JVC TH-A5R

If you buy a working one on ebay for £50 odd then you have got yourself a cracking system, whilst it lasts.

I am very disappointed in the JVC TH-A5R DVD player. It has continuously given me problems. At this stage I can not watch a DVD without it massively and dangerously overheating and cutting out after approximately 20 minutes. In my view, it is a totally frustrating and useless buy.

Having paid a lot of money for my JVC TH-A5R DVD player from Comet 2 years ago we had high hopes, only to be consistently disappointed. Luckily we had purchased the extended warranty so we were covered, but this unit has been in repair more than it has been in use; to the point that now we have moved house we aren't even going to bother re-installing it. We are sticking with the £30 one we bought to use when this one is in for repair (that one has never gone wrong)!

With something that looks this good, It's a real shame that this system does not come through on long term reliability. As far as the JVC-THA5R DVD Player is concerned, don't believe the hype! Any review mag will tell you it's a stunner with pretty good performance for the money. However these magazine/product relationships are short enough for the system to make an impression and flee before anybody notices the long term faults. 18 months later Freezing, Humming arghhh!

i have had 2 JVC TH-A5R systems and to be honest with you i would not take another one if you gave it to me for free. whwn i got the first one out the box and plugged it started to watch dvd and it cut out with in 20 mins and i burnt my finger on the top of it it was that hot, took it back and got another and after 6 months it has packed up again with the same problem and a few more, it keep sticking and then ejecting the discs out.

I am not goign to compare this player wiht top end systems, in the same way you wouldn't compare a Ford Focus to Jaguar X Type. In it's class, the JVC TH-A5R is far and away the leader. It's a steal at £250.

Here is a summary of the systems main features:

DVD / CD / VCD / SVCD / MP3 / CD-R / CD-RW / DVD-R compatibility.

Dolby Digital and DTS decoding inbuilt.

Max output 235w, sub 60w passive.

RDS FM & AM tuner with 30 presets.

Phono input for connection of auxilary equipment, i.e. TV or Sky Box for Dolby Prologic.

This player, in my eyes in aesthetically pleasing. It looks great to be honest. When you get this player home it is a doddle to connect the speakers and the TV, everything is labelled. All speaker cable is included.

Once set up, the first thing that will hit you is the picture quality, which, is worthy of a player of much more expense. Had the package included RGB this would have been brilliant, instead, it's excellent!

The sound is a joy. Dialogue is clean and crisp and everythign blends together very well. The subwoofer has coped admirably with what I have thrown at it, and that is Pearl Harbor. Max volume is 67 and at 45, I have had the floor and walls shaking to the poitn of things falling off walls. Pro Logic decoding is excellent from my digibox and I am glad to say this has been my best electronics purchase yet.

Bought mine in Dec 2002. Had annoying bass hum on quiet parts of the movie soundtrack. Had 1st system replaced and 2nd was the same. 2nd system then started to self eject the discs during the movies, then the system would lock up! JVC unhelpful! Been away for repair for 5 weeks so far with no sign of any parts arriving. Am swapping for a different system. Don't buy this!!!

Bought this DVD player about 4 months ago.

PLays fantastically well. Looks great. Still trying to find out if it is a chip that is needed to crack the damn thing.

The TH-A5R DVD player from JVC looks very good. Easily plays all types of CD's CD-R's and CD-RW's, with or without MP3. Nice interface. Very good sound-possibilities. Also easy to adjust. For the price it's the most you can want for.

Pity the remote is so light, and you have to push the buttuns very well and also fast to achieve the desired effect. The manual could be easier, especially for non-audio-freaks. But it gets you where you want.