stingo

Will second that - what overheating problem - have left my N996 on all weekend and it plays just fine...

Matt Stevens

My player has never overheated. Doesn't even get warm.

axolotls return

Mine gets warm to the touch... but so does all my A/V equipment. I would imagine the 996 gets a bit hotter since there isn't any cooling vents, which would be a mistake since the DVD Player would would get all dusty inside.

digitalfreaknyc

How is the DVP310???

elise

I was just searching for information on this as well. I'd love a player that plays different regions but my funds are severely limited.

PacMan2006

Hey Guys...

I just purchased the Malata 520 (hasn't arrived yet) online.

I am really looking forward to "24" in August (Region 2). I read somewhere that it will be anamorphic 16x9 widescreen. Now, I've heard region free dvd players have problems with this specific format. Will the Malata be able to handle this without having the picture look odd? If it does look odd though, does being able to adjust the picture work well or make it look silly?

And is this XY scaling hard at all? I heard this adjusts the picture/ratio. Any information/personal opinions/comments would be great.

ScreachingWeasel

If you don't have a widescreen tv you probably will never have to touch the x-y scaling. The only titles I have had to use it on are a couple of Hong Kong Legend's dvds that were either squished or stretched due to a problem on Hong Kong Legends side. You will most likely get some use out of the zoom to get rid of overscan. I have never had a dvd that has had the wrong aspect ratio due to the player, so I seriously doubt you will either. Anyway enjoy the player.

slymer

I recieved my Malata DVP-520 player today from NBT Electronics. So far it works fine, although I don't have an HDTV, so I can't test out the progressive scan.

Lurker1999

Does anyone have a formal or informal review of the new model?

Matt Stevens

So far everyone who has an HDTV reports the 480p does not work.

icondude

How does this compare to the Raite 715 I already have and paid like $145 for?

Lothem

My N996 just completly fried on me today. I dunno if I want to order another, but does the DVP-520 still overheat or have they fixed it?

ckolchak

well, My Malata 520 just arrived from NBT...about 12 hours before i have to leave for 3 weeks-sheesh.
anyways, after an hour of frustration and calls to John and some blind button pushing, i finally figured out what was set wrong.
pal progressive is indeed a no-go with my pj (NEC LT150). however, PAL interlaced works and of course, PAL /ntsc converted.
the pal interlaced seems to me a touch better in the picture department, but the subitles seem to throb. converted (with adjustments to the picture controls of the pj) seems to give a decent picture too although here the subs are rock solid.

i was told by john, that since my pj wont synch to PAL prog (on green?) that by buying a transcoder to hook the malata up to, i can get PAL progressive.
anybody have any experience with this?
for a sub $200 upgrade, i may be willing to bite- especially once i start getting more R2-4 discs.
unless it doesn't seem to make that big a difference.
Pal interlaced (and converted, too) is much better than i was expecting, but with a pj and the size f the images, every little bit helps.


WHOOO HOO! i'm finally region free!
now i can start belly achinging about crappy transfers from 5 more regions!

moquist

Got my Malata 520 from lfvw.com on Saturday, and so far I love it.

The remote layout is poor, but the menu layout & navigation (about which some have complained concerning the 996) is fine AFAICT, and it's intuitive and easy to use.

The picture is fine, and the zoom, X-Y scaling, and panning are great.

It is just a bit slower than our Sony in loading the discs.

The slow-mo, forward & reverse scanning, and shot-by-shot (just hit 'pause' repeatedly) are great.

I don't have any RCE discs to check, but I don't know if I can set the region code (as people apparently can with the 996) arbitrarily. It is taking care of all that on its own.

It does dolby decoding, so it has both the digital audio outputs and 6 channels of individual outputs, which is cool.

It shipped with a video mode setting that made everything pink, but I just selected "Video Configuration" (or something like that) in the main menu, and tried what looked right (the component video out, with those letters, whatever they are), and it worked fine.

Also, it lets you change all the setup stuff I've tried while you're watching, which is nice.

I haven't noticed excessive heat, in the times I've felt the case.

I'm pleased with it so far, and I'm assuming there'll be a firmware upgrade for the progressive scanning bug before I get a progressive scanning TV. (I've considered getting an adapter so we could hook it up to a computer monitor to check that, but I haven't done it yet.)

So there's my informal review.

Matt Stevens

ckolchak, are you using the STILL filter with PAL discs? That should fix the throbbing.

Chuckopolis

Okay, I'm finally coming around to buying a Malata, but I would like a little help in finding one at the cheapest possible price. I saw this one on this forum earlier:

http://www.goldenshop.com.hk/AI-trad/DVD/dvp_520.htm

It looks like a nice price, but I'm unsure of the model. Is this what I'm looking for? As you can imagine, I'm a little clueless when it comes to these things.

If this isn't a decent deal, where else is there to go?

axolotls return

chuck: also take into account where you buy it from (geographical-wise). since malatas aren't the most quality laden products around. i almost had to send mine back (to canada). so i would recommend trying to buy it at an online store closest to you.

my personal recommendation is nbtelectronics. i don't recommend avdeals. both are canadian. don't forget to note whether the prices are in a foreign currency.

movielib

From Goldenshop it will probably run you about $60.00 -$80.00 for shipping, losing any price advantage on the player and more and it's very far away.

I would agree with axolotls return and say get it from nbtelectronics.com. I got my 996 fromn avdeals.com and had no trouble but they do not seem to be carrying the 520.

d2cheer

Never had a problem with AVdeals when I got mine... so as with everything else some have great service while some don't.

moquist

I was just watching "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (region 2) on my new Malata 520, and toward the beginning (chapter 2?!?) I got this message:
" Error: Disc Minor - Clean me" several times. In repeated viewings, it happens at different times.

It always skips forward after that. I'm guessing there is actually a problem with the disc, but does anyone know how I can configure the player to ignore the problem, or at least not skip when it finds errors?

Matt Stevens

If it's a bad disc, it's a bad disc.

moquist

True - but it plays without a tremor on my PC. Malata *should* have a way to approximate or compensate for it somehow. If they don't, I'm disappointed, even if it *is* a bad disc.

Matt Stevens

Uh, why? Heck, my Malata has played sics that my Toshiba has choked on. It happens. Period.

Nosebleed

I rarely get the "clean me" error when viewing DVDs, however I ALWAYS get it on any burned CDs/VCDs/SVCDs. It's damn annoying and makes me hate my player. Anyone else have this problem? Anything I can do about it?

Matt Stevens

Never get it on any burned dvd's, cd's, vcd's I have.