Apex AD-1500, would you buy?

[playndirty101]

Product Description:



Detailed Description
BRAND NEW IN BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Upgraded Awesome Features which makes it so great

1] REGION FREE & RCE PROOF - Watch DVD from ANY country including RCE encoded discs. NTSC OR PAL.

2] MACROVISION DISABLED. Record from DVD player to VCR hassle free.

No Converter Needed. This DVD player does it all.

For Music Lovers: Play 100 of MP3's using just one disc.

Region/Code Free DVD player, plays DVD's from anywhere in the world. No matter if it is a NTSC or PAL TV. Also plays RCE encoded disc's.

This Brand New Apex DVD Player is loaded with features not available in units costing hundreds more. It is Region free & Macrovision free (macrovision is the reason you can't hook up your DVD player through your VCR). You can now make backup copies of the DVD's that you own. This unit will also let you skip the warning screens on most DVD discs. This player also Plays SVCD (super Video CD), VCD (Video CD), MP3 files, and CD Audio Discs. It has 2 composite video outputs and an s-video connection as well as analog audio outputs and a Dolby digital audio output. This player is Brand New in the Box.

These are getting hard to find so Bid now and save BIG!!!!!!!!


Features:

DVD, VCD, MP3, and CD Playback - This player has no problem playing CD-R's or CD-RW

Macrovision Free

Region Free - Plays discs from any region

Composite and S-video Outputs for Ultimate Flexibility and Continued Compatibility

Analog Audio Outputs - Allows you to hook the player directly to a TV or Stereo for audio playback

Zoom (2x, 4x)

Dolby Digital Audio Output

Full Function Remote Control

Parental Control Lockout - Password protected

Includes:

Brand New in the Box Apex AD-1500 DVD Player
RCA Cables
Instruction Manual
Free NetFlix Offer

These are not the same as a unit you can buy in your local electronics stores! The player has been professionally upgraded to make it region free and macrovision disabled.

PAL playback on NTSC TV and NTSC playback on Pal TV
This is a special feature available on very few DVD players. Most other
region free players will play back all region discs but if the disc is
Pal you will not be able to play it on a normal American TV. With this
unit you can play your European region 2 Pal discs as well as DVD from any other COUNTRY/REGION.




Would you buy this for $140?? Please advise!

[playndirty101]

anyone? would u buy this unit for $140? or is there something else better?

[vcd4me]

Apex is a decent player for the money I just bought two apex3201, for $50bucks each at compusa this of course was with a rebate.And it plays everything.

I don't know much about the 1500 but read on the dvd player comparison charts to see if this model is close to the same specs as the 1500 your talking about.the price is usually under $100 at any store.They have a mac hack for my model and a firmware upgrade.

Also after your done go to this site www.nerd-out.com
It's a site for apex owners there is another one but I lost the link if you find another apex site like that one please let me know.

If your still not sure if you should buy this or any other apex check this site www.apexdigitalinc.com.Read their home page they just signed an licensing agreement with major companies like sony,pioneer and a few others. I own a Pioneer and love it and if Pioneer trust Apex to make products for them then so do I.

I'm also not sure what apex models can do this but some of them you can change the beginig screen to be anything you like, instead of the blue apex logo screen.Read on the nerd-out site you might find a link.

Hope This Helps
VCD4ME

[playndirty101]

hmm thanks vcd4me

would u buy that for $140? sounds steep.

[vcd4me]

Hey this is How I viewed the purchase of the apex 3201 (1 for my parents-Their to cheap to go to the theaters)the original price was $100-20 instant rebate and the 30 mail in rebate.I read on this site somewhere that The apex might even play a slice of pizza (great line). So for $50 bucks if it breaks in a few years I'll buy another one and the technology will be improved by then.

The price does sound a little high! on the dvd compatability chart it says it should be $50 I think they are playing on the public needs for a player that is macro vision free by the way if it is macro free then that box could be already opened.You know to hack it?
Did you just make that post on nerd out after I told you about that sight .

I don't see why you just don't buy another model there are a few models that can be made mac free.
I don't want to tell you to buy anything you be the judge. Their are a few diffrences between the 1500 and 3201.Just read the nerd-out sit and all 168 reviews on this site

TALK TO YOU SOON
VCD4ME

[playndirty101]

Hey this is How I viewed the purchase of the apex 3201 (1 for my parents-Their to cheap to go to the theaters)the original price was $100-20 instant rebate and the 30 mail in rebate.I read on this site somewhere that The apex might even play a slice of pizza (great line). So for $50 bucks if it breaks in a few years I'll buy another one and the technology will be improved by then.

The price does sound a little high! on the dvd compatability chart it says it should be $50 I think they are playing on the public needs for a player that is macro vision free by the way if it is macro free then that box could be already opened.You know to hack it?
Did you just make that post on nerd out after I told you about that sight :lol: .

I don't see why you just don't buy another model there are a few models that can be made mac free.
I don't want to tell you to buy anything you be the judge. Their are a few diffrences between the 1500 and 3201.Just read the nerd-out sit and all 168 reviews on this site :lol: :lol:

TALK TO YOU SOON
VCD4ME

Yes thats me..thanks vcd4me...

1 question... i noticed that the 3201 could be cdr-upgrade (firmware) or i saw the post on dvd hacks...by punching in 4 # codes...which one did u do to hack your player? which is the better way?

Thanks for the advise!

[vcd4me]

I didn't actually hack it yet. I bought it for my summer cottage still to cold to go to the lake now.

As for the firmware disc I think that is just to fix the bugs that have been reported. That's a pretty good feature to have firmware upgradeable, if any more bug come up then you could just burn a firmware disc to fix it.

Unless I'm mistaken about the firmware disc,I don't think it has a hack on it, like I said it's just an upgrade.

Hope this helps
VCD4ME

[playndirty101]

i see... i thought the firmware was a hack...? to get rid of region codes and macrovision...

[Martin Green]

Just a note of caution - that blurb about the unit being professionally upgraded is a crock. All Apex units can have the Macrovision turned off and the Region code changed if you know the special key sequence for that unit. It took me about 20 seconds to do it on my AD3201, although I did have to do a firmware update (DL'd from the Apex site) to make it accept the hack properly.

All in all I would happily buy an Apex again, it plays every format and disk type I've thrown at it, except running MPEG files directly from a standard ISO9660 disk, which I hear a few players can do.

CIAO - Martin.

[kitty]

RTFM http://www.vcdhelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=596&Search=Search&#comments

The 1500 requires a firmware hack, not a key sequence.

$140 is steep. Most stores, if they have one, sell for around US $79 give or take. The hack is available online and requires a $0.10 CD-R to burn the file to.

People like this buy up units, do a simple 2 minute hack and resell them for big bucks. If you have money & hate hassle, do it. If you want to save, read the DVD hacks database on how to do it yourself.

Read the catch - the serial # must start with A, B, C, or D. Serials starting with CV are hacked differently and you loose the front panel display.

I have purchased 2 - they are good units for the money and are more capable than most big name units costing hundreds.

[vcd4me]

So MARTIN ,

seeing as you have the same player as me 3201. I thought the firmaware was for the 2nd disc problem.
Do I really have to use the firmware upgrade to get the hack to work?

THANKS IN ADVANCE
VCD4ME

[Martin Green]

I stand corrected, but I knew that crap about it being "professionally upgraded" was nonsense.

Martin.

[playndirty101]

Just a note of caution - that blurb about the unit being professionally upgraded is a crock. All Apex units can have the Macrovision turned off and the Region code changed if you know the special key sequence for that unit. It took me about 20 seconds to do it on my AD3201, although I did have to do a firmware update (DL'd from the Apex site) to make it accept the hack properly.

All in all I would happily buy an Apex again, it plays every format and disk type I've thrown at it, except running MPEG files directly from a standard ISO9660 disk, which I hear a few players can do.

CIAO - Martin.

Martin,

thanks...thanks for everyones input..

im deciding on getting the 3201 since we dont have anymore 1500 in stock here in hawaii...

where did you get your firmware? do you have a link? When updating did it require to open the player?

Thanks.

[Martin Green]

seeing as you have the same player as me 3201. I thought the firmaware was for the 2nd disc problem.
Do I really have to use the firmware upgrade to get the hack to work?

Well, they don't tell you on the Apex web site what the upgrade is for, but I can tell you what it doesn't do - it doesn't fix the second disk problem (if what you are referring to is the way the 3201 screws up often - no sound and pausing video - with the second SCVD you insert). I hoped it would but this problem was not improved at all.

With my original firmware I could get into the secret Region and Macrovision screen, and change values, but even when Macrovision was set to off it still screwed up the picture. I didn't even think of an upgrade to fix this until I read a newsgroup post somewhere where the writer reported that he got the Macrovision to turn off, and he hadn't even needed to flash the firmware like many others had. When I read this I immediately searched out the upgrade, and after burning it to a CDRW and restarting the player the Macrovision hack worked perfectly.

The only other thing this upgrade seems to add is a screensaver mode if you leave the unit sitting unused for a period of time.

Note that recent AD3201's apparently have the upgraded firmware installed right out of the box, so you might not need to do anything. I sure hope they fix that 2nd disk problem soon.

Martin.

[Martin Green]

It took me nearly 9 months to find Apex's web address, why should I make it so easy on you? Oh well, just for you, and just this once...

http://www.apexdigitalinc.com/

There are instructions on the site, but basically you extract the .EXE file to a .BIN file (this is not made clear in the instructions), burn it to the root directory of an ISO9660 CD-R or CD-RW, power off the unit, turn it back on, insert your new disk, select an action from a menu, then sit back and watch the pretty light show (the TV picture gets totally trashed during the process). This is a FLASH memory self-upgrade (one of the best reasons for choosing the AD-3201 over other Apex models), so as for PC BIOS FLASH updates do not shut off the unit till the update is complete!!!, even if you think it might have locked up. It takes a few minutes to complete, and failure to heed this warning will produce a sleek black boat anchor (well, actually, you can pay Apex to rescue you from your stupidity 8) ).

The firmware update that worked for me is dated 09-13-01.

CIAO - Martin.

[playndirty101]

martin

thanks a lot! ill give this a shot when i pick up my player!

[DLuft]

I have an Apex AD-1500 and it works great. The settings I use use in TMPGEC create a near perfect DVD. Playing my mp3 was flawless, with a good menu folder system. The player worked so well my dad picked one up. The microvision patch i ordered for $10 and like mentioned before, it easily overwrited the chip and then done. The only use for the patch is if you want to run region Cd's, or transfer DVD to VHS (bad quality). Smartripper automatically strips macro from a DVD. The player you saw is a bit expensive, as I picked mine up at Fry's usually on sale for $67. My next player will be an Apex 3 disc player, since most of my movies or on 3-4 cd's.

[jojoco1]

I confirm Dluft's experience with $10 Modification CD.
Ordered two AD1500 from Amazon and got "A" and
"D" prefix serial number machines. Lucky? don't know.
I received "A" machine just two weeks ago.
Note both had MD20-1 revision number.
I disagree with Dluft on VHS quality; I thought it was OK to
good. And I used the best Composite Video RF cable I could buy
to reduce signal losses.