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Panasonic DVD-RP56 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

Panasonic DVD-RP56 Progressive-Scan DVD Player

List Price: $279.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best DVD player out there
Review: I have tried at least 5 DVD players from Sony, Philips, APEX, and others, before finally settling on this great DVD player. It is simply the best. I am using this with a 61" HD Sony TV.

The panasonic DVDs in General have proved to provide the best picture and sound quality. But this model, with progressive scan, takes the picture to a far better dimension. The picture is truly unbelievable. the best you can find out there.

The mp3 playback is also excellent. it hasnt failed me on a single file yet. Even files i failed to run on systems like the APEX DVD player, and even some speciality mp3 players.

If you are out shopping for a DVD player, you wont find anything better than this one

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best I have seen
Review: I have two other DVD players but once we purchase this
panasonic RP-56, to see the color the sharp picture it
gives I would give it the highest rating of any.
We paid a little more than I wanted too but once we saw
our first movie I was happy I spent the extra $25.00.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: [UPSET]
Review: I PURCHASED THIS DVD PLAYER, DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR. I WAS IMPRESSED WITH EVERYTHING EXCEPT ONE THING. WITHIN ONE MONTH MY SPINDLE MOTOR BROKE AND IT HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP FOR ABOUT 4 MONTHS NOW. I'M NOT IMPRESSED WITH HOW LONG IT IS TAKING TO FIX THIS SMALL PART.

I JUST THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Broken
Review: I purchased this product in December and two months later it was broken. It no longer ejects or plays DVD's. The picture quality was good, the sound quality was good, durability is horrible, customer service was horrible.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A. Nonymous
Review: I recently purchased this player because I wanted a progressive scan player, but didn't want to pay a lot.
For the price I was amazed at the picture quality. Even without using the progressive scan and with an S-video cable, the quality far exceeds my old (and still very reliable Toshiba SD1200) player. I was really impressed with the zoom function to make widescreen movies fit 4:3 TV's; there is no degradation of picture and no pixels that I see if I use the zoom function on the old player.

The sound is a little lower than the old player, but with the optical output using PCM, it does sound fuller (I am still trying to find which is better, PCM or bitstream for Dolby 5.1). DTS sound is excellent.
The only drawback is the setup is a little funky and I haven't seen a screen saver if you leave it paused for more than 10 minutes.

In all, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality and functionality of this player. I have several Panasonic electronic devices, and they haven't disappointed me yet.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Fine at first,, but now having issues
Review: I recieved this DVD player in 12/2001 for a Christmas Gift. Everything has been mostly great up until 2 months ago. It was spectacular at playing DVDs and I also loved the MP3 playback capability and standard CD playback. For some reason, the player is now unable to play MP3 discs or standard CDs. It will play one or two songs and then seemingly get "hung up" at random places on the discs. Inserting a DVD cleaning disc into the unit resulted in an "HO5" error message, and these "HO" errors seem to be quite common here. While it will still play DVDs fine, I'm wondering if they are next on the list of non-playable items.
This player lasted just shy of 3 years. I'm thinking of getting the Panasonic 5 CD/DVD changer unit with extended warranty. I think Panasonic relies on the guy or gal that plays CDs and DVDs only a few times a year, rather than someone like me who will play 5-10 a week, depending. Overall I'm happy, as the sound and picture are great, but would recommended getting extended service on these Panasonic items.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Small but mighty!
Review: I upgraded from the previous 310 model Panasonic DVD player and am absolutely amazed by the performance of this little machine. While the actual box is a bit smaller and lighter than the previous Panasonic I owned, the machine itself is much better. The progressive-scan output on component video is truly the best I've ever seen. I am currently using it on the new 34" Sony wide-screen HDTV and I can't imagine a better picture. The colors are clear and crisp, the optical sound output is bright and lively. The menus are clear and attractive and seem to be programmed better for 16:9 tvs. The previous model had some distortion in the menus because it did not seem to output them in amamorphic wide-screen. While I'm not sure if the menus on the new model are anamorphic, they certainly look much better on a wide-screen tv.

The manual warns that there may be compatibility issues with progressive-scan output, but even on my non-Panasonic TV, I did not have to do the adjusting solution. It worked like a charm from the very first try. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon blew my socks off!

While the previous version did not have too much trouble with layer changes, it still had trouble with a few disks. This new model, on the other hand, handles the most problematic disks I had with great success. Fear and Loathing in Las Vagas, for example, used to pause almost 3 seconds (and sometimes froze). Now it switched layers with lightning speed.

Another great feature is the MP3 playback capability. With this feature, I can play mp3 disks which can hold around 600+ minutes of cd-quality music. Very useful for parties or entertaining, where I can stick in a CDR of my own make and not worry about changing the cds during the evening.

My only complaint, and it is a very small one, is that the remote is not as nice as the previous models. All the buttons are visible from the get-go, whereas the previous model's had a nice little flap that covered the lesser used buttons. Also, the buttons must be pressed a bit harder than the previous model's. Nevertheless, this is a very small complaint considering the great performance of the component.

All in all, for the money, this is a fantastic progressive-scan dvd. Given how expensive similar models were a year ago, it is clear that this technology is evolving to a cheaper production method with great success.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Does the Job
Review: I'm no techie. All I want from a DVD player is a steady picture and a nice stereo sound. This does the job. It has only two shortcomings of which I'm aware: There's no volume control; my TV remote does fine; and machine displays disc time remaining only on VCDs and CDs, not DVDs. This is somewhat annoying, and had I known it I might have opted for another player. Otherwise, I'm pleased.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Symply stunning!!!
Review: It is amazing how so cheap a player is able to give so stunning picture. But we know the little secret. The Sage-Faroudjia deinterlacing chip is inside, giving you state-of-the-art progressive scan technology at an affordable price. (...)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: HO2 Error - Like Everyone Else
Review: Just like everyone else, I had the Panasonic for one year trouble free and then HO2 error and it is a doorstop.

They should have to recall this product. This error code is all over the Internet. Everyone is having this problem.

I cannot recommend Panasonic for this reason.


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