Panasonic SC-MT1 DVD-Audio/DVD-Video Home Theater System

Rating:
Summary: Stay away from Panasonic!
Review: Customer Service - the Panasonic website claims this is very important to them. I had my home theater only 3-4 months when a VCR tape got stuck. I has now been at the service center for almost 4 months! When I am lucky enough to get a response from Panasonic (which is rare), they make promises of completion and/or replacement. But promises won't play the DVD's my family would have liked to watch together over the holidays. When we finally got through to the customer service center on the phone, they had the nerve to hand up on us twice. IF YOU WANT A COMPANY TO STAND BEHIND THEIR PRODUCTS - STAY AWAY FROM PANASONIC!!! I have truly given up hope of even getting my home theater back from the Panasonic service center.


Rating:
Summary: Buyer beware
Review: If you purchase this product, I hope you are completely satisfied. It is my opinion that the reliability of Panasonic products has slipped in recent years, and this was confirmed to me when a product I purchased quickly failed. The reason I'm posting this is to warn you that the warranty that accompanies Panasonic products only has value if the company chooses to stand behind it. In my case, they weaseled out of it, leaving me with a total loss and no further recourse. Good luck with your decision.

Rating:
Summary: good for the price
Review: The Panasonic Home Theater System is the best bang for your buck. The only negative drawback to this system is that it is not to be used as a digital amplifier for external systems - however it will do a single L/R analogue input no problem. So if you want to hook your television, hi-fi or games console, into this unit then it will have to be done via an analogue line. This means if you are looking for an amplifier for several inputs from other sound sources then THIS IS NOT FOR YOU and at the price it is clear that the item is intended for limited purposes and is not a full blown digital IN/OUT sound system (be prepared to pay the $600 + mark for these types of systems that are only for advanced system setups). Although no true digital input is achievable you can always choose a digital OUT to analogue IN cable as an addition. However when all said and done I have my PS2 and TV hooked up to this box using analogue connections and it is fine and works but really the heart of this package is in the DVD player's quality and the SOUND.

The item has 3 front speakers, 2 surround and a woofer. The sound is sublime for the price. The picture quality is well above average and the functionality is pretty outstanding. The system is simple to setup (took me 20 minutes out of the box) and can play nearly every DVD disc format (including MP3, CD-R, CD-RW) and has several sound formats to choose from (DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Surround and Stereo). Also each sound format has several variations for room shapes and sizes. You can also adjust the levels of each speaker individually. The unit then gives you multiple options for screen sizes, playback types, picture quality etc. In short there is nothing this player is missing except for maybe some advanced features like zooming in on frames. If you are looking for an out-of-box home DVD theatre system then this is the package to get. The tower also looks funky and the ejection system is beautiful. I would encourage those who are looking for a good DVD system and who do not want to spend unreal sums of money to give this one a try. It is far from disappointing.

Pros:
1) Great Sound and a very nice speaker system to boot.
2) Multiple sound formats and disc types can be played back on the unit.
3) The DVD player has multiple options to choose from.
4) The quality of the DVD image beats the XBOX or PS2 any day.

Cons:
1)Load up times take a few seconds.
2)No true digital in/out.

However for some reason I prefered the design of the Panasonic SC-DM3 Home Theater System and think it might even be a little better.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely GREAT!!!!
Review: We bought this 6 months ago and so far we love it! It's a perfect compact home theater, great technology and sound in a stylish and space-saving box. It goes great with our flat-screen TV and surround and DTS are awesome! I think this is a fantastic deal if you are looking for a good-quality system for a small space (we live in the city in a 1BR).