Customer Reviews

Harman Kardon DVD 22 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Beautiful industrial design, perfectly matches the HK receiver it sits on top of. Plays every disc like a dream... haven't seen a single skip or even an ugly screen artifact common with dirty or scratched discs. I wasn't sure it would be worth the price, but now that I have it, there are no regrets. What more can I say?

*------Two Years Later-------*

Well, I still think it was a great DVD player, when it worked. After about 9 months the player stopped accepting discs, refusing to spin up. It took 2 months to get it repaired, after which it worked, but was noisier than before. And now, about a year after the repair, the player has crapped out again, with the same problem. Here's hoping HK will still fix or replace it.

Pros:
Beautiful picture, beautiful color, flawless sound--has built in Wolfson audio processors! If you don't mind not having HD upconversion, and don't need to play SACD's, this is a fantastic DVD player. Built in DTS and Dolby decoding processors are the best I've heard on any DVD player yet; even over Denon, Sony, Samsung, Zenith, and Panasonic. The closest I've seen comparable to this DVD player for the same price is the Toshiba S 5970.

Cons:
No HD upconversion--even though the picture is virtually flawless. HK has reported numerous issues w this DVD player's digital optical outputs (which I have had to return 2 in as many months) and is discontinuing it to concentrate on their new DVD31 (which does play SACD's and HDCD's, where this model does not).

the Harman/Kardon DVD 22 is generally a step above the run-of-the-mill players without becoming rediculous in price. It uses pixel-by-pixel - rather than line-based processing to produce a noticeably better image in progressive scan. It does have a stunning good picture.

It has been reported on some websites that there are "issues" with the optical output. I have not encountered this since I use the coax output and analog output. Audio analog out is very, very good.

The machine is hampered by truly lousy remote control. A bunch of white buttons. Above the buttons, in grey letters (almost impossible to see and blending into the background) are the names of the controls. Yes, the remote is backlighting, but that does little good since it just illuminates the white buttons, NOT the lettering which explains what the buttons are for. all this could be acceptable if the layout were "normal". But it isn't. The "pause button", for example, is nowhere near the "play" button. I found the remote impossible to live with.

My Pioneer VSX 1014 receiver (new model) did not have the controls for the H/K built in, so I had the program the Pioneer remote with the H/K codes. Finally, I was able to throw the H/K remote in some drawer some where, hopefully not to be seen again.

I cant believe there is that much of a difference in DVD players. So far the HK DVD22 has performed above my expectation. Its video and audio quality is stellar. The zoom feature lets you zoom up to 5x on still and motion pictures with great quality. My only gripe is the small remote. The remote has alot of small buttons that are hard to read in low light. It is no big deal because I have a Sony RM3100 comander touchscreen master remote so the HK remote goes in the cabinet with all the rest.
Quality and price you cant beat the HK DVD22. I paid around $175.00. It looks cool too, with its silver and blue lights.
I highly recomend it.

Wow, I just ran into the same problem a lot of people here have written about. None of the buttons work. I can't even eject the DVD to send it back to Netflix. I will have to break the door open.

Of course my warranty has expired. I sent an email to their support rep, and they told me to drive 90 miles to Sacramento for the nearest repair center. Yeah, right.

I will not be purchasing products from Harman in the future.

I have owned this DVD player for less then two years. Recently when I power it up the power light goes on, but I am unable to get it to do any of its functions. It will not power off and I must unplug it and repeat this four or five times before it will function.
Stay away from this one.

I bought this as part of teh Harman Kardon CP-15 home Theater System. I'm trully delighted. After owning a Sony system, which was pretty good on its own, I could notice the difference. Movies just look sharper and better, and the slow motion is really good. For the price this player it's an excelent buy if you are looking for a high end DVD player

The player used to be really great, especially as CD player with analogue connection to Harman Kardon amplituner. Unfortunately, I have the very same problem with it as the other reviewers. It simply stopped working after about two years. I can power it on or off, but that's it. I cannot play any DVD or CD - buttons just don't work. It seems that the player software has crashed.

I had the exact same problem as Goldberg. It would power on but none of the functions would work and I would have to unplug it 4 or 5 times before it worked. Recently just shy of two years it completely crapped out. I had to break it apart to get my netflix disc out of it. I really liked the unit, it had great picture and audio quality, just didn't last that long. I have a HK receiver and it is fine. To replace my dvd 22, I got a Denon, but I have been looking at the new HKs. I think I like them better just a little apprehensive after my last dvd experience with them..

Have had my DVD 22 for 2 years now and I'm extremely disappointed with it. For the first 6-7 months it operated O.K., with good picture and sound through my AVR-645. However, it soon began to show all kinds of (presumably) software-related issues such as skipping, freezing up on brand new disks, etc. Shortly thereafter, the fiber optic input died, so I'm back to copper connections.

Now, in order to turn the machine on I have to manually hold down the power button for 3-4 seconds, which turns on the power light but nothing else. Then, I turn it off, wait 5 seconds, and repeat this procedure 2 more times. USUALLY, on the 4th try the machine acutally boots up, all the lights turn on, and its functional again. But it still freezes up during playback. This would never happen with a "low end" Sony!

H/K quality really seems to be dropping rapidly, and I'm not sure that its worth paying extra for the "bling" value of their name when their product quality is so poor.