Good features like variable Fast forwarding
Panasonice A-120:Good features like variable fast forwarding(100X), cheap price

Bad picture quality, unfriendly remote, lot of glitches in movie picture, suttle difference in sound quality

I got the panasonic DVD A120 for a good deal from Mercata
and was enthuasistic and eager to watch movies on that.
But I was quite disappointed after watching MATRIX movie
on the DVD player. I have a sony 32 inch color TV and Sony
Dolby digital receiver. the picture quality is so bad that
it gives some entirely different colors. Panasonic A-120 is poor in picture coloring, what i see is it is not able to
produce different shades of colors(color depth). Also I
noticed that the picture ismoving fast probably to synchronize with audio and it is giving a poor look of the
movie. Having watched MATRIX on Sony S330 DVD where the picture effect where amazingly good, I aret this panasonic DVD A120 as a poor choice. I used a AV cable instead of
S-video cable on both the players. Sony rates 1000 times better than panasonic for this similar DVD players. The picture lacked clarity and it is far inferior to my
satellite dish digital picture from Direct TV..

Even I noticed some differences in dolby digital sound effects with panasonic. I see some of the sounds are not
properly reproduced by the speakers. A while back I
watched MATRIX on Sony S330, the sound effects were awesome.

I am not sure if the one I purchased was bad or most of the
panasnic A120 have the same behaviour.


Anyway, I am going t return this back and going to buy Sony S330 which really impressed me!

Similar Products Used:

Sony S330 DVD player, Panasonic A120

Quick start, component out, good quality build for money.

None that I can find.

Ever notice that people who have problems with this unit are the ones who buy from mail-order/e-tailers? You knew you were rolling the dice for a cheap price! Review the unit, not your experience. This is supposed to be objective!

Excellent Video
Fast menus and startup time
DTS compatibility
Component video output
Incredible value

Remote - poor layout, tiny buttons (even for my small hands)

Wow, DVD is a wonderful experience! I'd long considered saving up for a Pioneer Elite DVD player, but got impatient and decided to find a good value player to get started in digital video. I also figure that if I've got too much invested into a piece of equipment when video standards are changing so rapidly, I may be less inclined to upgrade at sometime in the future.

I don't have much new to add to others' comments about the video--it's spectacular. As for the audio, I didn't expect it to be so much better than my HiFi VCR and digital satellite TV, even on my Pro-Logic system. I've always been a little disappointed in the Pro-Logic sound from my system (2ch stereo has always been awesome though). It sounded good, but it never seemed to sound as good at home as when I was demoing it in the store. I'd always attributed it to the room layout, but now I know it was the source equipment (they used laser-discs). Watching "Tommorow Never Dies" and "Super Speedway" almost brought tears to my eyes with the sound that the DVD produces. Now (finally!) I can appreciate the true surround sound from my system!

As for a CD player, I must say that the A120 is better than I expected. When switching back and forth between the CD player and the DVD player (same CD on both) there are definate differences in sound quality, but they are quite subtle. The first thing I noticed is a slight hiss on quiet passages indicating the A120 has a worse S/N ratio. Other than that the differences took awhile to become apparent. The A120 is a little bright and less controlled than the Nak MB-10. I'd probably tire quicker listening to music on the A120.

Should you use this as both a DVD and CD player? I recall that when I was auditioning CDN$1,500 to CDN$2,000 recievers from Denon, Nakamichi, Yamaha, and Onkyo the three I didn't buy sounded noticeably worse on two channel stereo than the Nakamichi, that is why I bought the Nak. The difference between the DVD A120 and the Nak MB-10 is less than the difference between the above mentioned receivers. So, if you're not the type to upgrade your interconnects and speaker cables to tweak the sound, and if like most people, you haven't invested in a mid-range or better receiver (or separates) and speakers, then you will probably find no difference in sound between this player and the type of CD player you are likely to buy. I'd say the only reason for this type of listener to have a separate CD player would be for multi-disc functionality.

Overall, if the remote was better, this would receive an overall rating of 5 stars, however I'll hold back and only give it 4 stars. It offers a ton of performance for the money and receives an easy 5 stars for value.

One more note about the remote: the remote for the Panasonic big screen TVs are some of the best remotes available and they do a perfect job controlling this DVD player. Maybe it's time to upgrade to a big-screen TV!

My system:
Nakamichi AV-1s (Pro-Logic) receiver (maybe it's time to upgrade to DTS?!)
Nakamichi MB-10 CD player
Panasonic PC29SF20R TV (love this TV!)
B&W Matrix 804 main speakers
B&W Matrix HTM center speaker
B&W 2002 rear speakers
Panasonic DVD A120 (newest addition!)
A mish-mash of Pheonix Gold, AMX, and Monster Cable speaker wires and interconnects
assorted other stuff

Similar Products Used:

First DVD player

picture for the price

output via S-video a bit hot for my Panasonic 32" tv [??], and see below...

I just tried to play my first DTS disk (Saving Private Ryan) and I'm having a problem...
I just bought my first DTS/5.1 Reciever (Sony 333ES) and tried to go digital out (coax and optical) into my Sony to decode DTS and i get no signal at the amp.
I've been able to decode over 60 other 5.1 DVDs, but nothing w/ Private Ryan in DTS (it will play in ProLogic :( )
I've tried another player with the same source disk into my amp and all is well, ergo, it is the player.

Any ideas? If so please email.

Review section: picture is good but a bit hot on S-video (don't know about component).
The remote I have [VEQ2249] is actually quite good, no complaints there (unlike what some other folks say below)

I'll contact Panasonic's customer service and update the group on the outcome...

Similar Products Used:

sony, toshiba mid-lines

Excellent video and Audio

Snall buttons on remote

I read all the reviews before buying this one. Actually it my first and only venture into the world of DVD, so I have nothing to compare it to, except Hi-Fi VHS. The video is noticably sharper, but the sound is exceptionally better than my panosonic VHS hifi. Whats the deal with the aspect ratio, I often switch between the 4:3 and a 16:9 or whatever but I usually still have the black band at the top & bottom of the screen. Sometimes if I get rid of the black areas then everything else in the picture is elongated. Otherwise, so far so good. I've watched 8 DVDs in 3 days and have nothing but excellent reproduction on my Denon AVR-2800 and Toshiba 36" TV, Infinity RS2&3 speakers, M&K sub woofer. Based on some of these reviews, I guess I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. My experience has been first rate.......so far ! !

Great Picture, Good Features, Component Video, Under 300.00,96/24, optical out!

None really

I've been reading up on DVD players for a couple of months and none had hit all of my wants (artifact free picture, no lockups, no bugs, component video, 96/24). Every player had problems, unless it cost more than a player should. I stumbled across the review of this one here, found some other reviews and went out to buy one right away. I got the last one at Best buy for 260.00 :)

The picture is sharp & clean with adjustable black levels for super black. It has masking options for 4:3 & 16:9 modes to allow zooming on non-anamorphic widescreen dvds to fill the entire 16:9 field, and also pan-scan for 4:3 masking of widescreen material.

The remote is kinda lame, it does everything, but it's not very ergonomic or setup intuitively. Nevertheless, if most are like me, a single remote solution is in the picture somewhere, to replace the 7 or so I have now. Does anybody know of a good learning remote that can work via RF into a
remote IR transmitter? That would be the ideal solution. I get tired of point around furniture to hit the IR hotspot. And this remote is especially demanding about being on the mark of the IR eye.

2 sets of analog audio outs. 1 s-video, 1 set of component video outs & 2 analog video outs. Plenty to go round, and unheard of at this price point.

I have only tried 2 dvds thus far (just got it today), but I'm thrilled with it thus far. Again, it was only 260.

It does NOT have DTS or DD decoding. But, as another poster put it, the decoding should be done in a quality receiver, not the DVD player. That's what the optical outs are for. Why would you want to pay for the decoding hardware twice?

The unit has a clean exterior. Not fancy, not chinsey.

Last words, I can't believe it's Panasonic that pulled this one out... It's a quality unit at a bargain price. I highly recommend it.

Picture Quality, Features

I tried to review this player a few days ago but the review did not seem to go through. I have nothing but good things to say about this DVD player. I am compairing it to my Pioneer Elite LD player. I was surprised that a $279.00 mass market player could beat my $1000.00 LD player in picture quality.
There were two main reasons that I bought this player. (1) It had both coax and toslink digital outputs. I have noticed that many of the new receivers that I am considering upgrading my home theater with, have few coax digital inputs. I wanted a player with a toslink so that I would not limit my future flexibility. The Toshiba 2109 was my second choice but it had only the coax...
(2) No mention of the dreaded lipsynch problem on any of the reviews...
I decided on an inexpensive DVD player because the technology is moving so fast. I wanted to get into DVD but I did not want to have an out of date/expensive player to deal with. I have not been disappointed by my choice.

Smooth operation

none,

Short and to the point. I've had mine for four months now and I have seen no visual idiosyncrasies. The picture and audio are both very good. The price can't be beat, and what more do you want?

Quick loading.
Easy to use menu features

El Remoto does sucko. Buttons are made for munchkin hands. I can't count how many times I've hit the open button instead of the play button directly underneath

The 1st DVD player I ever owned and I am absolutely thrilled w/ its performance! I bought this unit as an "out of box" special at a big electronics chain in CA. It was going for $200 but the sales guy blinked and I got it for $150 out the door. I have an entry level system: Klipsch speakers all around + 10" sub w/ a Yamaha RX-V592 Receiver. The TV I'm using is a 1 yr old 36" Toshiba. I have had no pixilation ghosts or misplaced sound elements. The touted dialouge enhancement really does pull through for my center channel. Its display menues are easily recognizable and understandable. Jogging is smooth and its quick loading disc feature has me fumbling for my numerous remotes to turn everything on before the movie starts! I'm upgrading my system and I'll probably get the new 2000 gen RV60 model to get a few more bells and whistles.

Similar Products Used:

Zip!

Cost, TosLink and Component Video outs

Remote

I haven't noticed any motion artifacts (my uncle's had really bad motion artifacts in Tommorrow Never Dies during the mountain panning scenes at the beginning). All the colors are rich, bright and solid. I have noticed no jagged edges or image problems at all (at a normal watching distance anyways, you get up close and any tv will look bad). I haven't had a problem with any DVD I have put in it, including the Matrix. It puts out a digital AC3 or DTS bit stream so sound is more a function of your decoder.

I really like this unit and am very happy with it. The remote is really a non issue since I discoved the One For All Cinema 6 remote at Costco for $20. Entered the Panasonic DVD code (there was only one). Entered the adavanced code for eject and I had its remote replaced.

We've had one at my parents for 7 months (where it is hooked up by Svideo to a Panasonic PT51SX60) and I've had one at my place for 2 months. I just can't wait till I get the money together to get a Toshiba TZ43V61 and hook it up with component video outs.

Similar Products Used:

Computer DVD (various drives and software decoders) and some player (don't know the name) but it was in my uncle's setup that probably cost 2-3 times as much considering he spent $15000 on a Runco RPTV