KiSS DP-558 Networkable DVD Player with TV Tuner and 80 GB Hard Drive

by KiSS

Product Details

Supplementary Guide [6.74mb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 3 x 14 inches ; 13.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001YIZD4
• Item model number: KiSS DP-558
• Batteries: 2 AAA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #433,450 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: March 29, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

If garden-variety DVD players haven't proved reason enough to give your VCR the boot, the DP-558 from Denmark-based KiSS (Keep it Simple Solutions) surely is. Not only will your movie rentals and storebought DVDs look incomparably better than videocassettes--especially when using the player's progressive-scan video output--but the DP-558 also lets you record TV programs, camcorder footage, and other audio/video content to its roomy, 80 GB hard-disk drive.

Different settings let you scale your image quality to balance the importance of the program with your remaining available disk space. You can store up to 34 hours or so of TV or video programming, depending quality on settings. But that's far from all the DP-558 offers.

It's also a DivX-certified networking DVD player. The device is capable of playing back--from optical media, from your computer, and from its own drive--DivX video, MP3 files, and JPEG digital-photo slideshows in a room of your choosing, whether den, living room, or bedroom. All you need for full networking ability is a Windows PC, a wired network connection with the player, and a television.

You can connect the DP-558 directly to the Internet via a broadband connection or through a network (LAN) with a PC whose media contents can be read using the supplied KiSS PC-Link software. Powered by the Sigma Designs EM8500 decoder chip, the player reads DVD-Video (PAL and NTSC) as well as DVD-RW and DVD+RW discs.

The DP-558's support for DivX (including versions 3.11, 4, and 5), ISO MPEG-4, and XviD video-compression formats gives you the ability download full-screen, full-motion videos from the Internet that look and sound close in quality to what you get from your television or DVD player. Audio compatibility extends to the open-source Ogg Vorbis format for music compression (slightly higher quality than MP3 for a same-sized file), and the WebRadio option offers access to thousands of Internet radio stations.

Apart from full-resolution AV content, the player's hard disk can alternately store up to 116 Internet-sourced compressed DivX films, somewhere on the order of 16,000 128 kbps MP3 music files, or about 200,000 JPEG image files. All these files are easily accessible through a user-friendly list displayed on the TV screen. You can even use the Ethernet connection to ferry your media between your PC and the DP-558.

When you plug the player in for the first time, a graphic interface prompts you to select language, video connection type, screen size, audio connection, and IP address, an easy five-step setup. To enjoy the player's networking abilities, you'll need to install and run the KiSS PC-Link software (PC only, Windows 98 or higher). With PC-Link, all you have to do is select the files and you want to view and they'll be routed to your DP-558 and on to your television for viewing in any connected location.

Whether or not your living room is currently home to an HDTV, the DP-558 stands ready to deliver the full potential of your uncompressed, commercial DVDs. Progressive scanning, referred to as 480p for the number of horizontal lines that compose the video image, creates a picture using twice the scan lines of a conventional DVD picture, giving you higher resolution and sharper images while eliminating nearly all motion artifacts.

The player uses both standard RCA component-video terminals as well as the French-developed SCART connection. The SCART output allows the player to channel video signals in a manner consonant with not only PAL (European) and NTSC (North American) video systems, but with RGB computer monitors as well (RGB adapter cables not included).

Other outputs include standard composite- and S-video connections, a coaxial digital-audio jack (for passing Dolby Digital and DTS surround signals to a compatible audio/video receiver), and a set of stereo analog RCA jacks. Inputs mirror the outputs: 1 each component-, composite-, S-video, and SCART terminals, together with 2 digital-audio ins and a set of stereo RCA analog inputs.

KiSS will continue to update the player's firmware; the updates will be available from the support section of the kiss-technology.com Web site.

What's in the Box
DVD player, remote control, remote batteries, CD-ROM with KiSS PC-Link software, a user's manual, stereo analog audio interconnect/composite-video cable, and an AC power cord.

Product Description

With an Ethernet Connection in the back, the KiSS DP-558 can play WebRadio and Feature KiSS PC-Link. This model also provides the user with an 80GB Hard Disk and a Tv Tuner. This enables the player to record TV programmes on the internal Hard Disk. The KiSS DP-558 also comes with DVD, DivX, MPEG-4, XviD, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, Jpeg playback.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Many promises, some actually delivered, November 2, 2005

By 

Igor Zotkin (Surrey, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: KiSS DP-558 Networkable DVD Player with TV Tuner and 80 GB Hard Drive (Electronics)

This device has many functions on offer, only some of which actually work well. Let me list them with my rating (out of five stars)based on firmware 1.1.4

1. Video Recorder (4 stars) - works well in conjunction with the EPG accessible either with a remote control or via the web. I found that viewing programs and selecting them for recording is much easier via the Web. The tuner produces good quality picture and recordings are good with the right setting chosen. All programs and recorded to the hard drive and can be accessed and burned to a DVD from a PC

2. networked video player (4 stars) - when FTP server is enabled on the unit it allows you to access the hard drive from your PC. I use the hard drive to store and play my home videos in MPEG2. I had some difficulty playing DivX and MPEG4 formats although they produce smaller file sizes.

3. networked storage device (4 stars) - when FTP server is enabled on the unit it allows you to access the hard drive from your PC. When copying files from Wi-Fi G to the unit (connected at 100 Mbit) the throughput was around 5-8 Mbits/second. You can create directory structure on the hard drive.

4. DVD player (4 stars)

5. PC Link (1 star) - doesn't allow the whole file structure of your PC to be accessible. Only allows one set of files which you choose on the PC to be viewed per type, i.e. pictures, videos and music.

6. music player (1 star) - doesn't pause. no play list support.

6. JPEG viewer (1 star) - doesn't scale pictures to the full screen. Slideshow cannot be configured. Doesn't pause.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great networked recorder and Player, October 22, 2006

By 

Michel (Dubai) - See all my reviews

This review is from: KiSS DP-558 Networkable DVD Player with TV Tuner and 80 GB Hard Drive (Electronics)

The DP558 is a cool device in a networked home

1- KISS is one of the few Recorder/player that can be networked on your home computer network. This was an essential property that I was looking for.

2- The 80Gb hard disk drive is adequate in size for most users. Recording is done directly to disk. The DVD is only a player hence the need to move files to the PC to be written on CDs or DVDs. 40hours of recording at standard resolution.

3- Scheduling recording from the web is a cool feature and allows the user to program the DP558 when away from home. Note that in this case the DP 558 has to be connected continuously to the internet.

4- I have used a wireless game adapter (Linksys WGA54AG )in order to connect the DP 558 to my home WIFI network in order to avoid running wires. Works perfectly.

5- Cool online features other than the EPG:
a- Access to weather around the world
b- Access to stock market charts
c- Some raw online games
d- Online radio streaming

6- Of course moving files from PC environment to the DP 558 and vice versa is very simple.

I do recommend this product especially if you want networked capabilities.