Good sound

Remote control is not very responsive, you have to press hard, sometimes a couple of times and even then it takes a while before it actually responds to the command. Kind of reminds me using Internet Explorer.

I didn''t use it for audio discs, just DVDs. It played them well without failing for the few months I had it. Unfortunately I would have been better off buying one of those cheaper ones with multi-region capability. Now I have to move to Europe and can''t use it there (nor my DVD collection!). If at least I could ship it to my sister in latinamerica (Region 4) but no, being so close (Latinamerica & USA) it''s not possible. So, for me this $179 turned into a grey pile of metal scrap. This region thing is a consumer rip-off! My next dvd will be one with multi-region playback capabilities (doesn''t matter if you have to switch it), money doesn''t grow on trees to waste it like this.

Very good performace for the money. I can''t see asking for any more than this for around $150.

None considering the price. The remote could be a little better, but I''m being picky here.

I''m not really sure what people who have bought this player were expecting. I mean if you''re wanting to play scratched discs, it would make sense to me to just buy a new disc instead of a new player, but that''s just me... :) We''re talking about a player that will play everything that you can probably get for around $150US, so you''ve got to have reasonable expectations here. I''ve had this player for a while now, and I''ve not had any problems with it. I''ve used both a Sony 7000 and 9000ES, and the video quality isn''t as good as those, but it''s definitely very good. I''ve also heard arguably some of the best CD players made, and no, this player isn''t nearly as good as those. But for a $150 player, it''s very good. I''m currently using this system in my home theater/stereo setup but I plan on moving up to a Sony 7000, so I have one of these I''ll sell for $100 in practically new condition with all boxes and papers...email me if interested. 4 stars overall just because it''s not the best you can buy...5 stars for value becaues it is the best I''ve seen you can buy for $150

Similar Products Used:

Sony 7000, Sony 9000ES

Plays discs (MP3 & DVD) with no problem. great video and audio. Optical audio out and component and S-Video outputs.

Does not display MP3 titles. Menu icons a bit criptic.

I have been looking at DVD players for quite awhile. This one received lots of good comments. It was important to me that the DVD player also was capable of playing MP3''s. This one does and they sound great! So far no porblems at all playing any DVD. Great picture and sound.

Similar Products Used:

My first DVD

plays all types of dvd''s without a problem.

none

I have used this unit now for 8months and have not had any problems with it. The picture quality using the component output is outstanding. The audio using the digital output is excellent as well. This unit has played every type of DVD I have come across, even ones with scratches or slightly warped. As far as Benjamin Johnston''s report, I have had no problems with golden underside DVD''s?

Price, ease of operation, sound quality, many features, like subwoofer out

None really at this price point. The remote is fine. What do you expect for $225.00

For the money It will be hard to beat the RV31K. I have checked out many players out in stores as well as tried them in my system. The Arcam DVD player was surprisingly disappointing (at a retail price of $1395.00). The RV31K was better in every aspect except perceived built quality. The arcam felt heavier. It turned out that the panasonic was less noisy in operation. Sound and picture quality were very good for a player in this price range. Playing a CD was a surprise as well. Clean and fairly smooth on the top end. (I'm used to my Krell 300 CD)

The player is easy to operate and set up. If you have never set up a home theater system before you will have a learning curve to go thru, no matter what brand you pick. Consider it takes more time to properly set up a home theater system than a new personal computer.

While the Harman Kardon DVD 5 and DVD 50 players have a touch better sound quality I could not tell any difference in the picture quality.

The bottom line it there are no real flaws with this player. If you don't have time to shop and compare then this is a good player to buy on blind faith!

BTW Don't ruin its performance by hooking it up to bose speakers!

Similar Products Used:

Sony, Harman Kardon, pioneer, RCA, Arcam

Digital optical line out, MP3 playback, VCD playback

Annoying "Welcome to DVD World" message at power on.
Slow to eject discs after eject button is hit.

Overall, an excellant player. The main reason I purchased this unit is for the MP3 playback. I burn allot of mix CDs into 256 kbs MP3s. The sound quality is great. Very hard to tell the difference between the CD and the MP3s encoded at a high bit rate.

No complaints with DVD or VCD picture quality.

Great value for the price.

Similar Products Used:

None

Picture, sound, plays everything

yet to find

DVD-RV31-U-K (I do not know what the U is for??)
I really do not understand what people are complaining about. This device runs for around $170, with great features. The remote could be better but there is nothing to complain about either. I have played CDR, CDRW, MP3, and DVDs without any problem. If you do lots of burning, this is the device to buy.
The only and THE only short comming of this device is the fact that for MP3 it does not have the listing of the songs. But it does have a random function (maybe this is what "U" models have extra).

I was able to go from one chapter to another without a problem and I tried this on different DVDs, so unlike what others have said on this board there was no problem. Overall I highly recommend this device.

Stopped playing after 5 months.

This player has worked well up to the past day. Will not play any audio or video discs. Some error code (H02) shows up on the display screen. Customer service informed me to unplug the unit for 10 min and plug back in to see if the problem cleared, it didnt.

Ease of setup and simple to operate

Buttons on remote need harder pressure than I am used to..but that may be a good thing...wont accidently stop play etc.

My Sony S560 bit the dust for the last time. I had the same repair made TWICE (wont read disk) and now it is out of warranty and Sony wants $180.00 to repair it for the same thing again. I chose the Panasonic because I have their HiFi VCR and have not had any problems with it in the last 3 years. My new Panasonic DVD Player is great. I immediately saw a much better picture than I did with the Sony, and I used the same hookups and connectors that I was using before. The picture is so much clearer and brighter. VERY impressive. The remote is simple to use, and since I use the S video and optical connectors, I only had the 2 plugs to plug in and it was off and running. The first DVD I played was Gone in 60 Seconds. It always seemed like a dark movie when I played in on my old Sony. I was astonished at how bright and clear the picture and sound was. Now I am looking forward to finding enough time to go through and watch all of my DVD's all over again. It's like a totally different viewing experience. Thank You Panasonic. I can only provide the one comparison to my old Sony. I HIGHLY recommend the Panasonic over the higher priced and problem ridden Sony. I wasted a year watching an inferior product, now I know why people talk so much about DVD's. I wasn't that impressed with them until I got the Panasonic. Enough of this. I am off to watch more movies. :)

Similar Products Used:

Sony S560D

Tons of formats/features :: Easy to set up :: Priced to sell :: Easy to operate :: Great picture/sound quality :: Good build quality

Not much thought put into remote.

The Panasonic RV31K is my first DVD player and I couldn't have chosen a better entry-level unit. I currently use it on an older 27" JVC tube TV and the picture looks great using Monster RCA and S-video cable hookup. Given the price:feature ratio, this unit is a must have for folks that don't have a huge home theatre need, but want the higher quality and enhanced features that DVD brings to casual home entertainment (get rid of that VCR!!!).

I bought my Panasonic RV31K a couple months ago for $165 and will buy another one for my parents this Christmas at the same price from the same vendor (www.technetdeals.com -- their shipping to Texas was only ~$13).

If you are looking for that first DVD player to replace your VCR at home, at ~$165, this is the one for you!

Shop at http://www.pricewatch.com and http://shopping.yahoo.com to price compare, as some vendors may be offering slightly better deals than others.