Good picture and sound quality...

Skipping, no audio after only 14 months.

This is the first DVD I've purchased and this will be the last product I buy from Panasonic. I was looking at the Toshiba 3109 and I should have gone with that model over the Panasonic A310. Worked fine for the first 14 months and then picture started to deteriorate quickly. Some DVDs won't even load while other have intermitant skipping and audio outages.

I took the unit to a Panasonic authorized service department and they want $45 to even look at the unit and another $140 to repair. And that's if they don't have to order any more parts! What a joke! They also only give a 30 day warrantee on their work. After reading this review column, it will probably have to go back and they will gouge me for another $150 at least.

I am planning to get this unit repaired this time and then sell it and purchase the Toshiba.

Panasonic, you suck!

Similar Products Used:

First DVD I've owned.

Great audio and video performance, when working.

Horrible reliability.

This player was purchased about 25 months ago in July '98, primarily due to being one of the first players to offer DTS through-put & component video outputs, and because of the glowing reviews it received in the press. Fourteen months after purchase, the pixelation and lock-up problems became apparent.

Thanks to involvement by my regional Panasonic sales rep, the unit was hand delivered to a California repair center and returned to provide 10 more months of useful operation.

Now the player is experiencing the infamous "no-disc" error. Based on what I've read on this site, I see my story reads like many others. Unless I can contact and convince my regional rep to help me again, I'll be out; and I will not pay upwards of $200 to have the unit repaired.

If Panasonic doesn't "do right" by this consumer and back their product up, this consumer will never purchase another Panasonic related product again. It is as simple as that--there are many, many good mainstream electronics manufacturers who would like my business.

I'll also be sure to "educate" as many other potential Panasonic customers as possible, of the result (good, bad or otherwise) I receive from Panasonic.

Similar Products Used:

None, this was my first DVD player purchase.

Good audio reproduction (very good D/A).

Poor general design of device both from ergonomic to
the poor quality control. Igmage lock up!

These of you who have problem with the image lock up and
would like a try at a simple fix which is not detrimental
try the below. Again, I do not guarantee this but it
has worked for me for past three weeks.

Starting from about 6th month on I had picture freeze
problem. I noticed that the lock up occurs after about
1 hour and 10 minutes of playing or so. So, I open
the cover (of course this will void warantee ; but hey
if the unit doesn't work it does not matter :)).
The internal temperatur of the DVD player was very high.
I noticed that couple of the VLSI chips on the
middle right sides were generating excessive heat.
Couple of these were too hot to touch. SInce, I
had nothing to lose, I attached couple of heatsink
to the offending VLSI chips via epoxy.

It sure seems like a design problem, I have not seen
any VLSI chips run that hot before (i.e. too hot to
keep your finger on it for more than few seconds).
I emailed Panasonic. Their response was "Take it
to the repair shop". Poorest consumer service I experienced.

Needless to pay, this will be the last Panasonic
product I'll buy.

DO NOT BUY PANASONIC.

unit was o.k. while it worked which wasn't very long

pixel drop outs and picture freeze, problems resurfaced after repair

I bought the A310 about a year ago. The unit worked fine in the beginning but developed known problems (pixel drop outs and picture freeze) after about 9 months. Had the unit repaired ($89.95 labor charge) and it worked again for about 2 months then developing the very same problems again. This would point to a fundamental design problem that cannot be fixed.

I never had such bad experience with Panasonic products in the past and expected a more ethical conduct from that company.

My advice: Do not buy that product, initial functionality maybe short-lived.

Clean, high-resolution video and sound (in my experience, thus far).

Haunting concern over the POSSIBILITY of problems, based on postings here that suggest future (?) negative experiences...some difficulty coordinating menu settings with that of receiver.

So far, so good--great actually. Have played probably 20-25 movies during last year and one-half with few or no problems noted, or worth mentioning--unless motivated to worry over some seemingly random situations simply because of several negative posts below. Has always played CDs very well, with only minor glitches encountered on two or three (poorly manufactured?) discs.

Similar Products Used:

None, really...

Easy to use remote. Has a lot of features for mid-line model. For example, video component out, DTS out, coaxial and optical audio out, DD encoder built in, automatic dimmer, etc. The output is clean and sharp.

Has a serious manufacture (?) defect problem. See below.

The Panasonic A-310 is a very good DVD player. It has many output options (for both video and audio). Both the owners manual and the setup menu make it easy to understand and to set up (heck, you can set up the DVD player with basic features without reading the manual!) The remote feels comfortable and buttons well laid out. I like the joystick (though some people may feel it awkward to use) on the remote. Since I have a DD receiver, I didn't try the built-in DD decoder. But, it's useful for people who have 5-channel input amplifer or even 2 channel inputs (using the downconversion). I like when the on-screen display of the A-310 dims automatically when the movie starts. Too bad my vcr and all bright red L.E.D. cable box doesn't do that! The picture output is great, but then again it's very subtle to compare the A-310 with other great DVD players. Okay the bad news. Panasonic seems to have a problem with a lot of their players froze, pixeled out, chapter skip during layer switch, or won't play certain DVDs. It can happen anytime (even I heard after they fix the problem) to any player. My player was one of the unlucky ones. Since it happen during my warranty (just couple of months before it expired!), I have to pay for the labor, the parts were free. They have to fix the optics and upgrade the hardware. It works fine every since, but it's sad that Panasonic officially didn't admit it's a manufacture defect. Oh well. Another minor gripe is the color of the DVD player. It's a brownish plum look and does not match my black color home theater system. It kinda sticks out like a sore thumb daylight or when the system is lit up. Yeah I know, it's a personal taste opionion so for most of you guys... don't worry.

Overall, I like the A-310 very much. If it wasn't for that "defect" problem, I would say I definatly got my money's worth with extra features too boot. Would I recommend to others? Sure, but it's a 50-50 chance you might get the "defective" player.

Decent interface, good remote

Quality

I bought my a310 at the Wiz, and upon sstarting it up, discovered that colors were way off, and it was skipping and locking up. Took it back and got a new one. Since then, I have noticed that it won't play certain CD's (no disk) and if there is the slightest fingerprint on the dvd, it will start pixelizing and clipping the audio. I also wonder why they would send it from the factory with DTS turned off? My one dealing with customer services was relatively pleasant. I am waiting as all of you people warn for the thing to go haywire.

Great audio and video, versatile features

Picture breaks up and unit crashes with certain movies

I loved this player for the first year I had it. I watched movies, several times a week, used it for karaoke, etc. I used the built-in decoder with my Harman Kardon AVR-80. Used S-Video through my Panasonic 27" Superflat. In any event, about a couple of months ago I noticed quite a bit of artifacting with a rental from Blockbuster on American History X. I had seen rentals before with artifacting (and a scratched copy of Pulp Fiction), so I figured it was the film, so I returned it for another copy. This copy did not even spin in my player, but said "NO DISC". I returned it for another copy, but the scene from the first copy that had the artifacting was again bad, on the third disc!

Then I recieved my copy of the Matrix, and it crashed the
player 70 minutes in. I made numerous calls to Panasonic,
and first they claimed it was the disc. Then I told them about American History X, and they said my player needed to be fixed. Cost $165. The latest problem is with Go. I got a brand new copy, popped it in, and watched it for 90 minutes. Then the thing artifacts like crazy and crashes. I'm thinking, despite the fact I paid $500 for it, that I will junk it and get another player, because I don't think its worth it to have this piece around when I don't trust it. Panasonic Customer Service has been no help whatsoever, even when I mentioned this web page and all the problems we are having. Despite being a Panasonic VCR and TV fan, I doubt I'll purchase Panasonic products in the future.

Good video.

Freezes and Hangs.

I've had this unit for 1 year now. The picture quality was great. But then now it just freezes right in the middle of the movie. I wish I had found this site earlier and never
bought this model. Anyway I called Panasonic and now I'll have to find my receipt, mail it in, wait for it to come back, and then pay over $100 for all this. What's to it won't happen again. Lots of headaches ahead...

I'll most likely trash this and buy another one. SONY OR TOSHIBA...

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SONY DVPS 7700

All the bells and whistles.

Decoding problems.

Just an update to a post made a couple of months ago. My player froze during Enemy of the state. Called Panasonic, they were really helpful...Canadian thing? Sent it away, two weeks later back, fixed, have not had a problem since. Would like to up my rating a bit.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic A110