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Panasonic SC-HT700 5-Disc Progressive-Scan DVD Home Theater System

Panasonic SC-HT700 5-Disc Progressive-Scan DVD Home Theater System

List Price: $349.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Disc Playing Gremlins
Review: Last Year I bought my first Home Theatre System - Panasonic SC-HT 70. Oh Joy........well for 6 months anyway, before the player packed in. It would'nt read any discs, CD or DVD. Bummer I tought, just unlucky and sent it off for repair. Was stuck with regular TV volume for 2 months.....which is kinda like using a 56K modem, getting cable and then having to go back to the 56K again. So I got the system back and in fairness it's being working ever since. So last week I went out and bought the HT 700, rushed home and to my shock and horror, I did'nt have to wait 6 months this time. It did'nt work at all!!! Same problem .....player did'nt work, could not read any disc's. Funny enough this time each time I tried I got a different error message (even my DVD disk was from the wrong region)...yeah right. So I got to bring it back (and it really bugs me the way sales people act like its your fault the thing does'nt work.......Happy to take your hard earned cash, not so happy to give it back tough). It's a sleak looking system, but Panasonic neeed to get their sh** together. Bottom line, its cheap, looks good, but is junk.
Would'nt risk it again..........Ever.......Go for somthing else.

P.S. Have been reading some other reviews of various other models. Seems to be a Panasonic plauge, with the disk changer and player.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Low price and decent sound.
Review: I wanted a DVD/Home Theater system for our bedroom. Found the positive reviews and the excellent price offered by Amazon.com too good to resist. The local Circuit City wanted well over $300 for the same unit. Very happy with this purchase. Less than $300 and it fills our bedroom with good clear sound and if I want to listen to AM/FM or view jpegs on CD-ROM I also have those options. I own a Yamaha DVR-S100 for my living room and the sound is much better than the Panasonic but it was also about $200 more than this unit. If you are looking for decent sound and power for a small room you can't go wrong with this unit. Only two complaints, remote isn't easy to use and the unit when it plays CD's can be a little noisy, no too loud but sometimes you notice it. Another thing to consider is you may need speaker stands since these do not come with this kit and those can be expensive. If speaker stands are needed you may want to consider the more expensive Panasonic SC-HT900 which I think has the same DVD unit. But if you are looking for a low priced Home Theater unit for use in small rooms, this unit should be looked at seriously.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Not for Lord of the Rings fans!
Review: I got this as a gift for Christmas (I picked it out myself after reading the reviews on Amazon.com), and at first I was very pleased. It was easy to hook up, the surround sound was impressive, and it played my mp3 CDs. Unfortunately, a couple weeks after I hooked it up, I made an unpleasany discovery. I decided to watch my Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring. About 20 minutes into the first disc, I strted getting frequest and severe artifacting problems on the screen, along with the occasional audio scratch or crackle. I thought perhaps my disc was scratched, so I borrowed my father-in-law's copy of the film. The same errors occurred on his disc! I tried my disc on my old Samsung player, my computer's DVD-ROM drive, and a friend's Sony player, and it played without problems on all of them. I decided I must have gotten a lemon, and returned the system. I bought the same system from a different retailer, brought it home, hooked it up, and the problem STILL occurred. Strangely enough, the problem hasn't happened on any of the other movies I've tried to watch so far (except a slight artifacting in one scene of the Extended Edition of The Two Towers). If the movies I was having problems with were less important to me, I might just watch them on my old player and keep the system. But the Lord of the Rings films are some of my favorites, and I cannot own a home theater system that won't play them. I don't know if there is an incompatibility issue with Panasonic DVD players and New Line's DVDs, or if there is something unusual about the way the "Rings" movies read on progresive scan players (none of the other players I tested the discs on had progressive scan); all I know is, if you are a fan of the Tolkien films, you don't want this system!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: You get what you pay for.
Review: After reading so many positive reviews, I thought for this price, this is too good to be true. I was right. After an easy set up, I put in some of my favorite DVDs to see what this thing could do. Even with component cables hooked up to my HDTV, the "progressive scan" picture was disappointing. Not to mention the pixelization of the picture that would happen periodically, even with brand new DVDs. Despite the horrendous video quality, the sound was pretty good minus the barely audible sub-woofer. I really wanted this to work so rather than return it, I sent it to be serviced by Panasonic's so-called authorized technicians. They kept it for 2 weeks and were unable to "pinpoint the problem." On top of their inability to do their job, they were also extremely rude and unprofessional. I have since returned it and bought a higher quality product from another company (rhymes with BONY). Lesson learned, Panasonic - You get what you pay for.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very nice system for the price
Review: I think that this is a quality product from Panasonic. I don't know why someone would recommend a $700 Sony system instead. For half the price the Panasonic does the job.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A VERY pleasant surprise...
Review: For weeks now, I was convinced that the TV sized box under our tree was a HDTV. Instead, it was this home theater system - and it was NOT a disappointment. 5 reasonably sized speakers, plus the sub-woofer and receiver/disc changer. Simple set-up, (the only difficulty was figuring out where to place it in a system which already contained 2 VCR's, a satellite receiver, a DVD recorder and a TV), and I was on my way. Even though it was 10:30 at night, I then put in T3 and shook the walls. I was quite impressed.
The design is sleek, and the sound top notch. The sub-woofer is the only part of the unit that's powered from the wall, and the DVD player does not have a video input - so that was tough for me to wrap my old-guy mind around - but it wasn't difficult to install.
For anyone considering a home theater system, this one should definitely be looked at.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Died after six months
Review: The unit has an unusual design with power and speaker connectors plugging into the subwoofer. This means that if you have a problem with the system, you cannot reuse the subwoofer.

My problems began with the right speaker connection emitting a constant, loud stream of static, even when the volume of the system was set to zero. It didn't matter if I switched speakers - the right speaker port would continue to buzz.

Then, the unit began turning itself off - we would start watching a movie, and ninety seconds into the movie, the unit would turn itself off. I am disappointed and would not recommend this unit to someone else.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good for the money
Review: I have had this system for a few weeks now. I have it hooked up to an old television, so I am not getting nearly as much out of it as I could with a better tv. Overall, it is an upgrade over the tv speakers and makes watching DVD's more fun.

One possible drawback is that the speakers are hooked up to the sub-woofer, not the receiver. I don't know if this will be an issue down the road or not.

For the money, this is a decent system.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Ok for beginners
Review: I was really impressed by the reviews for this product but I was a little let down once I had one in my home. I think if you have just purchased your first DVD player and are used to sound from your television, you will love it. If you've had surround sound for a while, this won't impress you.

Firstly, unlike most consumer electronics, the remote was not a universal remote and will not operate my television and there are no codes for my particular brand. It simply will not work, forcing me to use two remotes. Not a huge deal, but a little annoying.

Secondly, there is no video input so if you want to watch VHS or cable or something besides the built-in DVD, you must change the channel or input on your TV. Again, it requires to keep your TV's remote handy.

Thirdly, the remote isn't very easy to understand. There are "shift" functions an odd abbriviations specific to this unit. It takes a while to figure out... and I consider myself fairly adept at home audio/visual electronics.

Finally, the sound quality is better than TV speakers but not at all on par with other home theaters like the Sony Dream System. DVDs sound really nice but TV, music, and VHS are only reproduced in *simulated* surround. If you've heard the real thing, you'll notice the difference. But for my bedroom, it's fine.

Over all, yeah, it's OK but I wouldn't believe all the glowing reviews on this site.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buy the SC-HT900 instead!!!
Review: For $100 more you get the SC-HT900 with more power and better quality tower speakers which does not require stands. Stands will cost atleast an extra $50 a pair and that'll make up for the price difference. The digital input is the main reason to go for the SC-HT900. Unlike the SC-HT700, you can enjoy surround sound with gaming systems, direct TV or digital cable.

The SC-HT900 cost around $499 in major retailers and just recently it droped down between $399-$450 to be more competitive. But what a bargin, this systems sounds as good if not better than most of the overprices $1000+ systems offered by Bose, Yamaha, Sony, etc.


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