Apex 660, anyone have comments

[Greg12]

This looks like the dvd player i will get.

Anyone wana talk me out of it

It has VCD, SVCD, MP3, CD-R/RW, and a region hack

and it's 98

Is the region hack safe?

[sabotage]

i hear its a nice player and very cheap
but i cant find a retailer by me...where might you be getting yours?

[ya_jai]

I own Apex 660 (8MM version). It is very good and cheap but not relyable. For the price $98, I think you can't get any thing better than this. About region hack and disable Macrovision, if you can find good information I'll say it very safe. Check this website a lot more information about all Apex player .
"http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/"

[Xitanium]

i got mine at circuit city, works GREAT, though spring for a 500w instead, better playback quality.

[homerpez]

I can testify for the 500W, which I hear is a bit better. I own it and it seems to work quite well, especially if you want to do VBR VCD's, or weird formats like XVCD or XSVCD.

Very slight problems with one or two DVD titles I've tried, but they are very small, non-fatal problems. Really an excellent piece of machinery.

I'm not exactly sure why people pay $300 or more dollars for a player nowadays. This one is good, and only $98!

[homerpez]

Also, if looking for the 500W, I believe its' only available at Wal*Mart stores, but I may be wrong on that.

[next]

I can't speak for the 500w but my 2 660's and 703 work great. Have not had a problem with any of them. They all handle XVCD very well. My most recent 660 was $79 after rebate. Spare parts alone made it a good buy.

[Greg12]

What does "not reliable" mean?

[ya_jai]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-07-17 22:27:04, Greg12 wrote:
What does "not reliable" mean?
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Not Reliable means not reliable kidding
A lot of time I get something weired from my APEX, such as CD (VCD, SVCD) does not load like usual, or get a failure picture. Sometime when I press Close button, APEX just hang and show only Close on screen, I have to turn off and turn back on again before it can play normally.
Are these enough for "Not Reliable"?

[choxie]

Have you tried exchanging it? Maybe it's a problem with your player, defective or such. Mine works great.

[tat2jr]

I have the Apex 660, and just bought a Pioneer with "Viterbi Error Correction". If you have the money step up to the Pioneer. You'll be much happier.

Every VCD I played on my Apex would lose track of the audio once in awhile (no big deal, except on really cheap CD-Rs where it happened so often they weren't worth watching). With the Pioneer it NEVER has the audio mistrack the video....EVER! Now I can use the cheapest CD-R's and burn at top speed.

[homerpez]

tat2jr: Just curious (I am happy with the Apex)... which Pioneer model is that specifically?...

[sracer]

I was in the market to replace my RCA 5220P DVD player, and wanted to buy a player that could play CDR, CDRW, VCD, SVCD, etc. I took a long hard look at the Apex players. Although it is a "jack of all trades", it is a "master of none".

None of the Apex players do a great job playing DVDs or VCDs. VCD playback is often times choppy and pixelated. Compression artifacts are very noticeable. Apex VCD playback is worse than the RCA. (And the RCA wasn't even advertised as being able to play VCDs)

Keep in mind that the Apex 600 appears to still have the problem with subtitles turned on by default...every time you play a disc, you have to turn them off.

Be careful for the 660's as some of them have problems playing discs with seamless branching (like T2:UE)

After some additional research and experimenting, I ended up getting a Pioneer DV-434. It will play a wide variety of discs, is a quality player, and the prices are falling through the floor. I've seen them for as low as $189. The DV-343 is even less expensive.

[ya_jai]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-07-18 02:57:27, choxie wrote:
Have you tried exchanging it? Maybe it's a problem with your player, defective or such. Mine works great.
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>
It is okay. It's just annoying sometime but I'm happy with this player, beside I've already patched the unit to disable macrovision and had all CDs to patch to what region I want.

[tat2jr]

homerpez:
I just got a 64 inch HDTV, and it really showed the flaws of the Apex (and the VCD standard). Because of the bank I just spent on the HDTV I bought the Pioneer Elite DV-C36. It's truely an awesome DVD player (and should be for the $500 it cost).

I submitted a full review for the page, but it hasn't been put up in the DVD Player compatibility list yet. I know that Pioneer puts the "Viterbi Error Correction" on their non-elite models too.


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: tat2jr on 2001-07-19 13:22:37 ]</font>

[homerpez]

tat2jr: Pardon these 2 sarcastic comments.

1- Must be nice to be one of the "haves" vs. the "have-nots"!

2- A 64" TV would show defects in ANYTHING... that's huge!

Not a problem for most of us...

[craigarta]

I got maine a few months back and so far it works fine, except for it always wasnts to turn the subtitle's on.

Other than Wal-Mart there club warehouse's Sams Club sell them and I think it was the 703 model (the 3 disc one) for around $150

[tat2jr]

homerpez -
No problem....... Sarcasim is easy to take when you're a "have"