More than just a DVD player ... and an incredible deal for $80

Background to this purchase
My 14 year old Sharp CD player quit working. Upon further inspection, with the top off the CD player, I discovered that the disc platter was no longer turning. However, if I pressed the play button and gave the disc a spin with my finger then it would play the entire CD. If I gently held my finger on the platter to slow down the rotation, the sound would break up into static.

Spinning up the disc by finger each time I wanted to play a CD isn't an acceptable long-term solution. The cost of repair was more than the cost of a new, better, entry level, CD player.

Why a Panasonic?
I purchased a Panasonic VCR 6 years or so ago that I’m very happy with. On this basis I leaned towards a Panasonic. I learnt that most, if not all, DVD players also play regular CD’s and CD’s containing MP3 files. The DVD players, furthermore, seem to cost less than the dedicated CD players. Whoa, this was quite a revelation! Since I believe that most of the sound quality comes from the amplifier and speakers I wasn’t too concerned with buying an “audiophile” CD player even though I planned to play this through a high end Conrad Johnson valve amplifier and a pair of British speakers of obscure heritage that nevertheless sound great.

I did not want to buy a CD changer because in my experience the only failure mode in CD players is mechanical. The changer mechanism is likely to considerably increase the potential for failure.

The purchase
After studying Epinions I decided to purchase the cheapest Panasonic DVD player that I could find, which at the time was the RV-32K from 6th Avenue Electronics. This sold for $115 inclusive of shipping and free of tax. 6th Avenue Electronics gave excellent service with prompt delivery so I highly recommend them.

Playing CD's
The RV32K is a slim, black unit (the RV32S is identical except that it is silver). I hooked it up to my amplifier and played both regular and MP3-encoded CD’s. The player scans the disc and displays the type, i.e., DVD, CD or MP3, after a 3 second delay. It will also play WMA disks, but I don’t use this format. It plays CD-R and CD-RW disks, but then so did my Sharp CD Player. Thereafter it plays music just like my old CD player with the standard controls for fast forward, reverse and randomize. It sounds incredible. When playing a recording of the spoken voice, or an instrument such as a piano, you would swear you were listening to a live performance. I didn’t do any AB comparison so I can’t say that it sounds any better than my old CD player. I suspect they’re very similar.

The remote control
There’s a remote control that runs off 2 AA batteries. It’s rather oddly shaped, narrower yet thicker than most I've used. It works fine within line of sight. The controls are well laid out so that I find it easy to use. If you're ham-fisted you may find that the buttons are spaced too closely, but I have no problem whatsoever.

Playing DVD's
My curiosity was piqued. The RV32 plays commercial DVD discs, as well as DVD-R and DVD-RW for those who brew their own. DVD discs recorded using the alternate format, i.e., DVD R/DVD RW, will NOT play.

I wanted to play a DVD so I borrowed one from the local library. It was only then that I discovered that my TV only has an RF input. Hmm, well, it is about 20 years old. I should have looked into this earlier, but at the time I was primarily interested in using the DVD player as a CD player. Since there was no corresponding RF output from the DVD player I thought I would have to buy an RF modulator, but then I discovered that my Panasonic VCR sports 3 RCA inputs corresponding to 3 RCA outputs on the DVD player. The appropriate triple RCA lead was even supplied with the DVD player.

Despite what you may have read elsewhere, playing a DVD through the VCR works fine, but you do have to adjust the VCR to accept the input from the DVD player rather than from an antenna or cable connection. I notice that there's a slight cycling of luminosity in the darkest parts of the picture, but it’s not objectionable as the overall picture quality is much better than from the VCR. The DVD player offers a plethora of controls for viewing DVD’s and controlling home theatre audio that are meaningless to me since I’m playing DVD’s through the TV set alone. For my taste there are too many controls, but as best I can judge this player offers sufficient versatility to satisfy almost everyone. On the back there are many outputs, including optical digital audio, subwoofer, S video and component video connections, in addition to the lowly analog stereo and video. There's just no RF output.

Extras and the warranty
Aside from the remote, and two AA batteries, the only other accessories included with this player are the mains lead and the triple RCA lead.

I expect this player to last a decade or more, although it's a bit disconcerting that the warranty for parts and labor is only for 90 days. The warranty for parts alone is good for one year, but this is a joke since labor is far and away the largest component of repair bills. We have evidently reached the age of the disposable DVD player. If this player were to break after 90 days I would buy a new one, although perhaps not another Panasonic!

There’s really no reason to consider a more expensive DVD player unless you're seeking the insurance of a longer warranty *or* you own a digital television. In the latter case you should purchase a progressive scan DVD player.

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STOP THE PRESS!
From Nov 29th 2002 to March 31 2003 Panasonic is offering a $20 mail-in rebate on this DVD player, http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_players/promo_dvdplayer.asp.

The cheapest source I found is AbtElectronics.com, $112 to your door less the $20 manufacturer's rebate (free shipping and no CA state tax) along with a free Disney Santa Claus DVD. Epinions currently lists the cheapest source as www.etronics.com, but this neglects taking into account eTronics' $15 shipping charge.

Holy moly, I'm going to buy another one! ... and I did. So now I've got two, one to play CD's and the other to play DVD's. I sold the DVD on eBay for $12 so my final cost for the second Panasonic RV32K was $80. AbtElectronics also gave excellent service with prompt delivery.

Now that I have a DVD player I find that I've been watching quite a few DVD's. Movies on DVD come with a lot of extras compared to VHS tapes and have, therefore, much to commend them in addition to their higher quality. I rent the DVD's from the library, a much better deal than buying them or renting them from Blockbuster and the like.

Progressive scan or not?
In "Best of 2002" Peter Lewis writes in Fortune Magazine (Dec 30, 2002) "trust me, you'll want progressive scan even if you don't have a digital TV yet, because all TVs will be digital within a few years". This is rubbish -- Lewis ignores the hyperdeflation of DVD player prices. In a few years progressive scan DVD players will also cost less than $100. Save the difference in the meantime and you'll end up with this "free" Panasonic DVD player to use as a backup.