The Mustek V520 DVD players is a mini-size component, but don't let its size fool you, At 26 cm wide and only 6 cm slim, it fits anywhere, it offers multimedia enjoyment in a small space. Our test have shown it to be a solid and capable machine that will play anything you put in it.

In appearance it is finished in dull silver and has an easy to read green LED display to show disc and playing status. At first glance the V520 appears to be light on features, but this is because it does away with many controls that go unused on more expensive DVD players, thus helping to reduce the cost. There are no karoke mic inputs and the controls on the face are simple and uncomplicated.

The remote control handles all major functions and the V520 has some impressive features such as a smooth fast forward in up to 32X speed. This works with both DVD Video and Audio CD. Interestingly, the increasing the speed on Audio CDs also increases the pitch, like a sped-up record, whereas most other units will only give you short blips of the source material.

The layout of the buttons on the remote is well thought out, with all the most often used commands such as menu, angle, audio, zoom and subtitle are all under the thumb, and the menu navigations keys are clearly laid out. The remote also handles stand-by power and has an eject button too.

Connecting the V520 to any TV is very simple for you only have to worry about the composite video out. There are two options for audio, 2-channel RCA out for stereo sound, and coaxial digital out from the built-in DTS Dolby Digital decoder for surround sound. Again Mustek has kept the cost down by choosing the most basic and commonly used connections.

One of the most attractive features of this DVD player is that it can play all regions of DVD Video. It can also play MP3 files that have been recorded to CD-R, and last but not least it also plays VCDs. Laser pickup is excellent, the V520 played some scratched DVDs that skipped or froze at layer change on a Sony DVD player, and it had no trouble with CD-Rs burnt at 40X speed.

Video quality is quite acceptable considering it is transmitted through the composite out, although it's not in the league of a £500 Denon. For a budget DVD player, this is not an issue. Sound quality through the stereo out is good and the player puts out a solid and chunky bass, just what you want for DVDs.

Overall the Mustek V520 is fantastic value for money. Especially due to the fact that it gives perfect playback on even the cheapest DVD-R in the market . Apart from karaoke, it plays everything you could want and if you're looking for a budget DVD player or even a second one, this is the one to get.

In our tests the Mustek v520 was tested with the following brands of DVD-R playback was perfect with all brands tested.
BULKPAQ GENERATION 3 :
DATASAFE GENERATION 3 WHITE TOP
DATASAFE CLASSIC WHITE TOP.
FWS
WHITELABEL 2X DVD-R
WHITELABEL 1X DVD-R

In our tests the Mustek v520 was tested with the following brands of CD-R playback was perfect with all brands tested.
BULKPAQ 40x 80 min CD-R
DATASAFE SILVER PREMIUM 80 MIN CD-R
TRAXDATA 40X CD-R

Package Contents:
User guide
Remote control

Reliability
In addition to the on-line help-system, this product package also includes a detailed manual and global access to Mustek’s technical support department via the net. It features a standard warranty, outstanding technical support and is manufactured under strict ISO-9001 guidelines.

Technical Specifications
Supported Formats: ........DVD,DVD-R VCD, CD, MP3, DTS, CD-R, CD-RW, SVCD, DVCD
TV System: ....................NTSC, PAL
Video Norms: .................MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (ISO/IEC-13818)
Picture Formats: .............16:9; 4:3
Video Signal: ..................1.0V pp/75 Ohm Sync, minus
S-Video Output: .............(Y) 1.0V pp/75 Ohm (Sync and Minus Polarity)................(C) 0,28 V pp/75 Ohm (Sync and Minus Polarity)
Audio System: ................2-channel analogue.......5.1-channel Dolby Surround Digital output
DVD Frequency Range: ....48 KHz Sampling: 4Hz~22KHz....96 KHz Sampling: 4Hz~44 KHz
Dynamic Range: ..............> 95dB
Harmonic Distortion: ........< 0,004%
Analogue Audio Output: ....2.9V/330 Ohm (1 KHz)
Digital Audio Output: ........0,5 V pp/75 Ohm
Headphone Output: ..........32 Ohm (32 mW), > 8 Ohm
Video Interface: ...............1 x SCART, 2 x Composite Video, 1 x S-Video
Audio Interface: ...............2 x Analogue Stereo (L/R)......... 1 x Digital PCM/AC3, coaxial
Power: ............................100-240 Volt, 50/60 Hz
Power Consumption: .........20 Watt
Dimensions (W x H x D): ...260mm x 63mm x 280mm
Weight: ............................3 kg

Multi Region and Macro vision Hack
To make your unit macro and region free:
Make sure there is no disc in the unit at the time!!!

Press SETUP
Press on the blue navigation buttons forward,back,forward,back.
Then you will find the menu.
It says 'ver x'. x is you Region code.
Press PREV until x=255 for Region free mode

If this fails try:
PRESS...SETUP
THEN....PREVIOUS
"""......NEXT
"""......PREVIOUS
"""......NEXT
"""......PREVIOUS
PRESS....RIGHT CURSOR
KEEP PRESSING THIS UNTIL (255)APEARS IN TOP LEFT CORNER..THEN PRESS SETUP...

To now remove CDC and Macro
Press down on the blue navigation buttons you will now see
VER3001 press the blue navigation back button to change it to
VER3000
If you find that using the Ver3001/0 hack doesn't work then
press down on the navigation button again and you will see Ver4001
press the back blue button and change it to Ver4000 this will allow
CDC and Macro to be removed.
Then Press SETUP to exit the secret menu.
You now have a region+CD+Macro-free unit :o)

This solves all issues experienced.

Thanks to Callum Lind for this review and The Phenon for the hack.