Home Theatre Surround Sound DVD Player with Amplifier £58.74 [Archive]

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binning

12-07-2004, 18:22

AMW P8A5 Home Theatre Surround Sound DVD Player with Integral Amplifier includes 5 Speakers & Sub Woofer for £58.74 inc VAT:

Please forumise link:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=63632

Prices seem to fluctuate on ebuyer quite a bit so if interested I suggest you snap it up at this price.

I hope this helps someone!

toadoftoadhall

12-07-2004, 18:28

these are £150 at tech-tonic.com

AWaite

12-07-2004, 18:40

Looks a great offer. Manufacturer's site:

http://www.a-mw.co.uk/products/index.html

Multi-region Hack:

http://roninhacks.shacknet.nu/

Bonzo Banana

12-07-2004, 18:48

Posted in an earlier thread;

http://www.thedvdforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=301131&highlight=amw

but then it went up in price and now its obviously gone down in price again.

Great system for the money. Surprised theres not more interest in it. Beats a lot of the real cheapie systems available on the high street.

dancleary1

12-07-2004, 19:17

Out of interest as this has a built in amp can I connect it to my xbox?? :thinking: or am i barking up the wrong tree.

Bonzo Banana

12-07-2004, 19:25

dancleary1

12-07-2004, 19:26

iane

12-07-2004, 19:26

Bought one for my brother, arrived today very very good for the price!

Dan- has AV inputs for sound using phono inputs which works great for his video.

Ian

iane

12-07-2004, 19:34

update

Thanks for the link to the multi region site, his DVD player was made in 2003 and it was the second of the 2 codes for the 2003 that worked, play's all regions including RCE's.

Ian

euro

12-07-2004, 21:50

Thanks.. ordered one tonight... great price!

AWaite

12-07-2004, 21:56

Can anyone post a pic of the back of the machine to to show all the connections?

shy1807

13-07-2004, 00:03

What connectors do the speakers use please ian.everett?

iane

13-07-2004, 00:11

Hi all

AWaite - I can't post pics sorry

The speakers use spring clips which look really standard for most amps.

Hope that helps

Ian

igor

13-07-2004, 09:53

Annoyingly I had this in my basket kast week when it was 49.99, then it went up to £69.99 whilst still in the basket!! Then the day laster it went to £64.99 so I ordered it and now its gone down again! Mine still hasn't arrived either :(

cloudchaser

13-07-2004, 10:01

Good spot -- was just about to order some ADSL microfilters for the royal sum of £0.95 each last night -- and it seemed a shame to pay a lot more in shipping so thoguht of wandered over to the forum before placing order ;)

And now ended up with one of these systems in my basket as a gift for my brother who was on the lookout for a dvd !!

Will post feedback when I get it tomorrow (hopefully) !!

This forum is really bad for the pocket !!! !! :doh: :n0rty:

Thanks to original poster

shy1807

14-07-2004, 01:23

The speakers use spring clips which look really standard for most amps.

Hope that helps

Thanks for the info. I'll pass on this one then.

PTBurkis

14-07-2004, 06:56

these are £150 at tech-tonic.com

That was really funny. I had a spec of dirt on my screen that made it look like they were £1.50 at tech-tronic! I nearly spat my coffee all over the screen!

igor

14-07-2004, 08:13

Have set mine up and can quite honestly say "BUY ONE!" :) For the money this is pretty incredible and amazingly it has an optical input! So i assume an xbox can be connected!

One downer is that it is supplied with the worst remote control I have ever seen. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if this is the reason why they are so cheap!! Anyone know if any other remotes will work with it as this one looks like it may break at ANY minute. It's so slim!

Bonzo Banana

14-07-2004, 08:20

Are you sure thats an optical input and not an optical output? The model does feature an optical output so if theres an optical input there will be two optical connections.

Bonzo Banana

14-07-2004, 08:22

I actually like the remote but I seem to be alone in this regard. Looks stylish, feels nice in the hand and has some luminous buttons.

Any chance of some screengrabs of the menu screens? Do you have a tv tuner card in your pc? Also a digital camera image of the rear connectors would be great.

KipperPhill

14-07-2004, 08:31

You need a system with a built in optical input and as far as I know this system only has an analogue input. So probably a good system for gamecube (prologic II) and ps2 most of the time (mainly prologic/prologic 2) its not ideal for xbox. It will work with xbox but only by the xbox downmixing its 5.1 to 2 channels and then the amw attempting to restore the 5.1 sound using prologic 2. This obviously won't be quite as good as true 5.1. Also I don't know if the prologic 2 circuitry can be utilised for the aux sound input. It should be but you never know. Really need someone to buy one and give is the full run down as AMW themselves are useless at giving accurate and detailed specifications.

Not quite true about the XBOX. You don't need an optical digital input to get 5.1 from an XBOX - you just need a digital input (either optical or composite). The XBOX outputs a digital signal on 2 wires. The advanced XBOX rgb lead (or whatever it's called) converts the +/- signal from the XBOX into an optical signal. I have carried out a modification (there is a link to it on these forums somehwere I think) whereby you can connect a composite socket to the advanced cable and bypass the optical converter (it takes its feed directly from the wire coming out of the xbox). My amplifier plays full 5.1 surround using a composite digital input.

I have no idea whether this dvd player has a digital input (either optical or composite) though. :thinking: :thinking:

Bonzo Banana

14-07-2004, 10:57

You don't get many home cinema systems with electrical digital inputs at a low price point though and the official xbox cables are all optical aren't they? So yes you can modify an xbox cable for electrical digital output but then what? Basically your even less likely to be able to connect it up to a low cost home cinema system.

igor

14-07-2004, 13:38

it has an optical input and output. there are two optical sockets onthe back of the machine and it says input and output. It also says this in the manual.

Can take picks but wont be able to post (am at work with no internet access at home at mo).

Can you download the maual online?

AWaite

14-07-2004, 17:40

Here's the back:

http://www.andywaite.com/temp/dvdback.JPG

Bigger version (245K) (http://www.andywaite.com/temp/dvdbackbig.JPG)

theclaretvillain

14-07-2004, 18:48

Scuse me being dense but can I connect my PC to this and use it for sound amplification? :?:

AWaite

14-07-2004, 18:58

Yeah, although a proper PC sound system would probably give better quality.

Bonzo Banana

14-07-2004, 19:03

Last time I looked I didn't see a manual for download except for the similar american version but that had no optical input or scart output. Many low cost dvd players in the states don't feature digital output at all either optical or coaxial.

Its fantastic news and truly brilliant for the price that it does have a optical input though. I'm pretty amazed by this as most of the budget home cinema systems don't. Has anyone tested it for what can be decoded via this input. In theory dd, dts and dpl2 should be available. Also does the scart output feature RGB output? Most of the standalone amw players don't. They only have composite via scart and therefore s-video is the best output option for those without component connections.

AWaite

14-07-2004, 21:09

According to the box, it does have component out.

Bonzo Banana

15-07-2004, 06:50

Yes it has component output with pal and ntsc progressive scan. I was making the point that most people can't use this so s-video is their best option if it doesn't have RGB output. Hopefully someone can confirm if it does or doesn't output RGB.

cloudchaser

15-07-2004, 21:39

I got one of these delivered yesterday and am quite pleased with it on the value for money front. To its credit none of the bits have that cheap "plasticky" feel which is normally standard at these price points.

The sound quality is pretty decent too. Played a couple of cds but to my ear they were so-so. Not enough "clarity and sharpness".

One bit I don't like is the Widescreen/Letterbox etc setting which has to be changed from the setup menu my TV has a "auto sense" and changes to the appropriate signal being played so would have been nice to have that feature on the remote.

Another very unusual bit was that the dvd player and my Toshiba 32ZP38 (picture frame 2) tv seem to share a common IR code. Some functions of the tv remote control the dvd player and vice versa. Now this is highly unusual and frustrating.

The volume button on the tv remote is controlling the A-B repeat mode of the player and the down cursor on dvd remote turns off the tv and a few more oddities on the same lines!!! I have been having nightmares testing the system - so anyone with a Toshiba 32ZP38 (or similar beware).

Its not a problem for me because the system is a gift for my brother and not for my use else I would have returned it. The TV it will be used for with is not the same brand. Btw this turned out to be a cracking gift since I was planning to gift a dvd player anyway - my brother will be right chuffed to get a complete system and I get more kudos for a few pounds more :)

My other problem is hacking it to be Region free. I have been trying to get it to play all regions but so far been unable to do so.

I called the company and they gave me the same link - http://roninhacks.shacknet.nu but no go :(

Searching around a bit more I found this other site which has a firmware file - http://www.nevatech.co.uk/ronin-support-website/pages/amwp8a5.htm

I tried the firmware on this site but could not get it to work.

Talked to AMW who asked me to try different cd media as sometime the player can be a bit fussy. Did that but no go. On completion of the steps it becomes region free but on power off and power on reverts back to Region 2.

Has anyone managed to get the player to be region free? If so can you please tell me how?

Thanks in advance
cloudchaser

binning

16-07-2004, 11:13

copied from elsewhere:

The site for the multiregion hack is http://roninhacks.shacknet.nu/

They say "Due to variants of components used in this DVD player there are a few possible hacks. Please try the handset hacks listed below first. If these do not work then you will need to upgrade the firmware. Make sure you follow the hacks TO THE LETTER and double check the remote hacks before applying for the firmware."
There's 2 handset hacks if those don't work you have to buy a firmware update these cost "Firmware upgrade - £4.75 (inc. postage & packing) for UK"

iane

16-07-2004, 12:59

With the machine that I got for my brother it was the second of the two hacks for the 2003 machine model that worked.

Ian

euro

16-07-2004, 13:47

Simes

16-07-2004, 16:10

What sound formats does this play ?

Is it just dolby Digital (AC3) , and pseudo surround from stereo sources.

This seems a terrible waste of a six speaker set-up. I would at least expect pro-logic for decent surround sound from stereo soures ( and preferably the much better pro-logic2).

cloudchaser

16-07-2004, 16:17

Got mine today... looks and sounds great but I may have a problem.

I cannot get to the 'preferences' settings on the on screen set up for some reason. Anyone else found this to be a problem. Mine seems to go straight to 'password setup' from 'video setup' completely ignoring 'preference setup'. It no big deal cos I can get to all the settings from buttons on the remote... just wondered if it was a general problem??

I think this was the case with my player too but playing around with the hacks seemed to let me access the menu. Also try accessing the menu without a disc in the drive. Not sure what I did to access it but it worked.

hope that helps

euro

17-07-2004, 17:34

I think this was the case with my player too but playing around with the hacks seemed to let me access the menu. Also try accessing the menu without a disc in the drive. Not sure what I did to access it but it worked.

hope that helps

:thumbs: It did thanks. With no disc in and i could get to preferences ( I thought I had tried that but maybe not). Hack #2 sorted my regional code by the way.

Dalkirst

17-07-2004, 20:34

Thanks i've just ordered one of these:)

jayok

18-07-2004, 21:34

Just gone for this :thumbs:

euro

18-07-2004, 21:54

Showed my father in law mine and he went and ordered one straight away :clap:

cookiementor

19-07-2004, 09:14

any word as to whether this supports proper RGB via SCART or not?

colst45

19-07-2004, 15:33

a little help please :) , i have a spdif input on my nforce2 board with a built in dolby digital decoder, am i right in assuming i can connect the player to my pc via the optical in, resulting in 5.1 dolby digital for my pc games>(cant imagine the Suffering in surround sound eek!!)
if not, and wrong place to ask i know, but what does connect to that spdif port on my pc to make use of the dolby digital decoder? cos i feel i should be making use of it :) thanks

cloudchaser

19-07-2004, 21:50

Can anyone help me out in figuring out how the DVD player treats a DVD disc with MP3's?

I cannot figure out the different modes.

I have a disc with mp3 - there are directories and the mp3 files lie within them. How do I get the player to play all the mp3 files in a folder and then when it reaches the last mp3 file in the current directory it moves to the next folder automatically and play all files and so on.

Any hints? Tips?

thanks in advance

defcon1

27-07-2004, 21:44

Hi all,

Been playing with my machine for a few days now and very impressed for the money. I don't suppose anyone knows the code for the One for All Universal Remote Controls.

I have just one problem with the sound when played through the TV. I get a horrible echo noise especially with the speach. I've tried all the various options but to no avail.

I'm using an Hitachi wide screen with fake surround (turned off). i.e. just stereo but still having sound issues.

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers, Tone

Bonzo Banana

28-07-2004, 07:17

You've not got the dolby prologic setting as church/concert or some other setting that gives an echo sound have you? You should turn the tv sound off when using a 5.1 system. Also if your set has picture processing like progressive or 100hz you may find its delaying the sound slightly which might cause a slight echo effect but it shouldn't really be audible.

vampshag

12-08-2004, 09:43

just bought one oof these and i know its an old thread, but im very impressed with the whole set up easy to use and set up, i was wondering if anyone new of a way for my tv shound to go through the dvd player so i can have surround sound all the time much appricated ta!

Shock

12-08-2004, 10:03

im I the only one who thinks this doesn't have a built in AC3 or DTS decorder!!

iambic

12-08-2004, 10:16

im I the only one who thinks this doesn't have a built in AC3 or DTS decorder!!

Looking at the pdf brochure on the e-buyer site it says:

Audio Features
Dolby Digital and DTS bit streams through component digital outputs
96K, 24bit 5.1 Channel
Virtual Surround Sound
Seven preset EQ options

Looks like it's just "Virtual Surround" through the speakers and the digital bitstreams output through the digital outputs for connection to a different amp etc.

gav_corbett

12-08-2004, 11:15

Thanks mate,

Just ordered two of these one for me and my bro wanted it as well.

Good job!

AWaite

12-08-2004, 11:35

I'm sure it's proper surround - when you select the Test Tone, it cycles through each speaker in turn.

vampshag

12-08-2004, 11:40

any help with tv surround sound its an aiwa 21"

Shock

12-08-2004, 12:54

I read that bit about pass through..

As it doesn't seem to have any decorders the system is rather useless as it won't be able to decode the ac3 track from dvds properly!

It will probably take the 2 chanel audio and do a virtual soround mode! :oh-hum:

iambic

12-08-2004, 13:47

I'm sure it's proper surround - when you select the Test Tone, it cycles through each speaker in turn.

That's easily done in the amp, just send a tone to each speaker in turn.

If what someone else has already mentioned is true (based on what's printed on the outside of the box), it looks like it's Dolby Pro-Logic 2. Yep, it's a surround system and more than capable given the cost of the system, but not in the same league as Dolby Digital/DTS. Can't really comment though as I haven't bought one, just read the thread and looked at the specs online.

defcon1

14-08-2004, 10:20

Hi all,

For those of you who have the Universal Remote controls (mine is the one for all 6) the Magic Code for the AMW Surround DVD player is 1615. This saves using the original crappy remote.

This code is for the 'AUD' device on the remote although you can obviouskly change the mode of the device keys if you wish.

The bad news is that you need to get a telephone upgrade. If the phone is engaged just keep trying. You eventually get through. Don't forget to mention any other upgrades you have had at the same time as an upgrade wipes out any previous upgrades (but new upgrade will send multiple codes down at the same time).

Have fun.

Cheers, Tone

not sure

27-08-2004, 21:58

just got mine today, want to make it multi-region and so need to do the upgrade, but i`m a bit confussed, did the 8888 code and the info at the bottom said "HT110016/0641131C.b+" then 3 squares?

does anybody know what part of that code i use in the upgrade (it has a made in july 03 sticker)

i don`t want to mess it up, incase the upgrade breaks the player.

Oh and how do i get RDS, it doesn`t work on mine

Thanks.

paulmotion

28-08-2004, 09:48

cheers, just got one......seems a crackin deal. :thumbs:

AWaite

28-08-2004, 16:46

That's easily done in the amp, just send a tone to each speaker in turn.

If what someone else has already mentioned is true (based on what's printed on the outside of the box), it looks like it's Dolby Pro-Logic 2. Yep, it's a surround system and more than capable given the cost of the system, but not in the same league as Dolby Digital/DTS. Can't really comment though as I haven't bought one, just read the thread and looked at the specs online.

So what can I do to check if it is proper DD/DTS ?

nobrot

28-08-2004, 22:20

£49.99 now!!!

AWaite

28-08-2004, 22:22

Plus VAT = £58.74.

nobrot

28-08-2004, 22:25

doh...think i will stay off the beer!

mainecoon

29-08-2004, 10:55

I'll give one a go for the bedroom, should be better than listening through the speakers on my tv when watching dvds or satellite,
How much cheaper can these things get?.

Mr VCD

29-08-2004, 11:11

How much cheaper can these things get?.

You'll get them free with a packet of cornflakes (A big packet though) ;)

VCD