Konka KD1800 DVD Player

by Konka

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B00004U54C
• Item model number: KD1800
• Batteries: 2 AA batteries required. (included)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,045 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

About 50 years ago, an up-and-coming Japanese company was greeted with great skepticism when it decided to compete with the giants that once dominated consumer electronics manufacturing. Today, a fairly unknown Chinese company, which has been manufacturing consumer electronics products for 20 years, is about to change America's perception of the words "Made in China."

The name is Konka, and judging from its debut DVD player, the company has done its homework. The KD-1800U is extremely well made. In fact, it weighs 10.5 pounds--roughly four pounds more than competing models. Although weight isn't necessarily a barometer of good build quality, if you're attracted to metal, you'll love the KD-1800U, which has a solid aluminum faceplate wrapped around a metal chassis lid.

Although the KD-1800U admittedly stands out like an overzealous star amid our other audio-video components, which are all dressed in standard black, we found its brushed-aluminum design to be very cool.

The KD-1800U's silver finish is prone to reflecting light, but Konka still seems to have learned what many other manufacturers have forgotten: big, bright display lights are a distraction when you're watching a movie in a darkened room. Konka uses small, faint-blue LCDs to display disc information such as chapter, track, and elapsed time. An unobtrusive red DVD logo appears in the center of the display, while a tiny green standby button resides in the left corner.

Front-panel controls include open/close, skip forward, skip back, play, pause, and stop, along with a power button that rests flush when engaged. Unlike some front-panel buttons that feel like they're going to fall off if you jiggle them too much, Konka's controls are strong and reliable. The shiny silver disc tray opens and closes smoothly, with no hesitation.

Glancing at the back panel, we were delighted to see the presence of both coaxial and optical digital audio outputs, enabling us to use our preferred coaxial digital cable for DVD playback, while simultaneously connecting the player to an outboard digital-to- analog (D/A) converter for music listening.

Although the KD-1800U doesn't have component-video outputs, we have no qualms with this omission, given the fact that most consumers who are searching for a bargain DVD player don't own TVs with component-video inputs. Konka did include an S-Video input, however, so most home theater enthusiasts should be pleased with the KD-1800U.

Another, perhaps less forgivable, omission is the lack of DTS-compatibility. Depending on your point of view, this is either a gross oversight or a wise decision. We think it's smart, given our experience with several DVD players under $200 that carry the Digital Theater Systems logo but are unable to satisfactorily pass the DTS signal onto an audio-video receiver. Kudos to Konka for playing it safe and recognizing that most consumers shopping in this price range will not fret at the absence of DTS compatibility.

Since all DVD videos are encoded with Dolby Digital audio tracks, the KD-1800U is compatible with virtually all of the movies and concert videos that are available on DVD today. Indeed, Konka's player performed flawlessly on all the discs we played--from action flicks to high drama to U2's Rattle and Hum rockumentary. Although the KD-1800U doesn't offer any video-enhancing circuitry, such as black level expansion, we were satisfied with the player's ability to produce accurate images on our 54-inch rear-projection TV. Contrast levels, colors, and image depth were impressive during both daylight and night viewing, with no digital artifacts or other anomalies that could be attributed to the player's video decoder.

In 5.1-channel Dolby Digital, the KD-1800U's audio D/A converters were equally impressive. Channel separation from center to left and right was detailed, while the surround signal steered its way effortlessly around the room. On music CDs, the KD-1800U was able to reproduce the audio spectrum--from the highest highs to the lowest lows- -better than most DVD players we've heard. Granted, Toshiba and Sony DVD players still reign supreme when it comes to offering exceptional D/A audio converters, but the Konka KD-1800U is the best music machine we've auditioned in this price range.

When it comes to ergonomics, Konka has demonstrated that it understands consumers. The remote control isn't fancy, but it's very intuitive. The select button and navigation arrows are located in the center of the remote, where they're easy to access with a thumb. Stop and play buttons are located just above the select button. A door slides open on the bottom of the remote to load the batteries. It also reveals a setup button, which gives you quick access to the player's most important functions, such as choosing Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and selecting the screen's aspect ratios (4:3 standard, 16:9 widescreen, or 4:3 letterbox). Konka also includes a return button, so you can get out of the setup menu with ease.

The power and eject buttons are isolated at the top of the remote, where they're easy to find, and disc skip, fast-forward, and rewind buttons are clustered together near the upper-left corner. A subtitle button enables you to glide through the options available on a given DVD, while an on/off button makes it easy to get rid of the subtitles if you fail to deactivate them when you start the disc.

The onscreen menus are distinguished by very large letters that are super easy to read--just one of the many thoughtful features that make the KD-1800U a tremendous bargain.

Other rare features include the ability to connect the player to NTSC or PAL TVs, the ability to play CD-Rs, the ability to play DVDs encoded with up to eight audio tracks (including Chinese, of course), and the ability to display up to 32 subtitle languages--from Afar to Zulu. (The audio language and subtitle features are dependent on whether the disc itself offers these options.)

In summary, Konka's KD-1800U is a well-built, attractive, and extremely affordable DVD player that incorporates all of the most important features you'll need for a basic home theater system. --Eric Gill

Pros:

• Extremely impressive build quality
• Attractive brushed-aluminum design
• Remote control is simple to use
• Good sound and image quality

Cons:

• No headphone jack
• No backlight on the remote

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands down - best player under 300 bucks!, July 5, 2000

By 

John Cornish (Kansas City, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Konka KD1800 DVD Player (Electronics)

I read a review of this player last year in Home Theater Magazine and man were they right. This player is sleek, quiet, and is comperable to a player closer to $350. It easily plays all DVD's that I own as well as the ones I have rented and plays audio CD's as well without any difficulties. Highly recommended and definately worth the money!

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full Marks For The Konka KD1800, July 18, 2000

By 

John Rentzepis (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Konka KD1800 DVD Player (Electronics)

As mentioned above, the Konka was reviewed in Home Theater Magazine. It received top marks in comparison to those DVD players in its, as well as the next higher, price bracket. The details escape me, but the review said that even if you are an audio-/videophile, this unit would be ideal for use with a second TV (e.g. bedroom). In any case, the performance:price ratio is stellar.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A great value player may suffer from fatal power flaws, August 4, 2000

By 

kiwiplex (Tulsa, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Konka KD1800 DVD Player (Electronics)

The Konka player manufanctured by one of china's major TVmakers, boasts notable quality for the price. Aside from the slick silver styling, the 1800U is a fairly typical bottom-end DVD player. One major bonus not found on other inexpensive DVDs is both kinds of digital outputs, optical and coaxial. There's no DTS decoding, however.

It has a very low price with a lot of features that you only see on the more expensive units (S-video, multi angle options, etc.). One of the player's great strengths is its ability to play CD/VCD/CD-R The DD 5.1 seems right on target, but it is not DTS compatiple.

BEWARE: After asking friends and people at work, I have come to question its initial performance. It seems some players have been equiped with a 300MA fuse which blows easily instead of a 350MA one.

I found that the first batch of units had a power supply problem where the player would suddenly stop working, usually with a DVD in it. Konka USA will replace those units free of charge, or you can fix it yourself by replacing and power supply fuse with correct type. Regardless of the fuse, the unit generates a lot of heat. But it seams like the units on sale by Amazon are new enough that the problem has been fixed. I price is an issue and you are not sure about buying a DVD player from an unknown manufacture, try some by Phillips or RCA. Otherwise, spend an extra [money] to get a reliable player.

Hope this helps.