written by kenny007 on 04/02/2004
Mustek V56L
I have found that both the Mustek V56L and the Transonic 56L DVD players have a problem with overheating. The overheating causes the movie to either freeze, lock up or show pixelation onscreen. The way to overcome it is to ensure that the unit is well ventilated.
To do this I simply put four rubber feet beneath the unit (one on each corner) to raise it by a centimetre or two. This allowed for sufficient ventilation and in turn the player has performed well ever since. When sitting on the feet that came stock standard with these units - the feet were simply too low and so the venting holes (which are underneath the units on the lefthand side) didn't have enough room to ventilate properly. Extra ventilation holes to these units would keep them cooler and working more efficiently.
This has been tested with the player being housed in an entertainment unit behind glass doors with a small cable hole at the back.
I hope this review is able to help anyone who has purchased a 56L and is having problems watching their movie the whole way through!
written by Glenz on 08/01/2004
Too hot is the problem...I have Mustek V56L from Dick Smith. After a number of replacements and at the point of throwing it in the Bin I realised that the only Ventilation holes in the base where blocked by the power supply plastic sheild. Also, there is no other ventelation to allow air flow so after 30 mins or so the whole unit over heats and the CPU chippy starts spitting the dummy causing slow operation and lock ups etc etc. The fix for me was to go to the trouble of ventelating the top cover and the unit has never missed a beat since. Maybe Dick Smith or the consumers institute should be given one to test and I'm sure they will also find that over heating is an issue with these beasties. (ps removing the cover will void your warrenty but now armed with this knowledge you can take appropriate action).
written by Nadir. on 19/04/2003
I have a Mustek V56L from Dick Smith Electronics. I have an older tv, so have had to connect it to my video, and then the video to the TV via RF, which is not the best. Was having problems with it pulsing - both audio and visual - too much power coming through the RF cable. THe only way to fix this was to hack it and turn off the macrovision. I also did this to change it to multizone. Now it has lost vertical tracking on the opening screens but this sorts itself out when the DVD begins EXCEPT on a Zone 1 DVD I just tried. I tried turning Macrovision back on to see if the tracking would return to normal to no avail. :(
written by geoff. on 18/09/2002
The Mustek V560 is a great DVD player...plays anything svcd vcd mp3 anything goes no hacks needed. Plays anything straight out of box....great value for £99. Bought this from computer fair - go get one.
written by growlin_stan. on 04/09/2002
The features of this, very nicely priced, entry-level Mustek V560 DVD player are impressive.
I cannot comment on it's quality of DVD playback yet (except that fast fwd/rwd is jerky for any speed over 2x) as I haven't watched any fully. It has the ability to switch between hi-res and no-flicker (or auto) which really does get rid of the flicker of lines if they are problematic (as was the case in the 'space terminal' scene in, '2001: A Space Odyssey').
My main use for this player (after DVD) is, as an mp3 player and it seems to have superior handling of this format compared to others I tried (Lexoxx DVD8700, Black Diamond MP2000, Samsung DVDS124, Mizuda DVD-2023X).
The player was not advertised as a component-out player but it has the terminals on the back!
The manual is basic and doesn't explain all the features very well. I don't know what some of them do yet.
The price was definitely the clincher after I found out it handled mp3's and multi-zones so well. It was NZ$299 from Dick Smith and only an extra $40 for another 2 years warranty (on top of it's std 1 yr).
written by Alistair. on 24/05/2002
I have had a Mustek V560 DVD player for less than a week and bought one movie (U571) to test it on install. Title sequence to this movie starts with a computer generated sequence leading up to the root menu. Immediatley I noticed pixelisation on the colour boundaries in this sequence, and in several other scenes where a sky or underwater shot meant low contrast colour changes across the picture. It seemed to have trouble blending the colours smoothly. As I am new to DVD I am unsure if this is to be expected, but I can't see how it could be. Normal high contrast scenes were very clear and sound quality seemed very good (once i figured out how to turn on the AC3 decoder for 5.1 output). I have a friend with the same machine and he says he has noticed it too on other disks. I even went to the extent of taking the disk to a shop and trying it in the Mustek floor model. Same problem. This is very disappointing as it seems to be a very good machine otherwise. I have not watched the movie on a "high quality" brand machine so dont know if it is normal, but it is not the disk, as my friend reported the problem on several disks he has watched. I welcome anyones input into this problem and if it is "normal" as no-one else in any reviews i have read has mentioned it.
Cheers
Written on: 15/01/2004
I have also returned three Mustek players to Dick Smith fro freezing. Funnily they say the problem is unusual and seem surprised.
<br>I traded up to a Pansonic - hoping this will fix it.
Written on: 11/10/2003
I think mustek DVD's are 'Get what you pay for'
<br>I have had three faulty units. Flickering picture, skipping problems and picture freezes. Dick Smith Electronics gave me a refuned. I have since purchased a Tranisonic DVD player from the warehouse only to hear that it is produced by the same company that makes the Mustek DVD'S. This explain the various problems I am having with my current Tranisonic DVD player. Does anyone know of an ok brand of cheap dvd in New Zealand that actually works?
Written on: 18/02/2003
Yes, I am having the same problems whith my Mustek DVD player, (frezzing images) after an hour of playing.- But I realized that only happend when the movie is not that "clean", because, whith new DVD´s an with no scratches on it, the DVD works pecfect.- Besides, what else can we espect for that price??
P.s. Sorry If my English is not that good.-
cheers.-
Written on: 29/01/2003
I have had the same problems with the Mustek V56L which I am sure is the same as the V560 except for the slimline case. Discs froze during play back and eventually most of my DVDs would not even load after extended whirring and clicking noises. After 4 months I took the machine back to Dick Smith Electronics who surprisingly gave me a refund.
Interestingly the Mustek is the only player on the NZ market cheaper than the $900 Denon DVD900 which uses a memory buffer to eliminate any pause at the DVD layer change point. Sony models are very poor in handling the layer change with a pause of more than 1 second.
Written on: 01/12/2002
Yes I too have finally given up on the Muztek I purchased. After having similar lock-up problems, and picture freezes, and sending it back for warranty repair 3 times, I finally get it back and it would not even load a disc! I took it back to the place I bought it (QMB computers) and they also would not refund my money. They have however swapped it for an Auriga model (with very similar looking software installed) and I have had no trouble with it. Good Luck with the Muzteks guys!
Written on: 01/12/2002
I too have a Mustek v560 purchased from Dick Smith Electronics in New Zealand. I'm actually very unhappy with it and am annoyed that Dick Smith will not refund my money and take back the unit.
9 times out of 10 every movie I watch will freeze and then skip for a few seconds at a time. Usually after an hour or so. I can hear the drive seeking or something while the picture is frozen. If I'm really unlucky the whole unit will then lock-up after the drive has been very busy seeking (clicking) and there is nothing to do but power off and on again to remove the DVD. The remote control does nothing when the unit is in this state.
It's been "repaired" once already after Dick Smith insisted that they had to repair it and could not refund the purchase price. The service report simply stated "main board faulty, replaced board, tested OK". Yet the same thing is happening again (what and how exactly did they test?).
Lastly, this unit could be used as a MP3/CD player if only it would not jump into the setup menu upon power on. Why would I want to set-up this player each time I use it? If I were using it as a CD player I would not want to turn on a TV each time to exit the set-up menu.
Anyone else having these types of problems?
written by Gary. on 03/05/2002
The Mustek V560 DVD player is great value for money once I had found the hack to make it multizone. Have had no problems with it so far.
written by kdogg. on 27/04/2002
Once i opened my brand new mustek V560 dvd player from the shrink wrap, i inserted a DVD and it wouldn't read it. Then i tried opening it and the dvd got stuck inside the machine! This was a brand new one and it didn't read any of my CD's and broke two of them.
DONT BUY IT
written by equiliser. on 18/03/2002
Specification for the Mustek V560 DVD player is:
Disc Format Hi-Resolution DVD-VCD-SVCD-DVCD-CDR-CDRW-MP3-CD
Region Multi-Region
Video System NTSC/PAL
Video Decompression MPEG-2(ISO/IEC-13818)MPEG-1
Video Output 1.0Vpp/75 ohm Sync minus
S-Video Output (Y)1.0Vpp/75 ohm(Sync & minus polarity)
(C)0.28Vpp/75 ohm (Sync & minus polarity)
SCART Output Standard European Scart
Audio Characteristic: 5.1 Channel Digital Surround (Digital Output)
Linear PCM Audio
Analog Output 2.0V / 330 ohm (1kHz)
Frequency Response DVD:
48kHz Sampling; 4Hz-22kHz
96kHz Sampling; 4Hz-44kHz
CD: 4Hz-20kHz
S/N Ratio >=105dB
Dynamic Range >=95dB
Distortion <=0.004%
W & F Below measurement
Digital Output 0.5Vpp / 75 ohm
Phones Jack 32ohm (30mW):>8 ohm
Video Section: Video output x 1
S-video output x 1
Scart x 1
Audio Section: Analog Output (L / R) x 2
Digital Output PCM/AC-3 x 1 (Coaxial)
Line Voltage AC 100-240 VAC+-10% (50/60 Hz)
Power 20W
Dimensions 430mm(W) x 90mm(H) x 302mm(D)
Weight 4 kg
Remote Control DC 3V (AA x2 ) Infra-red
written by Rob. on 28/02/2002
I have been very happy with this Mustek V560 DVD player. It has all the features I was looking for in a DVD player, and at the price: NZ$400 inc tax (approx US$200) it was less than half the price of comparable 'name-brand' models, excellent value.
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38884_Scorpion.'s Response to 24577_Alistair.'s Review
Written on: 21/09/2002
I have had several replacements for mis-reading disc's and lock-ups. I would like to know how to get AC3 coax or optical to work, tech suppurt says set audio to 5.1, there is led output from the end of the optical cable but my pioneer SPD07 decoder does not see any signal (same with RF coax), by comparison my PS/2 optical lights up the AC3 display and sounds great. Pity player has component out, PS/2 only has composite
<br>
<br>Is there a trick to geting the optical link working ???