Page 1 of Some thoughts on MiCO A980

I have been using the MiCO A980 for about 6 months and i have to say I have no complaints at all

1. MP3 playback with VBR - supports every bitrate I`ve cared to try. Sound quality is excellent. To be honest the menu is adequate for my needs. I lived for a long time with no menu on my CD player :)

2. Audio CD playback is more than adequate - unlike many DVDs I auditioned.

3. I record my home movies (frecorded on a Sony DV camcorder) onto SVCD using TMPEGenc to ecode the AVIs to MPEG2. I use Video Vegas to edit the captured DV AVIs - and to add MP3 soundtracks to the films. Playback via the MiCO @ 720x576 (PAL) is faultless. AND a really impressive party trick. I demostrated the entire process to a few friends the other evening and managed to turn video footage to SVCD within 20 minutes. you can even record the SVCDs onto CDRW so you can always re-record your masterpiece! I also capture analogue footage via my ATI Radeon VIVO card - with acceptable image quality at 640x480 resolution. Remember that VHS is a low resolution format - so don`t expect miracles from VHS transfers.

4. VCDs and XVCDs also work well - but I prefer SVCD.

5. The MiCO plays EVERY DVD I`ve tried - even all the so-called problem discs (Gladiator, Toy Story 2, etc.). Even layer changes are handled extremely quickly.

6. The unit has a built-in Dolby 5.1 decoder so yo can hook the unit up to a £200 PC-style active 6 speaker system and have a very cheap and very portable home cinema experience.

I would recommend anyone to buy a MiCO. I have even bought one for my Father so he can play the home movies I have transfered onto SVCD. As for lack of firmware updates... if it ain`t broke...

Bagpuss

Hi Bagpuss

Your needs in a DVD player sound very similar to mine (and Carrot Cruncher`s). Now I`m swaying back towards the Mico from the Scan.

Ah decisions, decisions.

Jez