Coby DVD-224 DVD Player

It was not too long ago that my mom sent me a whole bunch of home movies that she wanted me to dub and edit and clean up on my computer. Since I had a video capture card already plugged into my rig, I thought the easiest thing to do would be to get a DVD player and run some RCA cables to the back of my box. Since I didn't want to tear apart my home theater setup and move my nice, expensive and high end Malata player, I decided to shop around and see if I could find something low end that would do some quick and dirty DVD playing.

I found the COBY DVD-224, and since it was on sale for 25 bucks, I decided to take a chance. Fortunately my blind purchase yielded some pretty juicy fruit.

For starters, the player is dirt cheap. The list retail is something to the order of about 35 dollars, but you can find it - like I did - for much less. The unit is small - about 2 inches tall, nine inches wide and about 11 deep - it's roughly the size of a piece of notebook paper - so it's got a very small footprint.

The size works against it, as far as the remote control goes - it's kind of on the small side and for a big strapping young lad like myself, with huge man-sized digits, it's not comfortable to hold for long periods. Fortunately, I don't use it as much as my regular player, so this really isn't a big deal. The other sore point of the unit is the instruction manual. While I've been around players for years now and was able to suss out everything on my own, a glance over the manual shows that was poorly written. Bad form there, Coby. For shame!

Oh, and speaking of the remote, like most modern DVD players, the controls on the front of the unit are pretty minimal. The 224 is no different with just a power switch, play/pause, open and stop. So if you lose the remote, you're pretty out of luck for any advanced features.

The player comes equipped with a progressive scan output, capable of delivering higher-quality video images to compatible televisions - or would be if I didn't have it hooked up the way I do. Like most other DVD players on the market, this one features JPEG playback, which allows you to view digital photos burned to a CD on your television. It also does CD and MP3 playback.

What pleasantly surprised me was that the 224 can play PAL as well as NTSC discs, and is region free capable. It took me only a few moments of looking on the internet to track down the region change code - a couple of keystrokes on the tiny remote later and I was playing my imported Doctor Who discs like a champ.

I read some of the other 224 reviews here, how the discs skip and jump - and I don't see any of this. Sure this player doesn't see heavy usage like the one plugged into my home theater system, but I do use it, and everything I put into it plays fine. It plays store bought discs, second hand discs and DVD-R discs that I've traded and swapped (and those will be the true test of a player's mettle). I've also tried some of my Hong Kong imported VCDs and SVCD discs - and they played just fine.

Oh sure, I could wish for a fancier player with more bells and whistles - but honestly at 25 bucks, for a secondary player, this one fits my needs just fine. And when it eventually dies (two years on now and counting, by the way - not bad for the price), buying a new one will be no great hardship. For those of you who need a nice, simple, cheap and basic player, the 224 is perfect.

IF SOMEONE STOLE IT, WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN?
Cheap, disposable and perfect for my crowded desk? Most certainly.