive, but the remote is useless. On any input from the remote, there is a very, very slow response from the DVD. It takes forever to select a particular scene. I am sending back the unit for a replacement. It may be that this unit had a defective remote or a defective sensor eye on the DVD. Amazon is sending me a new unit. I will follow-up when the new unit arrives. Zenith Electronics Incorporated is useless. They do not have anyone on tech-support. Customer service at Zenith did not help either. They wanted me to fax them a copy of the bill, and then they would let me know what to do. Their fax machine was busy all day. Amazon was terrific. They are sending a new unit out today. It will arrive in 3 or 4 days. The defective unit will be picked up and shipped back for free.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great price and quality
Review: This is an excellent DVD player and a bargain at the current price. If you have a HDTV you can benefit from the progressive scan output, but even with a good analog TV such as the Sony WEGA, the component video output of this player is a big plus over similarly-priced players with S-video output. CNET rates this as the best budget player, and I can see why.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Faulty Unit: Great Picture
Review: This unit caused us difficulty from the word go!! It gets stuck in the middle of playing a DVD and then when it moves again, it just scrolls through the menu options. I contacted Zenith and they are sending a replacement. I hope the new one works!! It is a shame, because the unit was easy to set up and the picture and sound quality are great.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Avoid this one
Review: This worked reasonably well for several months, but one day just stopped reading DVDs. It simply says there's "no disc" in the machine and refuses to play. Avoid this piece of junk.


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