Hoo boy! I didn't realize that I've been lucky enough to have dodged a bullet. I had no idea that this DVD player was emeshed in all kinds of legal wrangling, and that folks everywhere have had all kinds of technical problems with their A310. I'm happy to report that I've never had a single technical glitch with mine (knock on wood) since I bought it at a PX in Germany a few yers back. The video's been fine, and the audio reproduction has been perfect. It bothers me to read how many others have had horror stories associated with this machine, and it only makes me feel lucky to have acquired a healthy, functioning unit! I don't want to rock the boat here, but if your machine worked as promised, it really is a very nice unit. I'm now considering the purchase of a second DVD player, and I think I'm going to play it safe and buy a Denon unit I've had my eye on

5.1 Dolby Digital decoder.

Doesn't play ALL CD-Rs.

Here is my story: I bought it from MW broken on their crap rack for $100. At the time, the new ones were selling for $450! I took it home and called the Panasonic repair center on Monday. I took it down there and dropped it off. Within 4 days it was repaired and has worked perfect ever since! The only problem I ever had with it is that it only plays "certain" CD-R's. But they never said it would play CD-R's anyway so I didn't think this was a failure on their part. I am rough with my equipment and I am surprised that there are so many bad statements about this player.

Similar Products Used:

none

It does a good job of just sitting there

I can only use 1200 characters here???? I'll never fit it all.

Oh my God, if I could only have found this page sooner. I have sent this POS back to Best Buy 4 (they say it's only been 3) times for repairs for the same problems. Heavy pixalation (tiling) freezes, no disc, and they just keep giving me the runaround. Luckily, I got the 4 yr PSP plan. The only problem is, everytime I send it out, all they do is a PSP cleaning. Seems like the techs at Best Buy would know there is a problem with this player, and fix it. I think they are just trying to get the PSP out of the way, without doing anything about it. Well, now I know, and something will be done about it.

I NEVER REALLY USED IT THAT MUCH AND ALL OF SUDDEN IT DOESNT READ ALL DVD'S. NEW OR OLD IT READS SOME AND NOT ALL. ALL IT SAYS IS NO DISC. THANK GOD IT WAS A GIFT. NOW I CAN'T EVEN FIND A PLACE TO FIX IT AND PANASONIC IS NO HELP AT ALL.

Excellent picture on my 32" 9yr. old Toshiba. Excellent sound on DVD and very good on CD''''s. The picture is at least as good as the one on my $800 Denon 2800 when the Denon is playing interlaced.

It was a lemon when it came off the assembly line although I never read one review in an audio publication that even mentioned the problem and they all gave it rave reviews.

I bought this player in 98 right after they came out. At the time I didn''''t own any nae DVD''''s and played mostly rentals for quite awhile. It started locking up or just stopping or pixelating. I thought this may be due to the rental DVD''''s since I could remove and clean them and they would play fine. Finally the problems got to be too much and I took it in to Best Buy for repairs. To shorten a long story....after having it sent in for repairs it failed a fourth time and Best Buy honored their no lemon policy and I exchanged it for a Sony. I''''ve had very good luck with Panasonic/Technics for several years but this was a real failure and I don''''t think Panasonic has enhanced their image at all with the way they''''ve dealt (ignored) with this player. I could have exchanged for another Panasonic DVD player but knew I would be just waiting for the problem again.

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Panasonic model 31, Denon model 2800.

Overall good performance, versatile and full featured.

Reliability of unit way past unacceptable. Dealing with Panasonic repair ctr and Cust Svc was ... I''ll never buy Panasonic again.

This product performed exactly as expected (very well) . . . . . until it failed almost exactly 1 month after warranty expiration (1 yr.). It saw light usage and was well ventilated. Was repaired at a Panasonic svc center TWICE. It has now failed a third time and will be junked.

Picture, sound, features, DTS ready

none on my machine

I entered into the DVD market after having been into LaserDisc and HT for about 4 years before that. I was initially sceptical about getting one due to all the region coding and very few players and disc available in the U.K. I therefore wanted to get an U.S. machine. So through an English company I purchased the Panasonic A310 using a U.S. to U.K. voltage regulator. I have had this player since May 98 and have had no problems at all with this unit. The picture is very good, the sound excellent (connected to a Yamaha DSP-A1). The only real qualm I have is the quality of some of the discs. I assume this is the discs and not the player (i.e. Reg 1 Ghostbusters SE - Outstanding : Reg 1 Bodyguard - awful).

I have added this review after just having read some of the review from other people. I am frankly shocked, as are some other owners of this machine. The number of people who have had problems is unbelievable. I have never had any disc freeze or jump and I have about 75 discs now. The only jumps I get are on dual-sided discs which I assume is the changing between layers.

I'm a bit unsure about this "Pixelation" everybodies talking about. I don't know if this means the "grainy" picture experienced on some discs (i.e. Reg 1 Bodyguard), or the large square areas of picture that change to black when watching a badly damaged disc. (I.e. rental discs - what do people do with the discs - rub them with sandpaper before returning them!) If it’s the grainy picture then the wonderful "Soft picture mode" takes care of this problem. As for the other well I not sure.

As a whole this was my first player and I not intending on selling just yet as I think it does a wonderful job. I was obviously one of these lucky people who didn't get any problems with it (yet!!!!)

There's not much point in recommending people to buy this DVD player any more as they are now obsolete but I thought I would comment on it particularly with regard to the many problems people have been having.

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Panasonic A110

Great Picture & Sound. Quite. Runs Fairly cool.

Has problems with some DVDs. At times, a whole chapter is skipped after a layer change.

This model used to be one of the more expensive DVD players in the market place. The main difference between the A310 and its lower-end model is the presence of a built-in Dolby Digital decoder (which I have not used).

This DVD player has problems with some DVDs. At times, a whole chapter is skipped after a layer change. Panasonic is not consumer friendly and does not admit that there is a problem. They have not made a fix available for this even after repeated contacts.

Avoid this DVD player, unless you absolutely need the built-in Dolby Digital Decoder or if can get it for a killer deal (i.e. $100 or below)!

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Toshiba SD-2109, Pioneer DVD 525

Picture,sound.

Max.one year lifetime!

Working well 11 months.After that, problems with picture and sound.WORST BUY!!

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Sony 525

I've owned the Panasonic DVD-A310 for about 8 months now and have had no problems with it. I regularly use this player and have watched about 60 different movies on it. I don't understand why other reviews of the unit have been so negative. I haven't had any lockups or problems viewing any DVD. I've seen this system perform with an Onkyo 939THX receiver with Atlantic Technology 370THX Speakers and the effect is awesome! I've also experienced this DVD player playing AC-3 and DTS DVDs on a system with the Marantz AV-550 w/ the 5 MA-500 amps along with the Millenium DTS Decoder and Atlantic Technology 370THX Speakers on a front projection HDTV setup. The only thing better would be the Pioneer or Denon THX certified DVD players (which cost a fortune more). I would highly recommend this unit. The quality and price really make this unit stand out. My only complaint is the remote. I think it looks a little cheap and menu selection isn't all that responsive.