No support for ID3 tags on MP3's. Does not display long filenames (DOS filename limit)

Everyone seems to say that DVD's always come up with subtitles on. This only happened on the first DVD I played. Now, subtitles are only on when I select them.

I have played Music CD, DVD, VCD, SVCD and MP3 all on this unit with no problems. Have yet to find a DVD that doesn't play perfectly (tried about a dozen so far).

S-Video output looks great on my Panasonic CT27D10. I have no experience with other DVD players, but I am a former a/v tech and I don't see any glaring defects in the video quality.

There are some caveats with the ID3 tags in MP3 files.
Some good MP3 files (ones which play find in Winamp) aren't properly recognized by the AD660. So far, it appears that these problems can be fixed by correctly setting the ID3 tags before buring the files onto CD. One problem seems to be with ID3v2 tags - they need to be completely turned off. ID3v1 tags should have a title and artist and no periods in them. Otherwise, the AD660 may freeze-up for 10 seconds or so when paging through the MP3 file menu when it encounters one of these files. These files are usually show as a DTS or MP2 filetype. Files identified as MP2 still play fine. None of the info in the ID3 tags is displayed on the screen - only the filename on the disk.

The two VCD's I tried played fine. I've burned close to two dozen SVCD's on my computer with WinonCD and they play back great on the Apex.

Supposedly the AD660 will also play XVCD's and XSVCD's - although I haven't tried either of these yet.

design, for $99 it doesn't LOOK cheap, great picture
quality, upgradable firmware, plays mp3s, reads cdr's and
cdrws, displays PAL VCDs correctly on an NTSC tv, remote
isn't horrible but could be improved a little, can be set up
to disable macrovision and be made region free (not that i'd
do that), good sound quality, at $99 this is a steal and
i can't complain much if it has minor problems.
I think!)
's, plays both PAL/NTSC dics.

remote shape is a bit awkward, has some bad placement for
it's buttons, would freeze for a half a second once or twice
on some DVDs (probably dusty, but isn't a big deal to me)
sometimes it takes three attempts to play/stop a movie
because of the remote, it's new but the batteries just might
be low, it did not play my 3 year old mp3 discs - i expected
this since they probably aren't formatted correctly, had
a subtitle bug - a firmware update fixed it and besides it's
easy to fix by turning them off when they come up,
no optical out - no big deal i guess. digital coax is
probably just as good(?)

I owned an SPD-S360 and it works perfectly fine. I purchased an APEX AD-660 to check out and was amazed at the difference in picture quality between the two. The APEX's is way better in my opinion. The only thing I hate about the APEX is the remote, it's to goofy and has a few misplaced buttons. I like how it can be firmware upgradable to if it ever has bugs they could be fixed. I had minor problems with this - it would sometimes freeze for a half a second but this was only on a few DVDs and happened very rarely. This DVD Player looks like it would cost $199. It's design is just as good looking as my $229 (last year) Sony DVD player. It displays all my PAL VCDs (not burned) perfectly fine, which is rare
for a DVD player made in the USA - they usually cut off the
subtitles and stretch out the picture (why I replaced my early Philips Magnavox DVD player with a SONY) At ONLY $99 this player is a steal and it'd be stupid to pay this deal up in my opinion. It's not perfect and has a few small problems but who can complain for $99?

Similar Products Used:

Oritron 100 - Looks cheap and would probably fall apart in
a few months.

Sony SPD-S360 - better then the APEX but has less features,
doesn't play Mp3's. The Apex offers better picture quality
though.

plays mp3s vcds and dvd picture is really good

dts doen not work with saving private ryan and the remote was built by a chimp

This dvd player works pretty well all in all but i was very upset that dts does not work with saving private ryan . I know it is not my reciever because my friend brought his dvd player pioneer (something or other) and saving private ryan worked just fine . Other than that it works really well , mp3s vcds work like gold. The problem where subtitle automaticlly turns on can be solved by me turning them off no big deal. i keep hearing this problem where mp3s race by , well this happened to me at first but now it doesnt, i got a new cd burner. The remote was built by a primate, i swear i am the only person in my family who can find the play button. it took me forever to figure out where the root menu is. I would recomend this dvd player to people who dont care about dts and people who have the time to figure out the god forsaken remote .

Similar Products Used:

none

Good Price.

I have been having a problem with mine, everytime I try to load a dvd, the tray gets jammed on something (although I have yet to find anything it could get jammed on) and it wont load and it scratches the not so cheap dvd's. It takes atleast like 10 trys before the dvd will load, I cant even exchange this because where I purchased it they dont have anymore, I am fed up with this dvd player.

I think its a ok, its just a pain in the butt trying to load a dvd, if it wasnt for that then it would be good, hence the price is good. But its a hassle to me and it ruins my dvd's.

Great picture,Great Sound

Poor visibility on front panel

I really enjoy this DVD ,however last night I was playing Almost Famous right out of the wrapper and about 45 minutes into it the picture froze for about 5-8 seconds it then un froze and contuined on with no further problems . Has this happened to anyone else, have not called Apex yet as it is the weekend. Any imput would be appreciated.

Similar Products Used:

none

Plays NTSC plus PAL - Cheap Multi system

Remote

The sales guy at CC pointed me at this DVD player and I thought 139 bucks couldn't harm for a multi system player. It plays CD's created with CD Creator very well too in my case. This player is quite a piece for the money you pay!
The remote is a pain. Duh!
DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE CODES TO PROGRAM A SONY WEGA FLAT SCREEN TV REMOTE FOR USE WITH THIS PLAYER? RM-Y171

Also, even when not used but switched on, this player gets HOT and so do the DVD's or CD's

Thanks, Geert.

Similar Products Used:

None

Price, simplicity, VCD compatability

finicky MP3 detection, CD lock-ups, poor DVD image

Went to CC looking for a replacement for my 10 year old Onkyo CD player, and was delighted to find I could get DVD and MP3 for a mere $99. Older, weaker APEX models have Component Video, but not the 660. I ran the picture over Composite video (single yellow RCA jack) and resolution left much to be desired. My Ricoh PC DVD ROM out to my TV via S-Video (All-in-Wonder VC) looks much much better. CD audio locks up everytime, about midway through the CD. Remote control not as bad as others make it out to be. LCD is tragicly simplistic, worse than my Onkyo CD player from '91.

VCD is a real bonus, don't expect future DVD's to carry this feature. DVD Sound was very impressive, but the Pansonic has so much more to be offered, for a reasonable price. Especially if this is your primary DVD. Otherwise, this is a good product. I brought my MP3 CD-R (Comp-USA) burned from Adaptec, to Best Buy and put it in the Pansonic, the Samsung and the 32?? Apex, all read it, but not the 660. So I don't know anything about the MP3 features on this deck. Zoom didn't work, but I by this point I wasn't interested in tweaking the configurations to suit my Panasonic TV. I'll be returning this today.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic DVD/CD/MP3, Ricoh CD-RW/DVD 9600

The biggest strength(s) the units ability to play mp3s and cda. When it works well the color is exceptional.

Its inability to connect directly to RCA ports on television made 3or more years earlier.

The product as I stated lacks the ability to adapt to older video sets. I wish I could solve this without paying an extra $30 for an RF adapter. The remote is excessively huge with features that I can't even use.

Similar Products Used:

NA

Cheap. Does play MP3s, upgradable firmware.

Not as nice as the other units as far as audio/video quality. Makes me to 'reburn' my mp3 cds.

I bought this thing only because it was advertised to play MP3s. I am not planning on watching any movies or play regular CDs on this thing, although I think it is capable. As well as a lot of other people having problems with the unit playing MP3s, I have experienced the same problems. There are a lot of articles on the web of HOWTO get rid of those. (Here is one http://psych.tripod.com/apexdvdplayers/index.html). To summorize this, here is how to make your Apex to play MP3s. Make sure that you're creating your CDs in the ISO9660 Format and ALSO it has to be a Mode 1 CD. There are some manipulations with the Tags that have to take place as well. Winamp can do that. Basically, you have to get rid of Version 2 ID tags to version 3. It can be accomplished by loading mp3 into the Winamp play list, right click on the title -> File Info -> Make sure that the ID3v1 checkbox is checked and ID3v2 is unchecked and click on update button (Make sure that the files are not read-only or located on CD. Yes, you have to copy them to the Hard Drive). All of these actions together should make it playable.

I know it is a pain that is why this thing receives 2 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Sonys, Panasonic.

Plays ANYTHING!!, DVD/MP3/VCD/SVCD/X(S)VCD/MPG files/CDA, Very easy to make modifications, easy power supply repair, If Drive Fails, Just Replace it with a Computer DVD unit!! yes!!!

Bad VCD detection, Too slow to seek MP3 directory, No dual voltage power supply, lack of proper cooling

I was surprised after reading all the commentaries that NO ONE tried if the unit can play MPG files, But Yes I did and it plays Most of my MPG files downloaded from internet, and any file created with XME or panasonic plugin or Tsunami Mpeg encoder and burned onto a data CD-R will WORK!!!!!!
This is an amazing feature, no mention of this one in the manual but it works and I use it really good to watch music videos downloaded with imesh and bearshare, great!.
Excelent Sound Quality, even for MP3, Small bug in VBR MP3 Files when counter runs twice as the real speed hehe, Drive is selective with the media quality so if you want to use it, use good quality cd media, VCD playback is good but seems to have some problem detecting it, because most of the time detects VCD as MP3 and shows directory tree, anyway you can go to the /MPEGAV dir and play the video file asi any
.MPG but in this case no counter is available, and goto
function will not work, seems to be a drive firmware problem, not an bug from the apex microprocessor, SVCD playback is excellent, DVD is good (just good, Panasonic
has better image quality but the rest of the apex features
are unbeatable hehe), Very easy to Make region free an macrovision free.
You can change from PAL/MULTI/NTSC mode in any time, great feature!, and the ZOOM is very good too.

In SHort: If you are an experienced user, or better a
computer specialist this unit is for U, it has a lots of
special features that will not be appreciated for regular
people, and the possibility of change the DVD drive if
it fails for a PC DVD unit is unbeliveable!, I tried it just
to see if it was true (too good to be true) and it works
much better with the Piooner 16X PC DVD drive than
the raite unit built in.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A120 , Apex AD600