good outputs, excellent menu, picture & sound quality

they need a little lovin to get them goin

it's a good dvd player (now), except that it can't play burned cds without erasing them. a solution to those of you who have units that seem not to work:
if your unit can recognize the disk but turns itself off once it tries to play it, try turning off autoplay on the main menu and editing the chapter menu. once you've done that, start it at the second chapter, play from there, then press menu and it will bring you to the dvd's main menu. it's worked for me on every dvd i've tried so far. good luck!

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panasonic dvd players

Cool looking. Lots of decoding options. User friendly menu.

See below

I bought mine in Jan '99 - at the peak of the DIVX hype. Well, my player has finally sh-t the bed, as reported with many other users. I get the 'NO DISC' error when loading most of my favorite DVD's. It used to only happen sporadically with Blockbuster movie rentals, particularly the ones with coming attractions embedded in the disk. I tried cleaning the lens, with no luck. Also, attempted to reset the player as advised on the RCA website- NO LUCK.

Since this player is no longer for sale, I can only advise happy owners to prepare to buy a new DVD player. I am seriously looking at Toshibas. We've got one at the smoke filled, sweaty, clammy nightclub I work at and it plays literally destroyed DVD's flawlessly.

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First DVD player. Have always stuck with RCA home entertainment, until....?

Nice backlit remote.
Good video quality.
Cheap for the features, at the time.

Makes strange sounds at times.
Problems reading some discs (But many old players have this problem)

Picked this up when they were blowing them out at the 'city. DIVX, hehehehehehe...

Works pretty good, freaks out at some DVD's, (read, won't play) but lots of first and second generation players have that problem.

Strengths:

The remote is nice, main features are backlit (Play, Pause, reverse, fast forward) and the rest of the buttons are shaped to make them easier to find by feel. Won't control much else, but I don't need it to.

The GUI is very easy to use, a nice menuing system for setup and a menu with icons that pops up at the top of the screen during playback for features like angle, audio track selection and bookmarks.

Dual sets of video and audio outputs which can be useful, and a component output if you have a really fancy TV or projector. Only optical audio out, which is pretty bad, but I don't have a surround processor yet, so I don't mind.

Video and audio quality are very good. I never see any artifacts or hear any distortion other than what's on the disc. Does Dolby Digital and DTS output.

Weaknesses:
I have had a slight problem with mine, ocasionally it makes a kind of whirring/whining sound which I can't quite place. I don't think it's a humming transformer, too mechanical sounding, like the motor is spinning up for no reason. Doesn't happen that often, but when it does I have to unplug the unit for a while, then plug it back in to get it to stop.

It has a host of nice convenience features, like adjustable GUI colors, adjustable display dimming, bookmarks, various repeat modes, an RF adapter output for people without RCA inputs on their TV (Like me :)

These days (Summer 2001) you can pick up a decent DVD player for a couple hundred dollars. If you see one of these for under $100 grab it, it's a nice entry level unit until the fancier current models come down in price (which is what I'm waiting for) Just make sure you can return it if it's wacked, as some people seem to be having major problems with theirs.

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Sony.

Excellent DVD playback, nice looking, good remote

CD audio mediocre

I bought this unit less than a week before DIVX bit the dust. I was not interested in the DIVX feature, but the salesman said it was the best DVD player in the store so I took it anyway for $ 499.00. When DIVX died Circuit City marked them down immmediately to ~$ 329.00. Because my unit was less than 30 days old they refunded me the difference. In addition I got a $100.00 rebate from DIVX. Until they ran out we were buying DIVX discs for as little as $1.00 which was pretty cool. Without DIVX this is still a very good DVD player. CD audio playback is not very satisfying but I bought it to play movies anyway. If you can find one of these for under $200.00 I think you will be pleased with it. I don't mind the DIVX logo, it is kind of fun one people come over to watch movies and ask "What does this DIVX mean on the front?

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HP DVD in Pavilion

The player is attractive with the silver and grey colors on the unit. Flawless & Fast layer changes. Excellent DTS sound. Movie Display in the LCD display. Excellent downconversion.

None

I have owned this player for a long time and I am still amazed that it plays all DVDs with ease. You will constantly see people saying things like "movie X does not play on DVD player", "movie Y skips this chapter while playing", "the audio is out of sync on movie Z". These are things that seem to almost nonexistent with the ProScan. I own over 140 DVDs and this player just keeps going day after day. This may be the only player ever needed. This review comes from a owner that has owned this player for almost 2 years.

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Panasonic, Appex, Pioneer, Sony

looks outputs picture

cd play back

for the money this is a great player i bought this dec.26 1999 and have had no problems other than the cd playback being a picky, seince i bought the first ine ive bought 3 more one for my bedroom, one for my inlaws and one for my parents, for a simple player tis unit is great it was my primay unit for over a year with no problems i only relpaced it for a onkyo dvc601 becouse the 601 matches my amp. i have and would buy this unit again it keeps comming in to cc referbed at ony $70 what a steal!!!!! if you need to play cds GET A CD PLAYER!!!!!! if you wnt to watch movies it works fine, and a for the noisey mortar you just dont have your home theater turned up enough;-)

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sony hitichi onkyo hk jvc panasonic

Features, Digital and Component outputs, picture quality

Noisey tray, DIVX fiasco, poor sensitivity to formats DVD/CD

This unit is the only mistake of my 20+ years in audio and home video. All in all not too bad, however you're here to read about the 8680z. Purchased in Dec of '99, I was exited to be digital home theatre ready. The Proscan seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. S-VHS, goldlated RCA Component outs, and Digital output assured me of years of digital fun.
Well, my unit displayed its temperment immediately out of the box. The fist time I played a CD (to compare to my ROTEL) I was disappointed. Muddy, poor stage, etc. maybe the Rotel was too tough a test, but then what are standards for? After the disappointing CD session, I loaded my first DVD- THE MATRIX. The Proscan refused to recognize the disc sending me an error message. Strike two. After careful consideration, I removed THE MATRIX and reloaded a CD. Presto! Back to DVD, no luck (strike three). I unplugged the unit and considered returning it Circuit City. Not wanting to admit defeat so readily, I plugged it back in and after all the menu set-up, reloaded THE MATRIX. Finally, the disc whirred and clunked and the movie began.
When the 8680z works it is a good unit. In my home theatre set-up it delivers a high quality picture(S-VHS) and the audio signal for surround-sound is great. It still hangs up between formats (CD to DVD only), and often locks up when surfing DVD special features (both requiring the unit to be unplugged to correct). I have had contact with Thomson about these problems and I too found the experience lacking.
I would not purchase this unit again, could not recommend it, and now look twice at Thomson(RCA) products.
PS. regarding DIVX logo-Get a black tip marker(Sharpie)!!

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Panasonic, Toshiba

Features, Digital and Component outputs, picture quality

Noisey tray, DIVX fiasco, poor sensitivity to formats DVD/CD

This unit is the only mistake of my 20+ years in audio and home video. All in all not too bad, however you're here to read about the 8680z. Purchased in Dec of '99, I was exited to be digital home theatre ready. The Proscan seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. S-VHS, goldlated RCA Component outs, and Digital output assured me of years of digital fun.
Well, my unit displayed its temperment immediately out of the box. The fist time I played a CD (to compare to my ROTEL) I was disappointed. Muddy, poor stage, etc. maybe the Rotel was too tough a test, but then what are standards for? After the disappointing CD session, I loaded my first DVD- THE MATRIX. The Proscan refused to recognize the disc sending me an error message. Strike two. After careful consideration, I removed THE MATRIX and reloaded a CD. Presto! Back to DVD, no luck (strike three). I unplugged the unit and considered returning it Circuit City. Not wanting to admit defeat so readily, I plugged it back in and after all the menu set-up, reloaded THE MATRIX. Finally, the disc whirred and clunked and the movie began.
When the 8680z works it is a good unit. In my home theatre set-up it delivers a high quality picture(S-VHS) and the audio signal for surround-sound is great. It still hangs up between formats (CD to DVD only), and often locks up when surfing DVD special features (both requiring the unit to be unplugged to correct). I have had contact with Thomson about these problems and I too found the experience lacking.
I would not purchase this unit again, could not recommend it, and now look twice at Thomson(RCA) products.
PS. regarding DIVX logo-Get a black tip marker(Sharpie)!!

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Panasonic, Toshiba

Good Picture, Nice lighted front

Major trouble reading DVDs

My review is similar to the others that think this player is seriously flawed. I also had the barely out of warranty problem of no longer being able to read DVDs. So far I have been able to keep using the player by repeatedly opening and closing the door as many as 25 times and it finally reads the disk. I too called RCA to complain and was told that they could only exchange it for the same model for $149. The exchange would be refurbished and only have a 90 day warranty. I told them to forget it too. I have no reason to believe the problem won't resurface. This was their top of the line player and I think they should stand by it. I will never buy another RCA or Proscan product!

This player is awesome! I am now a total believer that the Divx enhancement is a must have on a DVD player. I love the fact that I have total freedom to enjoy all that open DVD offers as well as enjoy the benefits of a no late charges and no returning to the store environment. Those who do not believe Divx is a great feature have never owned one to see how easy it is. I know that Divx does not offer all the amenities that regular DVD offers, (widescreen, camera angles, languages...) but several of the movies I want to see I don't care about that stuff because most movies I only watch once. For the ones that I will watch over and over or care about extras, I will buy in open DVD. The Proscan player is fully featured and offers S-video, component video, and composite video outputs in addition to two sets of analog audio outputs and a toslink digital output. All RCA jacks are gold plated. It passed both Dolby Digital and DTS signals and has a universal remote. The setup and usability are driven by an easy to use menu and suprisingly detailed manual. My only wishes are that it included a digital coaxial output and that the remote would lite up all the buttons not just the center ones. Overall I have to say that this is a great deal.