Hi all... Probably already popular in Europe, but looks like these DVD players are just coming to U.S. They're supposedly be able to play DVD, VCD, SVCD, CD, MP3 CD... well, just about everything round and shiny. Does anyone has experience with this player? How do they handle VCD/ SVCD? Plus, how do they handle DVD and Dolby Digital?

Any comment would be appreciated...

Bora

-- Bora Lee (borako@weppy.com), June 29, 2000

Answers

I have used a Raite AVPhile 715 for about 2 months without problems. It plays VCD, DVD, and mastered SVCD as well. There is a secret menu on the older ones that allow you to make the player region free as well as Macrovision free. For the $200 it cost me, the player is a good deal... however it seems the discs sometimes get hot when using the player for a while, so it remains to be seen if there are any longevity problems.

I have not tried the player with MP3 CDs yet.

-- Bill Katz (WTKatz@yahoo.com), July 06, 2000.

This Raite DVD player's quality is poorer than some other cheaper ones, such as the Toshiba and Samsung. Sure, it plays all kinds of formats (and I think it's the only thing that's actually good about it). You'll find it annoying to play MP3s because you just can't pop in a CD-R with MP3 files and expect to play the songs right away. You'll have to go through a few steps on the menu. Second, the player gets hot and DVDs get hot. I don't know how long a machine can last the way the temp goes up--playing CD-Rs makes the machine EVEN hotter. Third, the quality isn't great compared to RCA or Toshiba (other brands under $240). I hooked up Raite and then an RCA player to an LCD projector and saw that with RAITE there were faintlines going up and down on the projection. The RCA had it too but was almost invisible. So...I'd get the Raite player if you aren't watching a lot of DVDs, or is just watching your DVDs on a screen size smaller than 27" TV. If you're just interested in getting a cheap MP3 player, I'd still re- consider getting this machine since it gets toooo hot playing them. Think--if I were burning-up the chips and boards inside my machine, when will it eventually burn-out and render the machine useless.

-- DJ Slim (djslim@email.com), November 09, 2000.

I have avphile711 raite dvd player and less than a year it stopped working. not getting power on. so any sales support or costomer support in usa ? please send me an email. thanks.

-- hathighodo ghodo (hathighodo@yahoo.com), December 31, 2000.