Lidl Targa DVD-+R/RW Recorder and DiVX/XViD Playback

[oddball]

From the 16th Lidl will be selling a Targa DVD recorder that records to + and - R and RW but also plays back DiVX, XViD, SVCD, MP3, WMA etc for £199

Does anyone know what chipset this player uses and if it can playback GMC and QPEL?

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/index.nsf/p..._Scan_and_DivX
http://www.targa.co.uk/cms/targa_2_6...produkt_id=334

It says on the Targa site that the player is set at region 2 but can be made region free. However they do not tell you how

[SeeMoreDigital]

While shopping at Lidl, the missus picked up one of their flyers.

Aparently, from Thu 16 December, there will be a Mpeg4/DVD Targer player available with with an "7 in 2" memory card reader, for £59.99!

It will also have, progressive scan, YUV component video, RGB scart and s-video outputs, 6Ch analogue outputs (with on-board processor) and optical and electrical outputs.

Again... there's no information about the chip-set. That said, it looks like quite a bargin!


Cheers

[oddball]

After looking around I believe it uses the ESS Vibratto chip but not sure if it's S or II.

[oddball]

So no opinions on this player?

[SeeMoreDigital]

I don't think anybody has bought one


Cheers

[Sectie.B]

SeeMoreDigital

I bought the Targa DP-5100x dvd/divx-player.
[They also have a DVD-recorder Targa DR-5100X with divx-support but have no idea about chipset...]

Got the black/anthrazit one in a Belgian Lidl for 85 Euro; there's also a silver-version.
It uses a Mediatek MT1389FE (not ESS); it's the first player I've seen with this chip (previously only DE, GE, EE). Have no idea what's different with the other MTK-chips.

I've tried several other divx-players before (as a test - I run a dutch website about divx/mp3 and co°...) but this is my favourite one so far; have 'played' with different models from Kiss, Liteon, Yamada, Elta, Lifetek/Medion, ... that are in about the same price-category.
Can of course say nothing yet about longetivity or frequency of fw-updates.

Some remarks:
- design/looks = small/slimline - I think it looks quite good but this is very personal of course
- good remote compared to the sometimes horrible ones that are often supplied with these cheap-ish players
- menu structure is clean and easy to navigate
- there's some low-noise from the player in operation, although nothing disturbing (my vcr is a whole lot noisier!)
I can only hear it sitting right in front of the machine with the volume turned really low and listening carefully.
- the cd-drawer is very thin an comes out very far = be carefull in handling it
- 3 years warranty
- possibility of firmware-upgrades
- there's a real power on/off switch (on the rear-side)
- a black version (important for me because all the rest of my equipment is black...)
but the supplied remote is gray ???
- I was utterly amazed at finding a nice dutch paper manual in the box
- can't say anything bad about the sound-reproduction (excellent)
- picture-quality is very good but I have a faint feeling I've seen slightly better
- divx-subs (=srt/sub and smi too I think):
are quite small
white centered font on a semi-transparent gray background bar = ok
- Subs are loaded automatically if they have the same name as the avi-file and are in the same folder
- support for 2 audio-tracks in 1 avi
- no GMC-support but I personaly don't find this a real negative; never use it
(Qpel shouldn't be a problem but haven't tried it)
- can jump to a certain time-point in divx
- plays mp3/wma from dvd (and cd of course...)
- mp4/ogm/aac: not tried yet
- no ogg-support - am hoping for this with a fw-update
- according to the manual there's a limit of 650 files on 1 medium (not tested yet)
- random mp3 is only folder-based (should be fixed with a fw-update)
- no extra info on player-display like id3-tags etc, only time/track-indications
in case of id3-tags: they are shown on tv (title-artist-album...)
- can't use the remote-numbers to select a certain mp3-track, have to use 'skip'
- can be made region-free
- supports both pal/ntsc
- reading photo's trough the build-in card-reader can be quite sluggish; reading from photo-cd is faster (about 2x/3x)
- build-in DD 5.1-decoder; no DTS-decoder
for in/output-connections etc: look at the targa-website (all normal connections are present)
- no audiodvd/sacd-support (normal for this price-category)

The negative remarks are the only ones I can think of after a few days of use/testing.
According to Targa-support, a first fw-update is being worked on.

In short: A machine you should definitely have a look at if you don't want to spend too much. But as with all these players: don't expect miracles!
I was previously contemplating the excellent but 2x as expensive Pioneer DV-575A or Philips DVP720SA, but since I have absolutely no interest in dvd-audio/sacd atm, that would be overkill for me.

more info:
Targa DP-5100x manual-english

[SeeMoreDigital]

Thank-you very much indeed for your review Sectie.B

For the features this player offers, including the media card readers and "three" year warranty, the price is very good indeed.

Great news to see that it also includes the newest version of the excellent MediaTek chip-set.

Hopefully it should support Mpeg4 PAR signalling detection in AVI too!


Many thanks again.... Cheers

[oddball]

I am going to take a chance on the recorder. If nobody gets there first will let peopel know what the chipset if (If I can find out without opening it. Tips and suggestions here).

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by oddball
I am going to take a chance on the recorder. If nobody gets there first will let peopel know what the chipset if (If I can find out without opening it. Tips and suggestions here).

Nice one...

Unless the player has wide top vents, I doubt you'll be able to identify the chip-set without opening it


Cheers

[oddball]

"We will first apologize for the delay in replying your message below. This is due to technical reasons out of our control.
Regarding your request we will inform you there is no chipset used in the Targa DR-5100x DVD-Recorder to decode DiVx and XViD files. The firmware of the recorder allows the decoding. It does not unfortunately support subtitles with DiVX and XViD. Regarding making the recorder region free, we will inform you that we do not deal with this issue because legal reason linked to licence. We cannot therefore provide you with information how to make it. "


Hmmm.

The bit about the firmware handling the divx decoding does not make a lot of sense to me.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by oddball
The bit about the firmware handling the divx decoding does not make a lot of sense to me.

LOL... me neither!

Perhaps, they use a hamster's wheel to turn the DVD drive mechanism, instead of an motor too.... Cool


Cheers

[oddball]

I've decided not to buy this player. It's cons outweigh it's features and I find it too expensive really for the brand. I am going to stick with my Elta and PC for DiVX playback for now until a really good DiVX player comes along that plays nearly everything including XViD with advanced features and proper subtitle support. I will probably buy a brand name DVD Recorder modded to be region free like the Pioneer DVR-220S which has RGB in and can do play while recording. OK it's only DVD-R/RW but i've found - to playback on my Toshiba DVD player whilst + never has so it wins in that respect. Would be nice to have a machine that does both formats of course (Or all 3 inc DVD-RAM). Would be wonderfull to have an all-in-one DiVX and DVD Recorder. But the tech is not up to spec yet IMO. I prefer flexibility.

You get what you pay for. If you want everything (excepting DiVX which is not even on high end recorders yet) you have to shell out major cash.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Originally posted by oddball
I will probably buy a brand name DVD Recorder modded to be region free like the Pioneer DVR-220S which has RGB in and can do play while recording.

I must admit, if I was going to buy a DVD Recorder, an RGB input would have to be on my list too, together with FireWire and a nice fat hard-drive!


Cheers

[freelock7]

-Support Divx6 above 3000kbs with AC3
-Support Sigma realMagic H 263 codec .
-support last Xvid version (without packed bitstream)
-Do not support H 264.
-Support Avi > 2G0 on DVD-ROM _UDF (play fine).