JVC XV-S302SL DVD Player With SVCD, CD-R/W and MP3 Playback
Written: May 17 '02
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Pros: Good performance, SVCD, VCD, MP3 playback, features
Cons: Could cost a little less, looks cheap, Panasonic RV31 and RV32 are better values
The Bottom Line: The XV-S302SL is a good inexpensive DVD player with SVCD playback. It is good by itself, however the Panasonic RV32 may be a better ...
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| dkozin's Full Review: JVC XV-S302 DVD Player |
If you want an inexpensive DVD player than plays Super Video CD, the JVC XV-S302SL fits the bill. It also plays both recordable CD formats (CD-R and CD-RW), discs with MP3 and VCD in addition to DVD-Video and Audio CD.
Front Panel Design
It can be a matter of personal preference, but the player’s front panel looks too simple and cheap. It only contains buttons for basic functions (well, at least it is silver in color to match your other silver components if you have them).
Rear Panel
The rear panel of S302SL features a component video out, S-Video out and a composite video out as well as an analog stereo audio out and a digital coaxial out. There is a switch that allows you select between component video out and S-Video/composite video out setting.
Remote Control
The player’s remote control features good button layout with all player’s functions being accessible using it, including advanced functions like angle select, “Digest” and “Strobe” and it even has [Open/Close] button, located in the upper left corner. I like that it is far from frequently used buttons so it is difficult to press by accident.
Super Video CD
In addition to VCD (MPEG-1 encoding 352x240 resolution, 1150 Kb/s bit rate), the player plays Super Video CD (SVCD) (MPEG-2 compression, 480x480 resolution and higher bit rates than VCD). The picture quality of SVCD is better than VCD, however I prefer XVCD format with my Panasonic RV31 and achieve even better picture quality.
With XVCD I get resolution of 720x480 (same as DVD-Video) and can use bit-rates of up to 2500 Kb/s. Although Panasonic’s manual doesn’t say a word about XVCD or SVCD, it plays both (but with SVCD, the MPEG-2 encoded file must be multiplexed as MPEG-1 (VCD) before recording).
Why do I mention this here? Because the XVCD at 720x480 looks better than SVCD and the Panasonic RV31 (as well as RV32) play them flawlessly and cost about the same as this JVC. They look better and feature better performance.
Performance
As is the case with majority of DVD players, the picture quality, when playing a DVD Video, is excellent – the picture is crisp and clear with well-defined edges of the objects and no video noise. The sound quality (when using the player’s analog audio out) is very good with low noise level and wide dynamic range. The VCD look close to VHS and SVCD looks better than VHS.
MP3
There is MP3 playback (including CD-R and CD-RW discs). Keep in mind than the file names can only be seen on the screen (not on the front panel display). You cannot program or “shuffle” MP3 playback plus you can’t fast forward/reverse. Panasonics allows that.
Features
In addition to virtually standard for modern DVD players features like parental control, virtual surround sound, ability to select angle, soundtrack and subtitle, slow and fast scan, there are other features: zoom, “Digest” (displays opening scene of each chapter or track on a DVD or VCD), “Strobe” (displays nine consecutive frames), etc.
The S302SL has A-B repeat, track/chapter repeat and disc repeat. You also can adjust the picture brightness. The player has five fast scan speeds (up to 60x) in both directions, six forward slow motion speeds and five speeds in reverse direction.
Bottom Line
The XV-S302SL is a good inexpensive DVD player with SVCD playback. It is good by itself, however the Panasonic RV32 may be a better choice (although it is difficult to make it play SVCD). It costs just $10 more, looks better, plays WMA and XVCD at 720x480 resolution. And Panasonic RV31 which also plays XVCD and MP3 is still available fro $129 at Amazon.com.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 139
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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Location: California
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I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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