[lmccauley]

A friend of mine wants to buy an all-in-one system for his father-in-law. The budget is £400 (top) and he wants a multi-region, Dolby Digital/DTS DVD/receiver with 5 satellites & a sub to go with a modern, Panasonic widescreen TV.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Liam

[Ashy]

How about something like this mate:

Here

Panasonic SC HT70 / Home cinema sound system with DVD player
5 DVD / CD changer
300W RMS output
Dolby digital decoder
Dolby ProLogic
AM / FM tuner
RDS
Super surround
Simulated stereo
6 mode SFC
AV effect DSP
5 satelitte / subwoofer speakers
Easy to use remote control
SCART socket

£400 inc delivery

Not sure if its multi region, but it was on sale on the 24-7 electrical site. Bit of an alternative to the Sony DAV systems.

Or save some money and buy the Pioneer CS303, you get 75 Watts RMS per channel and Dolby Pro Logic II

Multi Region from about £290.

DaveP

[snyphr]

JVC THA-5R here £249 and multi region

[Dimmy]

Buy either a Pioneer DSC303 for around £250. Or the superior Sony DAVS550 from richer sounds - http://www.richersounds.com - for just £399, both are capable systems.

[Ashy]

didnt know that the DAV was selling for that! in that case mate definately get the 550, ive got one and its spot on

[lmccauley]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. He's going to go for a multi-region S550 from RS for £449 (it's an extra £50 over £399 for the multiregion).

Cheers,
Liam

[Ashy]

Great choice mate, highly recommend the QED svideo to scart for it, £35 at empire direct. Certainly better than the standard lead you get with it anyway

What about the Yamaha HTIB45 for £279 (Sound and Vision show special) plus a DVD Player such as the multiregion Toshiba SD220e for £120 from Richer Sounds?

Not exactly all-in-one but a good alternative I think.

[RichB14]

Before i decided to go the seperates route i was dead set on getting the pioneer dcs303, i auditioned from several outlets in different size and shape rooms and i found it to be the best for the price and spec.

askelectronics has the sony dav 550 for 350£, so I suppose you can get it from RS for even less, given thier price match policy. However I should warn you that you need to get the most recent version, as the older version has some minor subtitle problems. Also I bought the dav 500 from RS and I think I have a buzzing problem - listen real close to the speakers and i think you might notice it. I believe this problem has been corrected to some extent with the new 550 model.
You should compare the 550 with the pioneer 303.

The Sony ht-p1000 looks a better bet to me available from £335, seperate dvd so you can upgrade in the future, I'm seriously considering this one...anyone got anything to say about it?

[evans]

Go for the pioneer I saw it in the showroom doing dts and the sound is cinema quality. Make up your mind on the pic quality but i thought it was good on a wide screen

[andy572]

Due to very tight finance and space considerations, I bought the Pioneer DCS-303, a little over a week ago.

If you can accept its limitations i.e don't expect that full 'big box' sound, then it is a great buy (for a small 3m x 3m room, at least).

I was shocked at the volume levels that this very tiny box can kick out - something that confirmed my earlier fears regarding larger speakers in this room.

Again, performance is outstanding for the price and compromise of an 'all-in-one' with small speakers. Basically, anything that has had me doing this: , this: and this again: for nine days has to be recommended!

Before I forget, I bought it from here for £279.95 (multi-region) + £15 delivery. 3-5 day delivery was quoted, but I received my boxes in well under twenty hours.