Easy set up

Just purchased this unit yesterday as an 'out of the box' item from CCity. Have only watched one movie so far with no problem. Picture and sound quality were fantastic. Have not made any serious comparisons with other machines but am concerned that it may give me problems in a few months. Frankly, I haven't found a machine yet that someone doesn't like. If I have problems, I'll post them here.

Low price, DTS passthrough

Flakey Panasonic optical pickup, old firmware

I have used this product since early september. I got it as a DIVX closeout at CircuitCity for $250. The Price and DTS sold this player to me. The picture quality is comparable to the most expensive players that CC had at that time (I did an A-B on a store display that had S-Vid 1 and 2 inputs).
However, my player is now at the Panasonic service center to have it's optical section replaced and a new firmware edition installed. It seems that these problems affect all Panasonic players. The Firmware clue is that you cannot play some discs. The optical problem shows when discs that have previously played well start to show small block artifacts and pauses at the layer change. This player will be replaced as soon as I find another with no reported problems (quite a job!). Anybody want one cheap? Hey! Plays DIVX! Don't miss out! Sure to become a collectors item!

Nice looking unit for the price.

none

I picked this unit up for $250 last October form CC. I'm sure you can get it much cheaper now that DIVX is really dead. In all this player never let me down. It played all the DVDs that give certian players trouble with no problems at all. Despite the Divx option this player is a top notice entry level player that won't let you down for the close out price. Just think if Divx comes back you will be ready for it.

Excellent sound and picture.

Awkward interface, DIVX feature is silly.

Bought it new at CC for $249. I bought it nearly right after it was released and when DIVX was still "new" itself (the DIVX section at CC was impressive).

All in all, I'm impressed. It hasn't quit working, hasn't suffered from pixelation at all, and only two discs have looked funky in the player. ALIENS (1986) freezes up in the middle of the movie and OUTLAND (1981) has a jumpy and grainy look to it.

I haven't used the DIVX, nor did I buy it for that purpose.

I love the picture quality and the incredible sound it produces. I will definitely trade it in when DVD-R debuts, but not until then---as long as it remains as reliable as it has so far.

Great buy!

Similar Products Used:

None.

Good picture, sound

fails after 13 months

I got a 410 last january as a prize. I never bothered with the DivX portion of it, and used it exclusively for DVDs and CDs. I use the digital audio and SVideo outputs.

I was reasonably happy with it for most of the time, as it had an excellent picture and the price was great. There were some disadvantages, though. The interface on it was cumbersome, but usable. The little messages on the display were annoying. Occasionally the player couldn't keep up with a lot of action, such as the transition from the moon to vesuvius on Baron von Munchausen, where the player would drop out the sound.

Two nights ago, started getting excessive pixelation watching Goldeneye. Started the scene over, and it got worse. Removed the disc, cleaned it off, and tried it again. Even worse. Cleaned it again, then it refused to play. Tried other discs, some would play for a few minutes, others wouldn't even start.

Having looked at the thread on the 310, I'm sure I've got the same problem. I'll try a heat sink solution, but I don't think I want to sink any money into a unit with a design problem.

Being both Dolby Digital & DTS compatible was a strong seller for me and the processor speed was also impressive, and that it can also play music CD's doesn't hurt either

The only real weakness is that its an older model that is still Divx compatible and the screen saver doesn't turn on automaticly if the picture is stationary

I good DVD player if you can find it for a good price. Very dependible and has some cool features

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I can't remember the model numbers but one was RCA and the other was a Proscan

I really like this player. The guy with the problem with the credit card ( When your card is maxed, you cannnot buy anything! Hello!!) Divx is great, It sure beats buying a Disc for $20.00 and watching it once. The $4.50 is alright by me. Buy one You will like it. Its the best of both worlds! Regular Dvd and Divx

As an owner of the X410 I can only say great things about it. I initially wanted to purchase the JVC DIVX but alas it is not available yet. Still I have been very impressed with this DVD/DIVX playe. It has an easy to use interface, on the front panel as well as the remote. I have watched several DVD and DIVX movies and have not noticed any grave differences in picture quality or sound. This player does not have a decoder built in, but if you're even interested in watching DVD, you should have a decoder buit into your receiver, I reccomend the JVC 884, 888, or 1024, 1028, they are the absolute best buy for the buck. Once you have one of these receivers (or some inferior overpriced other dolby digital) and ofcourse your S-Video Input TV you will find that the outputs are more than adequate (optical digital out and S video). I was able to come across an open box at Circuit City for $355 regular $447 Zip on the wholesale sites. Beware of DVD owners upset because they spent top $$ on a DVD only player that doesn't do as much as a DIVX one

This is an adjustment on my original, less experienced review. I have become aware of the evils of DIVX and have since returned this player for the DVD-A310. The DIVX policy was outright back stabbing. They can change pricing, and not let you use the Divx service if your Credit Card is maxed. This means you can't even watch a purchased Divx disc once! NOT bad credit, but maxed. They must be able to put a charge on it, for the user to have access to any Divx movies. This may even lead to the silvered movies not being able to be played.( debatable with the confusing attorney language they use in a basic consumer product ). Another big influence was the cost of Divx discs, $4.50. I can rent DVDs for $3.50 for 5 days at Hollywood Video. The DVDs have all the extra interactive features which Divx DOES NOT HAVE. Why would I want to pay $4.50 for 2 days and have less, than renting a DVD for $3.50 for 5 days and have more? A real no brainer. This is why I returned this machine. I later returned the better A310 because of Panasonic's serious chapter skipping glitch. It skips the first chapter at the layer change. I couldn't handle wondering if I missed some of the movie because of this. I exchanged to the Pioneer DV-414 and was very glad I did. One of the best players on the market. It has a much better picture than the Panasonic 310 did and for $200 less! I give the Panasonic 410 only 2 stars for the troubles it has caused me. If you average this 2 star review and my previous 5 star review, it will give an average 3.5 star review. This is still pretty high for a player that offers so little for a very high price.

This product Sucks, DIVX is Bad.