NORCENT
DP-300
(review)
NOTE: This review applies only to earlier versions of the Norcent DP-300. Specifically, it applies to units whose serial numbers begin with the following:
AE1112
HE111
JE111 (to a lesser extent)
There are other versions of the DP-300
which are considerably different from what is described on this
page. These units have serial numbers that begin with the
following:
AE1113
HE112
HE113 (these units are reported to be BLACK, not silver!)
The Norcent DP-300 is an amazing little DVD player. It's sold at Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. and Canada at an incredibly low price. Out of the box, besides playing DVDs (of course), it supports VCD, S-VCD, Audio CD, MP3, and JPEG (including Kodak Picture CD), on both CD-R and CD-RW discs.
This page is a review of the
DP-300. For information on making the DP-300 region-free and VCR-friendly,
please click
here.
There is a natural tendency to compare the Norcent DP-300 with the Apex AD-1100W. Not only do the players look rather similar from the front, but at least at the time of this writing, they are selling for the exact same price ($58.87) in U.S. Walmart stores. But, in many ways, the Norcent is a superior player. Here are some advantages it has over the AD-1100W:
* Much better remote control. (See picture below). The DP-300's remote is more logically laid out, and lacks the dreaded "SHIFT" key that's found on the AD-1100W. In addition, the DP-300's remote has a few useful functions that are missing from the AD-1100W remote:
- The L/R button - this is used
to switch languages on double-language VCDs.
- PBC button - This is useful when you want to disable PBC (Playback
Control) on VCDs.
- The N/P button - N stands for NTSC and P stands for PAL. If you
have the wrong TV system selected in the TV TYPE menu, and your
screen starts scrolling/turns black and white, pushing N/P lets
you clear up the picture, so that you can enter the menus and fix
the TV TYPE setting.
Norcent DP-300 remote control
* Component (RGB) video output. The AD-1100W has S-Video and two composite outputs, but no component video output:
Outputs on the Norcent DP-300
* VCD support right out of the box. With the newest versions of the AD-1100W, it is necessary to perform a firmware upgrade in order to gain VCD support. This is not difficult to do, of course, but it should not be necessary.
* More "user" (and "hacker")-friendly hardware. (NOTE: THIS DOES NOT APPLY TO ALL NORCENT DP-300's. THERE ARE SOME VERSIONS OF THE PLAYER ON WHICH THE HARDWARE IS MORE SIMILAR TO WHAT'S FOUND IN THE AD-1100W.) The Norcent DP-300 is sort of a "throwback" because, unlike many other cheap players available today -- including the AD-1100W -- it uses an IDE loader (disc drive) : the famous DSL-710A, and a socketed rectangular firmware chip (see below). The use of an IDE loader makes it possible to replace the drive with a standard DVD-ROM drive if necessary. The use of a socketed rectangular firmware chip makes it easy to pop out and replace the chip in the event of a failed firmware upgrade. On the other hand, the AD-1100W and many other similar players use a non-IDE loader with a firmware chip soldered tightly to the circuit board :(
View of the Norcent DP-300
from the top. Due to the remarkably small size of the player,
this
could have been a very messy layout - but it's not. The power
supply is on the left, the main logic
board is on the right, and the outputs are on the back. The DVD-ROM
drive is a standard IDE
interface DSL-710A made by DVS in Korea and discussed here.
Close-up of the main logic board. The socketed rectangular
firmware chip is indicated by the
red box. The video processor (covered with a heatsink) is
indicated by the blue box; it is most
likely an ESS ES4318F. The video encoder is a CS4955, indicated
by the yellow box.
Here is a look at the
hardware from another version of the Norcent DP-300 -- hardware
which
resembles that of the AD-1100W :(
* Superior
MP3 capabilities. Here's a look at the Norcent background screen
and the MP3 menu:
This type of MP3 interface is found on numerous other players, including the AD-1100W. However, the Norcent DP-300 offers a couple of extra MP3 playback modes that aren't so common:
- The ability to play MP3 music while displaying a JPEG slideshow. This feature is best explained HERE.
- Both RANDOM and SHUFFLE modes (SHUFFLE is called "SHUFFLE ON", as shown in the picture above.) Presumably, the difference is that RANDOM allows repetition of files while SHUFFLE ON does not.
- The ability to play an
entire disc full of subfolders automatically. You would select
the DISC playback mode to activate this feature.
Unfortunately, playback does not begin automatically upon
insertion of a disc. And, it is not possible to use the RANDOM or
SHUFFLE ON modes across more than one folder at a time.
NOTE: To switch the playback mode, make sure that the disc is stopped. Then use the left & right arrow keys to select the PLAY MODE box. Once the PLAY MODE box is selected, use the up and down arrow keys to cycle between the available choices.
* Another advantage of the Norcent is that it accommodates users who don't have a direct audio/video input on their TV's. No, this is NOT referring to the player being "VCR-friendly" - it's not - this is referring to an audio setting located in the AUDIO SETUP menu:
As indicated by the "help prompt" at the bottom of the menu, the RF ADJUSTMENT mode (known as "RF REMOD" on certain other players) can be selected for TV's that don't have a direct AV input, in order to increase the sound level.
LOST YOUR USER MANUAL??
You can
download the Norcent DP-300 user's manual HERE
(zipped up PDF file, 994 KB
download)
WHERE TO GET HELP
Please Note! I do not own a Norcent DP-300 player. All care taken in accurately providing this information which is kindly provided by others who do own these models. Please visit the sites linked above if you require any assistance.
ALSO NOTE I
AM NOT A FIRMWARE PROGRAMMER!!!
So please don't ask me when
other features will be available...
