www.ElectronicHouse.com J u l y 2 0 0 3 ■EH 4 3
With so many DVD players on the mar-
ket, how do we tell the difference
between the good and the bad? Well,
besides reading magazines for expert opinions, sim-
ply look at the features. Some inexpensive players
perform well, but may not have the best build qual-
ity (and therefore not last too long), or some play-
ers don’t have all the features you want. You won’t
have to worry about either in the case of
Harman/Kardon’s DVD 101. With a suggested retail
price of $349, it’s certainly not the cheapest on
the block, but in our experience, you really do get
what you pay for when it comes to electronics.
Installation Issues
Hooking up the DVD 101 was very easy, since it
offers such a wide selection of audio/video outputs.
Seemingly rarely these days, it offers both a coax-
ial output and an optical digital output, allowing
flexible audio hookup. On the video side, there are
progressive-scan component video outputs as well
as S-Video and composite, in case you don’t have
a component input on your TV.
The build quality is excellent, with a solid feel
to it that escapes many other players. Most DVD
players feel like the cheapest of VCRs, but not the
DVD 101. It has a high-end feel, which is always a
good thing.
Performance/Features
Once the DVD 101 was set up, we watched a bevy
of movies and music DVDs. The picture quality on
our progressive-scan monitor was excellent. In fact,
it was as good as our $1,000 reference DVD player
from last year. While showing challenging DVDs like
the newly remastered The Mission and Peter
Gabriel’s Secret World Live, it brought both of
these films to life in a vibrant, restrained way. On
brighter fare like Two Weeks Notice, the outdoor
scenes looked natural and realistic, which is the sign
of any good DVD player. Overall, we were very
impressed by the picture on this DVD player. Using
the remote control was also very straightforward,
and it worked well in all conditions. It’s comfortable
in the hand, and is easy to use in a darkened room.
The Last Word
Two features that we felt should have been includ-
ed in this price range were SACD and DVD-Audio
playback. Both of these features are becoming more
prevalent as the available software selection increas-
es dramatically, and we were surprised that the DVD
101 didn’t include at least one of these options.
Otherwise, we were very happy with the DVD 101’s
performance and abilities. It was easy to use and
a pleasure to turn on and enjoy. The sign of a great
product: Did we want to send it back to the man-
ufacturer? Not any time soon. EH
Info: Harman/Kardon, $349
516-496-3400, www.harmankardon.com
Jeff Cherun is a freelance writer, as well as a
home theater consultant.
Harman/Kardon DVD 101
R E V I E W
D V D P l a y e r
WHY YOU
WANT THIS
This DVD player
has progressive-
scan component
video outputs, and
provides images
as good as
a $1,000
reference
DVD player.
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T H E S C O R E
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Install
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Ease of Use
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Reliability
■■■■
Expandability
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Overall Value
4 ➞broke the mold 3 ➞playing with the big boys
2 ➞not such a bad buy 1 ➞just plain sad
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