Having used the Nokia Lumia 521 phones for about 10 months, I was ready for a change. While the phone worked ok, it was a bit slow to respond to command, especially after the Windows 8.1 update. Plus I know that it didn't support 4G LTE and the battery life was a bit too short.
The phone was otherwise solid. We have had 3 of them in our family and they worked well for 10 months, even though I dropped mine several times and we are constantly spending time at the beach where the sand gets into phones all the time.
The Lumia 521 is a T-Mobile version of Lumia 520. We were using them on the T-Mobile network. This model is now being replaced by a cheaper Lumia 530, which is worse than the older 520/521 in a few ways. It also has a 4-inch screen. Although it is faster, it has no dedicated camera button, no autofocus in the camera, no light sensor and worse display colors. It still doesn't support 4G LTE. That's quite a few "no"s.
My 521 already had the Windows 8.1 update with Cortana, etc so no improvement was expected there.
Nokia Lumia 635
Lumia 635 on the other hand is an improvement on the 520/521 in almost every way. And this is why I now bought it for myself.
Feel
The new phone feels better in your hand, Buttons on its side have better tactile response. And navigational buttons that are now located on the screen rather than below it are somehow easier to use.
Screen
It has a larger 4.5-inch IPS LCD screen with 480x854 resolution. While the pixel density is still pretty low at 221 ppi (better phones have 300+), the screen is much better than that of the 530/520/521, because it has Nokia's ClearBlack technology, which makes colors more vibrant and contrast better.
4G LTE Speed
Unlike the 520/521/530 Lumias, the 635 supports full 4G LTE speeds. "LTE" is displayed in the upper-left corner when in LTE reception area. And in conjunction with the 4-core processor (520/521 had two cores), it transforms web browsing experience.
Speed
The Nokia 635 is very responsive, unlike the 520/521. I saw benchmarks that measured its speed at over double that of the 520, but even subjectively it is very noticeable.
Camera
The dedicated camera button is gone, but unlike 530, the autofocus remains. And pictures look a little better than both 520/521 and 530. There is still no flash and no front-facing camera, so no selfies or Skype video calls.
Battery Life
In short, it is noticeably better.
iPhone 5 and iOS 8
Interestingly, the my Nokia 635 with Windows 8.1 and Cortana is better than the iPhone 5 (with iOS 8 on it) in a few key areas of performance. It has better WiFi reception when far away from the WiFi router, better text scaling and better internet video playback quality. That is in addition to being several times cheaper and using a standard USB cable for charging and no need to install iTunes bloatware.
Bottom Line
I like my new Lumia 635 much better than the 521. The major differences include a larger, more vibrant screen at 4.5 inches vs 4 inches on the 521, longer battery life, faster 4G connectivity, more responsive operation through the faster 4-core Snapdragon 400. While it still has some of the shortcomings of the 521, such as a lack of flash or front-facing camera and even a new one: the dedicated shutter release button for the camera is gone.
Still, it was a great upgrade and I am happy with it, especially since it was less than $100. It will not rival any iPhones when it comes to most features, but the iPhones are $400-600 more. And Android phones are more vulnerable to viruses, so I am not even considering those.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Using Google Chromecast from Windows Phone
We have 3 Windows Phone devices, in addition to an iOS, Android and Kindle Fire devices. And it is more convenient to control the Google Chromecast from the phone.
Unlike the iOS (iPhone), Android and Kindle tablets, which allow me to watch Youtube videos and other content on the TV using Chromecast, there is no official support of the Chromecast on Windows Phone devices. So our Windows 8.1 phones were not useful when it came to Chromecast. Plus the Youtube app from the Windows Store is merely a wrapper around the mobile version of the Youtube web site. Poor navigation and video quality is the result.
Then I discovered Tubecast. TubeCast is an app that is available in Windows Store and not only has much better interface and video quality that the aforementioned "official" Youtube app, it lets you cast videos to ChromeCast too! The app version I got was free and the first 20 casts were free too. Then I had to pay a couple of bucks. Nice.
The only issue for me now is when I got a Chromecast for my mother and went to install it, I didn't bring any devices other than my (and her) WP. Plus she has a Windows 8.1 computer. The problem is during initial installation, the phone complained that Chrome browser was needed and the computer installed the Chromecast app and then indicated that WiFi connection was needed. The computer in question uses Ethernet wired connection to the WiFi router. So I will need to bring either an iOS or Android device to complete the setup.
Otherwise, WP 8.1 can now be used to control the Youtube playback on Chromecast. Nice.
Unlike the iOS (iPhone), Android and Kindle tablets, which allow me to watch Youtube videos and other content on the TV using Chromecast, there is no official support of the Chromecast on Windows Phone devices. So our Windows 8.1 phones were not useful when it came to Chromecast. Plus the Youtube app from the Windows Store is merely a wrapper around the mobile version of the Youtube web site. Poor navigation and video quality is the result.
Then I discovered Tubecast. TubeCast is an app that is available in Windows Store and not only has much better interface and video quality that the aforementioned "official" Youtube app, it lets you cast videos to ChromeCast too! The app version I got was free and the first 20 casts were free too. Then I had to pay a couple of bucks. Nice.
The only issue for me now is when I got a Chromecast for my mother and went to install it, I didn't bring any devices other than my (and her) WP. Plus she has a Windows 8.1 computer. The problem is during initial installation, the phone complained that Chrome browser was needed and the computer installed the Chromecast app and then indicated that WiFi connection was needed. The computer in question uses Ethernet wired connection to the WiFi router. So I will need to bring either an iOS or Android device to complete the setup.
Otherwise, WP 8.1 can now be used to control the Youtube playback on Chromecast. Nice.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA eneloop AA/AAA Advanced Individual Battery Charger
I needed a new charger for AA and AAA NiMH batteries I use in my son't toys. I used a Rayovac PS1 charger over a decade. It charges batteries individually and seemingly somewhat smartly, but it is slow and inconvenient. Plus at times you need to remove and reinsert a battery a few times.
The solution was Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA that is a smart charger that can charge up to 4 AA or AAA batteries individually, in any combination. It uses 150 mA current to charge AAA and 300 mA to charge AA, so it should have been faster than the Rayovac PS1 (uses 200 mA) for AA batteries. It is also allegedly smart and designed to be used with eneloop LSD (low self-discharge) batteries.
While it works well and is a pleasure to use, while not taking much space, it has a significant (for me) problem. Even though it is designed to recharge eneloop and eneloop pro batteries, it should chanrge regular Panasonic and other NiMH batteries. And this is where it failed me.
eneloop AAA charged perfectly, But Rayovac AA NiMH batteries I have used for many years and can still recharge fine in the Raoyovac PS1 charger did not charge at all. The LED lights would blink and no charging would happen.
Non-eneloop Panasonic batteries charge fine.
Instead of going through the hassle of returning the charger and getting something more expensive, I plan on using it for batteries other than Raoyovac and charge those in the PS1 charger.
The solution was Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA that is a smart charger that can charge up to 4 AA or AAA batteries individually, in any combination. It uses 150 mA current to charge AAA and 300 mA to charge AA, so it should have been faster than the Rayovac PS1 (uses 200 mA) for AA batteries. It is also allegedly smart and designed to be used with eneloop LSD (low self-discharge) batteries.
While it works well and is a pleasure to use, while not taking much space, it has a significant (for me) problem. Even though it is designed to recharge eneloop and eneloop pro batteries, it should chanrge regular Panasonic and other NiMH batteries. And this is where it failed me.
eneloop AAA charged perfectly, But Rayovac AA NiMH batteries I have used for many years and can still recharge fine in the Raoyovac PS1 charger did not charge at all. The LED lights would blink and no charging would happen.
Non-eneloop Panasonic batteries charge fine.
Instead of going through the hassle of returning the charger and getting something more expensive, I plan on using it for batteries other than Raoyovac and charge those in the PS1 charger.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Some "grass-fed" beef probably isn't
I have been buying grass-fed beef for several years now. The reasons were few: health benefits through better Omega-3 content, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), more vitamins, better treatment of animals. And the game-y, beefy flavor.
The problem is when I bought grass-fed beef from the local California Hearst Ranch and from Trader Joe's (New Zealand grass-fed beef), the beef had visibly little fat marbling and had that distinctive gamy (wild game-like) flavor, but when I bought so-called grass-fed beef at some other retailers, the flavor was the same as the regular, corn/whatever-junk-they-can-find-fed beef. In some cases, there also was suspiciously too much fat in the meat.
Examples:
The problem is when I bought grass-fed beef from the local California Hearst Ranch and from Trader Joe's (New Zealand grass-fed beef), the beef had visibly little fat marbling and had that distinctive gamy (wild game-like) flavor, but when I bought so-called grass-fed beef at some other retailers, the flavor was the same as the regular, corn/whatever-junk-they-can-find-fed beef. In some cases, there also was suspiciously too much fat in the meat.
Examples:
- Costco used to sell packs of grass-fed organic beef sourced from Uruguay. The beef didn't taste grass-fed, was tough and chewey.
- So-called grass-fed beef bought at Ralphs had a lot of fat streaks and didn't taste grass-fed, despite being allegedly grass-fed, organic and locally raised in California.
- In some other instances, beef called grass-fed didn't taste as such
Friday, September 5, 2014
2008 Infiniti G35 Sport Sedan - Inexpensive and Sporty
The Infiniti dealership I go to for service is nice enough to provide loners with any service other than fast ones (e.g. oil change). When my 2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan was almost 5 years old and had quite a few warranty-related issues and recalls and currently required services like coolant change and brake service, I got to drive Infiniti loners quite a lot.
Over the ownership period of my G35, I drove G35s of different model years and equipment levels as well as the FX35. Currently, I am driving the new 2008 Infiniti G35. I drove a 2007 model before and was impressed with changes and improvements over the previous generations, but not quite enough to make a switch. The 2008 model is very similar to the 2007 one, but with a couple of improvements.
I will go over the car's features and performance as well as the improvements over the last year's model/models and the ownership/maintenance experience with 2004 model, which is relevant to both 2004 and 2007 models (you will see why). I would like to mention here that although I like the 2008 G35 and the current incentives make its price very low, there will be new Infiniti G37 sedan hitting dealerships somewhere around September. It will include bigger engine from the current G37 coupe and, most likely, 7-speed automatic transmission as well as self-healing paint. I am anxious to drive that model.
More Info
The 2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan is a rear-wheel drive car with a 3.5-liter V6 engine, which produces 306 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque (with either a 5-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission). The power in the model I got (Journey) is routed through the 5-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels. Also available are an AWD version (G35x) as well as a rear wheel drive model with a 6-speed manual transmission (G35S).
The new 3.5-liter V6 engine is improved over the VQ35DE of the 2003-2006 models, including the rev-up version of thereof, which was installed on 6-speed 2005-2006 models and featured more power through the use of variable exhaust timing in addition to the standard variable intake timing. Some rev-up engines sadly developed appetite for motor oil (excessive oil consumption problems), although this is not entirely relevant to the discussion of the 2008 G35.
The new engine, VQ35HR, is more rigid, features better cooling, longer connecting rods for less friction/lateral forces, iridium-tipped spark plugs, dual intakes with individual throttles and air filter elements as well as dual exhaust with equal-length headers. The 306 hp (SAE) is achieved even disregarding the ram air effect that, according to Infiniti, adds extra 3 hp at 60 mph.
The car features 52/48 weight distribution front to rear and has aluminum suspension components. The standard-issue G35 has zero-lift front aerodynamics and feels very stable at high speeds. It also features LED stoplights, which illuminate faster and last longer than conventional lights.
The front features HID bi-xenon headlights. The brakes have electronic force distribution, ABS, vehicle dynamic control and brake assist. The G35 has front, side and head-curtain airbags as well as active head restraints (they move forward in rear-end collisions helping to prevent whiplash). It got great crash-test ratings in both front and side impacts.
You can get more information elsewhere, but I just have to say that I believe that the G35 is a great bargain: the interior space of a BMW 528 with more power for the price of the stripped BMW 328. Of course, there are other variables involved, even aside from the BMW's legendary handling and free maintenance. And then there is the new twin-turbo 335i with over 300 hp and lots of torque. But then, the BMWs are also legendary for their use of super-expensive (to replace) run-flat tires and not-so-stellar reliability.
Regardless, the car I am currently driving is the 2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan Journey. Journey models include Dual-Zone Automatic Temperature Control. All G35 models include tons of features, including Power Windows, locks, Intelligent Key with keyless entry and pushbutton ignition, etc.
Pricing
The review was originally written in mid-2008, Although usually the G35 costs slightly over $30K in real-world prices for the very well-equipped base G35, you can currently get one for less than $29K. This is most likely due to housing/economy-induced car sales declines, gas prices and the fact that the new 2009 models are just around the corner.
The Journey adds dual-zone climate control and replaces the CD player with a 6-CD changer for less than $500. G35x has four-wheel drive and the G35S comes with 6-speed manual. Instead of the last year’s G35S Auto you now have to order G35 Journey with Sport Package (auto has magnesium paddle shifters and will have G35’s sport seats, bigger wheels and tires and front spoiler). Sadly, you still cannot get sport seats, etc. combined with wood interior and/or Journey’s front spoiler (I like it better than G35S’s).
Fully-loaded G35 with premium package, navigation, rear-view camera and 4-wheel steering can still be bought for well under $40K (street price currently; no taxes or fees included in numbers herein).
Improvements Over the 2007 Model
There are a handful of improvements over the 2007 G35: available iPod integration, driver soundstage feature of the Bose Studio On Wheels and minor refinements.
Improvements Over the 2003-2006 Models
Comparing with the previous generation, I noticed improvements immediately. The exterior looks much more sporty and stylish and more modern. The interior features significantly better materials and easier-to-use controls, including the screen. The buttons and controls seem to have better feel.
The gauges and displays don't seem to suffer from backlight as much as they do in my 2004 model. The strange orange backlight is gone and is replaced by more conventional red/blue/white illumination scheme. The steering wheel has better leather cover with seams that no longer under your fingers.
The seats have better shape and seemingly slightly better leather. The armrests on doors and center are soft and leather (or leatherette) covered. This is unlike my 2004 G35, which has plastic that tries (but not nearly hard enough) to look like leather.
I like the intelligent key feature. You do not have to remove the key from your pocket, just push the button to unlock the car and push the button in the dash to start the engine.
The car seems to be quieter in the engine noise at low revs and the noise under full throttle is more refined.
The car I am currently driving has Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires as opposed to my car's Bridgestone Turanza EL42 (which I gladly replaced with much better Yokohama YK520 before they wore out, so terrible they were). The steering feels more precise but there seems to be more tire noise.
The interior uses real aluminum trim and, unlike 2003-2006 models I have driven, this particular car has no rattles. I prefer wood interiors, but this particular aluminum trim uses interesting texture inspired by washi paper. I like it better than the pattern on the BMW X3s I have driven a while ago.
Brakes
The brakes are a little disappointing. They are squishy, whereas I enjoyed 2003-2004-style grabby brake pads more. The brakes have been redesigned for 2005 to deal with excessive wear and I have not liked them since, not in this 2008 model either. Maybe the ones on the G35S are better.
I have read a lot of complaints about 2003 and 2004 models brakes that would wear out rather quickly, sometimes supposedly by 10,000 miles. My 2004 model wore them out in 15K (and I don't tailgate, even in heavy traffic and use lower gears going downhill in the mountains), but Infiniti recognized the problem and offered free brake service for 2003 and 2004 models up to 3 years or 36,000 miles.
To avoid these issues, the newer models have longer-lasting pad with less initial bite. I dislike them. And they still squeal occasionally, especially in cold weather. The 2008 model is no exception. It is practical to have longer-lasting brakes and they do work very well when the force is applied. But if you want better-feeling brakes, try the sport package.
Engine Compartment
I like to do some of the maintenance myself. The older models were a PITA in this respect: engine lid used a prop rod, the oil dipstick has more bends and twists than a politician’s answer to a direct question, the air filter replacement required removal of the air intake pipe.
The new G35 is much better. The hood uses gas-filled struts, the dipstick is in front and easy to use, the dual air filters are replaceable in 2 minutes. And the engine cover no longer looks like a Batman's chest plate.
The new engine pulls very well. The old VQ35DE would seem to run out of breath as it approached the redline, probably due to the restrictive single intake and exhaust. The WOT sound was a, quite mechanical, angry growl. It is a bit unrefined but I still like it.
The new one does not run out of breath and keeps pulling in linear fashion up to redline, all while making awesome sounds - refined yet powerful.
Interior
The car is roomy inside and I find the seat very comfortable, due in part to the adjustable lumbar support. There is plenty of leg room up front and in the back seat. The wheel tilts together with the instrument cluster. The Premium Package gives you the power tilting/telescoping and the wheel automatically moves up when the door is open to ease getting out.
The car has a dual automatic climate control, which is easy to use. The audio control buttons on the steering wheel make it easy to control the CD playback or radio without even looking. The steering wheel is convenient and has buttons for cruise control as well as for audio control functions. The back seat does not fold, but has a pass-through with an arm rest for the back passengers, which doubles as the cup holders.
Intelligent Key
The Intelligent Key itself looks like an egg-shaped remote control. It has buttons to lock/unlock doors, lock the trunk or sound panic alarm.
You can lock/unlock the car or unlock the trunk by pushing buttons on the remote. Alternatively, you can unlock the trunk by pushing a button on the rear of the car, while having the IK in your pocket. In the same manner you can lock/unlock the front doors by pushing a small black button on the outside door handle (the car will beep).
I have discovered the small annoyance here. If the car is locked and you push this button on the passenger side first, the passenger door unlocks (but not the driver's door). If you then push the button on the driver's side, instead of unlocking it, all locks will become locked.
Exterior
The standard 17-inch aluminum wheels look nice and are fitted with 225mm V-rated Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires (the sports package equipped cars get W-rated tires in 225mm front, 245mm rears on 18-inch wheels).
The outside power heated mirrors can be folded (manually). I love the new exterior styling, but it makes rearward visibility from the driver's seat somewhat worse than before.
Trunk
The trunk is relatively roomy and has a cargo net. The opening is quite large and the trunk lid has gas-filled struts. The trunk can be opened from the cabin or by pressing a button on the remote. The trunk lid has a handle on the inside to close the lid without having to touch the outside (possibly dirty) surface, as well as the glowing-in-the-dark release handle.
Handling
My 2004 G35 handles really well, but the tires (Bridgestone Turanza EL42) were disappointing and it doesn't handle as a BMW 3 series I drove in BMW performance driving school.
The 2008 model with Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires seems to handle better (maybe due to the tires and better steering) but I keep the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) on, even though there is an off switch because the car still can lift-throttle-oversteers.
The new G35 does feel solid and more planted than the older models. It also (in non-sport trim) has reasonably compliant suspension. And it corners and brakes quite flat. But it still feels a bit heavy and the brakes require too much effort, which inspires no confidence.
Brakes
As described above, the brakes are now less sensitive (comparing to the 2003-2004 models) and easier to modulate and are supposed to last longer.
Transmission
The 5-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly and does not hesitate to downshift. The shifts seem to be even smoother on 2008 model than on 2005, perhaps the engine now matches the revs better/faster. The G35's transmission works well enough in the full auto mode. Plus, the car is available with the 6-speed manual transmission.
The manual shifting is available as well. You choose the gear, not the range of gears. The car even shifts to 1st gear once you come to a stop. The shifting is pretty fast and the car matches revs almost instantaneously - a feature that was handy in the mountains.
Another benefit of the updated transmission is the car provides more engine braking and it, together with the better engine, improves fuel economy. I averaged 25 MPG in mixed city/freeway driving whereas in my 2004 G35 I can never get over 24 MPG, even in all-freeway driving. The instant-MPG readout in the instrument cluster probably helps here too.
Maintenance
Unlike BMW, Mercedes, Volvo or Audi, which provide you with free scheduled maintenance for 3-4 years, you have to pay for your maintenance with Infiniti. BMW and Mercedes cars have flexible service system which tells you when to change the oil (10K-15K miles).
The G35 has 3 service schedules, with driving in ideal conditions requiring oil changes every 7,500 miles. Two other schedules - preferred (for people who are paranoid or have OCD) and severe (for all others) - require oil changes every 3,750 miles.
The manual explicitly states that Infiniti recommends mineral-based oils. Based on experience with my 2004 models, the maintenance costs at the dealership are pretty high. Although I can pay $21 for oil changes at my dealership since I bought car here (regular price is $50), I paid $130 for 7.5K mile service, which included only oil change, tire rotation and a couple of inspections. This is not counting the annual (or 15K miles, whichever comes first) in-cabin air filter replacement that dealerships normally want about $100 for.
Worse, I was quoted almost $500 for 15K maintenance, which included an oil change, tire rotation and some inspections. After I asked to have service elements itemized, the service advisor agreed to perform the 15K service for $170. Still a rip-off, but at least I got a loner car.
Do It Yourself (a.k.a. DIY)
I do some maintenance items myself. Replacing the in-cabin microfilter normally costs $80-120, but you can do it yourself for about $30 (price of the filter). You have to remove the glove box, but it is doable.
Some items require less maintenance than in other cars. The new iridium-tipped spark plugs need replacement every 105K. The engine uses long-lasting timing chain rather than timing belt, which would need replacement every 60-100 K.
The engine air filters are now easy to replace. One gripe I have is - why can't Infiniti develop a system similar to Honda's Maintenance Minder? Even GM has oil life monitors that tell you when to change oil based on how you drive. I have to stick with the conservative 3,750-mile interval instead (I like to employ Wide Open Throttle technique sometimes). This is probably the shortest oil change interval of all manufacturers, which is not good for me or the planet.
Even Lexus does not ask you to change oil as often, let alone Volvo or Audi even with their turbocharged engines. If Infiniti positions itself as a luxury vehicle manufacturer, do they not consider the time of their target client segment valuable? Using a good synthetic oil would not only allow them extent the oil change interval, but would also improve the cold engine startup wear somewhat. I just don't understand why they don't do this.
Fuel
The manual recommends Premium 91-octane, but permits operation on Regular 87 if you have to. But I am sure you don't. Buying a 30K+ car with over 300 hp only to try to save a few bucks at a price of performance is just silly. Plus you might not save much money, if any. Using lower-octane gas reduces performance and fuel economy.
The fuel tank holds 20 gallons. I averaged 25 mpg in mixed city/highway driving, which is much better than the 22-23 MPG I average in my 2004 G35 in the same kind of driving.
Safety
The car was crash-tested and got the best (GOOD) rating in the frontal and side crash tests. The previous generation of G35 had the lowest driver fatality rate among sedans, the same as BMW 7-series and second only to Chevy Astro minivan. The G35 had 11 fatalities for each 1 million vehicle-miles, same as the BMW 7-series. For comparison, Volvo S40 was somewhere in 40-60 range, Honda Accord and VW Passat in 30-40, similar to Volvo S60, BMW 3 and 5 and Mercedes C and E.
Not Good
There is nothing terrible with the new G35, it is just not as much improvement as I expected. The new handsome look inside and out is appreciable at a first sight, but it is still no Lexus or Acura.
The leather is no match for Lexus or Acura hides. The dash uses plastic that looks better than the old G35, but still no match for the above two. The engine start/stop button on Lexus models looks much better.
The trip computer buttons were sticking as I was using them. The tire roar seems to be worse than in the previous generation, but this should mostly depend on the tire model and on how worn the tires are.
The steering is definitely better in both feel and precision, but steering assist changes very drastically with speed and it gets a little scary if you turn while slowing down dramatically and also because of the way the steering wheel obtains a life of its own when you enter roads with different grip under left and right sides of the car.
The value content, which has always been the G35's strong characteristic is higher than ever. The other players from Acura, Lexus, BWM, Audi or Mercedes are pricier. And new BMW and Mercedes models do not inspire me from the interior or exterior design perspective.
But there are things that seem to have been missed. Why do I still have to change oil every 3,750 miles? Why does my mother's Honda Accord have a flexible oil life (and overall maintenance) monitor while being 50% of the price of the G35? Why do I have to pay extra for Premium package to get the ability to open all 4 windows remotely, whereas the cheapest base 2007 Honda Accord VP (that's Value Package, folks), purchased for $16.4K provided this feature?
Could Infiniti spend a few extra bucks on better materials and wheel arch insulation? Why still 5-speed auto, whereas most others use 6-7 speeds? Why introduce VVEL on a G37 coupe and not on the G35?
These are rhetorical questions, of course. And some of them will hopefully be answered with the 2009 G37 7-speed auto.
When I remind myself about how much power the 2008 G35 has, how little it costs, its features, its controls' ease of use, its engine sound, ease of maintenance, its beautiful exterior and much improved interior, I stop thinking about negatives.
The 2008 G35 is an evolutionary step and a good one. A significant improvement on the previous generation with some flaws left over. Let's hope Infiniti eliminates most of them by the time I part with my 2004 G35. Otherwise it might be a used Porsche in my future.
The 2009 model has the VVEL-equipped 328hp 3.7-liter V6 (the same as in 2008 G37 coupe), 7-speed auto, self-healing paint, slightly improved interior, new [ugly] wheel design for the Sport package and more refinements. I wish it had cooled seats and significantly improved fuel economy. But the 7-speed transmission and VVEL help with the MPG and acceleration.
Pros: Price, features, excellent engine, acceleration, handling, looks, seats, safety
Cons: Rear seats do not fold, tire noise, no vented seats, maintenance intervals
Bottom Line
The improved 2008 G35 is a good car and I highly recommend it for the price. Just make sure you are OK with less than stellar fuel economy and check the car for rattles before buying. If you can pay a little more though, go for the 2009 G37.
Over the ownership period of my G35, I drove G35s of different model years and equipment levels as well as the FX35. Currently, I am driving the new 2008 Infiniti G35. I drove a 2007 model before and was impressed with changes and improvements over the previous generations, but not quite enough to make a switch. The 2008 model is very similar to the 2007 one, but with a couple of improvements.
I will go over the car's features and performance as well as the improvements over the last year's model/models and the ownership/maintenance experience with 2004 model, which is relevant to both 2004 and 2007 models (you will see why). I would like to mention here that although I like the 2008 G35 and the current incentives make its price very low, there will be new Infiniti G37 sedan hitting dealerships somewhere around September. It will include bigger engine from the current G37 coupe and, most likely, 7-speed automatic transmission as well as self-healing paint. I am anxious to drive that model.
More Info
The 2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan is a rear-wheel drive car with a 3.5-liter V6 engine, which produces 306 horsepower and 270 lb-ft of torque (with either a 5-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission). The power in the model I got (Journey) is routed through the 5-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels. Also available are an AWD version (G35x) as well as a rear wheel drive model with a 6-speed manual transmission (G35S).
The new 3.5-liter V6 engine is improved over the VQ35DE of the 2003-2006 models, including the rev-up version of thereof, which was installed on 6-speed 2005-2006 models and featured more power through the use of variable exhaust timing in addition to the standard variable intake timing. Some rev-up engines sadly developed appetite for motor oil (excessive oil consumption problems), although this is not entirely relevant to the discussion of the 2008 G35.
The new engine, VQ35HR, is more rigid, features better cooling, longer connecting rods for less friction/lateral forces, iridium-tipped spark plugs, dual intakes with individual throttles and air filter elements as well as dual exhaust with equal-length headers. The 306 hp (SAE) is achieved even disregarding the ram air effect that, according to Infiniti, adds extra 3 hp at 60 mph.
The car features 52/48 weight distribution front to rear and has aluminum suspension components. The standard-issue G35 has zero-lift front aerodynamics and feels very stable at high speeds. It also features LED stoplights, which illuminate faster and last longer than conventional lights.
The front features HID bi-xenon headlights. The brakes have electronic force distribution, ABS, vehicle dynamic control and brake assist. The G35 has front, side and head-curtain airbags as well as active head restraints (they move forward in rear-end collisions helping to prevent whiplash). It got great crash-test ratings in both front and side impacts.
You can get more information elsewhere, but I just have to say that I believe that the G35 is a great bargain: the interior space of a BMW 528 with more power for the price of the stripped BMW 328. Of course, there are other variables involved, even aside from the BMW's legendary handling and free maintenance. And then there is the new twin-turbo 335i with over 300 hp and lots of torque. But then, the BMWs are also legendary for their use of super-expensive (to replace) run-flat tires and not-so-stellar reliability.
Regardless, the car I am currently driving is the 2008 Infiniti G35 Sedan Journey. Journey models include Dual-Zone Automatic Temperature Control. All G35 models include tons of features, including Power Windows, locks, Intelligent Key with keyless entry and pushbutton ignition, etc.
Pricing
The review was originally written in mid-2008, Although usually the G35 costs slightly over $30K in real-world prices for the very well-equipped base G35, you can currently get one for less than $29K. This is most likely due to housing/economy-induced car sales declines, gas prices and the fact that the new 2009 models are just around the corner.
The Journey adds dual-zone climate control and replaces the CD player with a 6-CD changer for less than $500. G35x has four-wheel drive and the G35S comes with 6-speed manual. Instead of the last year’s G35S Auto you now have to order G35 Journey with Sport Package (auto has magnesium paddle shifters and will have G35’s sport seats, bigger wheels and tires and front spoiler). Sadly, you still cannot get sport seats, etc. combined with wood interior and/or Journey’s front spoiler (I like it better than G35S’s).
Fully-loaded G35 with premium package, navigation, rear-view camera and 4-wheel steering can still be bought for well under $40K (street price currently; no taxes or fees included in numbers herein).
Improvements Over the 2007 Model
There are a handful of improvements over the 2007 G35: available iPod integration, driver soundstage feature of the Bose Studio On Wheels and minor refinements.
Improvements Over the 2003-2006 Models
Comparing with the previous generation, I noticed improvements immediately. The exterior looks much more sporty and stylish and more modern. The interior features significantly better materials and easier-to-use controls, including the screen. The buttons and controls seem to have better feel.
The gauges and displays don't seem to suffer from backlight as much as they do in my 2004 model. The strange orange backlight is gone and is replaced by more conventional red/blue/white illumination scheme. The steering wheel has better leather cover with seams that no longer under your fingers.
The seats have better shape and seemingly slightly better leather. The armrests on doors and center are soft and leather (or leatherette) covered. This is unlike my 2004 G35, which has plastic that tries (but not nearly hard enough) to look like leather.
I like the intelligent key feature. You do not have to remove the key from your pocket, just push the button to unlock the car and push the button in the dash to start the engine.
The car seems to be quieter in the engine noise at low revs and the noise under full throttle is more refined.
The car I am currently driving has Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires as opposed to my car's Bridgestone Turanza EL42 (which I gladly replaced with much better Yokohama YK520 before they wore out, so terrible they were). The steering feels more precise but there seems to be more tire noise.
The interior uses real aluminum trim and, unlike 2003-2006 models I have driven, this particular car has no rattles. I prefer wood interiors, but this particular aluminum trim uses interesting texture inspired by washi paper. I like it better than the pattern on the BMW X3s I have driven a while ago.
Brakes
The brakes are a little disappointing. They are squishy, whereas I enjoyed 2003-2004-style grabby brake pads more. The brakes have been redesigned for 2005 to deal with excessive wear and I have not liked them since, not in this 2008 model either. Maybe the ones on the G35S are better.
I have read a lot of complaints about 2003 and 2004 models brakes that would wear out rather quickly, sometimes supposedly by 10,000 miles. My 2004 model wore them out in 15K (and I don't tailgate, even in heavy traffic and use lower gears going downhill in the mountains), but Infiniti recognized the problem and offered free brake service for 2003 and 2004 models up to 3 years or 36,000 miles.
To avoid these issues, the newer models have longer-lasting pad with less initial bite. I dislike them. And they still squeal occasionally, especially in cold weather. The 2008 model is no exception. It is practical to have longer-lasting brakes and they do work very well when the force is applied. But if you want better-feeling brakes, try the sport package.
Engine Compartment
I like to do some of the maintenance myself. The older models were a PITA in this respect: engine lid used a prop rod, the oil dipstick has more bends and twists than a politician’s answer to a direct question, the air filter replacement required removal of the air intake pipe.
The new G35 is much better. The hood uses gas-filled struts, the dipstick is in front and easy to use, the dual air filters are replaceable in 2 minutes. And the engine cover no longer looks like a Batman's chest plate.
The new engine pulls very well. The old VQ35DE would seem to run out of breath as it approached the redline, probably due to the restrictive single intake and exhaust. The WOT sound was a, quite mechanical, angry growl. It is a bit unrefined but I still like it.
The new one does not run out of breath and keeps pulling in linear fashion up to redline, all while making awesome sounds - refined yet powerful.
Interior
The car is roomy inside and I find the seat very comfortable, due in part to the adjustable lumbar support. There is plenty of leg room up front and in the back seat. The wheel tilts together with the instrument cluster. The Premium Package gives you the power tilting/telescoping and the wheel automatically moves up when the door is open to ease getting out.
The car has a dual automatic climate control, which is easy to use. The audio control buttons on the steering wheel make it easy to control the CD playback or radio without even looking. The steering wheel is convenient and has buttons for cruise control as well as for audio control functions. The back seat does not fold, but has a pass-through with an arm rest for the back passengers, which doubles as the cup holders.
Intelligent Key
The Intelligent Key itself looks like an egg-shaped remote control. It has buttons to lock/unlock doors, lock the trunk or sound panic alarm.
You can lock/unlock the car or unlock the trunk by pushing buttons on the remote. Alternatively, you can unlock the trunk by pushing a button on the rear of the car, while having the IK in your pocket. In the same manner you can lock/unlock the front doors by pushing a small black button on the outside door handle (the car will beep).
I have discovered the small annoyance here. If the car is locked and you push this button on the passenger side first, the passenger door unlocks (but not the driver's door). If you then push the button on the driver's side, instead of unlocking it, all locks will become locked.
Exterior
The standard 17-inch aluminum wheels look nice and are fitted with 225mm V-rated Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires (the sports package equipped cars get W-rated tires in 225mm front, 245mm rears on 18-inch wheels).
The outside power heated mirrors can be folded (manually). I love the new exterior styling, but it makes rearward visibility from the driver's seat somewhat worse than before.
Trunk
The trunk is relatively roomy and has a cargo net. The opening is quite large and the trunk lid has gas-filled struts. The trunk can be opened from the cabin or by pressing a button on the remote. The trunk lid has a handle on the inside to close the lid without having to touch the outside (possibly dirty) surface, as well as the glowing-in-the-dark release handle.
Handling
My 2004 G35 handles really well, but the tires (Bridgestone Turanza EL42) were disappointing and it doesn't handle as a BMW 3 series I drove in BMW performance driving school.
The 2008 model with Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires seems to handle better (maybe due to the tires and better steering) but I keep the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) on, even though there is an off switch because the car still can lift-throttle-oversteers.
The new G35 does feel solid and more planted than the older models. It also (in non-sport trim) has reasonably compliant suspension. And it corners and brakes quite flat. But it still feels a bit heavy and the brakes require too much effort, which inspires no confidence.
Brakes
As described above, the brakes are now less sensitive (comparing to the 2003-2004 models) and easier to modulate and are supposed to last longer.
Transmission
The 5-speed automatic transmission shifts smoothly and does not hesitate to downshift. The shifts seem to be even smoother on 2008 model than on 2005, perhaps the engine now matches the revs better/faster. The G35's transmission works well enough in the full auto mode. Plus, the car is available with the 6-speed manual transmission.
The manual shifting is available as well. You choose the gear, not the range of gears. The car even shifts to 1st gear once you come to a stop. The shifting is pretty fast and the car matches revs almost instantaneously - a feature that was handy in the mountains.
Another benefit of the updated transmission is the car provides more engine braking and it, together with the better engine, improves fuel economy. I averaged 25 MPG in mixed city/freeway driving whereas in my 2004 G35 I can never get over 24 MPG, even in all-freeway driving. The instant-MPG readout in the instrument cluster probably helps here too.
Maintenance
Unlike BMW, Mercedes, Volvo or Audi, which provide you with free scheduled maintenance for 3-4 years, you have to pay for your maintenance with Infiniti. BMW and Mercedes cars have flexible service system which tells you when to change the oil (10K-15K miles).
The G35 has 3 service schedules, with driving in ideal conditions requiring oil changes every 7,500 miles. Two other schedules - preferred (for people who are paranoid or have OCD) and severe (for all others) - require oil changes every 3,750 miles.
The manual explicitly states that Infiniti recommends mineral-based oils. Based on experience with my 2004 models, the maintenance costs at the dealership are pretty high. Although I can pay $21 for oil changes at my dealership since I bought car here (regular price is $50), I paid $130 for 7.5K mile service, which included only oil change, tire rotation and a couple of inspections. This is not counting the annual (or 15K miles, whichever comes first) in-cabin air filter replacement that dealerships normally want about $100 for.
Worse, I was quoted almost $500 for 15K maintenance, which included an oil change, tire rotation and some inspections. After I asked to have service elements itemized, the service advisor agreed to perform the 15K service for $170. Still a rip-off, but at least I got a loner car.
Do It Yourself (a.k.a. DIY)
I do some maintenance items myself. Replacing the in-cabin microfilter normally costs $80-120, but you can do it yourself for about $30 (price of the filter). You have to remove the glove box, but it is doable.
Some items require less maintenance than in other cars. The new iridium-tipped spark plugs need replacement every 105K. The engine uses long-lasting timing chain rather than timing belt, which would need replacement every 60-100 K.
The engine air filters are now easy to replace. One gripe I have is - why can't Infiniti develop a system similar to Honda's Maintenance Minder? Even GM has oil life monitors that tell you when to change oil based on how you drive. I have to stick with the conservative 3,750-mile interval instead (I like to employ Wide Open Throttle technique sometimes). This is probably the shortest oil change interval of all manufacturers, which is not good for me or the planet.
Even Lexus does not ask you to change oil as often, let alone Volvo or Audi even with their turbocharged engines. If Infiniti positions itself as a luxury vehicle manufacturer, do they not consider the time of their target client segment valuable? Using a good synthetic oil would not only allow them extent the oil change interval, but would also improve the cold engine startup wear somewhat. I just don't understand why they don't do this.
Fuel
The manual recommends Premium 91-octane, but permits operation on Regular 87 if you have to. But I am sure you don't. Buying a 30K+ car with over 300 hp only to try to save a few bucks at a price of performance is just silly. Plus you might not save much money, if any. Using lower-octane gas reduces performance and fuel economy.
The fuel tank holds 20 gallons. I averaged 25 mpg in mixed city/highway driving, which is much better than the 22-23 MPG I average in my 2004 G35 in the same kind of driving.
Safety
The car was crash-tested and got the best (GOOD) rating in the frontal and side crash tests. The previous generation of G35 had the lowest driver fatality rate among sedans, the same as BMW 7-series and second only to Chevy Astro minivan. The G35 had 11 fatalities for each 1 million vehicle-miles, same as the BMW 7-series. For comparison, Volvo S40 was somewhere in 40-60 range, Honda Accord and VW Passat in 30-40, similar to Volvo S60, BMW 3 and 5 and Mercedes C and E.
Not Good
There is nothing terrible with the new G35, it is just not as much improvement as I expected. The new handsome look inside and out is appreciable at a first sight, but it is still no Lexus or Acura.
The leather is no match for Lexus or Acura hides. The dash uses plastic that looks better than the old G35, but still no match for the above two. The engine start/stop button on Lexus models looks much better.
The trip computer buttons were sticking as I was using them. The tire roar seems to be worse than in the previous generation, but this should mostly depend on the tire model and on how worn the tires are.
The steering is definitely better in both feel and precision, but steering assist changes very drastically with speed and it gets a little scary if you turn while slowing down dramatically and also because of the way the steering wheel obtains a life of its own when you enter roads with different grip under left and right sides of the car.
The value content, which has always been the G35's strong characteristic is higher than ever. The other players from Acura, Lexus, BWM, Audi or Mercedes are pricier. And new BMW and Mercedes models do not inspire me from the interior or exterior design perspective.
But there are things that seem to have been missed. Why do I still have to change oil every 3,750 miles? Why does my mother's Honda Accord have a flexible oil life (and overall maintenance) monitor while being 50% of the price of the G35? Why do I have to pay extra for Premium package to get the ability to open all 4 windows remotely, whereas the cheapest base 2007 Honda Accord VP (that's Value Package, folks), purchased for $16.4K provided this feature?
Could Infiniti spend a few extra bucks on better materials and wheel arch insulation? Why still 5-speed auto, whereas most others use 6-7 speeds? Why introduce VVEL on a G37 coupe and not on the G35?
These are rhetorical questions, of course. And some of them will hopefully be answered with the 2009 G37 7-speed auto.
When I remind myself about how much power the 2008 G35 has, how little it costs, its features, its controls' ease of use, its engine sound, ease of maintenance, its beautiful exterior and much improved interior, I stop thinking about negatives.
The 2008 G35 is an evolutionary step and a good one. A significant improvement on the previous generation with some flaws left over. Let's hope Infiniti eliminates most of them by the time I part with my 2004 G35. Otherwise it might be a used Porsche in my future.
The 2009 model has the VVEL-equipped 328hp 3.7-liter V6 (the same as in 2008 G37 coupe), 7-speed auto, self-healing paint, slightly improved interior, new [ugly] wheel design for the Sport package and more refinements. I wish it had cooled seats and significantly improved fuel economy. But the 7-speed transmission and VVEL help with the MPG and acceleration.
Pros: Price, features, excellent engine, acceleration, handling, looks, seats, safety
Cons: Rear seats do not fold, tire noise, no vented seats, maintenance intervals
Bottom Line
The improved 2008 G35 is a good car and I highly recommend it for the price. Just make sure you are OK with less than stellar fuel economy and check the car for rattles before buying. If you can pay a little more though, go for the 2009 G37.
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
Panasonic Viera TH-42PX80U 42-inch 720p HDTV Plasma TV
I bought the 42-inch 720p plasma Panasonic TH-42PX80U for my mother's bedroom, where it has been hanging on the wall for the last 3.5 years (as of 03/2012). The TV was less than $700 delivered (after the Live! rebate). Obviously, it is smaller than the 50-inch 1080p Panasonic TH-50PZ800U I reviewed earlier, has slightly lower resolution and costs about 50% less, but is it much worse?
My other point of comparison is the Hitachi P50H401 50-inch plasma TV that I bought for $1,150 (delivery and taxes included) at about the same time.
Features
The Panasonic TH-42PX80U is a 42-inch plasma HDTV with 720p resolution. It features 3 HDMI inputs (including one in front), 2 S-video (1 in front), 2 component video and 2 composite video inputs (1 in front). There is also an antenna jack and an SD card slot for viewing pictures.
The HDMI inputs are v 1.3 compliant and TV features Deep Color and x.v.Color support.
The screen has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, Motion Adaptive 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter, MPEG noise reduction and a built-in HD tuner. It also has a Game Mode, Cinema Mode, Standard, Vivid and Custom modes and features anti-reflective coating to reduce unwanted light reflections.
The TV weighs only 57 lbs without the stand or 62 lbs with it (included). The TV features 2 built-in speakers with audio output of up to 20W qt 10% THD at 70-17,000 Hz.
The TV also features VIERA Link, which allows you operate other compatible Panasonic devices connected to it via HDMI using one remote.
Usage
The TV comes with a stand that requires minimal assembly. As I mentioned before, I mounted this TV on the wall using a generic TV mounting bracket. The mounting was rather straightforward. I removed four plastic plugs on the rear panel of the TV, attached the two metal plates to the back of the TV with the supplied bolts using the holes exposed by removing the aforementioned plugs.
Then, I attached the bracket to the wall and hung the TV on it.
The TV is very nice looking and will match seemingly any decor. The 50PZ800U looks slightly better though. Thus far, I used the TV with off the air programming, as well as with the Philips DVP5990 upconverting DVD player. The player was connected to the TV using its HDMI input.
I also briefly tried the TV's component video connections (the image quality was almost as good, but slightly softer).
Unlike some other HDTVs (namely my Hitachi), the powering on and switching between channels (as well as menu operations) are rather fast. When switching channels, the sound appears within one second and image within two. The menus appear almost instantaneously. My Hitachi is almost infuriatingly slow in this regard, especially after using this Panasonic.
The menus are intuitive and the setup was easy. In fact, the TV offered me to select the menu language and scan for channels. After channel scan, you can select/deselect channels that will be stored or skipped.
The remote control is relatively intuitive with large buttons for primary functions. The buttons are not backlit, but the layout is intuitive and they have great tactile response.
One more feature that makes this TV better than my Hitachi is the fact that you don't have to enter the entire channel number, e.g. 4-4. If you hit 4 and Select and the TV goes to the first channel that is not unselected while setting the channels up.
Picture Quality
Out of the box, the TV produced very good picture, but (as is always the case) had over-boosted color and sharpness. It has Cinema mode, which is better. With other TVs, I use AVIA calibration DVD, but I was able to find recommended settings for this TV online and they did work very well (I adjusted Custom setting).
The settings removed over-boosted color saturation, edge enhancement and contrast, making picture appear more natural and film-like.
The TV produces excellent image quality. It produces excellent contrast, great colors, shadow and highlight detail. The skin tones are very good also.
The colors are vivid, yet natural. The foliage is very natural as well and the textures are well-defined due to great shadow detail and dynamic range.
The off the air programming, especially 1080i sports broadcasts, look excellent. The TV has a good tuner that can pull in as many channels as my Hitachi's.
Thanks to the anti-reflective coating, the TV, unlike many plasmas, does not suffer from excessive glare and is even better in this aspect that a CRT TV. It is even slightly better than my Hitachi and unlike Hitachi it does not sacrifice black level. The black level of Panasonic TVs is excellent and is among the best in business (same as Pioneer Kuro without its steep piece tag).
In this aspect, as well as in natural colors Panasonic TVs are among the best plasma or LCD TVs and this TV is no exception. It also holds details perfectly in both shadows and highlights. No LCD TVs cannot compare to the color reproduction or smooth motion of this TV - the areas where LCD TVs are lagging plasma technology.
The viewing angle is also excellent. I can see the images on TV while watching it almost perpendicular to the normal angle of view, which is not something LCD TVs can offer either.
I use the DVD player set to 720p over HDMI connection as well as off the air HD programming. Each input remembers its own settings, so make sure you adjust contrast, etc. for all of them.
Despite being a 720p TV (as opposed to 1080p resolution of pricier PZ800 series), the pictures have excellent cinema-like appearance in either 1080i or 720p resolution. For the size and viewing distance (about 7 feet), the 720p is as high of a resolution as is needed. The detail level is excellent.
The standard-def programming is slightly fuzzy after watching high-def, but it is not something I would be concerned about.
Resolutions: The TV can display material at resolutions of up to 1080p (inlcuding 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i). Standard-definition signal looks slightly soft comparing to high-definition signal, but resolution is great overall.
Sound
The TV has 2 speakers, which are definitely adequate for watching news or sports, but I would suggest using dedicated 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup with a good receiver for movies and music shows.
Pros: Price, looks, features, picture quality, ease of use, good remote, great black level
Cons: "Only" 720p (but I don't care)
Conclusion
I am very happy with this TV. For the price, I can only find smallest issues with it, e.g. non-backlit remote. Its image quality is excellent, especially with high-definition sources. The excellent resolution, detail level in both shadows and highlights, black level, good color reproduction and ease of use are commendable.
My other point of comparison is the Hitachi P50H401 50-inch plasma TV that I bought for $1,150 (delivery and taxes included) at about the same time.
Features
The Panasonic TH-42PX80U is a 42-inch plasma HDTV with 720p resolution. It features 3 HDMI inputs (including one in front), 2 S-video (1 in front), 2 component video and 2 composite video inputs (1 in front). There is also an antenna jack and an SD card slot for viewing pictures.
The HDMI inputs are v 1.3 compliant and TV features Deep Color and x.v.Color support.
The screen has a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, Motion Adaptive 3D Y/C Digital Comb Filter, MPEG noise reduction and a built-in HD tuner. It also has a Game Mode, Cinema Mode, Standard, Vivid and Custom modes and features anti-reflective coating to reduce unwanted light reflections.
The TV weighs only 57 lbs without the stand or 62 lbs with it (included). The TV features 2 built-in speakers with audio output of up to 20W qt 10% THD at 70-17,000 Hz.
The TV also features VIERA Link, which allows you operate other compatible Panasonic devices connected to it via HDMI using one remote.
Usage
The TV comes with a stand that requires minimal assembly. As I mentioned before, I mounted this TV on the wall using a generic TV mounting bracket. The mounting was rather straightforward. I removed four plastic plugs on the rear panel of the TV, attached the two metal plates to the back of the TV with the supplied bolts using the holes exposed by removing the aforementioned plugs.
Then, I attached the bracket to the wall and hung the TV on it.
The TV is very nice looking and will match seemingly any decor. The 50PZ800U looks slightly better though. Thus far, I used the TV with off the air programming, as well as with the Philips DVP5990 upconverting DVD player. The player was connected to the TV using its HDMI input.
I also briefly tried the TV's component video connections (the image quality was almost as good, but slightly softer).
Unlike some other HDTVs (namely my Hitachi), the powering on and switching between channels (as well as menu operations) are rather fast. When switching channels, the sound appears within one second and image within two. The menus appear almost instantaneously. My Hitachi is almost infuriatingly slow in this regard, especially after using this Panasonic.
The menus are intuitive and the setup was easy. In fact, the TV offered me to select the menu language and scan for channels. After channel scan, you can select/deselect channels that will be stored or skipped.
The remote control is relatively intuitive with large buttons for primary functions. The buttons are not backlit, but the layout is intuitive and they have great tactile response.
One more feature that makes this TV better than my Hitachi is the fact that you don't have to enter the entire channel number, e.g. 4-4. If you hit 4 and Select and the TV goes to the first channel that is not unselected while setting the channels up.
Picture Quality
Out of the box, the TV produced very good picture, but (as is always the case) had over-boosted color and sharpness. It has Cinema mode, which is better. With other TVs, I use AVIA calibration DVD, but I was able to find recommended settings for this TV online and they did work very well (I adjusted Custom setting).
The settings removed over-boosted color saturation, edge enhancement and contrast, making picture appear more natural and film-like.
The TV produces excellent image quality. It produces excellent contrast, great colors, shadow and highlight detail. The skin tones are very good also.
The colors are vivid, yet natural. The foliage is very natural as well and the textures are well-defined due to great shadow detail and dynamic range.
The off the air programming, especially 1080i sports broadcasts, look excellent. The TV has a good tuner that can pull in as many channels as my Hitachi's.
Thanks to the anti-reflective coating, the TV, unlike many plasmas, does not suffer from excessive glare and is even better in this aspect that a CRT TV. It is even slightly better than my Hitachi and unlike Hitachi it does not sacrifice black level. The black level of Panasonic TVs is excellent and is among the best in business (same as Pioneer Kuro without its steep piece tag).
In this aspect, as well as in natural colors Panasonic TVs are among the best plasma or LCD TVs and this TV is no exception. It also holds details perfectly in both shadows and highlights. No LCD TVs cannot compare to the color reproduction or smooth motion of this TV - the areas where LCD TVs are lagging plasma technology.
The viewing angle is also excellent. I can see the images on TV while watching it almost perpendicular to the normal angle of view, which is not something LCD TVs can offer either.
I use the DVD player set to 720p over HDMI connection as well as off the air HD programming. Each input remembers its own settings, so make sure you adjust contrast, etc. for all of them.
Despite being a 720p TV (as opposed to 1080p resolution of pricier PZ800 series), the pictures have excellent cinema-like appearance in either 1080i or 720p resolution. For the size and viewing distance (about 7 feet), the 720p is as high of a resolution as is needed. The detail level is excellent.
The standard-def programming is slightly fuzzy after watching high-def, but it is not something I would be concerned about.
Resolutions: The TV can display material at resolutions of up to 1080p (inlcuding 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i). Standard-definition signal looks slightly soft comparing to high-definition signal, but resolution is great overall.
Sound
The TV has 2 speakers, which are definitely adequate for watching news or sports, but I would suggest using dedicated 5.1 or 7.1 speaker setup with a good receiver for movies and music shows.
Pros: Price, looks, features, picture quality, ease of use, good remote, great black level
Cons: "Only" 720p (but I don't care)
Conclusion
I am very happy with this TV. For the price, I can only find smallest issues with it, e.g. non-backlit remote. Its image quality is excellent, especially with high-definition sources. The excellent resolution, detail level in both shadows and highlights, black level, good color reproduction and ease of use are commendable.
Pioneer Elite DV-49AV Universal Upconverting DVD Player - DVD-Audio, SACD, 1080p, HDMI, DivX and USB
Having used the Pioneer DV-410V for a while, I liked it a lot and had no intention to switch to another DVD player. After all, it had all I needed (or so I thought).
I also have had the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642 for a while and considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished).
One of the issues I had with it was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loadining. Miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting.
To improve on the above and to supplement my then-new 50-inch 1080p Hitachi plasma TV, I decided to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port.
I tried newer Philips DVD players, namely Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and kept the Philips DVP642 for the sole use as a CD transport.
With its features, fast response and sleek GUI, the DV-410V was all I needed. Then I upgraded my receiver from Panasonic SA-XR55 to Panasonic SA-XR57. The XR57 has an HDMI input and can play DVD-Audio (including multi-channel) when passed over HDMI. Since wasting HDMI inputs is not what I like to do, I adopted a "no HDMI input left behind" policy.
Plus I always wanted better sound quality than what CD or DTS CD can provide. Although some well-mastered CDs sound very good, in most cases I felt I needed better SQ. The above is to make a short story long. To make a long story short though, I saw the universal (SACD and DVD-Audio) Pioneer Elite DV-49AV on sale and bought it.
The Switch
Once the player arrived, I disconnected the DV-410V and put the DV-49AV in its place. The two look very similar. The size, control placement and even USB port location are the same. There are things that aren't, however. Weight is one of them. The Elite DV-49AV is appreciably heavier, which makes me happy. Perhaps it is well-made (not that I have complaints about its predecessor).
Another positive is the back panel. Or rather the number of jacks on it. The Elite has both an optical and coaxial digital audio outs (the 410V only had a coax). The 49AV also has a 5.1. analog out for those who need or want to use the player's decoding abilities for DVD-Audio, SACD, DD or DTS.
The remote is also more substantial and has more buttons, so I knew that at least I am getting a better button/$ ratio. The remote also feels more substantial, can control some TV functions and, unlike the DV-410V's remote is black in color to match the player itself.
So far I connected the player to my receiver (the aforementioned Panasonic SA-XR57) with both a coaxial cable and an HDMI cable. The coaxial cable is redundant, but I have extra cables.
Features
The Pioneer Elite DV-49AV is a "universal" DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p. It can play DivX, WMV, AAC, MP3 and WMA as well as display JPEG pictures of up to 6MP. You do not need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a USB drive and the player will play them, albeit sometimes with some slight issues.
The player supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. Nice!
For audio, in addition to CD Audio, the player can play both high-resolution audio formats: DVD-Audio and Sony's Super Audio CD (SACD), including outputting them over HDMI to compatible receivers (bitstream), converting them to PCM or outputting them over digital outs (downmixed) or outputting them through the analog 5.1 connections.
It has an optical and coaxial digital audio outs, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. It also has an analog 5.1 audio out for playback of DD, DTS, DVD-Audio and SACD. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
One more "bang for buck" variable to consider. The player comes with full 2-year parts and labor warranty.
Operation
Once the player arrived, I immediately checked whether it could play European PAL discs on my non-PAL TV. It turned out it plays them and plays them well, without stuttering. It even upconverts them.
The player is medium-sized and is rather hefty, which gives it a very solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The display is bright and informative with the remote control button letting you switch between several levels of brightness. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. The look very similar to the ones of my previous DV-400V. I adjusted some settings and was watching movies in no time.
Again, the player is connected to my receiver and the receiver is connected to the TV using HDMI. The TV is Hitachi P50H401 50-inch plasma. I also had to switch the sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma.
One strange issue I discovered was that you cannot adjust any of the digital (non-HDMI) outs' settings unless you disable HDMI first. Also, speaker management (distances, etc.) for 5.1 analog outs are disabled when HDMI is set to "on". Not that I needed it anyway, but I checked out the picture of the room you are presented with when the speaker settings are adjusted. Then I set the HDMI to "Auto" and never looked back.
Ah, but not so fast. The first issue was that the sound coming from speakers when I played a 5.1 DVD-Audio disc in 96kHz/24 bit was definitely stereo, even though HDMI light on the receiver was on. Lame.
After switching back and forth between various HDMI settings on the player, the sound mysteriously appeared in all speakers. Currently, I have the HDMI option set to Auto.
One interesting item is that when I turn the TV off, the resolution on the TV player changes to 480p and once I turn the TV on, it changes back to 1080i. But not always. Strange.
Usability
I was immediately impressed with how convenient and informative the menus and onscreen displays are. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen.
For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. But (and it is a significant "but") there is no Resume functionality for DVD-Audio or SACD.
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The DV400 had a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The one for this player is close. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect. The lower part of it has buttons to control the TV. The only issue I have with that is that there is no "Select" button and on my Hitachi, hitting Input cycles through inputs, but never actually selects them. No big deal though.
Picture Quality
The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is pretty close. And I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-49AV is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. I have to use the player at 1080i though since the receiver claims to support up to 1080i.
The sound during movies is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection as well as HDMI to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly. The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
The front panel display says GUI when you are using the menus or shows numbers if the GUI mode is off.
DVD-Audio and SACD
I have not yet tried SACD and not sure if I will. One issue is the fact that my receiver does not decode DSD over HDMI, so I would have to use the player's 5.1 analog connection. I already ordered the cables, but I would use the 5.1 connection as the last resort. The first reason is the fact that the bass management on the player itself is not as good as on the receiver. The other is that the receiver has a fully digital amplifier, so using the 5.1 analog connection would result in an extra trip through the DAC in the player and then ADC in the receiver to convert the signal from digital to analog and to digital again.
What I have used the player's "universal-ness" is to play DVD-Audio discs over HDMI. I have it connected to the Panasonic SA-XR57 7x100W receiver with full digital amplification and dual-amped front channels. The speakers are Athena AS-F1 fronts, Athena S.5 rears, Athena C.5 center and an Athena AS-P400 subwoofer. I use Phoenix Gold M-1250 Super Oxygen Free Copper 12-Gauge speaker cable.
The sound quality from DVD-Audio is amazing. The sound is smooth, has huge dynamic range and expansive frequency range. The imaging and instrument separation are great. CD Audio sounds slightly harsh by contrast and even worse if it is not mastered well. So far I listened to 96 kHz 24 bit discs and they sound amazing. The DVD-Audio has sonic advantages of vinyl/LP without hissing or clicks and with higher dynamic range. But maybe I overestimate LP, since the last time I listened to LP was about 11 years ago. Still, once I heard DVD-Audio, I immediately thought that is sounds somewhat similar to LP. But maybe it is just because I have been consuming Glenlivet.
The most noticeable improvement over CD Audio seems to be smoother treble. Which makes sense, since at 44 kHz 16 bit CD Audio does not have much resolution in the highest frequencies. Fewer than three 16-bit samples to be exact. Oh, and no center or surround channels.
The 192 kHz stereo DVD-Audio sounds amazing as well. Is it better than 96 kHz? Hard to tell, but it sure seems like it.
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, and the Pioneer DV-400V with 1-year warranty for both parts and labor, this Elite model has full 2-year warranty.
So far, after 6 months, the unit performs flawlessly. Aside from occassional refusal to turn off if the receiver is turned off before the player. Might be a slight glitch in the HDMI implementation.
What I Like
Amazing sound from DVD-Audio, connectivity and low price for feature set, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, responsiveness. 2-year warranty does not hurt either.
What I Dislike
The initial startup takes several seconds. The player switches HDMI output resolution randomly (but most of the time not to detriment of video output and there is a remote button to cycle through resolutions instantly). I now have to spend lots of money of DVD-Audio discs.
Reliability
As of 11/2011, I have had this player for 3 years and it works perfectly.
Pros: DVD-Audio, SACD, connectivity, price, features, DivX, USB, upconversion, remote, menus, responsiveness, 2-year warranty
Cons: Slow startup
Bottom Line
The Pioneer Elite DV-49AV excels on all fronts. It plays virtually any format short of Blu-Ray. It plays both DVD-Audio and SACD. It is also a very good upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. If you need to play PAL discs on an NTSC TV, play computer files and DivX, play media files from a USB drive and upconvert up to 1080p, the DV400 is an excellent choice. And it is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well. With its 2-year warranty and solid build quality, I highly recommend it. It is my current #1 pick for a DVD player.
I also have had the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642 for a while and considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished).
One of the issues I had with it was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loadining. Miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting.
To improve on the above and to supplement my then-new 50-inch 1080p Hitachi plasma TV, I decided to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port.
I tried newer Philips DVD players, namely Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and kept the Philips DVP642 for the sole use as a CD transport.
With its features, fast response and sleek GUI, the DV-410V was all I needed. Then I upgraded my receiver from Panasonic SA-XR55 to Panasonic SA-XR57. The XR57 has an HDMI input and can play DVD-Audio (including multi-channel) when passed over HDMI. Since wasting HDMI inputs is not what I like to do, I adopted a "no HDMI input left behind" policy.
Plus I always wanted better sound quality than what CD or DTS CD can provide. Although some well-mastered CDs sound very good, in most cases I felt I needed better SQ. The above is to make a short story long. To make a long story short though, I saw the universal (SACD and DVD-Audio) Pioneer Elite DV-49AV on sale and bought it.
The Switch
Once the player arrived, I disconnected the DV-410V and put the DV-49AV in its place. The two look very similar. The size, control placement and even USB port location are the same. There are things that aren't, however. Weight is one of them. The Elite DV-49AV is appreciably heavier, which makes me happy. Perhaps it is well-made (not that I have complaints about its predecessor).
Another positive is the back panel. Or rather the number of jacks on it. The Elite has both an optical and coaxial digital audio outs (the 410V only had a coax). The 49AV also has a 5.1. analog out for those who need or want to use the player's decoding abilities for DVD-Audio, SACD, DD or DTS.
The remote is also more substantial and has more buttons, so I knew that at least I am getting a better button/$ ratio. The remote also feels more substantial, can control some TV functions and, unlike the DV-410V's remote is black in color to match the player itself.
So far I connected the player to my receiver (the aforementioned Panasonic SA-XR57) with both a coaxial cable and an HDMI cable. The coaxial cable is redundant, but I have extra cables.
Features
The Pioneer Elite DV-49AV is a "universal" DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p. It can play DivX, WMV, AAC, MP3 and WMA as well as display JPEG pictures of up to 6MP. You do not need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a USB drive and the player will play them, albeit sometimes with some slight issues.
The player supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. Nice!
For audio, in addition to CD Audio, the player can play both high-resolution audio formats: DVD-Audio and Sony's Super Audio CD (SACD), including outputting them over HDMI to compatible receivers (bitstream), converting them to PCM or outputting them over digital outs (downmixed) or outputting them through the analog 5.1 connections.
It has an optical and coaxial digital audio outs, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. It also has an analog 5.1 audio out for playback of DD, DTS, DVD-Audio and SACD. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
One more "bang for buck" variable to consider. The player comes with full 2-year parts and labor warranty.
Operation
Once the player arrived, I immediately checked whether it could play European PAL discs on my non-PAL TV. It turned out it plays them and plays them well, without stuttering. It even upconverts them.
The player is medium-sized and is rather hefty, which gives it a very solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The display is bright and informative with the remote control button letting you switch between several levels of brightness. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. The look very similar to the ones of my previous DV-400V. I adjusted some settings and was watching movies in no time.
Again, the player is connected to my receiver and the receiver is connected to the TV using HDMI. The TV is Hitachi P50H401 50-inch plasma. I also had to switch the sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma.
One strange issue I discovered was that you cannot adjust any of the digital (non-HDMI) outs' settings unless you disable HDMI first. Also, speaker management (distances, etc.) for 5.1 analog outs are disabled when HDMI is set to "on". Not that I needed it anyway, but I checked out the picture of the room you are presented with when the speaker settings are adjusted. Then I set the HDMI to "Auto" and never looked back.
Ah, but not so fast. The first issue was that the sound coming from speakers when I played a 5.1 DVD-Audio disc in 96kHz/24 bit was definitely stereo, even though HDMI light on the receiver was on. Lame.
After switching back and forth between various HDMI settings on the player, the sound mysteriously appeared in all speakers. Currently, I have the HDMI option set to Auto.
One interesting item is that when I turn the TV off, the resolution on the TV player changes to 480p and once I turn the TV on, it changes back to 1080i. But not always. Strange.
Usability
I was immediately impressed with how convenient and informative the menus and onscreen displays are. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen.
For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. But (and it is a significant "but") there is no Resume functionality for DVD-Audio or SACD.
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The DV400 had a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The one for this player is close. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect. The lower part of it has buttons to control the TV. The only issue I have with that is that there is no "Select" button and on my Hitachi, hitting Input cycles through inputs, but never actually selects them. No big deal though.
Picture Quality
The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is pretty close. And I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-49AV is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. I have to use the player at 1080i though since the receiver claims to support up to 1080i.
The sound during movies is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection as well as HDMI to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly. The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
The front panel display says GUI when you are using the menus or shows numbers if the GUI mode is off.
DVD-Audio and SACD
I have not yet tried SACD and not sure if I will. One issue is the fact that my receiver does not decode DSD over HDMI, so I would have to use the player's 5.1 analog connection. I already ordered the cables, but I would use the 5.1 connection as the last resort. The first reason is the fact that the bass management on the player itself is not as good as on the receiver. The other is that the receiver has a fully digital amplifier, so using the 5.1 analog connection would result in an extra trip through the DAC in the player and then ADC in the receiver to convert the signal from digital to analog and to digital again.
What I have used the player's "universal-ness" is to play DVD-Audio discs over HDMI. I have it connected to the Panasonic SA-XR57 7x100W receiver with full digital amplification and dual-amped front channels. The speakers are Athena AS-F1 fronts, Athena S.5 rears, Athena C.5 center and an Athena AS-P400 subwoofer. I use Phoenix Gold M-1250 Super Oxygen Free Copper 12-Gauge speaker cable.
The sound quality from DVD-Audio is amazing. The sound is smooth, has huge dynamic range and expansive frequency range. The imaging and instrument separation are great. CD Audio sounds slightly harsh by contrast and even worse if it is not mastered well. So far I listened to 96 kHz 24 bit discs and they sound amazing. The DVD-Audio has sonic advantages of vinyl/LP without hissing or clicks and with higher dynamic range. But maybe I overestimate LP, since the last time I listened to LP was about 11 years ago. Still, once I heard DVD-Audio, I immediately thought that is sounds somewhat similar to LP. But maybe it is just because I have been consuming Glenlivet.
The most noticeable improvement over CD Audio seems to be smoother treble. Which makes sense, since at 44 kHz 16 bit CD Audio does not have much resolution in the highest frequencies. Fewer than three 16-bit samples to be exact. Oh, and no center or surround channels.
The 192 kHz stereo DVD-Audio sounds amazing as well. Is it better than 96 kHz? Hard to tell, but it sure seems like it.
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, and the Pioneer DV-400V with 1-year warranty for both parts and labor, this Elite model has full 2-year warranty.
So far, after 6 months, the unit performs flawlessly. Aside from occassional refusal to turn off if the receiver is turned off before the player. Might be a slight glitch in the HDMI implementation.
What I Like
Amazing sound from DVD-Audio, connectivity and low price for feature set, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, responsiveness. 2-year warranty does not hurt either.
What I Dislike
The initial startup takes several seconds. The player switches HDMI output resolution randomly (but most of the time not to detriment of video output and there is a remote button to cycle through resolutions instantly). I now have to spend lots of money of DVD-Audio discs.
Reliability
As of 11/2011, I have had this player for 3 years and it works perfectly.
Pros: DVD-Audio, SACD, connectivity, price, features, DivX, USB, upconversion, remote, menus, responsiveness, 2-year warranty
Cons: Slow startup
Bottom Line
The Pioneer Elite DV-49AV excels on all fronts. It plays virtually any format short of Blu-Ray. It plays both DVD-Audio and SACD. It is also a very good upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. If you need to play PAL discs on an NTSC TV, play computer files and DivX, play media files from a USB drive and upconvert up to 1080p, the DV400 is an excellent choice. And it is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well. With its 2-year warranty and solid build quality, I highly recommend it. It is my current #1 pick for a DVD player.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Canon PowerShot SX10 IS 10-Megapixel Digital Camera with 20x Optical Stabilized Zoom
Mega-zoom cameras (cameras that have 10x optical zoom or over) are fun. Before digital mega-zoom cameras were available, you would have to buy and, not less important, carry around a bunch of lenses and a camera body to be able to get to 10x magnification. Now you can get a digital camera with 10x optical zoom and over for less than $500 and frequently even for less than $300 and put it in a compact bag.
Why is having 10x or more optical zoom fun? You can zoom in to magnify far-away objects while staying far from them. Alas, not all mega-zoom cameras are created equal. Some cameras have no image stabilization at all, resulting in blurry images at high magnification levels and/or in dim light. Some cameras rely on increased sensitivity setting (ISO) to increase the shutter speed thereby reducing blur caused by the shake when the camera is handheld, but sometimes at an expense of increased noise or detail.
At the top of the mega-zoom hierarchy are cameras with optically-stabilized zooms. These cameras move an optical element within the lens (some shift the CCD sensor itself) to reduce or eliminate blur caused by shooting handheld. The Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is on of these cameras and a successor to the well-respected Canon S5 IS.
I have used many mega-zoom cameras, including the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, the new 18x-zoom Panasonic FZ18, the Canon PowerShot S5 IS, the Fuji S6000fd, the Fuji S700 and others.
Although all mega-zoom cameras are fun, the most fun to use cameras for me are the ones with over 15x optical zoom, optical image stabilization and 28mm wide angle. I wanted to try the new Canon PowerShot SX10 IS in part because of its 20x optical zoom, image stabilization and 28mm wide angle (35mm-equivalent). I purchased the Canon SX10 IS and after using it and comparing it to other stabilized-zoom cameras, I sold it on eBay (just as the previous Canon S-series models and other cameras that I get to try).
In this case, I sold it not because it is a bad camera or there is a better mega-zoom alternative. I simply am happy to have a digital SLR and mega-zoom feature of this camera is not something I need on a daily basis.
An Improvement Over the Canon S5 IS?
A replacement for the last year's popular Canon PowerShot S5 IS, the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is a digital camera with optical image stabilization, 20x zoom (vs. 12x), 10-Megapixel resolution (vs. 8MP), ISO up to 3200 (vs. 1600) and 2.5-inch LCD. The camera has face detection and features improved DIGIC 4 with servo AF tracking.
Just as the S5 IS before it, the SX10 IS has an articulated LCD screen, uses 4 AA batteries and stores photos on SD memory cards. The amazing 20x optical zoom and optical image stabilization work together to give you sharp pictures when shooting handheld and/or at long distances. This is probably the highest optical zoom on the market today and optical image stabilization makes this 20x optical zoom usable without introducing blurriness when shooting handheld (of course to reasonable level).
The Canon S5 IS and the S3 IS before it were impressive and very popular cameras. The only things I did not like about them were their use of 4 AA batteries, the fact that the filter adaptors were sold separately, whereas Panasonic FZ cameras came with them and the flimsy lens cap, as well as the fact that the flash had to be raised manually (unlike Panasonic cameras where you could just push a button).
The S5 IS added a hot shoe adapter for external flashes, moving it closer to semi-pro category and the SX10 IS retains this feature. The SX10 still has not improved in the areas I criticized (ever since S2 IS), but did improve in the area of resolution, and most importantly zoom level and wide angle coverage. And although the changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary the SX10 IS is a major leap forward due to aforementioned.
About Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
The Canon S10 IS is a 10-Megapixel digital camera with 20x optical zoom (28-560mm in 35-mm equivalent), optical image stabilization with maximum apertures of f/2.8 at wide angle and f/5.7 at full telephoto. It stores images on an SD card in JPEG format (including SDHC).
The camera is only available in black color. It has a 2.5-inch fully-articulated LCD screen. The camera is relatively compact and feels solid, features USB 2.0 connectivity that is fast.
The 20x optical zoom optics features optical image stabilization. In addition to digital still photographs, the camera can record video clips with stereo sound. You can output video and sound to your TV (be it your pictures or video clips) using the supplied audio/video cable. It has face detection that works in conjunction with automatic white balance, focus and exposure.
Features
The camera lets you shoot at the resolutions of up to 10 Megapixels and lets you print enlargements or crop the part of the picture and print it with excellent results. And, of course, it is more than enough for the standard 6x4 prints.
The camera features selectable ISO between 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 as well as Auto and High ISO Auto. It also has manual focus (with focus bracketing) in addition to automatic 1-spot focus (the focus spot in auto mode can be moved to any position on the screen by using [SET] and arrow buttons) as well as face detection.
The camera has an autofocus assist light for better and faster focusing in low-light conditions. It works well in dim light.
Metering and Exposure
The exposure modes include Program AE, Aperture and Shutter Priority mode, and even full Manual mode. The shutter speed can be set between 15 and 1/3,200 sec with speeds slower than 1.3 sec available in Shutter Priority or Manual mode and operating with noise reduction.
The light metering can be selected between Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot (center or AF point). I find Spot and Center-Weighted modes useful when taking pictures of people at distances where the flash doesn't reach in backlight. In Evaluative metering mode, the faces might turn out underexposed, unless you dial some exposure compensation.
In Spot mode, you can set metering to properly expose the face. Also, the Spot metering mode can help you figure out the proper exposure in difficult lighting conditions be metering off the object with known tonal characteristics and then dialing some exposure compensation. The camera even has a live histogram. The evaluative metering incorporates data from the face detection system to ensure that faces are properly exposed.
Movie Mode
The camera has a built-in stereo microphone for recording sounds while filming video clips and a speaker, which can be used for operational sounds or to play back the sounds recorded. The camera can record AVI movie clips at up to 640x480 pixels at 30 fps with stereo sound; also available is 320x240 resolution at 24 fps at up to 4GB or 60 minutes.
Focusing
The camera has a Macro mode as well as Super Macro mode, in which it can focus as close as 0 inches. That's right - zero inches!
Focus Range:
Normal: 50 cm (1.6 ft.) - infinity (W)/ 1 m (3.3 ft.) - infinity (T)
Macro: 1 - 50 cm (0.39 in. to 1.6 ft.)
Super Macro: 0 - 10 cm (0 to 3.9 in.)
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a fully articulated 2.5-inch LCD with 230,000 pixels that covers 100% of the view. The LCD requires quite a lot of force to flip outward or rotate, but feels sturdy as a result.
In addition to the LCD, there is an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Since it is expensive (and difficult if not impossible) to make a 20x zooming optical viewfinder and impossible to easily confirm focus in a non-SLR optical viewfinder, the Canon S5 IS has an EVF.
Both the LCD and EVF are fluid, has pleasing colors and good resolution. Both are fluid, even in low light.
I found that the LCD is well-visible in regular conditions, but in sunlight, visibility decreases and you have to use the EVF, which works well in sunlight.
Power
The power is supplied by 4 AA-sized batteries. Canon includes four alkaline batteries with the camera, but obviously you have to get your rechargeable batteries, preferably NiMH of high capacity and a charger if you plan to use the camera at all as the alkaline batteries that are included don't last long and cannot be recharged. I have used 4 Rayovac 2300 mAh NiMH batteries. This is much better for environment and your pocket.
I personally dislike cameras that don't come with rechargeable batteries, unless they are inexpensive. The advantage of using AA batteries is the ease of finding replacement rechargeable or disposable batteries. Also, if you use high-capacity rechargeable NiMH batteries, you can get 600 shots out of the SX10, according to Canon, comparing to about 300 shots I used to get from my Panasonic FZ5 on one battery charge.
The disadvantage is the price of batteries and the charger, the weight and inconvenience of having to deal with 4 batteries instead of one. The SX10 IS was already heavier than the Panasonic FZ18 and got even heavier when batteries were loaded. It is also more expensive without the batteries than the FZ18 with its rechargeable battery and a charger.
One thing to note: the camera comes preset to continuous focus and continuous image stabilization, both of which are battery hogs. I recommend that you disable both of them (and switch to focusing and OIS only after the shutter release button is depressed), unless you like and have an opportunity to recharge your batteries often.
On Resolution
The difference between 8MP and 10MP is minimal. For majority of people who only print 6x4 or 5x7 photos and do not crop, there is no difference at all.
Operation
After my camera arrived (I bought it for $360, which is a pleasant benefit of progress since the predecessor, S5 IS, cost me $434 last year), I found it to be well built and have a solid feel. The camera has a SLR-style body and is relatively convenient to hold. Upon arrival, I loaded my four 2300 mAh Rayovac NiMH batteries in the camera, inserted my 512 MB SD card and was ready to shoot.
In the Box
The camera comes with 4 AA-sized disposable batteries, a neck strap, a stereo video cable, USB cable, a lens cap, CD-ROM and manuals.
Performance
The camera's operation is fast. The power-up takes less than 2 seconds (mostly taken by the lens extension) and is relatively quiet. The camera focuses very fast as well (under a second), seemingly as fast as the Panasonic FZ18.
The zooming is the most impressive aspect of this camera. It is precise and rather fast (and seemingly quieter that that of the S5's, perhaps due to the use of the VCM motor). And the slower speed lets you fine-tune the composition precisely.
The shutter lag when pre-focused is virtually absent and the picture is taken almost instantaneously. The shot-to-shot delay is a bit more than one second. In high-speed shooting modes, the images were captured at about 2 fps.
Shooting with flash is slower since the flash needs time to recharge. I was not surprised to see that the flash recycle time still can reach 7 seconds (shooting indoors at f/5.7. At least the screen did not go blank in the meantime, unlike some 2-AA battery equipped Canons of the A-line. And the 2-AA models recycle their flashes even slower.
The flash has red-eye reduction modes, which work rather well, but sometimes don't eliminate the red eye completely. No worries - I can fix that in Photoshop CS2 very easily.
Battery Life
The image stabilization has several modes: Off, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning. The camera comes with mode set to Continuous by default, which is a battery hog.
I haven't used the continuous image stabilization as it reduces battery life and, more importantly, produces slightly more motion blur in images in comparison to the image stabilization during the shutter release only. I got good pictures, but still not so good battery life.
I was able to take more than 220 pictures without seeing a low-battery warning.
Manual Focus
I liked the camera's manual focus ability. When focusing manually, you see the focus area enlarged to help you fine-tune your focus and you also see the distance markings. Truth be told, I find manual focus rarely needed as the automatic focus works really well. Still, bulkier cameras with focus rings, e.g. Fuji S6000fd or real SLRs work best for fine-tuning focus at telephoto.
Focusing
The camera focuses fast, even in dim light and even at full telephoto. It had no issues in any kind of light indoors. Pretty impressive stuff.
Picture Quality
When friends ask me for camera recommendations without being able to specify the exact usage criteria, I catch myself thinking (and frequently recommending) Canon cameras. One of the reasons is the fact that they (at least currently) simply do not have poorly-designed cameras. Other manufacturers have better (in my opinion) cameras in some specific areas. But as far as the overall lineup goes, Canon is the best.
One of the outcomes of this is the uniformly excellent picture quality of Canon cameras. True, some of them (e.g. small SD-series cameras) have slightly blurry corners. But overall, Canon cameras have uniformly excellent colors, good sharpness and produce images that look good printed and displayed on computer screen.
This model is no exception. It produces excellent pictures, even though some of them were slightly overexposed for my taste. They are richly saturated, sharp from wide angle to telephoto and have pleasing colors. I really like the sky colors and the way the camera renders clouds.
The image stabilization worked well and let me take handheld photos at full telephoto at 1/150 and sometimes at slower speeds. I also could take some handheld photos at 1/10 at full wide angle. This is much better than the rule of the recommended slowest handheld shutter speeds (1/equivalent focal length) suggests. Without image stabilization I wouldn't be able to take pictures at the above shutter speeds. 1/1000 at telephoto and 1/25 at wide angle would be the slowest I could use.
The lens of the SX10 exhibits very slight barrel distortion and no noticeable pincushion distortion at telephoto. There is some chromatic aberration (CA) to be found in high-contrast scenes, especially at the telephoto end of the zoom. As is usually the case with mega-zoom cameras, the telephoto shots have slightly soft corners, but nothing major. And the sharper pictures are attainable if you stay away from the extremes of the focal lengths and apertures.
I mostly used the lowest ISO available (ISO 80) and saw no noise. At higher ISO settings, the noise starts to appear. At ISO 200, you can see noise appear in the shadows/darker areas and ISO 400 has quite detectable noise, the ISO 800 features even worse noise, which becomes rather bad and the detail level suffers too. Fortunately, you can avoid having to use it in most situations by simply using a slower shutter speed and/or larger apertures (e.g. F2.8 at wide angle). Image stabilization lets you use those slower speeds handheld without fear of motion blur appearing on your pictures.
But if you have to have a faster shutter speed, then you have to use ISO 400-1,600. Surprisingly, the noise at ISO 800 is not as bad as I expected and ISO 800 photos can be printed at 4x6. You can print ISO 1,600 or 3,200 pictures, but I would only recommend it in situations where you have no other choice.
Ease of Use
Once you get used to Canon menu systems, they are pretty easy to use. Overall, the ease of use is very high and almost reaches my all-time favorite (Panasonic). And obviously, if you used a Canon camera before, you will feel "at home".
Computer Connectivity
The USB 2.0 on this Canon is a "real" USB 2.0 High Speed however - the transfer speeds are fast. I always prefer to use my memory card reader however: for speed and convenience.
Face Detection
Just as many other recent cameras, the SX10 IS features face detection technology. The face detection works surprisingly well, finding faces in the frame, showing you that it found them by displaying focusing rectangles over them, focusing on them and making sure they are focused on. I played with it (I just had to) and discovered that you can defeat it by covering an eye or covering the mouth.
Overall, I feel it is a useful technology and a cool one too. Not only it helps you focus, but it helps camera select correct exposure (ensuring the correct brightness of faces), white balance (color of faces).
So Is It An Improvement Over The Canon S5 IS?
Although the SX10 IS is similar to the Canon S5 IS, it features major improvements over the S5. The improvements are in the most important areas: zoom, wide angle, price, resolution, ISO 3200. And the S5 IS was itself a very good camera.
The new 20x zoom, 28mm wide angle and low price make the SX10 IS an excellent choice.
Durability
Based on experience with previous models of the same series (e.g. S5 IS, S3 IS) and on the perceived build quality of this SX10, the camera should be durable.
Move Mode
The SX10 features up to 640x480 at 30 fps. Update 05/2009: If this is insufficient, the newer (but more expensive) Canon SX1 IS features a CMOS-based sensor for up to full 1080p (1,920x1,080) video and an HDMI out for viewing on HDTV.
Competition
You can get the Panasonic FZ28 with 18x optical stabilized zoom, 10MP resolution and battery pack with charger and other accessories for much less (under $290 currently). For my money, I would probably prefer the FZ28 to the SX10. But with such a small price difference, I need to look at the FZ28 in more detail.
Pros: Price, 20x zoom, 28mm wide angle, solid build, features, face detection, battery life, resolution
Cons: Uses 4 AA batteries, heavier than Panasonic
Bottom Line
The Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is an excellent choice if you need a camera with a monster 20x optical zoom, wide angle coverage and optical image stabilization. It is even priced lower than the last year's 12x zoom S5 IS. I highly recommend the SX10, unless you hate dealing with 4 AA batteries.
Why is having 10x or more optical zoom fun? You can zoom in to magnify far-away objects while staying far from them. Alas, not all mega-zoom cameras are created equal. Some cameras have no image stabilization at all, resulting in blurry images at high magnification levels and/or in dim light. Some cameras rely on increased sensitivity setting (ISO) to increase the shutter speed thereby reducing blur caused by the shake when the camera is handheld, but sometimes at an expense of increased noise or detail.
At the top of the mega-zoom hierarchy are cameras with optically-stabilized zooms. These cameras move an optical element within the lens (some shift the CCD sensor itself) to reduce or eliminate blur caused by shooting handheld. The Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is on of these cameras and a successor to the well-respected Canon S5 IS.
I have used many mega-zoom cameras, including the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8, the new 18x-zoom Panasonic FZ18, the Canon PowerShot S5 IS, the Fuji S6000fd, the Fuji S700 and others.
Although all mega-zoom cameras are fun, the most fun to use cameras for me are the ones with over 15x optical zoom, optical image stabilization and 28mm wide angle. I wanted to try the new Canon PowerShot SX10 IS in part because of its 20x optical zoom, image stabilization and 28mm wide angle (35mm-equivalent). I purchased the Canon SX10 IS and after using it and comparing it to other stabilized-zoom cameras, I sold it on eBay (just as the previous Canon S-series models and other cameras that I get to try).
In this case, I sold it not because it is a bad camera or there is a better mega-zoom alternative. I simply am happy to have a digital SLR and mega-zoom feature of this camera is not something I need on a daily basis.
An Improvement Over the Canon S5 IS?
A replacement for the last year's popular Canon PowerShot S5 IS, the Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is a digital camera with optical image stabilization, 20x zoom (vs. 12x), 10-Megapixel resolution (vs. 8MP), ISO up to 3200 (vs. 1600) and 2.5-inch LCD. The camera has face detection and features improved DIGIC 4 with servo AF tracking.
Just as the S5 IS before it, the SX10 IS has an articulated LCD screen, uses 4 AA batteries and stores photos on SD memory cards. The amazing 20x optical zoom and optical image stabilization work together to give you sharp pictures when shooting handheld and/or at long distances. This is probably the highest optical zoom on the market today and optical image stabilization makes this 20x optical zoom usable without introducing blurriness when shooting handheld (of course to reasonable level).
The Canon S5 IS and the S3 IS before it were impressive and very popular cameras. The only things I did not like about them were their use of 4 AA batteries, the fact that the filter adaptors were sold separately, whereas Panasonic FZ cameras came with them and the flimsy lens cap, as well as the fact that the flash had to be raised manually (unlike Panasonic cameras where you could just push a button).
The S5 IS added a hot shoe adapter for external flashes, moving it closer to semi-pro category and the SX10 IS retains this feature. The SX10 still has not improved in the areas I criticized (ever since S2 IS), but did improve in the area of resolution, and most importantly zoom level and wide angle coverage. And although the changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary the SX10 IS is a major leap forward due to aforementioned.
About Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
The Canon S10 IS is a 10-Megapixel digital camera with 20x optical zoom (28-560mm in 35-mm equivalent), optical image stabilization with maximum apertures of f/2.8 at wide angle and f/5.7 at full telephoto. It stores images on an SD card in JPEG format (including SDHC).
The camera is only available in black color. It has a 2.5-inch fully-articulated LCD screen. The camera is relatively compact and feels solid, features USB 2.0 connectivity that is fast.
The 20x optical zoom optics features optical image stabilization. In addition to digital still photographs, the camera can record video clips with stereo sound. You can output video and sound to your TV (be it your pictures or video clips) using the supplied audio/video cable. It has face detection that works in conjunction with automatic white balance, focus and exposure.
Features
The camera lets you shoot at the resolutions of up to 10 Megapixels and lets you print enlargements or crop the part of the picture and print it with excellent results. And, of course, it is more than enough for the standard 6x4 prints.
The camera features selectable ISO between 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200 as well as Auto and High ISO Auto. It also has manual focus (with focus bracketing) in addition to automatic 1-spot focus (the focus spot in auto mode can be moved to any position on the screen by using [SET] and arrow buttons) as well as face detection.
The camera has an autofocus assist light for better and faster focusing in low-light conditions. It works well in dim light.
Metering and Exposure
The exposure modes include Program AE, Aperture and Shutter Priority mode, and even full Manual mode. The shutter speed can be set between 15 and 1/3,200 sec with speeds slower than 1.3 sec available in Shutter Priority or Manual mode and operating with noise reduction.
The light metering can be selected between Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot (center or AF point). I find Spot and Center-Weighted modes useful when taking pictures of people at distances where the flash doesn't reach in backlight. In Evaluative metering mode, the faces might turn out underexposed, unless you dial some exposure compensation.
In Spot mode, you can set metering to properly expose the face. Also, the Spot metering mode can help you figure out the proper exposure in difficult lighting conditions be metering off the object with known tonal characteristics and then dialing some exposure compensation. The camera even has a live histogram. The evaluative metering incorporates data from the face detection system to ensure that faces are properly exposed.
Movie Mode
The camera has a built-in stereo microphone for recording sounds while filming video clips and a speaker, which can be used for operational sounds or to play back the sounds recorded. The camera can record AVI movie clips at up to 640x480 pixels at 30 fps with stereo sound; also available is 320x240 resolution at 24 fps at up to 4GB or 60 minutes.
Focusing
The camera has a Macro mode as well as Super Macro mode, in which it can focus as close as 0 inches. That's right - zero inches!
Focus Range:
Normal: 50 cm (1.6 ft.) - infinity (W)/ 1 m (3.3 ft.) - infinity (T)
Macro: 1 - 50 cm (0.39 in. to 1.6 ft.)
Super Macro: 0 - 10 cm (0 to 3.9 in.)
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a fully articulated 2.5-inch LCD with 230,000 pixels that covers 100% of the view. The LCD requires quite a lot of force to flip outward or rotate, but feels sturdy as a result.
In addition to the LCD, there is an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Since it is expensive (and difficult if not impossible) to make a 20x zooming optical viewfinder and impossible to easily confirm focus in a non-SLR optical viewfinder, the Canon S5 IS has an EVF.
Both the LCD and EVF are fluid, has pleasing colors and good resolution. Both are fluid, even in low light.
I found that the LCD is well-visible in regular conditions, but in sunlight, visibility decreases and you have to use the EVF, which works well in sunlight.
Power
The power is supplied by 4 AA-sized batteries. Canon includes four alkaline batteries with the camera, but obviously you have to get your rechargeable batteries, preferably NiMH of high capacity and a charger if you plan to use the camera at all as the alkaline batteries that are included don't last long and cannot be recharged. I have used 4 Rayovac 2300 mAh NiMH batteries. This is much better for environment and your pocket.
I personally dislike cameras that don't come with rechargeable batteries, unless they are inexpensive. The advantage of using AA batteries is the ease of finding replacement rechargeable or disposable batteries. Also, if you use high-capacity rechargeable NiMH batteries, you can get 600 shots out of the SX10, according to Canon, comparing to about 300 shots I used to get from my Panasonic FZ5 on one battery charge.
The disadvantage is the price of batteries and the charger, the weight and inconvenience of having to deal with 4 batteries instead of one. The SX10 IS was already heavier than the Panasonic FZ18 and got even heavier when batteries were loaded. It is also more expensive without the batteries than the FZ18 with its rechargeable battery and a charger.
One thing to note: the camera comes preset to continuous focus and continuous image stabilization, both of which are battery hogs. I recommend that you disable both of them (and switch to focusing and OIS only after the shutter release button is depressed), unless you like and have an opportunity to recharge your batteries often.
On Resolution
The difference between 8MP and 10MP is minimal. For majority of people who only print 6x4 or 5x7 photos and do not crop, there is no difference at all.
Operation
After my camera arrived (I bought it for $360, which is a pleasant benefit of progress since the predecessor, S5 IS, cost me $434 last year), I found it to be well built and have a solid feel. The camera has a SLR-style body and is relatively convenient to hold. Upon arrival, I loaded my four 2300 mAh Rayovac NiMH batteries in the camera, inserted my 512 MB SD card and was ready to shoot.
In the Box
The camera comes with 4 AA-sized disposable batteries, a neck strap, a stereo video cable, USB cable, a lens cap, CD-ROM and manuals.
Performance
The camera's operation is fast. The power-up takes less than 2 seconds (mostly taken by the lens extension) and is relatively quiet. The camera focuses very fast as well (under a second), seemingly as fast as the Panasonic FZ18.
The zooming is the most impressive aspect of this camera. It is precise and rather fast (and seemingly quieter that that of the S5's, perhaps due to the use of the VCM motor). And the slower speed lets you fine-tune the composition precisely.
The shutter lag when pre-focused is virtually absent and the picture is taken almost instantaneously. The shot-to-shot delay is a bit more than one second. In high-speed shooting modes, the images were captured at about 2 fps.
Shooting with flash is slower since the flash needs time to recharge. I was not surprised to see that the flash recycle time still can reach 7 seconds (shooting indoors at f/5.7. At least the screen did not go blank in the meantime, unlike some 2-AA battery equipped Canons of the A-line. And the 2-AA models recycle their flashes even slower.
The flash has red-eye reduction modes, which work rather well, but sometimes don't eliminate the red eye completely. No worries - I can fix that in Photoshop CS2 very easily.
Battery Life
The image stabilization has several modes: Off, Continuous, Shoot Only, Panning. The camera comes with mode set to Continuous by default, which is a battery hog.
I haven't used the continuous image stabilization as it reduces battery life and, more importantly, produces slightly more motion blur in images in comparison to the image stabilization during the shutter release only. I got good pictures, but still not so good battery life.
I was able to take more than 220 pictures without seeing a low-battery warning.
Manual Focus
I liked the camera's manual focus ability. When focusing manually, you see the focus area enlarged to help you fine-tune your focus and you also see the distance markings. Truth be told, I find manual focus rarely needed as the automatic focus works really well. Still, bulkier cameras with focus rings, e.g. Fuji S6000fd or real SLRs work best for fine-tuning focus at telephoto.
Focusing
The camera focuses fast, even in dim light and even at full telephoto. It had no issues in any kind of light indoors. Pretty impressive stuff.
Picture Quality
When friends ask me for camera recommendations without being able to specify the exact usage criteria, I catch myself thinking (and frequently recommending) Canon cameras. One of the reasons is the fact that they (at least currently) simply do not have poorly-designed cameras. Other manufacturers have better (in my opinion) cameras in some specific areas. But as far as the overall lineup goes, Canon is the best.
One of the outcomes of this is the uniformly excellent picture quality of Canon cameras. True, some of them (e.g. small SD-series cameras) have slightly blurry corners. But overall, Canon cameras have uniformly excellent colors, good sharpness and produce images that look good printed and displayed on computer screen.
This model is no exception. It produces excellent pictures, even though some of them were slightly overexposed for my taste. They are richly saturated, sharp from wide angle to telephoto and have pleasing colors. I really like the sky colors and the way the camera renders clouds.
The image stabilization worked well and let me take handheld photos at full telephoto at 1/150 and sometimes at slower speeds. I also could take some handheld photos at 1/10 at full wide angle. This is much better than the rule of the recommended slowest handheld shutter speeds (1/equivalent focal length) suggests. Without image stabilization I wouldn't be able to take pictures at the above shutter speeds. 1/1000 at telephoto and 1/25 at wide angle would be the slowest I could use.
The lens of the SX10 exhibits very slight barrel distortion and no noticeable pincushion distortion at telephoto. There is some chromatic aberration (CA) to be found in high-contrast scenes, especially at the telephoto end of the zoom. As is usually the case with mega-zoom cameras, the telephoto shots have slightly soft corners, but nothing major. And the sharper pictures are attainable if you stay away from the extremes of the focal lengths and apertures.
I mostly used the lowest ISO available (ISO 80) and saw no noise. At higher ISO settings, the noise starts to appear. At ISO 200, you can see noise appear in the shadows/darker areas and ISO 400 has quite detectable noise, the ISO 800 features even worse noise, which becomes rather bad and the detail level suffers too. Fortunately, you can avoid having to use it in most situations by simply using a slower shutter speed and/or larger apertures (e.g. F2.8 at wide angle). Image stabilization lets you use those slower speeds handheld without fear of motion blur appearing on your pictures.
But if you have to have a faster shutter speed, then you have to use ISO 400-1,600. Surprisingly, the noise at ISO 800 is not as bad as I expected and ISO 800 photos can be printed at 4x6. You can print ISO 1,600 or 3,200 pictures, but I would only recommend it in situations where you have no other choice.
Ease of Use
Once you get used to Canon menu systems, they are pretty easy to use. Overall, the ease of use is very high and almost reaches my all-time favorite (Panasonic). And obviously, if you used a Canon camera before, you will feel "at home".
Computer Connectivity
The USB 2.0 on this Canon is a "real" USB 2.0 High Speed however - the transfer speeds are fast. I always prefer to use my memory card reader however: for speed and convenience.
Face Detection
Just as many other recent cameras, the SX10 IS features face detection technology. The face detection works surprisingly well, finding faces in the frame, showing you that it found them by displaying focusing rectangles over them, focusing on them and making sure they are focused on. I played with it (I just had to) and discovered that you can defeat it by covering an eye or covering the mouth.
Overall, I feel it is a useful technology and a cool one too. Not only it helps you focus, but it helps camera select correct exposure (ensuring the correct brightness of faces), white balance (color of faces).
So Is It An Improvement Over The Canon S5 IS?
Although the SX10 IS is similar to the Canon S5 IS, it features major improvements over the S5. The improvements are in the most important areas: zoom, wide angle, price, resolution, ISO 3200. And the S5 IS was itself a very good camera.
The new 20x zoom, 28mm wide angle and low price make the SX10 IS an excellent choice.
Durability
Based on experience with previous models of the same series (e.g. S5 IS, S3 IS) and on the perceived build quality of this SX10, the camera should be durable.
Move Mode
The SX10 features up to 640x480 at 30 fps. Update 05/2009: If this is insufficient, the newer (but more expensive) Canon SX1 IS features a CMOS-based sensor for up to full 1080p (1,920x1,080) video and an HDMI out for viewing on HDTV.
Competition
You can get the Panasonic FZ28 with 18x optical stabilized zoom, 10MP resolution and battery pack with charger and other accessories for much less (under $290 currently). For my money, I would probably prefer the FZ28 to the SX10. But with such a small price difference, I need to look at the FZ28 in more detail.
Pros: Price, 20x zoom, 28mm wide angle, solid build, features, face detection, battery life, resolution
Cons: Uses 4 AA batteries, heavier than Panasonic
Bottom Line
The Canon PowerShot SX10 IS is an excellent choice if you need a camera with a monster 20x optical zoom, wide angle coverage and optical image stabilization. It is even priced lower than the last year's 12x zoom S5 IS. I highly recommend the SX10, unless you hate dealing with 4 AA batteries.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
New Pioneer DV-430V Upconverting DVD Player with HDMI
Pioneer DV-430V Upconverting DVD Player
Reviewed by Dmiko on
.
Not too long ago I discovered Pioneer DVD players. Not in a sense that I stumbled upon them while hiking up a mountain in my vicinity, but in a sense that I found out that they were really good. Previously, I mostly used Panasonic DVD players and, later, Philips.
Panasonic players were always producing top-notch images, were easy to use and pretty reliable. I saw "pretty" because I had at least two of them die on me with a drive motor failure. Granted they were in severe use for over 3 years each, but still, when you shell out decent bucks (Panasonic DVD players were never exactly cheap), you expect the product to last.
In light of the above and for DivX, MPEG/AVI, PAL, etc. playback I switched to Philips players. They were pretty inexpensive and played the aforementioned formats well. But their ergonomics/menus/displays/remote controls were not exactly pleasing.
And then I discovered Pioneer DVD players. I have used the Pioneer DV-400V, the Pioneer DV-410V and the Pioneer Elite DV-48AV (which I currently use for DVD-Audio playback among other things). I also tried out the Philips DVP5982, 5960 and DVP5990 (which my mother is currently using). Although Pioneer players are somewhat more expensive, it is easy to see why.
Whereas the Philips models have usability shortcomings and some previous models had DivX files stuttering and freezing on them, both the DV-400V and the DV-48AV were much better in some aspects. From there on, the trend continues as I compare the latest model (Pioneer DV-430V, a.k.a. DV-430V-K, where K stands for black color, perhaps due to the word Kuro having it as a first letter) with my current Pioneer Elite DV-48AV and the Philips DVP5992.
I have to mention that I have been using the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642, although now I use it exclusively for CD playback. Considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback on NTSC TV, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. And unlike my past Panasonic players, this Philips is still very much alive.
As mentioned before, I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished). Things have improved significantly since then, Both Philips and competition produced numerous DVD player models with similar features and added even more to the mix: USB ports, HDMI outs, upconversion and better DivX playback, while retaining things like PAL playback on NTSC TVs.
One of the issues I had with the original DVP642 was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loading.
If you miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting! I will not miss having to use the DVP642 for video playback much since there are so many great choices. And with large HDTVs and the advent of HDMI, I replaced my DVD players multiple times at this point.
I personally use the 50-inch 1080p Hitachi P50H401 plasma TV, and I tried to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, would have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port. In doing so I went through some Philips models and some Pioneer models as well.
I tried some Philips DVD players, e.g. Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and used it for quite some time. The Pioneer Elite DV-48AV replaced it since I like to listen to DVD-Audio, but I tried the new Pioneer DV-420V and DV-430V and found them remarkably similar to the DV-400 and not much worse than my Elite DV-48AV (sans DVD-Audio and SACD). Having cool features of Philips players without ergonomics shortcomings, Pioneer models are my current players of choice.
Features
The Pioneer DV-430V - All Multi Region Code Free 1080p DVD Player with HDMI 1080p Upconverting & USB - Black
is
a DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p over HDMI.
It can play DivX, Xvid and JPEG files, WMV, MP3 and WMA. You do not
need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W
disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same
applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a
USB drive and the player will play them, albeit with some slight issues
in that regard.
The DV-420 supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. It has a coaxial digital audio out, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
It is slightly heavier than the older DV-400 but lighter than the DV-48AV and lacks the latter's optical digital out and 5.1 analog outs, the latter of which is not important since it does not play DVD-Audio or SACD and I don't even use the 5.1 out on my DV-48AV, since I play DVD-Audio over HDMI (hurray to the progress).
Operation
The DV-420V is medium-sized and is not too lightweight, which gives it a solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The player features a display that is bright and informative. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. They are very similar to the ones of the other recent Pioneer DVD players and are better than the ones on recent Philips models.
As usual, adjustments were required for the best image quality. I had to switch the DV-420's sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma. There are a lot of other settings to play with, or leave alone.
Usability
When unpacking the player I was pleasantly surprised that unlike the DV-400 or the DV-48AV, this model has a detachable power cord. This makes it easier to replace if broken and easier to unplug if the unit is placed or removed from an entertainment center.
I saw the usually-impressive (for Pioneer), convenient and informative menus and onscreen displays. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen. For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. I wish my DV-48AV had this functionality in DVD-Audio files. The DV-420V remembers it for up to 5 different DVDs (or one MPEG/DivX disc).
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The player has a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect, aside from the location of the "0" button, which I never use anyway. And unlike the older (DV400) model's, the remote control matches the player color (black).
The remote of my Pioneer Elite DV-48AV is larger and has buttons to control TV's power, volume, channel and input select - features that this remote lacks. But the button layout and weight of this remote are better.
Picture Quality
I tested the player with my 50-inch Hitachi plasma (P50H401). The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is rather good and definitely better than that of the non-upconverting player over an analog connection.
I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV. The latter looked foggy by comparison and generated significant artifacts in scenes with motion.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-420V is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. But, later I tried a comparison with the upconversion of regular DVDs by my Toshiba HD-A3 and the A3 does have a small, but distinctive edge.
The sound is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly.
Well, make it semi-flawlessly. It doesn't play some DivX files that my mother's Philips DVP5990 plays fine. Still, the DivX playback is very good overall.
The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
I am not quite sure why they moved the USB port location from the left of the player to lower-right portion (comparing to the DV-400V).
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, this Pioneer has 1-year warranty for both parts and labor. My Pioneer Elite has a 3-year full warranty though, but Elite models are more expensive.
What I Like
I like the player's relatively low price for feature set, its connectivity options, features, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, and responsiveness are also very impressive.
Dislikes
The startup time is stll longer than with most other DVD players. I noticed this about other Pioneer DVD players also. Perhaps caused by having to load the extensive menu system. At least it is nowhere near as bad as the startup times of HD DVD or BluRay players.
Pros: Price, features, performance, build quality, USB, up to 1080p over HDMI, DivX, MP3/WMA, good remote.
Cons: Some newer Philips players play DivX better, slightly slow startup.
Bottom Line
Unlike the Philips DVP5990 or DVP5992, the Pioneer DV-430V is simply excellent. There is no need to sacrifice usability for DivX playback and the price is right. This Pioneer is a very good 1080p upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. It is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Not too long ago I discovered Pioneer DVD players. Not in a sense that I stumbled upon them while hiking up a mountain in my vicinity, but in a sense that I found out that they were really good. Previously, I mostly used Panasonic DVD players and, later, Philips.
Panasonic players were always producing top-notch images, were easy to use and pretty reliable. I saw "pretty" because I had at least two of them die on me with a drive motor failure. Granted they were in severe use for over 3 years each, but still, when you shell out decent bucks (Panasonic DVD players were never exactly cheap), you expect the product to last.
In light of the above and for DivX, MPEG/AVI, PAL, etc. playback I switched to Philips players. They were pretty inexpensive and played the aforementioned formats well. But their ergonomics/menus/displays/remote controls were not exactly pleasing.
And then I discovered Pioneer DVD players. I have used the Pioneer DV-400V, the Pioneer DV-410V and the Pioneer Elite DV-48AV (which I currently use for DVD-Audio playback among other things). I also tried out the Philips DVP5982, 5960 and DVP5990 (which my mother is currently using). Although Pioneer players are somewhat more expensive, it is easy to see why.
Whereas the Philips models have usability shortcomings and some previous models had DivX files stuttering and freezing on them, both the DV-400V and the DV-48AV were much better in some aspects. From there on, the trend continues as I compare the latest model (Pioneer DV-430V, a.k.a. DV-430V-K, where K stands for black color, perhaps due to the word Kuro having it as a first letter) with my current Pioneer Elite DV-48AV and the Philips DVP5992.
I have to mention that I have been using the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642, although now I use it exclusively for CD playback. Considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback on NTSC TV, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. And unlike my past Panasonic players, this Philips is still very much alive.
As mentioned before, I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished). Things have improved significantly since then, Both Philips and competition produced numerous DVD player models with similar features and added even more to the mix: USB ports, HDMI outs, upconversion and better DivX playback, while retaining things like PAL playback on NTSC TVs.
One of the issues I had with the original DVP642 was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loading.
If you miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting! I will not miss having to use the DVP642 for video playback much since there are so many great choices. And with large HDTVs and the advent of HDMI, I replaced my DVD players multiple times at this point.
I personally use the 50-inch 1080p Hitachi P50H401 plasma TV, and I tried to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, would have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port. In doing so I went through some Philips models and some Pioneer models as well.
I tried some Philips DVD players, e.g. Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and used it for quite some time. The Pioneer Elite DV-48AV replaced it since I like to listen to DVD-Audio, but I tried the new Pioneer DV-420V and DV-430V and found them remarkably similar to the DV-400 and not much worse than my Elite DV-48AV (sans DVD-Audio and SACD). Having cool features of Philips players without ergonomics shortcomings, Pioneer models are my current players of choice.
Features
The Pioneer DV-430V - All Multi Region Code Free 1080p DVD Player with HDMI 1080p Upconverting & USB - Black
is
a DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p over HDMI.
It can play DivX, Xvid and JPEG files, WMV, MP3 and WMA. You do not
need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W
disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same
applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a
USB drive and the player will play them, albeit with some slight issues
in that regard.The DV-420 supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. It has a coaxial digital audio out, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
It is slightly heavier than the older DV-400 but lighter than the DV-48AV and lacks the latter's optical digital out and 5.1 analog outs, the latter of which is not important since it does not play DVD-Audio or SACD and I don't even use the 5.1 out on my DV-48AV, since I play DVD-Audio over HDMI (hurray to the progress).
Operation
The DV-420V is medium-sized and is not too lightweight, which gives it a solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The player features a display that is bright and informative. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. They are very similar to the ones of the other recent Pioneer DVD players and are better than the ones on recent Philips models.
As usual, adjustments were required for the best image quality. I had to switch the DV-420's sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma. There are a lot of other settings to play with, or leave alone.
Usability
When unpacking the player I was pleasantly surprised that unlike the DV-400 or the DV-48AV, this model has a detachable power cord. This makes it easier to replace if broken and easier to unplug if the unit is placed or removed from an entertainment center.
I saw the usually-impressive (for Pioneer), convenient and informative menus and onscreen displays. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen. For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. I wish my DV-48AV had this functionality in DVD-Audio files. The DV-420V remembers it for up to 5 different DVDs (or one MPEG/DivX disc).
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The player has a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect, aside from the location of the "0" button, which I never use anyway. And unlike the older (DV400) model's, the remote control matches the player color (black).
The remote of my Pioneer Elite DV-48AV is larger and has buttons to control TV's power, volume, channel and input select - features that this remote lacks. But the button layout and weight of this remote are better.
Picture Quality
I tested the player with my 50-inch Hitachi plasma (P50H401). The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is rather good and definitely better than that of the non-upconverting player over an analog connection.
I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV. The latter looked foggy by comparison and generated significant artifacts in scenes with motion.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-420V is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. But, later I tried a comparison with the upconversion of regular DVDs by my Toshiba HD-A3 and the A3 does have a small, but distinctive edge.
The sound is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly.
Well, make it semi-flawlessly. It doesn't play some DivX files that my mother's Philips DVP5990 plays fine. Still, the DivX playback is very good overall.
The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
I am not quite sure why they moved the USB port location from the left of the player to lower-right portion (comparing to the DV-400V).
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, this Pioneer has 1-year warranty for both parts and labor. My Pioneer Elite has a 3-year full warranty though, but Elite models are more expensive.
What I Like
I like the player's relatively low price for feature set, its connectivity options, features, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, and responsiveness are also very impressive.
Dislikes
The startup time is stll longer than with most other DVD players. I noticed this about other Pioneer DVD players also. Perhaps caused by having to load the extensive menu system. At least it is nowhere near as bad as the startup times of HD DVD or BluRay players.
Pros: Price, features, performance, build quality, USB, up to 1080p over HDMI, DivX, MP3/WMA, good remote.
Cons: Some newer Philips players play DivX better, slightly slow startup.
Bottom Line
Unlike the Philips DVP5990 or DVP5992, the Pioneer DV-430V is simply excellent. There is no need to sacrifice usability for DivX playback and the price is right. This Pioneer is a very good 1080p upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. It is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5 stars out of 5.
Pioneer DV-410V Upconverting DVD Player - 1080p over HDMI, MP3, DivX and USB
I have used both the Pioneer DV-400V (the DV410's predecessor) and the Pioneer Elite DV-48AV (which I currently use for DVD-Audio playback among other things). I also tried out the Philips DVP5982, 5960 and DVP5990 (which my mother is currently using). Although Pioneer players are somewhat more expensive, can see why. The Philips models have usability shortcomings and some previous models had DivX files stuttering and freezing on them. Both the DV-400V and the DV-48AV were much better in some aspects. I will compare the new Pioneer DV-410V with my current Pioneer Elite DV-48AV and the Philips DVP5990.
For a long time, I have had the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642 and still use it for CD playback. Considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback on NTSC TV, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished). Things have improved significantly since then, Both Philips and competition produced numerous DVD player models with similar features and added even more to the mix: USB ports, HDMI outs, upconversion and better DivX plyback.
One of the issues I had with the original DVP642 was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loadining. Miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting! I will not miss having to use the DVP642 much since there are so many great choices. And with large HDTVs and the advent of HDMI, I replaced my DVD players several times already.
I personally use the 50-inch 1080p Hitachi P50H401 plasma TV, and I tried to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port. In doing so I went through some Philips models and some Pioneer models.
I tried newer Philips DVD players, namely Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and used it for quite some time. The Pioneer Elite DV-48AV replaced it since I like to listen to DVD-Audio, but I tried the new Pioneer DV-410V and found it remarkably similar to the DV-400 and not much worse than my Elite DV-48AV (sans DVD-Audio and SACD).
Features
The Pioneer DV-410V is an upconverting DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p over HDMI. It can play DivX, Xvid and JPEG files, WMV, MP3 and WMA. You do not need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a USB drive and the player will play them, albeit with some slight issues.
The player supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. It has a coaxial digital audio out, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
It is slightly heavier than the DV-400 but lighter than the DV-48AV and lacks the latter's optical digital out and 5.1 analog outs, which is not important since it does not play DVD-Audio or SACD and I don't even use the 5.1 out on my DV-48AV, since I play DVD_Audio over HDMI.
Operation
The player is medium-sized and is not too lightweight, which gives it a solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The display is bright and informative. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. They are very similar to the ones of the other recent Pioneer DVD players and are better than the ones on recent Philips models.
I had to switch the sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma. There are a lot of other settings to play with, or leave alone.
Usability
When unpacking the player I was pleasantly surprised that unlike the DV-400 or the DV-48AV, this model has a detachable power cord. This makes it easier to replace if broken and easier to unplug if the unit is placed or removed from an entertainment center.
I was immediately impressed, albeit not surprised, with how convenient and informative the menus and onscreen displays were. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen.
For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. I wish my DV-48AV had this functionality in DVD-Audio files.
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The DV-410V has a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect, aside from the location of the "0" button, which I never use anyway. And unlike the previous model, the remote control matches the player color (black).
The remote of my Pioneer Elite DV-48AV is larger and has buttons to control TV's power, volume, channel and input select - features that this remote lacks. But the button layout and weight of this remote are better.
Picture Quality
I tested the player with my 50-inch Hitachi plasma (P50H401). The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is rather good and definitely better than that of the non-upconverting player over an analog connection.
I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV. The latter looked foggy by comparison and generated significant artifacts in scenes with motion.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-410 is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. But, later I tried a comparison with the upconversion of regular DVDs by my Toshiba HD-A3 and the A3 does have a small, but distinctive edge.
The sound is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly.
Well, make it semi-flawlessly. It doesn't play some DivX files that my mother's Philips DVP5990 plays fine.
The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
I am not quite sure why they moved the USB port location from the left of the player to lower-right portion (comparing to the DV-400V).
One other convenient feature: the front panel display says GUI when you are using the menus or shows numbers if the GUI mode is off.
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, this Pioneer has 1-year warranty for both parts and labor.
What I Like
I like the player's relatively low price for feature set, its connectivity options, features, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, and responsiveness are also very impressive.
Dislikes
The startup time is longer than with most other DVD players. I noticed this about other recent Pioneer DVD players as well. Perhaps caused by having to load the extensive menu system.
Pros: Performance, features, excellent build quality, USB, up to 1080p over HDMI, DivX, MP3/WMA, remote
Cons: Slightly slow startup, some newer Philips players play DivX better
Bottom Line
Unlike the Philips DVP5982 or DVP5990, the Pioneer DV-410V excels in all areas. There is no need to sacrifice usability for DivX playback anymore. The DV-410 is a very good upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. If you need to play PAL discs on an NTSC TV, play computer files and DivX, play media files from a USB drive and upconvert up to 1080p, the DV410 is an excellent choice. And it is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well.
I highly recommend it. But if you want a very similar DVD player with DVD-Audio and SACD playback, check out my favorite: the Pioneer Elite DV-48AV. I have had it for years and it is very good.
For a long time, I have had the original king of DivX, a.k.a. Philips DVP642 and still use it for CD playback. Considering its impressive feature list (including PAL playback on NTSC TV, DivX playback and progressive scan), I was relatively happy with it for $41 that I paid. I was not happy with it overall however, and would not have paid its original price (my unit was Philips-refurbished). Things have improved significantly since then, Both Philips and competition produced numerous DVD player models with similar features and added even more to the mix: USB ports, HDMI outs, upconversion and better DivX plyback.
One of the issues I had with the original DVP642 was the fact that although it played most DivX videos, it stuttered on some others and showed terrible block noise on some others, making them unwatchable. That was in addition to it having fast scan speed of no higher than 8x and its resume functionality requiring you to push Play while it said Loadining. Miss Loading and you are stuck trying to find the point where you stopped watching last time. Exciting! I will not miss having to use the DVP642 much since there are so many great choices. And with large HDTVs and the advent of HDMI, I replaced my DVD players several times already.
I personally use the 50-inch 1080p Hitachi P50H401 plasma TV, and I tried to get a DVD player that would further improve on DivX playback, have HDMI and upscaling to 1080p (or at least to 1080i) and, for the love of progress and file sharing, a USB port. In doing so I went through some Philips models and some Pioneer models.
I tried newer Philips DVD players, namely Philips DVP5982 and Philips DVP5960 and, although they were both improvements on the DVP 642, they were not perfect. I got the Pioneer DV-400V in black color and used it for quite some time. The Pioneer Elite DV-48AV replaced it since I like to listen to DVD-Audio, but I tried the new Pioneer DV-410V and found it remarkably similar to the DV-400 and not much worse than my Elite DV-48AV (sans DVD-Audio and SACD).
Features
The Pioneer DV-410V is an upconverting DVD player with upconversion to 480p, 720p, 1080i or 1080p over HDMI. It can play DivX, Xvid and JPEG files, WMV, MP3 and WMA. You do not need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the files to a CD-R/W disc or DVD and insert it into this player and it will play them. Same applies to the USB port that the player has: you can copy files onto a USB drive and the player will play them, albeit with some slight issues.
The player supports slow and fast scan, even in DivX files. Even though the manual does not say anything about it, it will play (and even upconvert) European PAL discs on an NTSC TV. It has a coaxial digital audio out, HDMI out, component video out, S-Video and composite video out. Unlike so many recent DVD players, it has buttons on the front panel to control its menus, USB/DVD switching and playback and has a very intuitive remote control.
It is slightly heavier than the DV-400 but lighter than the DV-48AV and lacks the latter's optical digital out and 5.1 analog outs, which is not important since it does not play DVD-Audio or SACD and I don't even use the 5.1 out on my DV-48AV, since I play DVD_Audio over HDMI.
Operation
The player is medium-sized and is not too lightweight, which gives it a solid feel. The front panel is not Spartan like so many recent DVD players. It has menu control buttons as well as playback control buttons, all of which look stylish and have good tactile response.
The display is bright and informative. The onscreen displays are excellent and are very well designed. They are very similar to the ones of the other recent Pioneer DVD players and are better than the ones on recent Philips models.
I had to switch the sharpness mode to "Soft" to get rid of oversharpening. The player also has adjustments for brightness/contrast and Gamma. There are a lot of other settings to play with, or leave alone.
Usability
When unpacking the player I was pleasantly surprised that unlike the DV-400 or the DV-48AV, this model has a detachable power cord. This makes it easier to replace if broken and easier to unplug if the unit is placed or removed from an entertainment center.
I was immediately impressed, albeit not surprised, with how convenient and informative the menus and onscreen displays were. From colors to presentation, the menus are among the best I have seen.
For example, the onscreen display shows at the same time the total time of the current chapter, remaining time and running time. It also can show bit rate in real time, which is not always useful (DVD), but interesting nonetheless.
And another impressive asset in this player is how Resume functionality is implemented. In some DVD players you have to jump through the hoops to ensure the movie starts playing from where you left off last time. This Pioneer just does it seamlessly and it has resume functionality even in the MPEG or DivX files! Very convenient. I wish my DV-48AV had this functionality in DVD-Audio files.
Remote Control
Most DVD players have remote controls you have to look at when using or struggle to remember the button locations. The DV-410V has a remote control that is pretty close to perfection. The buttons have excellent tactile response. They do not require high effort yet have good positive feedback.
The buttons are located in intuitive order and the most frequently used buttons are larger than secondary ones. The remote is almost perfect, aside from the location of the "0" button, which I never use anyway. And unlike the previous model, the remote control matches the player color (black).
The remote of my Pioneer Elite DV-48AV is larger and has buttons to control TV's power, volume, channel and input select - features that this remote lacks. But the button layout and weight of this remote are better.
Picture Quality
I tested the player with my 50-inch Hitachi plasma (P50H401). The 1080p output over HDMI is excellent: razor sharp and clear. It does not quite have the smallest detail of the HD DVD or Blu-Ray, but it is rather good and definitely better than that of the non-upconverting player over an analog connection.
I saw definite improvement over passing 480p signal from my old Philips DVP642 over component out to my TV. The latter looked foggy by comparison and generated significant artifacts in scenes with motion.
The in-player 1080p upconversion of the DV-410 is very good. It is not perfect though. You can see the stairstep artifacts, especially obvious when watch "South Park" - the diagonal lines are not smooth but resemble steps. But what can we expect at this price point?
Since I have not expected it to rival an HD DVD disc in my Toshiba HD-A3, I am very happy with the image quality. But, later I tried a comparison with the upconversion of regular DVDs by my Toshiba HD-A3 and the A3 does have a small, but distinctive edge.
The sound is excellent as well (using coaxial digital connection to my Panasonic XR57 receiver). The player also passes sound over HDMI, which is convenient. The player plays most of my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly.
Well, make it semi-flawlessly. It doesn't play some DivX files that my mother's Philips DVP5990 plays fine.
The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed. I say most, because although it stutters on fewer files than my Philips did, it still has issues with some files, which it refuses to play completely.
The front USB port is a great feature and lets you use a USB drive or any similar device, provided it does not require much power. USB-powered hard drive will most likely not work. Still, it is a great feature as I can copy over a bunch of MP3 or WMA files onto a USB drive, plug it into the USB port of this player and play it through my receiver and speakers. Ditto the video files. The only issue is the player asks you if you want to play audio or video when the USB mode is turned on. So you have to use the onscreen menu to select that. But after that you can switch the TV off and just play your music.
I am not quite sure why they moved the USB port location from the left of the player to lower-right portion (comparing to the DV-400V).
One other convenient feature: the front panel display says GUI when you are using the menus or shows numbers if the GUI mode is off.
Warranty
Unlike many other DVD players, which only have 90-day labor warranty, this Pioneer has 1-year warranty for both parts and labor.
What I Like
I like the player's relatively low price for feature set, its connectivity options, features, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, USB, 1080p. Very good build quality, excellent video and sound, great remote control, menus, and responsiveness are also very impressive.
Dislikes
The startup time is longer than with most other DVD players. I noticed this about other recent Pioneer DVD players as well. Perhaps caused by having to load the extensive menu system.
Pros: Performance, features, excellent build quality, USB, up to 1080p over HDMI, DivX, MP3/WMA, remote
Cons: Slightly slow startup, some newer Philips players play DivX better
Bottom Line
Unlike the Philips DVP5982 or DVP5990, the Pioneer DV-410V excels in all areas. There is no need to sacrifice usability for DivX playback anymore. The DV-410 is a very good upconverting DVD player with a USB port, DivX playback and even PAL playback on an NTSC TV. If you need to play PAL discs on an NTSC TV, play computer files and DivX, play media files from a USB drive and upconvert up to 1080p, the DV410 is an excellent choice. And it is an excellent choice for regular DVD playback as well.
I highly recommend it. But if you want a very similar DVD player with DVD-Audio and SACD playback, check out my favorite: the Pioneer Elite DV-48AV. I have had it for years and it is very good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)