Apex AD-1200 DVD Player

Rating:
Summary: Spend another dollar and pass on this... player.
Review: Unfortunately, I jumped on the APEX bandwagon with both arms and legs. I bought THREE players. One for the master bedroom, living room and the kid's room. In doing so, I wanted to save a buck. Unfortunately, I should have spent the couple extra dollars it would have taken to get into any other brand.
Of the three players, (2 AD500's and this AD-1200), ALL of them had one problem or another right out of the box. Both AD500 series had to go to the shop to be re-aligned. The AD-1200 was the worst. When I received it, the digital display was not functioning properly. I thought, big deal. I bought it to play DVDs, not for the pretty leds. Then, the problems started. ALL movies began to skip, drag and hang up. One time, the door (with three of my DVDs still inside) would not open. Would you send back your DVD player for service with three of your DVDs inside? Me neither. One DVD out of three with damage, I can understand. Two, MAYBE if I am that unlucky. But, THREE IN A ROW? Come on. There must be NO Quality Assurance at this plant. And if there is, someone needs to be beating the pavement looking for a new job.
I gave it two stars instead of one star because all units did boot. :)
Steer WAY clear of Apex brand electronics folks. Spend the dollar and get a little better unit. I'm replacing all these DVD players with different brands myself. If you're interested in used DVD players at a good price, talk to me.

Rating:
Summary: Shoddy Product - Don't Waste Your Money.
Review: I bought one of these on sale for [money] at a local retailer, and man...it's not even worth that. The door is nothing but thin plastic attached with a spring--it breaks immediately (literally as I took it out of the box, that door snapped off); the player's a strange shape, deeper than it is wide, so that it sticks out of most standard-sized entertainment centers; and then the actual processor must be so slow that it cannot actually obey commands. It "thinks" for several seconds after every command, and provided a very glitchy, choppy scan a number of my discs.

...

Rating:
Summary: Little player that maybe can
Review: There are many incarnations of this player depending on the build date. Earlier players were capable of playing DVD, VCD, SVCD, JPG, Kodak, MP3, and CDs. Newer (after 4/2002) units have lost the VCD capability. Older units had defeatable macrovision and region code. The newer units no longer have that choice. Sound and picture quality is average to somewhat below average. Unit has no alphanumeric display. My unit has played all formats without problem (have not tested Kodak CDs). Worst feature of this player is the weak remote. Remote control must be used within ~10' of the player and no more than 10 deg or so off axis (you have to be directly in front of the unit) for it to work.

Update:
It is now 8 months after purchase of the unit and the machine is on the way out. It no longer plays most DVDs and kind of plays other formats with much seeking of the head. From now on, I'll stick with name brands. Considering small price difference, I'd rather have the reliability, better design, and less frustration.

Rating:
Summary: Poor product
Review: I opened "Fellowship of the Ring" and my new Apex AD-1200 DVD player on the same evening and found that the machine paused the playback every 10 seconds or so. It made the movie unwatchable.

Rating:
Summary: Even cheaper at the store
Review: I went on-line and was already convinced about the price. Then I went to a [local] store and found it for [price]!!!! Can't beat this price (sorry Amazon folks :o)
So far it is working fine. The box obviously has limitations (no display, limits to viewing 200 jpgs, the manual seems not accurate) but it does what is supposed to do. Oh, I also noticed a pause during DVD playback. Apparently it happens when there is a layer change in the DVD. But I can leave with that.
I also suggest a look at this website: [URL]
Lot's of interesting info about apex products.

Cheers

Rating:
Summary: Simple. Inexpensive. So why is it such a good player?
Review: I don't know why in the world Apex has decided to sell these units at such a great price, but they're very much worth it. I have a simple taste, and wanted a DVD player that wasn't all strung out on features and innovations, just one with simple quality. Well, this one is it. Very easy to use, unbelievable picture and sound quality, incredible price. I've had mine for only a few days, so I can't attest to duribility, but another similar Apex player was used for illustrative films in my college French 3 & 4 courses over a 1-year period, and it worked beautifully the entire time in the classroom. I would have to recommend this product to anyone who just wants to watch DVD's without spending a fortune on the player itself.

Rating:
Summary: Don't make the same mistake!!!
Review: ... I made the mistake of buying this about 2 months ago. Being a novice to DVDs, I thought it was working OK until it would not correctly play almost every letterbox DVD I tried. ...

Rating:
Summary: Easy to use, sturdy, and good playback.
Review: This is a well built unit with lots of extra features. Includes all the cables, full-featured remote, and batteries. I hesitate to say this is a good unit "for the price," because I think it would be good even at a much higher price. I have not had any problems with the playback or quality of picture, both of which are excellent. The unit has a minimum number of buttons on the front, making it very simple to operate. Bottom line: This is a good full-featured fool-proof dvd player.

Rating:
Summary: Great product for the price
Review: Had no problems with DVD playback.. photo_jeff's review says he had problems with DVD Playback. the problem arises only when you connect the dvd player to the TV via a VCR. It is the copy protection on the DVD that causes the fluctuation and has nothing to do with the dvd player. try connecting your dvd player directly to the TV..

Rating:
Summary: DVD playback flawed
Review: The MP3 and CD playback of this player are great, but its main function, DVD playback, is worthless. I have tried two of these players (did an exchange), and both have a flaw in which during DVD playback, the video constantly fluctuates from bright to dark, with increased saturation while dark. I know this is the fault of the player because the menu and "screensaver" modes do not present any fluctuation. Also, I made sure I was playing Region 1 coded DVDs to be certain of compatibility.

Perhaps the store where I purchased the player received a bum shipment, and I'm not saying you shouldn't try it out yourself. Just make sure all the features work before you throw away the receipt.