Kiss Technology DP-500 Networkable DVD Player Review

[The Edge]

Link thingy (http://www.techseekers.net/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=61)

ISO MPEG-4 and DivX (Ver. 4 & 5) & DivX 3.11 with the latest firmware
Seems like just about everything plays.

Summary of Media Features

DIVX v4 -> No Problems
DIVX 5.02 -> No Problems
XVID -> No Problems
RealMagic MP4 -> No Problems
MPEG VCD/MPG -> No Problems
MPEG 2 SVCD/DVD -> No Problems
Quicktime MP4 -> Reports unknown FourCC code
DIVX v3.11 -> No Problems (up to 1600 KBits/s)
3IVX D4 -> Attempts to open file and stops, reselection may start playback.
CD Audio -> No Problems
MP3 -> No Problems (supports ID3 info)
JPEG -> No Problems

Notes:
Mixed file types on one CD are not recommended.
For example if you have a DVD-R with a few MPEG-1 files and a few DivX files
the DivX files are the only ones that are selectable and playable.

Volume -/+ did not work on firmware prior to v2.6.5 with DivX movies.

FastFW and FastRW do not work
on DivX files or MP3s. There is a Time Search function to jump foward in the file.
Very buggy operation on DivX 3.11 files.

Some DivX files need to be zoomed to fill full screen, Example: a XviD file 352x288
plays in a litte box where as a MPEG1 352x288 file fills full screen.
With the latest firmware there is now an option to automatically
bring MPEG4 files to full screen. However if they are
a non- standard size you will still have to manually zoom the video.

June 26th


Plays DVD+R/RW too.

Bren

[smiller667]

Also (as expected, really):
- DivX 5 is supported (with the exeption of Quarter Pixel "QPel").
- XviD is supported (with the expetion of Quarter Pixel "QPel").
And this one brought a smile to my face:
Cons
- Some codecs you may be used to will not work on this. (Not the DP-450's fault)Yeah right, the chip or fw doesn't support it, so it's the codec's fault or what? Actually the DP-500 was reviewed, not the 450. Also no mention of the resolutions/bitrates tested. Well, at least it matches "both black and silver home theatres". Cool.

[Xayd]

If these players I'm seeing were in the 200 dollar range they might be worth a second glance, but I can't see the attraction for them as of right now.

For the 500 dollars that this Kiss player costs, I could build a 1.1 to 1.2ghz Celeron/SDRAM PC, put in an X-Card with Jove player, and for the same price have more functionality than this box, including the sound support and HDTV scaling, with the ability to control the software myself rather than having to wait on the company who made the box to update firmwares.

[snooty]

Originally posted by Xayd
If these players I'm seeing were in the 200 dollar range they might be worth a second glance, but I can't see the attraction for them as of right now.

$500???

The DP-450 is available for not much more than $200 (mine cost £150UKP), and the DP-500 isn't all that much more.

[Xayd]

http://www.1-877camcorder.com/dp500.html

That's the best price I've seen in the states, 438 dollars. The 450 looks to be about 100 dollars less, but still after cables it's gonna be 400 US for even the 450.

[manono]

Hi-

If it's a $200 DVD/MPEG4 player available in the US that you want, then the Bravo D1 is available now:

http://www.vinc.us/level2.asp?id=31&PID=21

It's so incredibly popular now though, particularly among the DVI crowd, that you might have to wait a month or so to get one.

And the LiteOn LVD-2001 should be available pretty soon for about the same price:

http://www.liteonit.com/liteweb/lvd_2001_2.htm

[SeeMoreDigital]

Can the DP-500 play WMV9 VCM files? You know the WME9 files that have an .avi extension.

Can the DP-500 play Win Media Audio (WMA) files?