sbelli

My wife just bought me a DVD player. It's an Apex 3201 and seems to work pretty well with a good picture. But I'm new to DVD players and would like to know if anyone else has had experience with this player. If so, is it any good? I like the MP3 playing ability, but I'm more concerned about the DVD playing aspect. Are there better players in this price range ($125-$150)?

Thanks...

nekobus

YES!

The Pioneer DV-343 blows the Apex out of the water in terms of picture and sound quality. It's only $150 at Circuit City(both online and B&M).

It will also play problem discs which the Apex may have trouble with(skipping, etc). I used to have a Apex and it gave me a lot of trouble, so I got rid of it.

The Pioneer doesn't play mp3s, but it plays CD-R, CD-RW,VCD, DVD-R. It's an overall better quality machine than the Apex.

ydkjman

Hey nekobus, I am just wondering if this is the feeling towards all the players that Apex puts out? Do they all have this type of problems?

Cogliostro

I just picked up the Apex 3201 at best buy, to use as an mp3 player- with the side benefit of also playing dvd's. I also have a Panasonic dvd player. Comparing the two, the apex is quick- it does'nt hesitate between songs, mp3 files, or chapters on dvd's. It blows away the panasonic. The menu's, on screen displays, are not terribly fancy, but that's ok for me.

The apex is also cd rom firmware upgradable (which you can download from their website).

For the price I paid ($119), I am very happy with it. It seems like a great little machine that does mp3's, vcd's, cd-r's, and dvd's.

Michael T Hudson

Does an on screen menu come up to choose which mp3 to play ? Just curious how this works.

ydkjman

I have seen these work and they do display the name of the song up to a certain number of spaces can't remember. But you do have an on screen view of it.

wkc

If there is a Sams Club nearby, check out the Daewoo 3000N:
Region selectable
PAL to NTSC signal conversion and visa versa
USD100


Regards

Master J

If like other Apex models, I doubt this player has component video out. This may not be a big deal if you have an older TV or are just getting into DVD.

Also, alot of the Apex dekcs are actually nothing more than DVD-ROM drives in a chassis. You can actually take them out of their casing and windows will recognize them. They have also run into problems playing certain discs mainly because IMHO their design is not up to par.

I guess if you can get it for about a hundred bucks or less it is not half bad as a secondary player, but personally I would never use one of these in my main viewing room.

J

Michael T Hudson

PRODUCT FEATURES
Component video, S-video and composite video outputs provide a great connection to your TV

Optical digital output for the best possible connection to an A/V receiver

Integrated MP3 decoder plays MP3-encoded CDs capable of holding 10 hours of near-CD-quality music per disc

HDCD circuitry for playback of super-high-fidelity high-definition CDs

Multiple angle feature

2x and 4x zoom

Frame-by-frame advance

Slow-motion forward and reverse

Plays NTSC and PAL format discs

Built-in screen saver

Programmable playback sequence

Full-function remote

Here are the specs. I will get it just for the MP3 playback.

ydkjman

You got it BigDaddy, it does have all that. I just went today and picked up the AD-500W from Wal-Mart for $98 plus plus tax. It has alot less than the 3201. There is a chip that you can get that would upgrade the firmware and also make it a region free player. I am mainly looking to just upgrade the firmware cause I am no where a die hard collector that I would ever go out and get some other region DVD. I mainly got it as a mp3 player.

I did put a DVD to look for things I saw on my friends 3201 which were slight pauses or jerks in the video and audio and didn't really see anything of the sort.

Michael T Hudson

I am happy with the unit. Is there any way to get the MP3 files to shuffle. I can not get it to work. Does your unit have shuffle play ?

ydkjman

So did you get the 3201? I just checked for you and it does have shuffle on it. I push the shuffle button first and then press play and they will play in random order.
One question for you.....I haven't figured out yet or not if the player will only play the mp3's that are in a root directory? If you have any in folders does it know to open / look in them as well?

Michael T Hudson

Mine would play in a root but I could not open the folder. Very strange I may go to Sams today and check out this one for 99.00


Model # DVG3000N
The DVG-3000N is a true performer with rich standard features including component video output (Y/Cb/Cr) for superior video playback, Dolby Digital and DTS audio format compatibility, and standard S-Video and composite video outputs for compatibility with all televisions.

Item: 390039



Features




Multi-angle/lingual
4:3 screen or 16:9 screen compatibility
Plays DVD, VCD, S-VCD, and audio CDs
Plays MP3 CD-R, and CD-R music disks
Resume play from memorized location
Standard video output and S-Video output
Coaxial digital audio output.
Headphones jack on front with volume control
Dual voltage for USA and Europe, 110-220v for Asia
True vision code free (you can connect this unit to a VCR and copy movies)
Remote

Michael T Hudson

The shuffle trick does not work on mine. I may take it back today.

ydkjman

I guess if you already have a whole bunch of cd's containing mp3's in many folders it would be a pain to reburn them all in root directories. So going with the Model # DVG3000N might be a good thing?

Michael T Hudson

I just picked up the 3000n today at Sams. It does not have component out like the web page says but that is no big deal to me I have an Elite changer for DVD's. I like the shuffle and fast forward ability of the 3000n and the user interface is a little better. For a hundred bucks hard to go wrong with either.

ydkjman

That was one of the only other things that I don't like about my player that I couldnt' fast forward through a song.

Was is component out?