Apex players

[iluvJLO]

Im reading a lot of mixed reviews on their players. A lot of people say that the sound stutters,y picture is messy and sometimes wont even play the movies. Any you guys having this problem?

Which is the best model? I'm trying to get the 600 a but cant find it other than ebay (i dont trust ebayers)

[geoff]

I just got an APEX 1500 (for $99 at BestBuy) and it works fine. So far, I've been able to play commercial DVDs, home-made VCDs, SVCDs, and MP3 disks (all burned on Memorex CD-R media) without a problem. Sometimes I do have to reboot it to get it out of MP3 mode when I pop a new VCD in it, but that's a minor annoyance.

[SiNXation]

Where here it is in a nutshell. The Apex players will play any kind of vcd, even with the unthinkable settings. The problem is that Apex players also have very weak lasers. The cause the vcd not to play so good if the burn isn't the best. You will hear tons of other people saying other stuff but its the burn plain and simple. I've tested hundreds of vcds and different burners on the player and know for sure that since the laser is so weak the burn doesn't play as good. You can however turn up the laser so that it reads alot better, Hopefully I'll make a guide and it will be available in the tools section.

As far as which one is the best I would think that the 703 is the best. Since it can hold 3 disc. Also upgradable by cd. Not sure if that the exact model number or not but I think it is.

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On 2001-08-27 15:04:30, SiNXation wrote:

As far as which one is the best I would think that the 703 is the best. Since it can hold 3 disc. Also upgradable by cd. Not sure if that the exact model number or not but I think it is.
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I have the 703 and the 660. I prefer the 703 for the reason you mention. I am able to put in 3 SVCD's and set it to "repeat 3 disks" mode and the 3 disks automaticaly advance. It's great because if I want to stretch an SVCD to as many as 3 disks it plays through. This allows for up to 3 gigs (99 minute CDR's) for encoding an SVCD which greatly increases playback quality - almost DVD. It takes a few seconds for the disks to change and I cut the SVCD so that it happens at a sceen change. It's great. I prefer it to single tray models.

Also stretching an SVCD to 3 gigs will at times increase the bit rate beyond SVCD standards so I guess it's technically an xSVCD. It depends on the length (time) of the SVCD. But the 703 can handle the xSVCD great. A 3 gig SVCD is getting very very close to DVD quality.

Also, and I posted this previously, Sams Club is auctioning off 703's. I picked one up a couple days ago for $120 which is really really cheap for a 3 disk model.

[bloozfans]

hi was reading all the things you guy's are saying about the apex 703A and i have no luck playing anything but dvd's and music c.d.s. can you put me in the right direction to use it. not real happy about it so far. was told it would do it all fooled me.

[Greg12]

So far, i have only sent one thing at my APEX 660 it won't play.


It's decoders can't handel MPEG 1 on an SVCD.

I compensate for the weak laser with high quality disks from Verbatium. It luves them. I also burn at 4x, which happens to be my max burn speed. (USB burner, I can't add anything to my SCSI or IDE, also have two computers. Can't add firewire to the second one.)

I will play silver CD-RW's i found out.

i'm suprised no one has released a mini-DVD upgrade for it.



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Greg12 on 2001-08-29 13:34:07 ]</font>

[Beavis]

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On 2001-08-28 21:04:32, bloozfans wrote:
hi was reading all the things you guy's are saying about the apex 703A and i have no luck playing anything but dvd's and music c.d.s. can you put me in the right direction to use it. not real happy about it so far. was told it would do it all fooled me.
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I believe there were two different 703's- one which will play just about anything and another less widely distributed model which was much more limited in its functions. It's possible that your 703A is the latter. You should check on that.

[thxkid]

I have the APEX 660, 600a, 500w all play anything I throw at it, I have 2 relatives that have the 500w, no probs with theirs, my dad has the 600a, anything that plays in mine plays in his also.
My brother has a Konica 1800U, no MP3, problems playing SVCD, And I have to burn my VCD's perfect on certain CD-R's to play on that DVD player.
I got my 660 - $119 Sams Club, 600a discontinued, 500W at Walmart $92.
My Sams Club still sell the 703 but for $159.
I went with the 660 because of easy flashing of the Rom chip to disengage Macrovison, took all of 30 seconds and the upgrades are on the net-free.
Question - How to turn off macrovison on 703 model?

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On 2001-08-29 13:50:35, thxkid wrote:
Question - How to turn off macrovison on 703 model?
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Go here:

http://www.dvd-wizards.com/darrenk/Shinco/APEX703patch.htm

The 703 hack is great because it does more than make it region and macrovision free. The hack (CDR) actually unlocks a "hidden menu" or what's called a "loopholes menu" that allows you to turn off macrovision with your remote. It also allows you to set it to any region with the remote or set it to region 0.

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On 2001-08-28 21:04:32, bloozfans wrote:
hi was reading all the things you guy's are saying about the apex 703A and i have no luck playing anything but dvd's and music c.d.s. can you put me in the right direction to use it. not real happy about it so far. was told it would do it all fooled me.
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The 703A is not a 703. The 703 is manufactured by Shinco. The 703A is not. The 703A does not have a very good reputation and I don't think it even plays MP3 let alone very much of anything. Totally different animals.

[PNPman]

got the AD-700. Works fine
http://www.dvd-wizards.com. Has a firmware update to all it to play MiniDVD

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On 2001-08-29 14:03:57, PNPman wrote:
got the AD-700. Works fine
Has a firmware update to all it to play MiniDVD
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I think the 700AD was distributed in Canada. It is a single try model. Plays everything great from what I've heard.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: next on 2001-08-29 14:36:34 ]</font>

[Lamont Cranston]

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I have the 703 and the 660. I prefer the 703 for the reason you mention. I am able to put in 3 SVCD's and set it to "repeat 3 disks" mode and the 3 disks automaticaly advance.
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I have the 703. How do you set "repeat 3 disks" mode?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Lamont Cranston on 2001-08-29 15:23:33 ]</font>

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To get the 703 to automatically advance do this:

Load your VCD's - SVCD's
Hit 1 on your remote instead of Play
Now you can use the repeat button on the remote to toggle to "repeat 3 disks".

That's it.

[Lamont Cranston]

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On 2001-08-29 14:44:07, next wrote:
To get the 703 to automatically advance do this:

Load your VCD's - SVCD's
Hit 1 on your remote instead of Play
Now you can use the repeat button on the remote to toggle to "repeat 3 disks".

That's it.
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Hmmmm. That did not work for me. After playing around I found by selecting 'continue' under play mode it would play all three disks automatically.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Lamont Cranston on 2001-08-29 15:44:54 ]</font>

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On 2001-08-29 15:28:06, Lamont Cranston wrote:
Hmmmm. That did not work for me. After playing around I found by selecting 'continue' under play mode it would play all three disks automatically.
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Very interesting. How do I find "continue"? By hitting '1' as I mention above it essentially turns PBC off so this could be a problem for some encoded disks. But this 'continue' I'm not familiar with. Help me out.

Thanks!

[Lamont Cranston]

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On 2001-08-29 16:04:33, next wrote:

Very interesting. How do I find "continue"? By hitting '1' as I mention above it essentially turns PBC off so this could be a problem for some encoded disks. But this 'continue' I'm not familiar with. Help me out.

Thanks!
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On the right side of the remote under the Disk Skip button is the Play Mode button. Pressing it once gets Program, pressing again gets Shuffle and a third press gets you Continue.

[next]

Lamont -

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

I love these forums.

It's about time we all took the VCDhelp donation reguest seriously. I'm in.

[Lamont Cranston]

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On 2001-08-29 16:15:16, next wrote:
Lamont -

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

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I tried the hitting 1 instead of Play as you suggested again and this time it worked fine. I must have had something setup incorrectly before. Thanks!

[SiNXation]

Gotta luv it seeing everyone helping out each other.

[Hawk600]

I have no problems with APEX 3201.
Very good player for $119.
It plays all cd-r/rw i've loaded doesn't matter the color or if it's from TDK,Samsung or cheeper ones.

[Lamont Cranston]

The Apex AD-703 will not play the mp3Pro cds. The new mp3Pro is supposed to be backward as well as forward compatible. I burned a mp3Pro cd with Nero 5.5.4.0 and the Apex AD-703 played 'data'.

[next]

Hang in there Lamont. Somebody will write a hack just like the hacks that have been written to make the 703 miniDVD compatable.

[Drizzt]

I have AD-1500, I believe it was only released here in Canada, it has played everything I throw at even audio on a playstation game(stuck it in by accident)
the only problem i have seen is some vcds(not all) the audio will be out of sync when played int he APEX but when played in pc, it plays fine

[gallant1]

I have the AD-1500--I believe it was only released in Texas... (tongue firmly planted in cheek...)