A Few Hints for Gifts at Christmas
If you’re shopping for CD players this Christmas, here are some helpful hints.
Don’t be afraid to buy single-disc CD players in the $100-$150 range. They’re not as well made as expensive models and tend to break down, but they’re fine for entry-level consumers with inexpensive systems.
What you’ll see most of, though, are CD changers--the multidisc players that have dominated the market for the past few years. These units, which sell for $200 to $800, hold 5 to 10 discs at a time and allow you to program the selections in any order.
There are two styles of changers--magazine and carousel. In terms of performance, there’s no real difference--despite what some sales people will tell you. But some of the magazine models are compatible with car CD players, allowing you to switch a magazine full of CDs between home deck and car.
Lower-priced CD changers, in the $200-$300 range, are fine if your system is fairly new and worth $400 to $600. Changers priced in the $400-$600 range have more features and are made with better parts, but these are more suitable for systems worth at least $1,000. You won’t experience the full potential of a changer that’s too sophisticated for your system, so don’t waste the money.
Suggestions: Yamaha’s five-disc carousel changer CDC-635 is a good buy; it retails for $300 but can be found for $250. Some other quality low-end changers: Technics SL-PD947 ($270, carousel), Philips CDC935 ($300, carousel) and Pioneer PD-M702 ($300, magazine). At the higher end, check out Denon’s magazine-style DCM-550, selling for $500.
Among single-disc players, a good bet is Onkyo’s DX701, selling for $200.
Pocket LCD TV sets: These tiny TV sets, with three- to four-inch LCD (liquid crystal display) screens and weighing one to two pounds, are popular gift items. But they have many limitations. The picture is rarely very good, and outdoors it’s generally awful. Watching these things for any length of time can cost a fortune--six to eight AA batteries will give you only three to four hours of viewing time. You can get rechargeable batteries, but they deliver even less running time.
Of the two types of LCD screens--active matrix and passive matrix--you get a much better picture with active matrix. Of course, active-matrix sets cost about $300 more.
If you want to buy one anyway, some suggestions: The 4-inch Sony FDL-380 with an active-matrix screen, often discounted to about $275, is a good buy. Casio’s TV-7700B, with an active-matrix three-inch screen, is arguably the best of the lot--but it retails for $500. Memorex’s 16-163, with a 2 3/4-inch passive matrix screen and weighing less than a pound, is cute but at best offers only a fair picture.
VCRs: If you rent a lot of tapes, it’s a smart idea to have a playback-only VCR just for rented tapes, which are often dirty and can soil your VCR heads. A good bet is Goldstar’s GVC-C125, which retails for $240 but can be found for $180.
An outstanding VCR is Quasar’s VH-435, which has four heads and excellent special features--in particular a startlingly good slow-motion picture. It retails for $430.
If you’re looking for a low-end VCR and don’t know where to start, Panasonic and RCA have some decent machines in the $200-$225 range.
What’s New on Video:
“The Firm” (Paramount, no set price). Director Sydney Pollack’s adaptation of John Grisham’s suspense novel is about a lawyer (Tom Cruise) fresh out of college who slowly discovers that the firm he has joined is a hotbed of criminal activity. Overlong (two hours, 34 minutes) and sometimes implausible, and with a confusing, somewhat muddled middle, it nevertheless features some tense sequences and works fairly well as a thriller. Terrific supporting performances--by Gene Hackman, Holly Hunter and Gary Busey, among others--help maintain interest.
“House of Cards” (LIVE, $93). When a 6-year-old girl (Asha Menina) retreats into an autistic-like silence, her widowed mother (Kathleen Turner) and a psychiatrist (Tommy Lee Jones) try to find out why. A manipulative TV movie at heart, despite the fancy virtual reality effects. If you rent this looking for the same kind of supercharged performance Jones delivered in “The Fugitive,” you’ll be disappointed.
Upcoming: “Dave” (Wednesday); “Hot Shots Part Deux” and “Hocus Pocus” (Jan. 5); “Robin Hood: Men in Tights,” “Hearts and Souls” and “Menace II Society” (Jan. 12); “Rookie of the Year,” “Hard Target,” “The Coneheads” and “Last Action Hero” (Jan. 26); “Poetic Justice” (Feb. 2); “In the Line of Fire” (Feb. 9); “The Program” and “Man Without a Face” (Feb. 16); “Son in Law” (Feb. 23).