CD or DVD Player with Clear Readout? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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nightflier
05-25-2005, 11:14 AM
OK, here's something I haven't been asked before, and it stumped me. My father's CD player (an old Phillips 10 yr. old mostly plastic marginal unit) is no longer working; "someone" tried to push the tray in too hard. LSS, it will cost more to repair it than to buy new. He likes good sound, but the single most important thing to him is that it has a large read-out because he can't see too well anymore. The one thing that old clunker did well was show him what track was playing.

So does anyone know of a good quality CD or DVD player (under $500) that has a large, clear readout?

P.S. Frankly, now that I think of it, and look across the room to my own player, it's a pain in the neck that I can't see the read-out either....

Resident Loser
05-25-2005, 11:26 AM
...since it's probably gonna' wind up in the cr@pper anyway is to open it up and see if it's something mechanical like maybe a gear jumped the track...most places, once they see the age of the unit, will tell you $h!tcan it and buy a new one...you would be surprised how many things are tossed over inconsequential and simply resolved repairs...

I'm sure you can find one with a large display for far less than half a K...

jimHJJ(...or you could always get one of those flat-sheet fresnel magifiers...)

paul_pci
05-25-2005, 02:29 PM
I can read my JVC menu pretty well, although the sky-blue background can be kinda annnoying. When I tried to go through the menu of Hershon's HK31 it was really confusing and made me feel stupid. That my 2 cents on two players.

nightflier
05-25-2005, 05:19 PM
...since it's probably gonna' wind up in the cr@pper anyway is to open it up and see if it's something mechanical like maybe a gear jumped the track...most places, once they see the age of the unit, will tell you $h!tcan it and buy a new one...you would be surprised how many things are tossed over inconsequential and simply resolved repairs...

I'm sure you can find one with a large display for far less than half a K...

jimHJJ(...or you could always get one of those flat-sheet fresnel magifiers...)

RL,

I actually did open it up. Unfortunately there are several broken plastic pieces that I don't think I can glue back together and I don't think these parts are readily available, either. It looks like "someone" really tried to force the tray closed, or maybe plastic becomes brittle after a long time.

I also shouldn't imply that the player itself is crappy, after all, when my dad bought the player it was rather expensive (CD technology was new then), and considered mid-fi, I suppose.

PP,

Are you saying that the readout on the HK31 (which I consider to be of decent quality, correct me if I'm wrong), is larger than standard ones?

paul_pci
05-25-2005, 10:26 PM
RL,

I actually did open it up. Unfortunately there are several broken plastic pieces that I don't think I can glue back together and I don't think these parts are readily available, either. It looks like "someone" really tried to force the tray closed, or maybe plastic becomes brittle after a long time.

I also shouldn't imply that the player itself is crappy, after all, when my dad bought the player it was rather expensive (CD technology was new then), and considered mid-fi, I suppose.

PP,

Are you saying that the readout on the HK31 (which I consider to be of decent quality, correct me if I'm wrong), is larger than standard ones?


Yes, HK is a good quality DVD player; no complaints on that end. But, no, the read out is not larger. If anything, it seemed to be an organizational mess. It took me a few seconds of staring at it to register what the hell I was looking at and then to navigate through the settings. I wouldn't consider the readout large and he had it connected to a 50-some inch TV, too.

bjornb17
05-26-2005, 07:05 AM
Yes, HK is a good quality DVD player; no complaints on that end. But, no, the read out is not larger. If anything, it seemed to be an organizational mess. It took me a few seconds of staring at it to register what the hell I was looking at and then to navigate through the settings. I wouldn't consider the readout large and he had it connected to a 50-some inch TV, too.

I just got my HK DVD22 yesterday, and yes it took me about 5 minutes to figure out what everything does, but considering the life of a dvd player, 5 minutes is a very small time. The recent Harman Kardon products, such as this one, generally have very bright displays that are easy to read. I'd also recommend this player since the quality is so good on it.

i got mine at newegg.com for $179.99, which is about $20 less than you'll find anywhere else.