Medion MD40814

It's very rare for us to look at a standalone DVD player, but when said product works in tandem with a PC, we jump at the chance.

First and foremost, Medion's MD40814 is incredibly cheap - only £50 for a multi-region DVD player. The multi-region bit means that it's meant to play DVDs from anywhere in the world, which is very handy.

Furthermore, this DVD player will play back DivX files. DivX is a compressed video file format, much like MP3 is for music. With enough compression, you can squeeze a whole film onto a 700Mb CD-R, which the Medion can then play just like a DVD. Using an application such as X-OOM Movie Clone Plus (reviewed in issue 164) means that those with only a recordable CD drive can convert and watch their old VHS tapes on this player.

Picture quality in DVD playback is very good and the Dolby Digital decoder will allow those with surround-sound speakers to enjoy true 5.1 sound.

The visual quality of compressed video files, such as DivX, will vary depending on how much compression has been used, but for the most part it's acceptable.

This DVD player also plays and displays MP3 and JPEG files from a CD. In addition, there's also a digital audio out port for connecting to external audio decoders and devices.

Contact: Medion 0870 513 4262
www.medion.co.uk