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Apex AD-600A DVD Player

Apex AD-600A DVD Player

List Price: $399.00
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Pretty Good DVD Player
Review: I bought this DVD Player almost a year ago, and I bought an open box one, so it was only (price). So, for the (price) I paid, it's a great DVD player with some great features. It has a x2 and x4 zoom [which is great for scenes like the guy hanging himself in "The Wizard of Oz"], it also has the option of changing your screen aspect ratio so even though you have a regular size TV screen, you can watch most 'widescreen' DVDs with or without the black bars on the top and bottom. It also has the features noted above and with all the features DVD Players in general have, it's a great deal. For only a couple bucks more than a VCR, you have the convenience of movies which will last forever, instant advance to the scene you were at, extra features, all sorts of cool advantages that DVDs have over VHS movies that you can have for so cheap.

HERE IS THE BAD NEWS. This DVD Player is NOT user friendly. If the DVD you are playing HAS closed-captioning subtitles, THEY WILL BE ON THE SCREEN. Lots of other DVD Players default with the subtitles off the screen, this one defaults with them ON the screen. Also, if you want to remove them, [unlike other DVD Players where it can be removed with a push of a button,] you have to go to the movie's menu, find the audio set-up and click them off. Also, if you want to do any cool things DVDs can do, like: zoom in, change camera angles, change the time [so it displays how long the movie has left, how long it's been on, etc], whatever, a bar appears on the top of the screen that shows which function you are doing; so after you are done, you have to go and push ANOTHER button just to make the 'helpful bar' go away. Also, the both the buttons on the Player itself, and the remote, are all the same size, and just it neat little rows, so you have to be in a well-light room to see the buttons, or [like I ended up doing] memorize where the buttons are.

Basically, if you are willing to fiddle with multiple buttons to get it to do something in order to save yourself 30 or 40 bucks, this is the DVD Player for you. Personally, it's almost as though VHS tapes have started to be a little tempting because I have to do so much for the DVD Player just to play the DVD. I'm going to get another, move convenient one for my home theater, and use this one in my bedroom. If you have the extra $$, you should go for the more expensive, but more convenient Player, so you can experience the fun of DVDs without "getting all funned out".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great for the money
Review: I had originally bought this DVD player for the Region and CSS circumvention features. By the time that I got mine though they had replaced the chipset and this was no longer a feature. I am, however, very satisfied with this DVD player and have found it to be a real bargain when you consider all the features that it has. My favorite is its ability to play my mp3's that I've burned to CD. all in all I highly recommend this product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: MP3 - Undocumented feature on the early 600 model
Review: I have a model 600 APEX. This thing actually plays MP3's. It's not a documented feature. Only the most basic of remote control. I have more hours of play time using this feature than all of the rest combined.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: AD 703 wouldn't load or play DVD movies
Review: I just bought the Apex AD 703 3-disk model and the first one wouldn't even load any of the 3 disks. The screen stated it was loading, but all remote control and panel functions were unavailable. I tried the DVD's upside down, I unhooked everthing and rehooked everything up. I changed many of the on-screen settings. All I could get was the APEX background screen and that little circle with the line through it. That one went back to the store right away. I took a chance with another unit, even though I was leery. It started the DVD right away, gave me excellent on-screen choices, fantastic picture and sound, but ... it does burp or skip. And on a certain movie, it wouldn't let me get rid of the title navigation bar or counter. I don't want to watch a counter on the screen. And for some reason unknown to modern day electronics, there is no power on/off button on the remote control. Why not? The second unit is going back tomorrow morning and I will never consider this brand again.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Apex is almost there...
Review: I took the chance with the 3 cd version. I had read the feedback in forums such as this and knew that some folks have had bad experiences, but decided to take the plunge anyway, primarily for the MP3 capability. I am pleased to report that it has played everthing I have put into it without a problem (DVD, audio and MP3). My criticisms: a) needs eject on remote, b) audio shuffle should shuffle between cds (not just within one) and c) the shuffle should work with MP3 - - now it plays stuff in order only. Apex has proven that there is demand for what they've produced, simply needs more refinement. I will replace it when such a product is available. In the meantime, it gets the job done...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Risky unknown brand - Caveat Emptor
Review: If you think these DVD players offer too much for the price they're asking - you're right. I got the 3 disc version of this player for christmas. It did play CD-R's CD-RW's and mp3 CD's (which is the reason I looked at this unknown brand in the first place). It did not play DVDs well at all. It would skip frequently even on brand new DVDs that I just opened. When I took it back to the store where I purchased it there were already 3 apex DVD players behind the return counter that had been returned that day. When I returned mine I asked the clerk and she said they'd been getting tons of Apex players back since they started selling them (all models). After I went and bought a sony DVD player (see reviews on the sony DVP-S360) I saw 3 more people standing in the returns line taking back Apex DVD players on my way out of the store!

Apex is an unknown brand offering DVD players for 50 bucks less than everyone else. They don't have the quality control or the engineering experience of a company like sony, toshiba, panasonic, or jvc. While it's tempting to have a very low price DVD player with mp3 capability it's not worth blowing 150 bucks or more on an unknown brand with severe reliability issues. Buying one of these is risky. Ask the returns department of any store that sells this brand and they'll tell you to stay away.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Riddled with problems
Review: My dad was given 2 Apex DVD players for christmas, a single-disc and a 3-disc. He had specifically requested Apex because it can read MP3s.

First, we attempted to set up the 3-disc player. I popped a CD in full of MP3s, and it played them fine, although not with the easiest directory navigation. When we went to play a DVD, it wouldn't work, and after quite a while of tinkering we finally declared it busted.

On to the single-disc unit, we tried it out for DVDs right away, and it worked great. Ironically enough, it wouldn't play MP3s. It seemed as though it read the MP3 files at an accelerated rate, but nothing would actually play the songs.

Considering the fact that both of the units we received were defective, I wouldn't count on these players lasting long if you manage to get one that works.

It's a great idea to integrate these technologies, but the quality just isn't there.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best DVD Player for the money
Review: Should many of you condsidered what models your where rating in comparsion to the 600a you would have found the people giving it great reveiws all had the 600a and the people that didn't said they where getting something else . The 600a is quite possible the best dvd player for the money and has extremely high quality and versatility . You could not ask for a better dvd player under $300. yet it is on $170 Go Figure .

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good Deal for Beginners
Review: The first AD-600A I bought had severe digitizing problems. After I traded it in for a new one, I have not have a single problem since. It is a very straight-forward and easy to use system, unlike some higher-end models that might seem to complicated to new users. The sound quality is fantastic and the picture is always crystal-clear. All in all a great deal for a good price.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not bad for the money
Review: This is not a bad player for the money. It only plays 10 hours of mp3's while others play as much as is on the CD. If you want something with a bit better picture and sound spend a few extra bucks and get a GPX-DV2000 or something. I would recommend another.


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