Cheap.

Produced holes in picture.
Bad lip sync occassionally.
Terrible Menus
Noisy when changing tracks or chapter.
Could hear disc spinning.

Well, I bought the Proscan cause it was going cheap at Circuit City. For the first week or so I did not have any major problems with the player but I then started to notice tiny holes in the picture. I assumed incorrectly that this was the DVD I was playing, but even after changing DVD's the problem was still there. They formed a weird sort of pattern that detracted from the overall picture quality which was good. Other than that the player performed well, perhaps a bit noisy and it would produce a crack whenever you skipped chapters or tracks on a CD, nothing overly untoward. I found the lack of a digital coaxial output a little frustrating as I am using a Technics receiver that accepts digital coaxial only on the DVD connnector. I experienced lip sync problems on several rented discs, though on a couple of occassions these cleared up after a clean.

Similar Products Used:

Sony DVP330S

Beautiful picture, great sound, all extras included (nice remote, great cables, FULL documentation), easy to use and such a great value!

Can hear disc spinning in tray while playing or while paused, unit seems to be "on" all the time, has trouble with "Audio Compression"

Incredible price for incredible performance!

This DVD player was a steal at less than $100.00, purchased from Circuit City about 6 months ago. When I saw it, I couldn't believe all the features it included, for such a low price. The fact that it was "refurbished" to have the DIVX chip removed by RCA was slightly unsettling, but I trusted the salesman that it would work fine and provide great performance for the price. When I got it home, I found it to be the easiest installation and setup of any audio/video device I've ever bought, before and since. The manuals were descriptive and comprehensive, and all of the necessary cables and parts were included (nice cables, too!).

I've never had any real problems with it since purchase, despite playing over 50 different types of DVD's (including purchases, rentals, previously owned), and CD's play just fine too (not CD-R's, but that's ok for the price). The only complaints, not even problems, are the slight whirring sound while the disc is spinning in the tray, whether it's playing or on pause. This is usually over-ruled by the sound of the movie, and not noticeable to any appreciable extent. Second complaint -- it features a cool option called audio compression, which allows softer sounds to be amplified (such as speech and softer music), and tones down the super-loud sounds. I always use it, on every DVD. But for some reason the player forgets to leave it on between DVD's or when I turn it off. I have to reset the option every time I play another DVD. This is ok, though -- it only takes 2-3 seconds with the easy-to-navigate on screen menus.

Finally, the unit seems to always stay in some sort of standby mode, even when off. It's always hot to the touch, so I'm worried that it's staying on when it shows that it's off. I always take out the DVD's when I turn it off, though, just in case the heat would damage or melt the disc. Never happened yet though!

Great system, get one if you still can!

Similar Products Used:

RCA Standard 1-Disc DVD Player (from RadioShack)

Purchased this DVD player during this past summer. I have no real complaints other than the slow dics excsss time and the sometimes audible noise given off by the disk spinning. The time it takes to switch from the movie to the the discs menu is longer than others. This is the only DVD player I have owned, but after viewing friends players, you can definetly tell the time difference. The noise given off by the disc spinning has never really been a problem while watching a movie. I recently purchased a Dolby Digital reciever, and while compairing the difference in sound between my CD player and my opticaly connected DVD player, I was able to hear the disc spinning with the reciever at low volume levels. I have noticed one layer change in this player but thats all. I have viwed probably 70 discs on this player all with great results. Overall I am very happy with this player and am planning on keeping it for quite some time.

Similar Products Used:

none

I have to say that I am very happy with my choice. I wanted to match all my components (sony), yet I could not because Sony is not DIVX compatible. I do not care about DIVX, but I would have been pissed at myself if DIVX ends up surprising everyone and sticks around. I heard that Blockbuster Video and a few others have purchased stock in DIVX, so we will probably be seeing them in the stores, rather than just Circuit City. I also agree with the remote's lightening job? what is that all about; 4-8 buttons light up. I have my DVD player ontop of my Sony STRDE-925.
As from a Video aspect: Awesome... I have it hooked via S-video directly to my V-scan Trinitron (Sony). The picture is unbelieveable. I feel that I can reach out and grab someone.

Audio: My receiver is both DD, and DTS built-in. I can not believe that there is that much of a difference between my old Dolby Pro Logic to the DD, DTS. I was watching my first DVD (Hard Rain) and could have swore that it was raining outside. Each DVD is getting better and better to my ears, I have beeen noticing more DD effects.

My speakers are not the best and I still am overwhelmed.


I purchased this on a strict trial basis. The thirty days is up at Circuit City, how I let 460.00 slip my mind but I did. I can not afford this on my credit card so, if anyone is wanting this I'll give it to ya, with all paper work and in box with the original receipt, so in case anything does happen to it just take it to circuit city. It has like a two year warranty. All this for a steal of 350.00 If you can find a site on the net cheaper I beat it by a substantial amount. I assure you that nothing is wrong with this....!

And this really sucks having to give it up. I have only watched about 5 movies on it and that is the 5 DIVXs that came with it, which I will also throw in.!

Save Me and Treat yourself.
Michael Abate--(828)-264-1252

for a hundred dollars i thought the sound was excellent and the picture was decent

sometimes when playing cds the functions will freeze and the power button wont work you have to unplug it

i bought the dvd player while working at cicuit city because alot of the guys were talking about it being so good for the price. when the dvd player first came out it had divx well as you all know divx went under, so proscan took the remaining dvd players back refurbished them without the divx and sold them for about $100 with monster cable disguised as proscan cable. the dvd player itself has alot of problems butif you get one without any you have yourself a pretty decent player i wouldnt recomend the dvd player to everyone but if you were on a tight budget and looking for a good dvd player this is the one.

I just picked up this DVD player at Circuit City yesterday, and I must say I love this player. The picture and sound quality rivals players that cost a grand or more. The onscreen menu system is great, and the build quality is much better than other players on the market. The titanium colored front panel and backlit keys are pretty cool too. I also like the fact that the PS8680Z displays the disc title on the front dot matrix display, and onscreen as well. For the price you cannot beat the PS8680Z player! Rush out and get one while you can still find one! I'll post a thirty day follow-up to let everyone know my final impresssions once I've had time to run this unit through all it's paces.

Excellent sharpness

Has DIVX, but it isn't used so its only minor

I love this player. I bought it at Circuit City after heavily considering a Sony. The sales rep said that he has seen many Sony's returned on warranty and that they have a lip-sync problem. it didn't know if this was a sales tactic or not, but later on read some reviews on this site about the Sony lip sync problem.

I didn't know much about DIVX when I bought this player, so I am a little pissed that is has obsolete DIVX. But for the price (~300) it included nice cables and the DVD quality is excellent.

The build quality is very nice, and the remote is good too. You can't go wrong with this player.

Similar Products Used:

SONY DB830, Hitachi TV, Proscan VCR

I bought this player mid-Feb basically because it has a few more fetures than RCA players and I kept reading about Panasonic players and the layer change problems. Well after several DVD and DIVIX movies all I can say is WOW. Forward and reverse scans using the front panel Jog dial are pretty darn clean as are stills. I currently have this unit connected to a 32" SONY XBR (unfortunatly not a WEGA)using the S-Video. The picture is amazingly detailed and lifelike(on some of my better DVD's). Colors come accross in the correct tones and Hues(as far as I can tell). I was watching the Bee Gees/ One Night Only concert and was mesmerized, from a video stand point I felt as if I were in the front row. Audio is excellent as well. I do not have a reciever yet but will soon.
I have never been to impressed by ProScan TV's but this DVD unit deserves a good evaluation, even by those who do not care for DIVIX.

I have to agree with all the statements said below. This is a really nice DVD player. The fast forward scan is surprisingly good. The backward scan isn't as good, though. I can't give an accurate review of the picture quality because my TV sucks. I will say, however, that the quality is much better than VHS. I know it's stupid, but I rather like the nice looking display on the Proscan. It's nice to be able to see a clock of the movie playing. Also, I like how the Proscan displays the name of the DVD. That's cool. The remote is very easy to use. I'm happy it's a universal remote. I have enough freaking remotes as it is. It's nice to be able to control more than one part of the home entertainment with just one remote.
Regarding what was said about DIVX earlier, I have mixed feelings about it. Some DIVX movies are crap. Halfway through Star Trek: Generations, the audio switched from Dolby Digital to Dolby Pro-Logic. I hope not all DIVX DVDs are that shoddy. The only really good feature about DIVX is the fact that I can get There's Something About Mary and other recent releases on VHS for DVD way before they're available on normal DVD.

All in all, I give this player five stars.

I am so happy with this DVD player! However, I do have two major peoblems with it. First, there is no digital coax out. I would much rather use digital coax over the optical toslink. The second problem with the player is the remote. Ergonomically speaking this so called "universal remote" tires my hand and is difficult to program. Also it lacks separate track buttons from channel buttons. I hope to someday find a truly universal remote, but until that day i will suffer with the one provided by DVD player. Overall this player is top quality and has offered me many hours of enjoyment hassle free. I am glad i purchased this player.