Excellent audio and video when it is working

Design flaw causing common failure in short time of use. Customer support in denial. Mechanicaly noisey while playing - audible during quiet passages - spins audio CDs at greater than 1X all the time.

I, like most reviewers, have encountered disk reading and recognition problems after 14 months. A call to Onkyo service suggested head cleaning or return for a "firmware upgrade" - no acknowlegment of the real problem. Cleaning changed it, but did not fix it. Searching the web for ideas, I read these 60 and concluded that a trip to service was a waste of money and perhaps I should just accept "the shaft" and maybe buy a Denon. John''s review of Jan. 20, 2002 was the only one to suggest a possible cause. I opened the unit last night, partially removed the ribbon cable where it plugs into the connector on the laser head, reseated it, and put everything back together. It is now working flawlessly. It makes sense that this connection is a weak spot since that particular ribbon cable flexes constantly as the head moves across the tracks. If Onkyo had spent another 25 cents on a connector more appropriate to that use (like the ZIF ribbon connectors with locking collars used on some printer heads), they could have saved us all a lot of grief. I just hope that I don''t have to repeat this fix too often. Thanks, John.

Similar Products Used:

Older Denon CD changer, MUCH older second generation Sony CD player

Excellent value(when it works.)Picture/audio quality.WONT SKIP!Clean looking.

Probably won''t last(again).Ugly remote.

I purchased this unit 1 year ago and was very satisfied with the performance for about 10 months.The unit then started to become very noisy while a disc was spinning.There was an oscillating vibration noise similar to an unbalanced tire.Around 11 months the picture started digitally distorting and freezing up.I returned it to circuit city for warranty work.Luckily I still had 11 days left on it.The repair was made and it was returned to me promptly.I called the repair center to ask what was wrong with it and was told it needed a ribbon cable.It now performs like it did when it was new.I''ll enjoy it while it lasts because judging by the previous reviews it will probably fail again.I was shocked at the amount of reviewers who had the same problem!It is too bad these units fail because when they function properly they are great.Excellent picture and audio from DVD''s.Very good CD audio quality.This unit has not skipped once even under the craziest SPL''s.Other units I have tried(sony,toshiba)skipped quite easily with moderate subwoofer use.Also the remote is poorly shaped and laid out.It is also quite ugly,something you might see in the 80''s.I hide it when frends come over!I would not hesitate to buy another product from Onkyo in the future and feel they are of excellent quality.Unfortunately this particular model was obviously not made properly and disappointed a lot of customers.After seeing these reviews I''m sure Onkyo will be losing a lot of present and potential business.I would obvoiusly not buy this model again but would stick with Onkyo.

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Sony DVPS500D.(currently a $500 doorstop until getting a $284 repair...yeah right!I wouldn''t even waste my time writing a review for that POS!)Toshiba DVD(model?)

No good basis to judge.

None so far.

Before I purchased this unit the first negative I read from reviews was that it wouldn''t repeat. However, upon reading the manual there it was, clear as day instructions on how to set it up to repeat. I guess it''s sort of a guy thing to just jump in and not read the instructions. That tendency sort of fades as you get older and screw up a number of times because you didn''t read the instructions. So put that complaint to rest. Secondly, I read that it wouldn''t play CD-R discs, which is what many of mine are (made before Napster''s demise). I was willing to live with that as my Onkyo DX-C530 CD player has no problem with them. I recently read something suggesting that Memorex CD-RW discs (700MB, 80 min.) might work on DVD players that normally wouldn''t do CD-R''s. Guess what? They work! However, the DX-C530 can''t handle them. Other than this bit of trivia that may be useful to some of you out there, I''m extremely satisfied with this DVD player, not to nention that I practically stole it on ubid.

Similar Products Used:

None

good sound,remote easy to understand and use after first five minutes of use.unit runs very cool and quiet. I love it so far.

None so far

I have only had the unit for a short time.Im listening to a CDR as im writing, so some of the reviewers must be wrong.It has a very clean strong sound.The unit seems to be very well built.i will send a follow up review after a few months.

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pioneer

Superb picture quality, Direct Digital Path sounds spectacular, Gold tipped component outs, Dimmer (ahhhhh)

Remote a little confusing, Slightly noisy while in operation.

Everyone that flames on this player either A)Doesn''t know how to use/set it up or B)Handled their unit as if it were a low end piece of electronics and damaged it. This is one of the best sounding, best playing DVD players out there. It mated perfectly with my Onkyo TXDS-555, and with Onkyo''s Direct Digital Path circuitry, sounds better than any other DVD player I''ve used. I actually work for Circuit City, and have used MANY DVD players. This is by far, THE BEST that we carry, IMO. Don''t be followers, people, get the best. OH, by the way, don''t forget to hit the side of the unit when you see it on display (while the disk is playing, of course)so you will be amazed that this is the only DVD player that doesn''t skip. For all you who returned this DVD player...your loss, everyone else''s gain.

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Panasonic, JVC, Philips, Magnavox, Harmon Kardon, Sony, Marantz

Clear picture from the DVD. Great sound from the DVD and CD. Purchase this unit to replace an older Onkyo 5-Disc player that wasn't working well. If I'm going to replace the CD player, might as well get a DVD on it too.

No random play for music CD's

As stated before, purchased this unit to replace an older Onkyo 5-disc that was playing well. I love this unit with the DVD player as well as the CD player. I listen to music more that watching movies, but the DVD and I get free movies from Blockbusters, I'll be watching more DVD movies now. Great, clear picture and sound is great.

Similar Products Used:

Onkyo 5-disc Player

Video Quality

Remote (el-cheapo)and disc readability

First DVD purchased because of past experience with Onkyo
(reciever and singal cd player.
Somewhat dissappointed :( does not read cd very well comes up not reading in tray whatever and have to power off then on to get to read will not random play cd's my old 6 disc changer (Onkyo) had no problems, shall I say it was one Hell of a piece. I have had no problems reading writeable cd's as long as they have been green or gold, I just wish Onkyo would have produced the high quality as they have in the past. Will keep the system and hope the bugs work themselves out...Have not checked this out with other units and I guess thats my fault......

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None

None

Does not recognize some CD's and DVD's, No CD-R playback, Bulky, Bad Remote, Very noisy loading and operation, 3-4 delay on movies before it plays them, poorly written installation manual.

This is my third review. After uninstalling the unit and dragging it into the repair shop twice, this piece of junk still died on me.

Overall, I'm sure there are those units of this model that may work fine but why take a chance based on my and others poor review/experience. Even when it did work, I could not tell much of an improvment in picture from my VCR to this DVd in picture quality.

My feeling is that Onkyo did not build/design this mopdel very well at all.

I finally got Ubid to refund my money and I bought the Pioneer Elite DV-C36 from CrazyEddie.com for $384. I paid about $150 more for it but from the numerous reviews think I'll have a better experience.

Buyer beware on this unit for sure, way too many cons to owning it.

none

Company that makes product

I believe that it is our mission to let eveyone know how pathetic a company Onkyo is for selling defective units. I was always told that Onkyo was a Higher End Product, Ya right. I almost bought a reciever made by onkyo, I'm sure glad that I didn't. This Unit is the biggest piece of sh!! on the market. Stay away from it or you will be sorry too.

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Panasonic, Sony

read other's reviews for these

no full random and pause during layer change on dvds

i'm happy with this dvd/cd player, but there are few minor things which stop me from being ...really happy. audio and video are great, no complaints there, but little things like the lack of full random and the very unsmooth layer changes on dvds taint this product. the delay during the layer change happens on the majority of dvds i've played in it so its not a fluke.

good player, love the 6 cd/dvd capacity and the due roll is can play, but i'm thinking there is something similar and better.