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TAKING THE MICO
COPY
Bizarre just about
sums up the Mico DVD-A980. Hardly anything about this machine is conventional,
from the way it is sold, to the way it works, so let’s kick off with the marketing.
The only way you’re going to get hold of one is via the Internet, from
Unbeatable.co.uk, which is selling the A980 exclusively for just £179.98. That
puts it in the budget category, but the feature list reads more like a
mid-range machine. It has an on-board Dolby Digital decoder, a good selection
of replay facilities, all region playback out of the box (it can be set to a
single region should you so desire…), there’s handy extras such as 2-stage
picture zoom and audio digital sound processing and one (so far) unique
feature, it can play MP3 files.
That last one
requires a brief explanation. MP3 or Motion Picture Experts Group Layer 3 is an
audio compression scheme that allows music to be distributed via the Internet.
Music files from literally thousands of sites around the web can be downloaded
onto a PC, where they can be replayed through the PCs speaker, or transferred to
pocket-size MP3 players, for music on the move. The Mico A980 provides a third
option, it can play MP3 files on CD-R or CR-RW discs, made on a PC with a CD
ROM writer or ‘burner’. Because the files are compressed a standard 640Mb disc
can hold up to 12 hours of music. Needless to say there’s no such thing as a
free lunch and there is a catch, but we’ll come to that later.
Back to the
player and more strangeness, this time on the front panel. As you can see it’s
a good deal busier than most other DVDs, with lots of buttons and some unusual
sockets. The two big jacks to the left of the disc-loading tray are microphone
sockets; they’re for a karaoke facility, so two of you can make prats of yourselves
simultaneously, and there’s variable echo control to make you sound even more
ghastly... There’s no voice-cut filter however, so you’ll have to get hold of
some karaoke discs to make full use of this fun feature. Above the disc hatch
there are two rows of numbered buttons, they replicate the numeric buttons on
the handset, but all they seem to be good for is CD track changing, which you
can do anyway with the skip track buttons.
Now for
something really odd, there’s no standby mode, just a front-panel on-off switch.
The set-up display contains several mystery items, like Colour Scheme, which
doesn’t seem to do anything, and there’s a TV output system called ‘Switch’
that we haven’t yet managed to fathom. However
we’ve saved the weirdest one for last, and that’s the player’s control system.
It seems to disobey some rules of disc playback, and impose a few of its own.
This is the only player we can recall that allows you to skip or whiz through opening
logos and copyright warning notices, normally you have to sit through them;
that’s definitely a feature we approve of. However, the system is riddled with quirks,
like not allowing you to jump from picture search to reverse slow play, then
there’s the Enter button in the middle of the cluster of cursor control keys. What’s
it for? You would think it’s for the choosing items on disc menus, but no, it’s
for entering track numbers, what would normally be called OK or Confirm (or
Enter) is actually the little Select button off to the right of the cursor keys,
it also seem to be the only way to get rid of the Equaliser/DSP menus. It
drives you mad until eventually you get used to it.
Video playback
is generally okay, the Hitachi deck and pickup is less tolerant than usual of
dirty or scratched discs and it locked up on a couple of our deliberately manky
test discs (that most other players can handle). Contrast is set a little low and
colours can appear a bit flat but that can usually be resolved with the TVs
picture controls. Resolution is fine though, and layer change is quite quick,
taking under a quarter of a second on most discs.
The Dolby
Digital decoder works well, channels are crisp and cleanly defined, so too is Dolby
Surround soundtracks on the mixed stereo output, but don’t get too excited by
MP3 playback. It is comparable with cheapo audio cassette, without the hiss. It’s
tinny with a fair amount of treble distortion and very little bass. A lot
depends on the quality of the original files and how they were processed, it’s
okay for parties and such but the bottom line is that you wouldn’t want to use
it for serious listening.
There’s no
denying it’s a bargain and DVD performance is satisfactory, Dolby Digital is a
definite bonus as is all region playback. MP3 playback is an interesting extra
but the quality is disappointing. It has got a few peculiar habits but they’re
liveable and as a first step on the DVD ladder it has a lot going for it.
MICO DVD-A980,
£179.98
Contact: www.unbeatable.co.uk
BOX COPY 1 –
REMOTE VIEWING
Apart from the lack
of a standby function and the control system it’s not too bad, most of the
buttons are where you expect to find them and the important ones are a good size.
THE HARD FACTS
MICO DVD-A980
OUTPUTS
SCART 1
S-Video 1
RGB out no
Optical digital yes
Coaxial digital yes
5.1 decoder yes
EXTRA FEATURES
All Region,
PAL/NTSC replay, Dolby Digital decoder, dts compatible bitstream output, multi-speed
replay, 2-stage picture zoom, 7-mode DSP, 6-mode equaliser with user preset,
MP3 playback, karaoke facility with echo, repeat and A/B repeat play
GOOD POINTS
The price and
all those extras, plus hassle-free all region playback
BAD POINTS
No standby function
and flaky operating system
Ease of use 3
Picture 4
Sound 4
Features 5
Overall 4
BUYERS GUIDE
EXTRA INFO
Price £179.98
SCART 1
S-Video 1
Digital out coaxial, optical
Decoder Dolby Digital
Good Points
The price and
all those extras, plus hassle-free all region playback
Bad points
No standby function
and flaky operating system
Rating
4
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Ó R. Maybury 2000, 2004
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