Overall great player for the price. MP3 playback is awesome. Panasonic reliability history.

The player casing appears a little cheap compared to Sony's and Denon.

Did an extensive review of DVD players. Really can't touch a player like this for the money. The picture quality and audio quality is awesome. I have had no problems playing any discs, including several really scratched discs from Netflix. Rent or Buy Independence Day to really demo this player.

I was going to buy the RV80, but I also wanted MP3 playback. I'm not at all upset with my purchase. Audio quality of the MP3 playback is good. (192 capture rate) yeah there is no random play on the MP3 discs, but I have jukebox/burner software (Apple iTunes) generate a random playlist prior to burning.

If this is your first DVD player you can't go wrong. Buy this one and wait out the next couple of years until the DVD-Audio players come down in price.

Oh yeah...pretty nice remote. Wish it had illuminated buttons though.

Similar Products Used:

None

No chroma bug! Excellent picture. VCD/MP3/CDR/CDRW playback

mp3 playback lacking features, only optical out.

I am mainly going to focus on the DVD playback. This is the reason I am keeping this unit and not a Sony. The picture quality produced by this unit is excellent. There is no Chroma bug which the Sonys and 90% all other dvd players posess. This bug is in the mpeg decoder and causes sharp reds and blues to appear out of focus. Sound is just fine and indistinguishable between the Apex or Sony going into my Denon avr4800.

Aside from dvd playback, I had no problems with Video cd playback. Cdrs and cdrws gave no problems.

Mp3 playback sound is excellent. This player really makes your quality encoded mp3s sound excellent. You can tell right away which mp3s were encoded good or bad, and the good ones will sound exactly like cds. Unfortunately, mp3 playback features are very limited. No tag info, and no shuffle. Play straight through and thats it. (You can skip tracks). That is fine, however. I am most concerned about dvd playback.

I find it sad that only one dvd manufacturer can get it right and still be extremely competitive on price and features. Panasonic, my hat is off. 5 stars for value, and 5 stars overall.

-spazzman

Here are some links on the chroma bug

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/dvd-benchmark-special-report-chroma-bug-4-2001.html

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_7_4/dvd-benchmark-progressive-shootout-12-2000.html

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Sony NS300, Apex.

Cinema mode,appearance,easy to read display,One touch memory,remote

Need to shut off movie to access action commands, No Zoom,
Menu speed bit slow.

This is for the RV31 player used the RV30 until Sears got the newer model in stock. It has been working great so far. Only use for DVDs. The cinema mode is nice for watching at night it dims the movie and enhances dark scenes.
the dialogue enhancer works on some movies but not others not sure why but they state this in the manual. It is an attractive looking player with easy to read display as compared to the Toshiba which was cramped. the remote is small and easy to use without looking at it. The memory allows you to lock in your settings(bass plus,cinema,dialogue enhancer,V.S.S) but not range compression. I however, cannot seem to work this like the manual explains. seems it doesnt stay in memory once something is changed.

The lack of zoom is only really an issue if wathing small tv or 4:3 tv. Also movies like Tombstone and Hunt for Red October have huge black bars on top and bottom and cut off half the screen. zoom would be needed in those instances.
action commands(compression range) can only be accessed if the movie is off. the apex could be accesed while movie was playing. again only big deal if during movie you would need to quite it down. Moving about the menu is a bit slow compared to the APex that flew.
Some recommend digital coax for audio, this unit only has digital optical but it seems to work fine only using a cheap GE cable. Could not tell difference with other players that had coax.
The picture quality is very good, and similiar if not a bit better than the other models. I think it is better than the RV30.
This player retails for $200, I got a special price on a new model not refurbished.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1700
Toshiba 1700
Apex 500W
Panasonic RV30

Excellent quality from a budget box. Decent sound as well.

Weight, the unit is too light to provide any real damping of the transport mechanism. I plan to open her up and place some dynamat in there. Otherwise, none

Great unit. I don't watch movies often, and have seen several at my GF's house. She has a Toshiba that she paid $300 for, and the Panasonic appears superior in picture and sound quality. I use a 27" inch Toshiba which was purchased at the same time (around 6 months ago). The TV performs admirably as well

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Friends similarly priced Toshiba

Clear picture, good sound

none

Based on the reviews from AudioReview, I decided to purchase the RV-31. So far, I have more than pleased with this unit. It has play every new and rental DVD that I have played in it. The picture quality is crystal clear and the sound is crisp and I would recommend this unit to anyone. Another nice feature was Sears willingness to match any price (Internet or brick and mortar).

Similar Products Used:

none

First DVD player, seemed fine for the first 3 months.

Quit playing after 94 days

Model is RV-31K, not RV-30
First DVD player, and was therefore impressed. I don't have high-end demands with functionality. As long as it works, I maneuver in the menus easily, and the basic remote functions work, it is a good player. I use a receiver for all of the sound processing, so I haven't used those features in this player.

Has quit working after 94 days. Yeah, do the math, 4 days outside of warranty. The primary symptom is that, in the middle of playing, the image freezes, and will no longer play. So far, it appears that I can stop, start again, and move thru scene selections, but it will freeze again once underway. At least once or twice, it started up again after 10 seconds or more, then froze again, the image began to break up digitally, and then finally the screen went blank and never came on again. It has happened with a couple sources this weekend, so it is probably the player.

At least one other poster below had this same problem with the player. Any others? Solution?

Thanks!
Dan

Similar Products Used:

None

NON

WORST DVD PLAYER IN THE MARKET. DIED AFTER 6 MONTHS...

THE VIDEO PROCESSOR ON THE DVD PLAYER DIED

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PIONEER

Plays CD-R/RW, extra features

Doesn't Play SVCDs, MP3 Playback doesn't display anything on screen

Cheap for it's feature set.

I really wouldn't be a judge for picture and audio quality because of my TV.

I'd say compared with all the other units that I've used, this thing would be better than the Sony (since the Sony review was terrible), but more or less equal with the Philips. The Philips has less features but it plays SVCDs so you'd have to weigh that. Apex plays almost everything you throw at it but I'm not sure the picture quality can compete with the major brands.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP-S560D, Philips DVD-953, Apex

Great quality to a low price.

No coaxial-output, can´t read CD-r and CD-rw.

Panasonic RV-30 is my first dvd-player so I have nothing to compare to. But my experience is that it´s a great player to great price.

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No

Great picture and sound

first one broke

My model is the rv21k same as the 31k.Costco version. The first one had problems with some new dvd's. Picture would freeze then breakup and then play again. Took it back got another one. Glad I got mine at Costco. They will give me my money back if it breaks out of the 90 day warranty. But so far the second one has been fine. DVD's don't seem to be as reliable as cd players. Heck my old jvc still works and it was made in 1989. I hate it when things break within a week of purchase. Lowering my first rating on my first review

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My son's Phillips unit