 Dual xdvd8130 ain't so bad Strengths: + plays mp3s from CD/DVD and plays all types of DVDs no problem
+ built in monitor
Weaknesses: -199 mp3/wma files per disc limit!!
-some quiet songs you can hear distortion
Summary: i wasn't sure what to expect when i purchased this. but i found it on ebay for $175 so i figured i'd go ahead and get it. i wanted something with a display and play mp3s off of DVDs and have at least decent build quality, not some chinese made junk. so now that i have it and have used it a while i thought i'd post a review, because i hadn't been able to find one anywhere on the web before i got mine. overall i like it, but i'm not fully satisfied. the screen is 2.5" diagonal, so fairly small, smaller or equal to a 5g ipod. but i wasn't too worried about that and it works fine. DVDs actually look decent and play without any problems on it. DVD menus and any features are fully functional. so with video purposes i'm fine with it and if i planned on using it for video much i'd buy an external 7" screen or something. but my main reason was to be able to play mp3s off of DVDs. but this is the feature that really disappoints me. i looked and read through the user manual before i bought it, but couldn't find anything about the number limit of mp3s on one DVD. however after using it i found out that indeed there is a limit, and eventually found it in the back of the manual that it only reads up to 199 mp3/wma per disc, and the better be CBR because VBR skip tons. the menu for music isn't so bad. easy to browse through folders and find songs and you can select songs to add to a playlist, but the screen is small and they didn't really maximize the space on it for the music browsing - so font is kinda small and parts are white text on white background, kinda dumb. but still not too bad and i'd be fine with it if it weren't for the file limit so low. using DVDs is pointless, because CD-R can hold just about 200 mp3s. just a couple other thoughts, i guess. the screen resolution isn't too bad, just small fonts. they really could have made bigger fonts and more contrasting text (ie white text on black background). some quiet songs you can hear distortion and others you can't, even though i encoded all mp3s the same. again, make sure to use CBR - and i'd recommend at least 192kbps, no point in using less than that anyway again as you can only put 200 per disc. plenty of AV ins/outs, so i'll probably end up using mp3 player input frequently because of the file limit. overall, if you can get it under $200 i'd recommend it if you don't mind the file limit. DVD video portion is great if you want that. i'd say it looks better in person, too. i know the JVC dvd players can play up to 1000 mp3 per disc, so look there if you don't want file limit. only 2 stars b/c of file limit.
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