Apex AD-1600 DVD Player
By: Apex Average Rating: 2.5 Total Reviews: 136
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 On: 2008-08-10
This thing was great when it was working. Played all sort of formats for its day and was relatively compact. Then after a year or so, the damn thing started acting up with freezing and skipping and eventually it gave out. There are plenty of hacks for it, but with prices so low for a new DVD player, its not even worth your time to play with it. I didnt try to repair it, instead it was replaced by a Philips DVD player which could play DivX MPG4 too.
 On: 2005-08-11
Shortly after buying this DVD player, it stopped working. Was not able to fix the problem and attempted to contact the manufacturer for repair/replacement options. Was EXTREMELY difficult to locate contact information for the company via the web and even harder to get someone from APEX on the phone. I eventually gave up and tossed the equipment into the trash. It was a great price when I initially purchased it, but as the saying goes, "you get what you pay for".
On: 2004-07-10
I bought it about a year and a half ago and experienced the same problem as the previouds guy. I did not have ANY problems with it at all. But now, it simpply stopped working. I thought it was the a/v cables, but wasnt. When I put in a DVD, it says its "playing" but no video. The time counter starts too! JUST NO VIDEO. Frustrated, I came online and found a bunch of these reviews. Big reget.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-05-20
Ive had this unit for about a year and a half, never had any of the problems as noted by other users (door problems, no-disc errors, etc) but now it simply stopped working. The power light comes on but nobodys home.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-14
Many people here have complained about this player not being able to play VCDs. It seems that for this particular model after early april 2003, Apex decided not to support VCDs. However, after August Apex again suporrted VCDs again. I for one got stuck with one that was made during this gap and was shocked to find out when i did. However, one can fix this problem by going to a site called "Nerd-out" (do a search on google). Now my player plays VCD wonderfully. However, this will void warranty!Another problem that many have complained is about the "No-Disc" error after running the player for about a month. This can also be corrected folowing the instructions at the site mentioned above. Again this procedure voids warranty!! Seems like a laser alignment issue. This player can be great if one is wiling to put in work to make it function properly. I however would recommend the Norcent DP300 if you want something less troublesome and from my own personal experience have yet to experience any problem with.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-12
I got this for christmas 2004. Played 5 DVDs on it and started to get the "No Disk" reading. I only had it for 1 month. I sent it back and they are replacing it since it is under warranty but they are replacing it with a different model. We will see if it has the same problems. According to reviews of the 1700m model I expect the same. I suggest you spend a little more money and get a better DVD Player.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-09
Lasted for exactly under one year, after barely using it at all.
Now its having disc and door problems, like everyone elses.
On: 2004-01-25
My Apex AD-1600 worked great on DVDs, VCDs, MP3s, and WMA disks. After less than 200 hours use (but more than one year), it gives "no disc" error for any disk. For people with "no disc" error, try this fix (worked for me):
CAUTION - possible electrical or laser hazard - CAUTION http://www.soundreproduction.com/discussion/home_theater/messages/885.html
by: Anonymous On: 2004-01-20
I received this DVD player as a gift for Christmas 2002, so Ive had it for roughly 13 months. My parents had given my sister the same model, so weve actually had two of this item to look at comparatively. About 6 or 7 months after getting the players, the picture on hers began rolling and the color began fading in and out, from normal to very dark and back again. I havent encountered any problems with mine up until now, and that is just recently noticing that every so often when playing a disc the motor sound that so many of you mentioned will come up and last for 5 or 10 minutes. Its bearable for now, but after reading all of these bad reviews (and seeing that most of these same things happened with my sisters player), I feel safe in assuming this is only the beginning of my problems with this player. Im not even going to wait to see what else goes wrong with it--Im in the market for a new DVD player. My advice is, the so-called reputable brands arent always the greatest either, but when a product gets this many negative comments, you can bet its not worth the money.
On: 2004-01-06
Like most of the other people who bought this piece of junk it quit working after a few months. You put a disk in and there is a loud noise and a bunch of colors jumping across the screen and everything is frozen. I will be throwing it in the trash and buying a reputable brand.
On: 2004-01-05
I bought the older version of this model and a month later I had to send it to the manufacture to have it repaired. I got it back and it no longer played VCDs because the new model didnt. I argued with APEX for two weeks. Finally they agreed to fix it like the original. I still had to pay for shipping again. They couldnt seem to comprehend why they should have to pay for shipping when I was having the same problem fixed. They have some real dopes in their service department. Anyway this thing is broke again. I give up, buying the new Samsung. Later APEX.
On: 2003-12-22
After a few months, not even 3, this machine has stopped reading DVDs, after reading these reviews, I was wondering if anyone has considered a class action law suit against this company.. I have gone on their website, and cannot find a phone number to contact them that is toll free.. GUESS IT WOULD COST THEM AN ARM AND A LEG SINCE EVERYONE WILL BE CALLING EVENTUALLY..
by: Anonymous On: 2003-12-08
When I came to college this room my room was lacking a DVD player. So I started looking around on Amazon and came across this model. The price was great. My parents have an Apex DVD player that works like a charm. So in early fall, I bought this one. Now, three months later, ironically just as the parts and labor warantee runs out, it has ceased all usable operation entirely. Weve had to start using a friends PS2 to watch movies. On top of that, Ive tried various methods of getting ahold of Apex so they can maybe fix the problem but nothing has worked. The phone line is always busy. I emailed them almost three weeks ago and havent heard from them. I submitted my problem through their website a week ago and havent heard from them even though its only supposed to take a few days. So now Im out sixty dollars and have a DVD player that doesnt work at all.
On: 2003-12-07
If I *COULD* give this player zero stars, I would, because this is by far the worst DVD player I have ever dealt with.By buying this player, you choose:
-poor quality
-lots of frustration
-cheap workmenship
-unreliable playtime
-an unreliable remote Not only does this DVD player not work 90% of the time, the 10% of the time it does, it fails to recognize options on menus or that the movie is actually playing. It slows down to a stop during dramatic sequences (funny how it cant be a transition when it choses to stop) and ruins an otherwise nice movie night. Make no mistake, it was not my doing to purchase this player, but rather, my ill-educated father. I had already heard the stories, I had hoped they were wrong, but they werent, and weve all been more than frustrated with the situation. Please, save yourself $45 dollars and pass this by![] Thank you.
On: 2003-12-05
My mother-in-law surprised me on our 5 year olds birthday with one of these gems. This is by far the worst DVD player on the market. We went through (returned) two of thee before I just gave up. Problems include not being able to load the disk, loading drawer falling off hinge, and loud motor noise when running disk. I would say 80% to 90% of the time the device wouldnt even recognize there was a disk in the device and if it did it would take 10 to 15 minutes to even start the disk. Dont bother. Youre paying for what you get in this particular case.
On: 2003-12-03
Thought this seemed too cheap but thought Id give it a shot as it works with so many formats. Unfortunately, the machine is a piece of junk. Takes a long time to read disc, door jams, and after just 2 weeks would just whirrr and vibrate. I used it only 6 times all told. I should have spent the money on a better machine in the first place. ...
On: 2003-12-01
I bought my unit, seduced by the very low price, and despite online warnings of spotty quality control at Apex. Well, now Im sorry. This unit has trouble digesting DVDs from many different sources; local video rentals, brick&mortar store purchases, online merchant purchases. It doesnt seem to matter the source, this player will often (very often) not be able to play the disc -- or even *find* the disk.I thought, before I bought it, "What am I risking?" Well, the purchase price as it turns out, minimal as that was. Also, the frustration of getting home with a rental and getting stuck, unable to watch it. Save your money. Buy a brand name. The Panasonic player that came with a theater-in-a-box I bought last year has been flawless.
On: 2003-11-27
I got this DVD player free with an APEX television (...). A friend of mine has an APEX DVD player but a different one and it has always worked perfectly fine, so I thought this was a good deal. Yeah, not so much. It worked fine for the first month and a half or so, but I noticed some rattling and very strange noises when it would play a DVD. Then, I noticed that it would freeze and skip frames on perfectly good cds. Next thing I know, it wont read any of my DVDs, no matter which ones I put in. Im giving up on this piece of junk and getting a new one in a couple of days.
DO NOT BUY THIS DVD PLAYER! YOURE WASTING YOUR TIME AND MONEY!!
 On: 2003-11-26
I got this DVD player for free (with the purchase of an APEX TV), so I wasnt too concerned with the many negative reviews I read about it. Needless to say, after using this DVD player frequently over the last four months, I have not experienced any problems with it. As some other reviews stated, the buttons on the remote are a little too small but thats only a very minor inconvenience. The one problem I do have with this DVD player is that I cannot turn it off with the remote no matter how I angle the remote. However, I quickly got used to this and until writing this review I havent even thought about it. The bottom line is Im happy with my APEX DVD player.
On: 2003-10-29
i bougt an apexad1600 second hand for more then one year ago its on every day and works perfect but you have to use once a month special lens clean set and there is no problem i have more dvd players and this one works perfect
by: Anonymous On: 2003-10-12
we have had this machine for 10 months, and it refuses to play any movie DVD, including brand new ones. Support is not helpful either, and have waited several weeks for them to get back to me. Avoid this product!
On: 2003-10-06
I gave this 5 stars at first. It worked great and had a wonderful picture -- at a great price.Now that we have had it a year, it recognizes less than half the disks we give it, otherwise showing the "No Disc" error. Now that its below $50, it might be worth it if you think of it as a rental.
On: 2003-10-06
Actually i was deceived with this Player , i asked a friend of mine who lives in the Gulf region to buy me a Decent and good priced DVD player due to the fact of the high prices of the DVD players in my country ( that was from about an year and half , they are suitable priced now ) and he got me this DVD player .It worked very fine at first with a very Clear picture and good sound , and played all the Audio,Pictures and Audio CDs , and then things started to get a dark turn , some movies was played in very poor performance but others played fine , and then the main problem came when it started indicating the iritating message (No Disk) upon inserting any DVD , i kept trying with it and sometimes it displayed the above message and other times didnt and then for more darker turn it started making strange noises when loading the DVDs with rattling noises , i started searching for some place to fix it and here comes the great surprise....APEX doesnt have a customer service or Authrized Agent not only in The middle east but also in Europe!! and i have read on several web sites that they have very costly Maintainance operations ,and i was stuck with it . It seems that APEXs desire to produce a player which plays all those formats with a very low price resulted in such poor performance and manufacturing for the DVD unit , needles to say i had to open the case to fix it myself and to clean the DVD lens and i was struck by the Cheap looking parts that structured into it , now it works fine for a while and then starts to disfunction again and i do the repair myself ( i have learnt how to do it myself and fix the NO DISK problem but i cant post it here ) . So this APEX DVD Player is Good while its working , but if it starts to have problems and you are out of the Gurantee Period or you are living outside the US you have to fix it yourself ot go and buy some decent player like Sony,LG or Toshiba , and dont ever be deceived by the cheap prices when buying HI TECH devices .
On: 2003-10-04
Picked this unit up at Best Buy here in Canada about six months ago as a spare DVD player in the family room. This unit may have played a total of ten DVDs before the only thing it could display was "NO DISC". I thought no big deal take it back for repair /replace @ Best Buy. They informed me to call Apex, day 1 sat on hold for 30 min before gave up so I sent an email to customer service, day 2 no response to e-mail, day 3 no response to e-mail, day 4 no response to e-mail so I called back and only waited 20 min this time before an Apex support tech in formed me of the following:They will repair the unit for $39.95US (about $60 CAN)
But you must ship it to them in Ontario California?????
So you would be looking at $30US return (about $45 CAN) Quick math that is $105 CAN to repair a unit that cost $89.99 CAN? ****APEX IS TO BE AVOIDED **** Next time I will spend the extra $20 to get a reputable name brand unit. Very disappointed in both APEX and Best Buy for offering this garbage to the public.
On: 2003-09-05
I bought this about 6 months ago. I now have it in mothballs, since I started getting the dread, "no disk" message periodically.When it works, it often sounds like a Mack Truck, but not always. Wasnt able to figure out the source of the terrible vibration noise. Overall quality is poor, and I would avoid this beast.
On: 2003-08-26
My machine is extremely, annoyingly, noisy! Ive never owned a dvd player before, but I just cant imagine people having to tolerate that background flutter. On some disks, the picture "locks up" momentarily quite often. This too is quite annoying. I returned the machine to my local dealer and he replaced it with a new one, but I dont have a lot of hope for this new machine.
On: 2003-08-22
I was enticed by the price of my machine. I was $... and some change, small and space saving, and the shiny silver coloring which matched my bedroom made me think that this was perfect. Well I purchased my dvd player in November of 2002 and as of 8/19/2003, Im back to watching tapes. I am very disappointed in this item. As others have stated, the pictures started freezing, and with one movie, I had no sound. I will never buy an Apex item again and will recommend to others not to either.
APEX (Affordable-Pretty-Enticing-X-Ray needed)
Thanks for listening to me vent.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-08-20
i purchased the apex 1600 last summer and it worked pretty good for 11 months suddenly it would not track ANY disc audio or video. this is the dvd player version of the disposable camera.after i write this, i`m throwing it in the garbage.DONT BUY THIS PRODUCT!
On: 2003-08-18
Dont know how long it will last. Out of the box, I tried & found that it cannot play VCD, but it plays SVCD though. I just cannot beleive there is an DVD player today that cannot play VCD. Look the descriptions, it does not say it plays VCD. Dont assume.Picture & sound quality are Ok (just average) I found remote control & set up menu ... are easy to use actually. Kind of noisy when opening /closing the tray. Plays DVD, SVCD, MP3, CDR, DVDR OK. No play VCD. Did not try other type
by: Anonymous On: 2003-08-11
I am not happy with this product. I have had my DVD Player for about 9 months, and about 6 months into it, it had trouble recognizing there was a DVD in the player. It may be cheap, but you get what you pay for. Please save yourself a headache and get a different DVD player
On: 2003-08-08
Like some of the other reviews, my unit had disc recognition problems. Unlike others, my problems began from day one and ended on day 5, when it refused to eject a DVD. Fortunately, I had bought it at an actual store, and the service department had to dismantle the player to retrieve the disc. Needless to say, I wouldnt recommend this unit at any price.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-08-03
I have not used any Apex brand electronics, so I dont have opinion about this. But my Sony DVD player stop working at less than two years, at three times of this price.
On: 2003-07-25
The product will work fine for 10 months and then it will stop reading any disc you put in.
You decide to call the Service and you can get only email support.
In the email they will suggest you to give a call to their support line -1-866-427-3946 or (909) 930-1239 .
During non business hours you will get a recorded message and lucky you during the actual business hours you will not get even that message.It is always engaged, I am trying everyday to sort out this issue but in vain.
Yes you get this product for less but hey that is what you get in return I guess.
Bad Choice.
I am gonna spend some more money and get a Quality one.
On: 2003-06-27
Dont bother with this brand. The worst reliability, no support, 90-day warranty makes this a product you will be replacing in short order.....somehow this company has figured out how to make normally reliable electronics work for 4 months only before ceasing functionality.
On: 2003-06-23
I bought this as a nice, small DVD player for a decent price. It worked fine up until about a month ago when it started having small pauses on some movies (new discs, no scratches) and then, this week it starts rolling the screen on my tv (tried multiple ones). I also had one of their 5131 3 disc changers that the remote died on for no apparent reason, Circuit City said it was out of warranty but they gave me one of the single disc changer remotes, with limited functionality, for free.Dont buy Apex, its junk!
by: Anonymous On: 2003-06-19
This is a very poor DVD player.no wonder why they sell it for this low price . The Sound output is bad and the Picture often freezes ( something like a PC hangs up) and frames get skipped, most of the times i get a no disc message when i pop in a dvd/cd i have to open/close the tray number of times before its plays the disc sometimes i have to Swith off/On the player to make it work ,its very frustating i dont think they invested any money on quality control bcoz the first piece i got the disc tray would not open at all i had to return it and get another one Id go with a major name brand next time.
On: 2003-05-22
Lesson learned: if it seems too good to be true, it is. I was enticed by the shiny silver case, the promise of being able to play everything from DVDs to MP3s to JPGs, and most importantly the insanely low price of this DVD player. Things seemed askew from the get-go; every time I played a DVD or a CD, the player seemed to rattle and I could hear the disc spinning inside. That was my first red flag, but convinced that I had saved money in the long run, I put up with it. Fast forward to 3 months later...it still rattles, but only until it completely freezes up and refuses to play. What good is a DVD player that wont play? No good! My advice is to save your money for a reliable piece of equipment from a reputable manufacturer.
On: 2003-05-18
Well, it sounded good, the price was good, but it only lasted 5 months before it suddenly no longer plays DVDs OR MP3 audio CDs. It still manages to play regular audio CDs, but I can hear the play mechanism inside grinding a bit. I have another DVD player, a JVC, and it has lasted 2 years with no problems. The warranty on the AD 1600 is 90 days labor, 1 year limited parts. I see many similar bad reviews of this product... All I will say is that this was the first, and will be the last Apex product I buy.
It managed to play every media type it claimed to, but 5 months???
On: 2003-05-12
The subject of my review pretty much sums it up... but here are the details; I got this about 8 or 9 months ago, and it worked ok (not great) for about 5 months. Now, its almost impossible to watch a movie. If youve ever seen a video game slow down and start freaking out cause too many things are on screen, then youve seen what this DVD player does to movies. spend an extra $50 or $100 and get a real DVD player, then you wont be stuck with buying a new one entirely... like I am.
On: 2003-05-01
As I have seen in several of the reviews, my machine worked great for about 6 months and then began to have problems reading discs, opening and closing, etc. Skip this DVD player and go for something a bit more expensive. It will save you in the long run.
On: 2003-04-02
We purchased the Apex 1600 at Christmas as an additional dvd player in our home, after being very satisfied with the Apex 1500 (its prior generation and its still working). Right after expiration of the 90 day warranty, however, the 1600 no longer plays movies. In fact, it cant recognize whether or not a dvd is in the player anymore. We did have warning signs from the start--a loud, mechanical whirring noise that was at times louder than the movie itself. If yours is making this noise and is still under warranty, contact the company and get it repaired. Otherwise, you will need to send it back to Apex and they will charge you $39 for repairs. We, instead, have decided to spend more and purchase a better DVD player.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-03-29
I have owned this DVD/CD player for a couple of months. This product is fundamentally flaced. The majority of the time, the door does not open, whether there is a disc in the player or not. Turning it off does not make a difference, it just will not stop spinning. Its tough to play a DVD when you cannot get the disc into (or out of) the player.Additionally, on some discs, sometimes, near the end it starts to lock up the image. Obviously, the laser does not oversample enough to track the inside of the discs accurately. I paid for this, and it was wasted. Circuit City refused to accept it back, saying it was a typical problem with cheap DVD players. So, you are warned. In this case, you get what you pay for.
On: 2003-03-28
I bought this on the merit of the five star review. The player works extremely well and can even be taken off and hooked up to another tv very quickly, with no problem. The person who claims the machine has trouble recognizing theres a disc inside is correct -- mine does skip and claim " no disc" on its screen perhaps once out of every 15 times I play a disc. I open the drawer and close it again and have no further problems. Also, if the player is even a tiny bit un-level, the picture breaks up into large pixels. If the player gets worse with age, I dont know that yet. I still consider it a good value, and wouldnt return it, but then again, as the other reviewer says, you may not be able to get the company to accept a return, and thats no fun.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-03-25
Works fine with DVDs and CDs. I actually bought it to replace an old CD player and the DVD thing is a bonus. Have had it 5 days. No problem so far. The remote is not well designed and has lots of small buttons.
On: 2003-03-23
It is a very absic DVD player. Works just fine. I bought a set for my parents and this was their first player. I hooked them up in 10 minutes and showed them how to operate it. It works just fine. Simple, economical and no frills set. The added benefit is that it plays all kins of formats. They now watch digital pictures that we burn on CDs using the dvd player. It is a great buy for a first time dvd player owner who just wanta basic product that can play dvds.
On: 2003-03-22
We actually received this player as part of a promotion and thankfully didnt have to pay any money for it. It worked fine for about a month and then began "freezing" in the middle of movies. Eventually, it got to the point where it would not recognize any discs we loaded including brand new previously unplayed DVDs. After inserting a given disc ten times, it might finally read it, but usually froze every 30 minutes or so. It especially has problems with discs from Netflix...
On: 2003-03-18
It can properly play DVD, CD, MP3. But it seems it cannot play VCD or SVCD. The video and audio is ok for me, because I only have quite poor TV.Howeve, it have no clock on it. And when playing some disks, itll make some annoying noise.
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But right after 30 days I received it, it could not play any disk. When I inserted a disk, it just showed "No Disc", and refused to work. And, also, because it is after 30 days, I cannot return it back to Amazon. Really a poor quality product.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-03-12
The first 10 or so DVDs played fine. Now every disc I play skips. If I drop the disc in without cleaning it first its especially bad, often not even recognizing the disc. After cleaning the disc I can watch the movie; however, it always skips somewhere during the film (usually during the "edge of the seat" parts)...
On: 2003-03-11
I purchased this DVD player more than 4 months ago and so far I havent had any problems playing DVDs or VCD/SVCDs Ive purchased and burned myself. The material they used for the exterior and bottom has a very cheap feel to it, but you get what you pay for and Im very happy it works with everything I throw at it. There are a lot of bad reviews so I guess it is hit or miss.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-03-06
I have a lower level model than this one but it works just fine for the price you cant beat it. I have read a couple of the reviews for this item and see that some of you havent been able to get your import VCDs to work. There is a reason for that other than "Apex sucks" which of course is not true. There could be a possibility that the VCDs you are trying to view are in a foreign TV format, which is called PAL. American TV sets use the NTSC standard and will not display the PAL format thus you would have to convert your PAL VCDs to NTSC. Learn more at VCDhelp.com and yes the Apex is cheap but I have watched many a VCD, SVCD and DVD with no issues. The higher end manufactures cost a whole lot more and do a whole lot less.
On: 2003-03-06
I should have read reviews before I purchased....I just received this I opened up the package hooked it up and the DVD door did not open! The remote looks ancient and the DVD looks cheap. I didnt expect the best but I did expected it to work. I had to return. It will be worth spending a little more money for better brand. DOnt gamble on this you will loose. I did.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-02-25
Should have listened to others reviews. This player does not play VCDs bought from China.(It displays "No Disk"). Other players from Sony, Toshiba and Apex AD-2500 all play at least. Hello...? I thought this player is "made in China" ? I end up with buying Apex AD-2500 and Sony 315 players instead. Dont buy this one if you ever think you need to play VCD (dont buy Toshiba either, for other playing VCD issues).
On: 2003-02-13
Just like the Customer from Ill., I Purchased the Apex AD-1600 spent the time in hooking it all up, as my 4 year old sat in anticipation I push the button to open the tray to except the Disney DVD that we purchased to watch & nothing happened, try telling a 4 year old that the DVD doesnt work & well have to send it back, Im still trying to return it to Apex & Im getting the runaround, THANKS APEX FOR A WONDERFUL PRODUCT!!!!
On: 2003-02-13
What a piece of junk after 3 hours trying to get the tray to open found it wont read any kind of disc. Support is no help the only consolation is I get to see it smashed by the garbage truck. Dont waste your money on any player from apex, or as the company should be called DEFEX.
On: 2003-02-13
This DVD player is fine for someone on a budget, but it has a major design flaw. You have to manually push the "power" button on the unit to turn it on/off - as the power button on the remote is rather useless (you can turn the unit off, but not on with the remote). Its one of those power buttons that actually is raised when it is off, which reminds me of 1985 televisions. Otherwise, the unit is pretty good - it plays VCDs, MP3s, and pretty much everything in between. If you can deal with the irritating power button, get this unit - itll save you a good deal.
On: 2003-02-09
DVD player. After seting up all the connections and the menu, I pressed the button OPEN to insert the DVD and nothing happened. Obviously its defective. I tried to get hold of APEX; they dont have any skeleton crew available on weekends by phone or E-mail. I guess I will have to return this thing and get another brand.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-02-04
I think i got a couple from a bad lot,the two i had both are problematic.One made allot of noise while playing,the other was quiet but after a week or so stopped playing anything but dvds (no CDR CDRW oR PICTURE DISKS ETC)
 On: 2003-02-01
Bought this dvd player...have been very happy with its ability to play svcds and vcds found it to play most discs that more expensive players could not.If you are a multi-media d/l freak like I am youll love this player, the only thing I can fault this player is slow draw operation but you learn to deal with it. chris
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-31
This dvd player worked for a few month and broke. It would take more money to fix it then to buy a new one. Im very unhappy with this device.
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-30
The DVD player is ok, especially, if you dont know much about them and you need an introductory system. It should migrate to a secondary DVD player quickly. One thing to know is that you will probably need to spend an extra $25 if you have digital cable or your TV is a certain age in order to convert the DVD cables to coax.
On: 2003-01-18
I dont have anything negative to say about this! It is far better than our (much more expensive) JVC player. Image quality is great, and it reads disks quickly (avoiding the long lag time of some). And the price is hard to beat!
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-14
This was our first DVD player, and it seemed fine at first, though the sound was rather faint. Within 2 months, however, it refused to play any DVDs, giving the "no disk" message even when a disk was in the player. Because this problem arose within 90 days, Apex repaired the player for free, but it took them over SIX WEEKS. When Apex finally returned the player to us , there was a new problem: the disks tended to rattle very loudly. It can take 6 or 8 tries to get the machine to accept a disk and not rattle so loudly that the dialogue is inaudible. We have been so frustrated with this unreliable machine that weve ended up ordering a new one from a different manufacturer. Id concur with all the other buyers who advise: "dont waste your money!"
On: 2003-01-14
I just got this in the mail today. Got it hooked up and started playing a DVD.. I just love it!!! Great little machine for the DVD beginner(especially with children). Very easy to use.. This is sure a great buy.. Would highly recommend it...
by: Anonymous On: 2003-01-14
I too had trouble with this DVD player - it reads no disc when there a disc inside, it freezes the DVD and wont continue, the door sometimes doesnt open. Its [worthless]. I too would spend the extra money for a Sony or other more reliable name brand.
On: 2003-01-09
When it was hooked up there were lines accross the screen and everything sort of faded in and out. No matter what TV it was hooked up to and how many configurations I tried it basically comes down to this DVD player is a total disapointment
On: 2003-01-07
I just received my Apex AD-1600 today and I could not be more pleased! For the price you receive an excelent DVD player that can also play CDs (nothing new,)Video CDs, MP3s, WMAs, JPGs, and Kodak picture files. I have seen many DVD players for a lot more money that are not nearly as adaptable. The only downside I can see so far is that the disk drive is a little noisy. (I placed the player on a folded hand towel to help absorb some of the noise and that seems to have eliminated the problem.) So, if you are looking for a good machine for a low price grab this one!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-27
I do not recommend this item. When I received this DVD player it did not work right off hand. I cut it on put a disc in and it read "no disc", and then it was very hard to get the disc back out. It did not want to eject the disc. From now on I will stick with Sony although it might cost a bit more but my T.V., 2 DVD players, 3 VCRs, surround system, and playstations are doing just fine. I had bought it for a Christmas present, but WON"T EVER stray from Sony again!!!!
On: 2002-12-23
Bought this for a Christmas present and the door doesnt even open to put a dvd in.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-19
This box is great. I shouldve bought one a long time ago. Ive read the reviews that some people were not able to play VCDs but so far I havent had a single problem playing VCD, SVCD, DVD-R and all the other normal formats. Ive burned most of the VCD and SVCD on cheap CDR media and the DVD-R myself and have had no playback problems so far. The remote isnt very ergonomically designed and range isnt very good (you have to point it at the unit), but the price and performance of the unit overall is unbeatable.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-15
Should have read ALL reviews! Machine is a few months old and refuses to read any disc ... "No Disc" is all it says ... if you hit it, it catches and "might" read the DVD. Seems to be a pattern of [quitting] at over 90 days ... when the labor warranty expires which means the cost of repair is greater than buying a new one ... regardless of one year parts warranty! VERY disappointing!
On: 2002-12-12
Weve had this for three months of pretty heavy use and have had none of the problems others described in terms of "no disc" errors or noise. Its fine if you just need a basic DVD player.
On: 2002-12-10
I personally am not very picky about picture quality, with that said, the Apex 1600 player performs great. It plays everything I threw at, from MP3, VCD, to DVD....this players also plays DVDs from ALL regions which is the main reason I got it for. The built quality of the player itself is not bad for [its price], kinda stylish with its silver color. The player is also not very picky about the kinda of disc it plays, I had some skips while watching a VCD on a Samsung v1000, but the Apex had no problems. But from reading other reviews, there seems to be some inconsistencies with the quality of the DVD player. Overall: You get the most out of you money with this entry level DVD player.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-10
but so far I am quite satisfied. I cant imagine why anyone would spend more than 100 bucks on a DVD player with machines of this quality for this price.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-12-05
The company that sells the Apex brand of electronics is based in South Korea and designs its products in South Korea and manufactures them in other Asian countries with low labor costs. The DVD players are mostly manufactured in China, and they tend to promise a lot of features but have questionable design and build quality. The AD1600 out of the box seems a decent DVD player, if a bit flimsy looking, but after about 3 months it would give occasional, but annoying, "no disc" errors. I also cant get VCDs I bought in Asian shops to work in this model. Anyone else having similar problems?In the future I think Ill stick with Japanese brand names like Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Pioneer, and also European names like RCA (French) and Philips (Dutch), for better quality, which ultimately gives a better value.
On: 2002-12-04
It does not support VCD. I should have read other peoples review first....
On: 2002-11-27
I got this APEX dvd player for my daughter for her birthday. I felt this would be a good buy for the second DVD player in the home. I have now had to return one because the disc tray wouldnt operate at all and I received the replacement today and the tray also wont open. I am beyond frustrated, and will not seek a third. Great deal...Great birthday present? In one word...NO!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-11-22
Yes, its features are really attrative.....BUT its weak as a kitten.
I regret I didnt listen to other reviewers suggestion. It died! Just 2 months. It shows "No disc" on screen no matter what disc I put it in. Dont be fooled by the price and discount like me. Warranty is useless. Labor charges for installation or setup is enough to buy a new one.
On: 2002-11-21
I got this player in Nov 2002 mostly to test and play VCD and SVCDs. I was pleasantly surprise that it was nicely build, and easy to use. It played SVCDs, mp3, jpegs (!), DVDs, but when
I tried to play a VCD, NO DISC. After some research on the internet, I found out that Apex has dropped VCD as a supported format due to licensing issues. The only chance to get an Apex VCD capable player is to get an "old stock" version.
So, I had to return it. What is Apex thinking?
Id buy 2 if it did VCDs, but now I went and bought a phillips
580HT (vertical DVD at Target), which does it all. (for 2 times the price:( )For what it does do, 5 stars, for dropping VCD support,
a no-buy and knock it down a few stars.
On: 2002-11-19
APEX 1600 is extremely good. I am using it in India without any problem. Help needed from anyone using this. Whenever I load a VCD, the PBC goes onautomatically and I cannot operate the unit anymore. Only when I press PBC OFF on remote, could I use once again. But, this stops the playback, which is irritating. Can somebody suggest a solution? Also, will this play all (Region free) DVDs? Any comments? Thank you.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-11-18
I choose this DVD player even though I read peoples negative reviews and now I wish I had listened. I have had it for a few months and just this week it no longer recoginizes any disk. It is useless. I would avoid this machine!!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-11-17
I had this DVD player for 5 or 6 months. Worked great for a few months with no problems but then it made clunking noises and you could hear the DVD spin loudly. Then it couldnt read any dual-layered DVDs. Recently, it lightly scratched up one of my DVDs because the disc was still spinning after a disc error when I opened the tray. The disc was previously brand new without any scratches or even dust. The player worked again for a couple days but now, it wont read any discs at all. I dont recommend this player and I will never buy Apex machines ever again. Time to go for a more dependable brand name DVD player.
On: 2002-11-16
I just bought this unit today, USED, at a pawn shop. We all know what that means- someone (in my town, GIs), uses a unit to death then dumps it on the pawn shop. Well, all I can is that for the way, way, less than retail I paid for this thing, I am very happy. All I wanted it for was something to play MP3 discs for my stereo- I already own a good DVD player, so the fact that this unit can do that too is moot. This bargain player does everything it was supposed to very well.
I have, however, tested this thing for DVD playback and its just fine. There is little or no motor noise and the video/sound quality is terrific, even compared to more expensive DVD players Ive seen.
The small size is a plus, too. The unit is a little taller than normal, but only about half the width and 4/5 the depth of most other DVD players.
My advice is that if you want a really good, inexpensive DVD player, buy this unit new or do your best to find a used one somewhere.
On: 2002-11-08
I was in need of a DVD player and on a budget. I bought this for 79.00 at the Post exchange on Fort Campbell. While it does work , it makes a lot of noise after a while. I kept hearing this humming noise coming from the DVD. If you can get past the noise, this is a good deal, if not, then keep looking.
On: 2002-11-08
I bought this unit at a grand opening of a local electronic store chain (for $59.95+tax) & in general its worked great (we have a good player, but got this for our computer room). HOWEVER, recently, it has started failing to recognize that I have a disc in the tray & when I did some searching online, found out that this is actually a relatively common issue for the AD-1600. Also read that people are having problems with APEX providing warranty service. Several said that APEX denied ever receiving their faulty DVD player even when the person had the signature form that the APEX person had to sign to acknowledge the return of the unit. Wish now that Id not bought it. May call the electronis shop, but may just buy another, different brand of low end player.
On: 2002-11-07
This was my first DVD Player. I am very pleased so far, it plays every type of CD/DVD I have put in it so far and does this automatically. I have noticed a shadow when Titles or Text appears on the TV however not sure if its the TV or DVD player, TV is a GE Model (not the Greatest). Hopefully when TV is replaced soon, I will get to experience the best of the DVD Player.
On: 2002-11-04
Im an old guy that is getting digital technology spoon feed to. I have a moderate sized computer and have found cd burning, video conversions and photogaphs are fun to do on it but I dont like spending all kinds of money that i dont need to. So what about the AD-1600,you ask. Lb for lb, $ or $ this unit delievered MORE than any Sony,Panasonic or any DVD player I tested or tried. period. play MP3s, you betcha. JPEG slide shows, good enough for this old boy. of course DVD movies worked just fine. I tried the 1200 series first and though it worked the transport was not a "long run" loading system. I dont know why APEX can bring so much in such an economical unit, they must be breaking some industry regulations. If they are, I would suggest buying this unit before they get caught. At this price, you can not go wrong!
by: gadgester On: 2002-10-30
Bought this machine six months ago and have been using it heavily. It works great. It even plays VCDs, which are cheap and popular here in Manhattan, esp. if you are into Asian (i.e., Hong Kong) films. The remote control is pretty user-friendly. I like this DVD player a lot.
On: 2002-10-27
It plays everything!
Even the vcds and dvds I bought in Taiwan!
an unbeatable good deal.
why pay more?
Its just a de-coding machine.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-10-26
this dvd player was working fine, great even, until i purchased a region 3 dvd (usa is region 1 i believe) which DOES NOT play on this dvd player. so dont be fooled by the description or review that says it plays anything because it doesnt.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-10-26
Well, for the most part. I bought it to see if I could play DVD+R/RW, and it does great. My older Toshiba couldnt. I saw it skip on one commercial DVD a couple of times but havent seen any other problems. I had seen a number of quality complaints on Apex, so I went for the more expensive model in the hope that it would work OK. So far, so good. Ive had it for 2 months.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-10-25
It was a good DVD player until it broke down after its 90 days limited labor coverage. It can not reads any of my DVD discs. Based on Apex website, it needs the laser head realignment. Apex Digital wants [X] for the labor charge. It seems Apex does not make good quality products.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-10-22
Before purchasing this unit I spent many hours comparing pros and cons, weary of the lack of brand name. After weighing out the options I finally ordered it. This unit was well worth the time, and almost too good for its price. In one month we have viewed over 20 movies on it, all in various conditions, and have not had one problem. I have a TV/VCR combo and was worried this would distort the picture..no problem. CD-R, CD-RW, MP3s...every possible format has run with not one skip, freeze or pause. Overall I have been very pleased, and would recommend it to any cost conscious consumer!
On: 2002-10-22
I took this back to the store. To get any response from control buttons on both the DVD and the remote took pushing the buttons hard several times. The buttons on the remote are small and too close together There are a lot of menu items but no working explainations in the user manual. I got a vertical picture about 1/3 of screen size and was unable to change it despite 30 minutes of trying various menu combinations. A better users manual might have helped, but the controls are so annoying I would have still returned it.
On: 2002-10-13
Well guess what!!! This player will also play region 2 dvds. I have bought 2 dvds from England with region 2 coding and they play on this player. I have had this one for almost a year and have had no problems with it. The price and the fact that despite that its not supposed to be able to play foreign dvds and it does play them makes this an excellent choice.
On: 2002-10-06
Bought this player because I needed one, and it was on sale. Works and sounds great. Plays flawlessly (so far), without any of the problems other people have reported. There are some drawbacks to this player, though. One is the general feel of the machine. It feels light, cheap, and fragile. Also, more information could have been put into the manual. The functions can be figured out, but a more descriptive manual would be nice. I dont particularly like the fact that if I lose the remote, I wont be able to access many of the functions of the player, either. Some have said that the remote is too small, but I disagree. I have rather large hands, and while the buttons COULD be larger, its not a problem. On the plus side of things, the player is easy to hook up, setup is simple, and that is much appreciated. Overall, this player is a great value for the cost, and is the perfect gift for the DVD newbie. Advanced users, or those with higher end equipment should probably look elsewhere, though, as I feel they may feel limited by this player.
On: 2002-10-03
I dont know why some reviewers say this unit "just" plays DVDs, so dont expect any "bells and whistles." It has every fast and slow motion, frame by frame, and zoom feature I could ever think of using. The picture and stereo sound quality is simply superb. With the exception of a Home Theater connoisseur who must have reference quality 5-channel audio, I cant see anyone being disappointed with this incredibly low-priced unit. I also dont understand some complaints about the remote being too small. I am a man with large hands, and find the remote comfortable, and easier to use with one hand than most cell phones. Why pay more?!
On: 2002-10-02
This player is Bangin!!! Digital audio coax and S Video is all you need to get an awesome theater like experience. The price is what makes this a no brainer.
On: 2002-10-02
Video is blocky sometimes during the playback of VCDs. Small scratches in DVDs cause skips where as other DVD players would play right through them. Broke down after 2 months, I guess Ill now see how good the warranty is.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-10-01
This thing plays just about everything I throw in it. It even plays data cdrs that contain mpeg files. Ive had it for about a couple of weeks now so hopefully it will last for the long run. The only drawback as everyone has already noted is that the remote control is a bit annoying (doesnt seem to have enough power or something). So Id give it 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5. It is definitely the workhorse.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-09-28
This is a great DVD player, It plays almost anything, DVD, VCD, jpeg image, Mpeg1 movie files(the compression used in VCD) and Mpeg2 movie files(compression used in DVD). The image quality is very good. I used to create VCDs from the pictures I took with my digital camera and the movies I took with my mini DV camcorder. Now I just need to burn a CD with all the media files orderd by dates in different directories. This DVD player will go through all the directories and play all the files. Or you can choose the file you want to play. it really save me a lot time. I used to spend a lot time try to put together a VCD(yes, since I dont have DVD burner, I have to convert mpeg2 of my mini DV into lower quality mpeg1 for VCD), it not a easy task.
So far, this DVD player can play any CD I put in(VCD with a lot scratch, CDR I made, DVD). My friend who bought those name brand DVD players, they found that those [that cost more] dont play certain poor quality VCDs or dont like CDR disk. But this DVD player play them all.
Over all I think this is a great DVD player for a great price.
On: 2002-09-22
This is a very good economy DVD player. That means it is good and functional at what it does, play DVDs and various other formats, like CDs of all kinds, etc. But dont mistake it for a top of the line DVD player. If all you want to do is hook it to your DVD and watch some movies, it will more than adequately fill the role. And the remote control is functional, but small... and it is hard to read when you have the lights off. It is also very easy to fat-finger the buttons on it, etc. Also, the instructions are okay. But if you have a stero system you are trying to hook it into, they can be a tad cryptic. So, if you havent hook up a DVD player before, you may have to involve somebody else in attempting to hook this all up. I figured it out after a while so trail of and error. But I feel comfortable playing around with electronics. All in all, a good player for the money you pay for it.
On: 2002-09-19
This DVD Player seemed like a great value...super features for a low-end price. However, it had an intermittent failure. That showed me Apex Digitals lack of commitment to the customer. With the unit you receive a bright yellow paper telling you what to do if you have problems. I chose the web support option. After several days of no response I call the Customer Support number (which isnt toll-free). The recorded message told me to call a DIFFERENT number for a DVD Player (again, not toll-free). I spent a long time on hold listening to how important my call is, and why dont I use their excellent WEB support. The phone rep said it wasnt their problem since it was so recently purchased...send it back to Amazon. If you are looking for an expendable unit at a low price, this might be for you. Based on one experience, beware if you are looking for a bargain price on something that will last until you are ready to move to the high-end, name brands. Fortunately, Amazons support is very good.
On: 2002-09-14
Our family finally joined the 21st century (so our friends tell us) and purchased a DVD player. We didnt want to spend alot of money, but we wanted just a good basic player. After reading the reviews on Amazon (and with the special price they were offering), we thought we would give the Apex 1600 DVD player a try. We are absolutely thrilled! This DVD player does everything we wanted it to do ..... and more. Im still getting adjusted to "navigating" my way around a DVD, but so far it hasnt been difficult. If you are looking for a terrific entry-level DVD player, I would highly recommend this one. It might not have all of the "bells and whistles" that other players have, but as far as Im concerned .... this one does everything that we need for it to do!
On: 2002-09-12
Good player with lots of features. I especially like the MP3 and VCD support.The only drawbacks were the limited audio output and the very small remote. Other than that, it does everything right.
On: 2002-08-28
One note, mine is the 1500, not the 1600 model. Seems the 1600 model was a lemon. It plays DVDs, foreign DVDs, VCDs, S-VCDs, CDR-RW with MP3s, and CD music. This particular model is great for people who make their own VCDs - there are no country specific codes on this model so any DVD regardless of region should play perfectly. The remote is confusing - lots of small buttons, but over time it becomes quite intuitive. I think this particular player is better than some of the Pioneer and Sonys at 3 times the price. There is a S-video and a composite out jack for people with better televisions with s-video inputs (like me).
Only bad thing, no true stereo or dolby out, just a left/right mono out. You really cant tell the difference unless you are going for true 3d theater, in which case why are you bothering looking at sub-($$$) systems anyway?
I run the s-video out to my set, and the left and right channels out of the deck into an Onkyo 200W amp, and into 2 Baby Advent III speakers I have mounted on the rafters, and Ill tell you - with a decent front stereo signal from my Toshiba TV and the two additional speakers; I have a home theater system on a budget that absolutely rocks the house. Mine is nearly 2 years old now w/o any problems at all. Go for it, you will not be disappointed.
12/2/02 - 2 years and still running strong!
12/2/03 - After 3 years I started to get some skipping problems, about 2 in 5 new discs I get skip horribly. After cleaning the lens on and off for a month or two we gave up, and moved this player to the basement for minor DVD to computer capturing. We purchased a consumers report top rated progessive scan DVD with... mail in rebate... This player will be reviewed soon. All I have to say is, after 3 years the price was right, and it wasnt bad for a little cheapie DVD player.
12/09/04 - retired the unit to the basement TV to play DVDs - replaced this unit last year with a $75 Panasonic DVD-S27S Progressive Scan Unit which works flawlessly. I dont know why the Apex 1600s were so bad, the 1500 still works well as a part-time player but has minor problems playing some DVDs. Chalk it up to experience, for an under $100 DVD player 3 years ago it was a bargain, now you can get a unit 10xs better for $50-75.00.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-25
This dvd player is great.
the only thing I dont like is the remote is a little small for me, and when you want to use the volume button it is already at max volume.
Other then that this thing is GREAT.
On: 2002-08-25
This is a cheaply made player (remote is toy-like) with few of the bells and whistles or the quality of construction you will see on better known brands - which also cost 2-3x as much. However, it does the job insofar as handling and viewing DVDs are concerned and I feel you definitely get your moneys worth. I hope it doesnt break down, as the basic warranty is only 3 mos., and I am not impressed with their service facilities - no 800 number for troubleshooting, for example.
On: 2002-08-24
The Apex AD-1600 has the feel of a shoddy piece of equipment, and thats exactly what mine was. I set it up and tried to open the disc tray, whereupon two things happened: 1) Strange, non-letter symbols appeared on the LED display; 2) the player made straining mechanical noises and failed to extend the tray, even though you could hear it repeatedly attempting to do so. Of course, defective units occur in any product line, but this was disturbing because the problems were so egregious--suggesting that Apex has little if anything in the way of quality control. I suspect that more than a few of the enthusiastic reviewers here will end up *un*lucky and have their product break down in 3 months rather than immediately like me. The general mediocrity of the product apart from my particular problem--oddly distributed weight, poorly machined interior components--increases this suspicion. So, buying one of these is a big gamble--and moreover not one you need to take, since Samsung (a respected name) makes players for a similar price, at least at some stores. I recommend that you dont....
On: 2002-08-20
The only complaint that I have with this machine is that the remote is a little awkward. There are a lot of small buttons, placed very close to one another -- not easy to use in the dark.Other than that, the machine has been very easy to use and you cant beat the price!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-17
i have owned multiple APEX dvd players over the years. one recently burned out after 2 years. i was very happy with this players performance. I was able to use it in england with a power inverter. So the ability to play NTSC and PAL formats paid off. I can tell a difence from higher end DVD players compared to this one when useing a high quality and ... TV. But if you have a older TV this DVD player would be fine. I would recomend this DVD player to anyone who is looking for a good dvd player at a good price.
On: 2002-08-12
Took it out of the box, plugged it in and heard lots of little noises accompanied by a small flash of light and bad smell. Now it will not even come on.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-07
I bought this player on a whim when it was on sale for Fathers Day, and weve been very pleased with its performance. The owners manual is not very detailed, which shouldnt bother techies, but the layman could have some problems deciphering the remote and the various things the player does. Other than that, its definitely a good buy.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-06
This a great DVD player for the price. The only complaint I have is with the remote. Its tiny but no that big of a hassle. It plays alot of differnet formats and have had no problem playing DVDs, CDs, and MP3s. Buy this DVD if you cant afford a top of the line 1000$ Sony player.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-01
The product delivers what it promises. I purchased the product and I am happy with the performance. Its worth every dollar .. Competes with any high priced dvd player.. Highly recommend
by: Anonymous On: 2002-08-01
this is a good dvd player. the best u can buy for your money. it is cheap and yet it plays better than most other dvd players. the only thing that improve the machine is if it was a 2 or 3 dvd changer. and the guy that is complainign about the bad stuff about this dvd player is dumb. the sticker thing that is stuck on top of the dvd player comes off completely clean with no marks left behind. trust me, dont mind his mindless complaints. it works great! it reads very scratched up cds really good! it reads scratched up cds my brothers toshiba dvd player cannot! it plays for things too!
On: 2002-07-30
I cant agree more that you get what you pay for --- especially with this model. The unit does work, but there are many problems.1) Display
The characters on the digital display are extremely difficult to read ... almost cryptic. 2) Menu
The menu system is difficult to navigate - compared to the Toshiba and Sony units I already own. 3) Software Issue
After playing a DVD and sitting idle for a while (like overnight), the unit freezes up and wont respond to commands. The only way to resolve the problem was to power the unit off and on. In short - the unit does play DVDs and MP3s as promised. The remote is functional. The mechanical aspects of the unit are acceptable. However, for another [money] you can get a more robust and easier to use machine.
On: 2002-07-24
Im using this little gem for DVDs, CDs, MP3s, wmvs, mpegs, & VCDs. The only difficulty has been playing disks where Ive downloaded several albums on to one disk using mp3s. It freezes. All other factory and home brewed disks play very nicely. Great to get those videos from the computer to the tv and still retain picture quality. Minus one star for the tiny and difficult to use remote.
On: 2002-07-18
I have had many expensive DVD players, over $300 in some cases, and this by far is way better than all of them together! For the price you cant go wrong! It plays it all, VCD, SVCD, DVD, with only slight pixilation in dark action scens on VCD. If you want an inexpensive but quality DVD player, this is the one!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-07-11
My first DVD player and unfortunately, not my last. I guess you get what you pay for.
I like the features of this model and the picture quality it delivers is fine but some big drawbacks:
* fiddly and badly labelled remote(and no compatability codes for my universal remote)
* comes packed with a garish in-store display piece glued on top of the unit
* persistant vibrations and rattle as the disc spins.
I wont choose APEX again.
On: 2002-07-09
So far it can play everything I can put in it. Wish it had optical digital audio instead of coax. I cant really tell the difference in sound, but I already had a fiber optic cable. I dont really like the remote. It is too small. Other than the above it is an excellent choice for a DVD player. I would highly recommend!
by: Anonymous On: 2002-07-08
Plays well with DVDs with region 1 encoding as well as the ones with no region code. Tried on both NTSC and PAL TVs, no problem. Even tried mp3 and jpeg, works without a glitch. (Bought this unit for use in ASIA; working well with just having a transformer for 240V to 120V conversion)
Excellent features with such a low price.
On: 2002-07-02
This player is easily one of the best items I have purchased for some time. It plays just about any CD you put in it, it covers VCDs, SVCDs, MP3s, JPGs, DVDs. If you burned it to CD, then it can probably do something with it.I also like the autoplay feature for all mediums. The remote control is not layed out well, which is really my only complaint about this item, that and the fact that it doesnt have optical sound outputs, though the S-Video connection makes for great video. For the price, youre not going to find a better player. If youre looking for top of the line, go for the Pioneer, but this one absolutely does the job and does it well.
On: 2002-06-22
Every dvd that has dolby digital has skips in the audio. some worse then others. Its a brief pause but it can occur as often as every few minutes. I tried playing with all the audio settings and all the audio outputs. I used all combinations of settings but the skips are still there. Unless someone can tell me about another setting that im missing, this unit will go back.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-06-21
For those who love to create VCDs or VCDs, or have digital cameras on CD, this little unit plays and displays that and more. It plays also my authored DVD from my DVD+RW writer. The only slight downside is the looks of the unit, but if you are not into looks, and more for functionality and versatility at a low price, this is the a good buy..
On: 2002-06-20
I misinterpreted the features for this unit. The specs for the AD-1500 said that it would only play PAL DVDs coded region 1. When I read the specs for the AD-1600, I read "region free" to mean all regions. In other (simpler) words. I bought this unit to play DVDs sent me by my german relatives and discovered that the unit did not do so. I have no idea where PAL DVDs with no region come from, but it isnt Germany. If you need to play DVDs from Europe, this is not the unit to do it. Im returning mine and having one imported from Germany. It does however, play NTSC DVDs, and all the other stuff specified at AOL quite well. Good luck. Peter
by: Anonymous On: 2002-06-11
Its a great little player. Plays almost everything except for SVCDs burned with Nero. If you burn the SVCD that are in the .bin and .cue format with Nero, it works perfectly fine. However, if you create the SVCD by dragging the Mpeg2 into Neros Super Video template and burn it, the result of the SVCD will still play, but the frame and audio will skip around and youll see blocks of pixels that are distorted on the screen. In addition, it also plays .avi files as well. But to make it work, you must rename the .avi extension to a different extenstion such as .dat or .mpg (i.e. Spider-Man.avi to Spider-Man.mpg or Spider-Man.mpeg or even Spider-Man.dat) and then burn it as data onto the CD. The AD-1600 then will think it is a Mpeg1 or Mpeg2 video file instead and playback will work. Ill have to convert all my CDs from .avi to .mpg now.
On: 2002-06-11
This player plays everything. Although an adequate display for mp3 playing is lacking (no ID3 tags, just filename), its main function is playing DVDs. It does that very well. JPG function and the VCD function which I have also tested work very well. The remote control is kind of small and cheap looking. However, the silver player looks nice and slick, and for [the price] is a STEAL. No other DVD player on the market plays all of these options in a better fashion. Also of note,
-No optical digital out (only coaxial).
-No firmware upgrade availabe.
-Does not come with S-video cable.
-Video and Audio quality are crisp and clear!
On: 2002-06-11
Every DVD I have played on this so called DVD player skips. It is so bad that you cant even watch the movie. It does this on every brand new dvd I have bought....Dont get suckered into buying this. Do yourself a favor and get a nice new Sony or Philips DVD player that works. That is what I am getting after I exchange this.
DONT BUY IT!!
On: 2002-06-09
Great player... plays just about everything you put into it. Easly matches/beats all the other [less expensive] players. DVDs are my hobby. Im always checking out the newest players... this one is one of the best (along with the 1500).
On: 2002-06-06
This unit really would have gotten 4.5 stars were that an option, based on what feels like a flimsy build quality and for its limited documentation. However, it hasnt malfunctioned and its so simple to use that it seemed unfair to dock it for not stating what is obvious. As a single, space-saving unit in the kids entertainment room, it saves space while providing for all their disc-based needs through adequate audio and video connection options. It plays conventional DVDs without distortion, and music (both pre-recorded & PC-generated MP3 discs) fed into their stereo sounds great. I havent tried making video discs yet, but a Kodak Picture Disk looked great when played back on the Apex. Of course, the price is more than attractive, so 5 stars seems to be in order. I would add that this unit would make a great gift for any college student!
On: 2002-06-05
This is an excellent DVD Player which was able to handle everything I threw at it. It loads the media fast. Asside form the good features, the remote has a cheap look to it. Holding and working the remote feels very awkward. The buttons that youll be using the most often, (Play, Stop, Forward, etc) are all positioned in the very bottom. The Forward, Reverse, Stop, Pause buttons are far away form the Play button so expect a lot of jumping around with the remote. The MP3 and WMA playback is great but lacking some simple features which makes it annoying. There is no Fast Forward or Rewind with both MP3 or WMA files. There is no ID3 tag support for MP3s. They are just displayed using the filename of which, 8 or 10 characters are displayed. The play screen is dull beyond belief. Just a blue screen with trackname and directories. Something better could have been done. All in all, the player lacks some features and looks cheap but for the price that it is, this is a very good deal.
On: 2002-06-03
Great player for the price... plays all formats.
Also has a small form factor - looks high quality and nice silver tone, build quality is as good as Toshibas. Picture output quality is great.Only thing lacking is the region hack and macrovision hack which I hope will be available soon as more ppl begin to own this player.
Also lacks component video outputs.
by: Anonymous On: 2002-05-02
For a DVD player at this price is really feature packed. The ability to play MP3, JPEG and Kodak Picture CDs is a real bonus that many machines 3 times the price do not have. Probably a bit short on output choices (lacks component video for example) but for this price what do you want?? Cant go wrong with this unit!
On: 2002-04-28
I love Apex, Ive been buying Apex players for years now - and Ive convinced many, many friends to follow. There are more features in this player than just about any high-end player for three times the cost. I always feel bad when a friend buys a player w/o talking to me first, especially Sony - as they dont handle VCDs that well.Just a quick word on VCD, SVCD format. You may have never heard of them - but its the MP3 of the future. On your home computer - with nothing more than 50cent CDRs, a video capture card, and a cd burner you can be creating your own movies! Its wonderful! Then you burn them in VCD format and Apex players will play them (not all Sonys, even those that say "VCD" work with home media). Im slowly converting all my home videos into VCD format - thats why Im such a big proponent of these players. I want all my friends and family to be able to enjoy the home videos that I produce. Another application for VCD format is Digital Cameras. I can put all my new photos into a VCD formated disk (once again - 30-50 cents each) and it will play in the Apex player like a slideshow. You can even zoom and pan through the photo. Its so much nicer to view digital pictures in your living room rather than dragging everyone to the computer. This Apex player is truly the media hub of my living room. Plus - MP3 format - for parties, I just burn a few disks that have up to 10 regular ablums on them and I leave them in the living room. I dont have to worry about people messing around with my cd collection - and you can create a single disk with 10 hours of music on it and never have to worry about changing disks again!
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