So this is a FUNAI

[pixelthis]

My P.O.S Sharp blu finally died completely, so I went to Walfart, they were out of the 80 buck LG, so I got the Magnavox for 68 bucks.
When I got it home Funai was written all over the instructions. WHEN BLU players were still becoming commodity items the word Funai came up quite a bit. They are a Chinese
electronics company. Now they're started selling under several "brands".
To the point, this is a great Blu player, has everything you need, and a few perks, like
built in wireless. Most important, pic and sound are great. And its about as fast as a
DVD player in function.
At 68 BUCKS I can't understand why anybody would buy a DVD only player.
Haven't tried DVD playback yet, but how bad can it be? Unless its a portable for the
car or something(and they have those in BLU also) there is really no reason to get a
plain old DVD player, unless you're just broke and only have 30 bucks.:1:

[kelsci]

I have a Magnavox upconverting dvd player which is a Funai(one of the names they sell under as you state). This unit has turned out to be a very good player beating out in picture and sound an older Pioneer Elite dv37 dvd player which cost a heck of a lot of money at its time and about 4 or 5 times larger than the Magnavox dvd player or the Panasonic 60 blue ray player that my brother owns(his BD Panasonic player is sitting on the DV37 which does look like a tank).

[Nasir]

Guilty as well!!!
I had a Funai VCR when they were the rage, and it worked fine, after one week of trial and error in setting it up: the manual was as useful as a third ear. It was set aside when I finally got a DVD recorder.
I would think that Magnavox were somehow related to Philips...
I am of the opinion that the major players like Samsung, Sony, LG, Toshiba and Philips ( in Europe ) have enough entry level components to compete with such makes that it is very rare for one to be swayed, but that does NOT mean that these cheaper brands are rubbish. For my holiday apartment, where most DVD players seem to have the shortest life, I buy the cheaper brands. In fact, the old components that are still in good working order are the big name brands or those that are considered respectable brands.

[Woochifer]

Actually, Funai is a Japanese company.

While they produce a lot of hardware for the bottomfeeding markets (along with a lot of rebadging), they also do contract manufacturing for some higher end companies. For example, Funai has been a contract manufacturer for Denon, making their lower end DVD/universal players and their current entry level Blu-ray players.

They've been a long-time Blu-ray licensee, and do their own R&D. This is not like those fly-by-night companies in China that flooded the market with millions of DVD players that slapped together substandard parts and skirted around royalty payments.

Magnavox is one of the many American badges that Funai owns -- others include Philips (in North America), Sylvania, Sansui, and Emerson.

That price point is precisely why most of the consumer electronics giants have started exiting the DVD player market.

[Smokey]

Magnavox is one of the many American badges that Funai owns -- others include Philips (in North America), Sylvania, Sansui, and Emerson.

I think Funai also make low to mid line of LCDs and components for Toshiba brand. Since Toshiba LCDs consistently get better picture quality rating than Funai's other brands, I'm guessing higher standards are set for Toshiba.

[kelsci]

I knew somebody that had one of their hi-fi vcrs some years back. She was having some kind of problem with it that I cannot recall but I was able to fix it. It had decent color and picture quality but it's hi-fi recorded sound from a mts broadcast was quite good. It also played back pre-recorded tapes with excellent hi-fi sound reproduction.

[pixelthis]

I knew somebody that had one of their hi-fi vcrs some years back. She was having some kind of problem with it that I cannot recall but I was able to fix it. It had decent color and picture quality but it's hi-fi recorded sound from a mts broadcast was quite good. It also played back pre-recorded tapes with excellent hi-fi sound reproduction.

thats what gets me, is the excellent picture and sound, is there any downside to this?
THE MOST memorial was a shot of KHAN and his entourage on the deck of the Reliant.
It looked like a family portrait, the colors and detail of their barbarian outfits were
outstanding. SALT, Master and Commander, and Zombieland were all first rate.
And I will take your word on FUNAI being a Japanese company, but I have heard that
they are CHINESE from several places, including this site.
BTW its not just cheap players, BLU discs, some as low as ten bucks, are taking
over WALFART.:1:

[Hyfi]

Pix,

I am in the market for a cheaper Blu player to setup at my in-laws. It will only get used if I take and play a movie. I went to look at this Mag for $68 yesterday but noticed that the onlu USB port is labeled for a wireless adapter.

Will the USB port allow for a memory stick and play movies-music-pics from it or is it exclusively for the wireless networking?

My OPPO has one on the back marked like that and one on the front but they both take a drive or stick while the back one also does the wireless.


Wooch- If Funai is a JP company, they must contract out to China because Made In China is all over this unit.

[pixelthis]

Pix,

I am in the market for a cheaper Blu player to setup at my in-laws. It will only get used if I take and play a movie. I went to look at this Mag for $68 yesterday but noticed that the onlu USB port is labeled for a wireless adapter.

Will the USB port allow for a memory stick and play movies-music-pics from it or is it exclusively for the wireless networking?

My OPPO has one on the back marked like that and one on the front but they both take a drive or stick while the back one also does the wireless.


Wooch- If Funai is a JP company, they must contract out to China because Made In China is all over this unit.

I DUNNO, but I DOUBT IT.
And there is an SD slot in the front you can use, anyway.
MAYBE you can replace the wireless nubbin with a USB stick, but I AINT GONNA TRY IT.
Only stuff in the "instructions" about playing files concerns SD cards. That is what I would use.
AND I too have heard that Funai is CHINESE, but if a JP company its not unusual
for them to use China. With a good portion of the country either destroyed or radioactive
that is going to be more common in the future.:1:

[Woochifer]

I think Funai also make low to mid line of LCDs and components for Toshiba brand. Since Toshiba LCDs consistently get better picture quality rating than Funai's other brands, I'm guessing higher standards are set for Toshiba.

As a contract manufacturer, they will spec the rebadged product as high or low as the client wants. Obviously, Toshiba spec'd their TVs higher than Funai's house brands, which shouldn't be surprising considering the price point differential.


Wooch- If Funai is a JP company, they must contract out to China because Made In China is all over this unit.

Check the point of origin for just about any Japanese CE company. You'll find that a lot of their stuff, particularly the low margin items, has been outsourced to China.

[pixelthis]

As a contract manufacturer, they will spec the rebadged product as high or low as the client wants. Obviously, Toshiba spec'd their TVs higher than Funai's house brands, which shouldn't be surprising considering the price point differential.



Check the point of origin for just about any Japanese CE company. You'll find that a lot of their stuff, particularly the low margin items, has been outsourced to China.

OR indonesia. OR Maylasia.
If you find a product that was actually made in JAPAN, grab it, it will last probably longer
than your pancreas. My DVDA player is nine years or so, good as new.
My Technics turntables, several decades. GOOD STUFF.:1:

[pixelthis]

AND SO THE funai goes back.
I didn't want to, but hit the reset switch on my SHARP BLU player. IT was either that or toss
it.
AND THE funai is okay, but after all a cheap product. HALF CHASSIS, attached power cord, less refined, and of course cheaply made. Okay, but a stopgap, really.
MY RECOMMENDATION is faint, this is a good starter or interim player.
I mean, 68 bucks? New my Sharp was a few hundred bucks, so 68 bucks is no risk,
really. But a decent player with a detachable power cord, full chassis, and all of the bells and whistles is preferable, at the end of the day.:1:

[bobsticks]

Someone found the downside, eh...looks like the shine is off the rose.

[Hyfi]

I ended up going with the LG BD630 Blu-ray for the in-laws because I needed the ability to watch .avi movies from a USB stick. Most cheaper ones with USB only do pics and audio.

[pixelthis]

Someone found the downside, eh...looks like the shine is off the rose.

Not really. The Funai is what it is, and quite decent, and what the world is probably
going to. I just prefer something with a little more sophistication.
At the end of the day, the excellent way Sharp handles DVD was the deciding factor,
and its handling of BLU is slightly better than the Funai.
I also like a detachable power cord and a full chassis and other "perks" for the same reason I like gold plate plugs, just a sign of a better product, is all.
You get what you pay for, and i got the Sharp to work, so I had a choice. But I
could have lived with the Funai just fine until my fortunes improved. I have always just liked
my SHARP AQUOS, is all.:1: