Product Reviews

If you're lucky enough to own a high definition television, you've probably been enjoying crystal clear pictures of the World Cup. However, now that it's over, you might be feeling a little disappointed. Wouldn't it be great if you could watch high definition video whenever you wanted?

The Kiss DP-600 could be the solution. It's a stylish DVD player, but with an extra trick up its sleeve: it can also play high definition video files. Setup is easy. As well as a SCART socket and several standard video outputs, there's an HDMI output, which is ideal for connecting to an HDTV - and a

ADVERTISEMENT

cable is included. After turning on the player, a simple display guides you through setup.

The DP-600 plays high definition video in DivX, XviD, Windows Media 9 and Nero Digital formats, but not Windows Media files protected by DRM. If you have a home network, you can install the server software on your PC, connect the DP-600 to your network using a cable or wirelessly and play files directly from your PC's hard disk. The quality will depend on the speed of your wireless network, but we were amazed to find that we could play high definition videos using our 802.11g test network. As well as its own server software, the DP-600 supports Microsoft's Windows Media Connect server. If you don't have a network, you can simply burn video files to a DVD and play it in the device, but there's no built-in hard disk for storing files on the DP-600.

The problem is that at the moment, there isn't much legal high definition video available beyond movie trailers. When HD DVDs finally arrive, the DP-600 won't be able to play them, as it lacks the necessary Blu-ray and HD-DVD drive. If you have money to burn this is an impressive toy, but at the moment it just isn't that useful.