Price Paid:  $200.00 from Sam's Club

Summary:
I think, as I read all of these other reviews, that Panasonic had issues with this player, or at least the drive that was used in this player. My DVD player went as all these others within 3 months, so I sent it back to Panasonic under warranty. They called me when it arrived, told me that the drive was defective, and said that instead of fixing it or replacing it with the same model drive, that they were going to install a newer drive that was dependable, and could deal better with the newer dual layer dvd's. I haven't had any problems since.

Great drive when made properly.

Strengths:
Works great now.

Weaknesses:
Started to go weird early on.

Summary:
Apparently mine made it longer than most people's before crapping out on me. I bought mine on closeout when I was the electroncs department manager at Target. Worked fine, worked great, all was right with the world. Then roughly a year ago I noticed problems at the dual layer switch and with the video pixellating and the audio breaking up -- it happened mostly with rentals. Like most of the other reviewers here, I figured a dirty disk was the culprit. Then, after Christmas, I put in Rush Hour 2 to watch with my wife and got the "NO DISC" message of doom. Tried other dvds, audio cds, and a vcd with the same result.
I promptly e-mailed Panasonic customer service -- I'm still waiting for a response. Then I thought I'd do a bit of research and found this site. I now know I was luckier than most. One of my friends bought one the same time I did, but I don't know how his is holding up.

Strengths:
Easy to use, well-designed remote

Weaknesses:
pixellating, image defragmenting -- same stuff as everyone else

Similar Products Used:
my sole dvd player

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Target

Summary:
Basically I will never buy another Panasonic anything, and will not recommend them to anyone. They have not been able to or willing to help me. If they have had thousands of complaints and are not willing to help anyone or change anything to better their product, than why would anyone in their right mind buy anything else from them. If they cannot make DVD players right, than maybe everything else they make sucks too. Two hundred dollars for 10 months, what a big waste of money and scam.

Strengths:
worked great for 10 months

Weaknesses:
freezes up, pauses for a while then shuts off, skip back and forth between tracks and frames, basically a piece of crap after 10 months, nothing more than a 200 dollar paper weight

Similar Products Used:
First DVD player bought except for my DVD Rom drive for my computer made by Acer which I have not had any problems with. I now watch all of my dvd's on it, wish I had a 27" monitor.

Price Paid:  $240.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I bought the DVD player around October 2000. Around June 2001 the player started to skip and pixelate. I thought of course it must be that the DVD discs are scratched or something but I treid every disc I had and they all did it. Then the menus started freezing up on me so I thought it must be the player. I called Panasonic and they told me that the labor warranty was only 90 days and the parts warranty was good for a year. A lot of help that does me now. They said the average cost of repair for my player was around $125. Might as well buy another player for that cost. Then for sure I know it won't screw up again. Especially if I don't buy a Panasonic brand this time. DON'T WASTE YOU'RE TIME AND MONEY ON ANY PANASONIC BRAND ITEMS. BIG RIP-OFF!!!

Strengths:
This player had great features when it worked of course.

Weaknesses:
Very Unreliable

Price Paid:  $199.00 from Costco

Summary:
About six months after I bought this unit it started to skip, freeze, and pixilate. I was amazed to read the reviews here and find that many other users are having the same problem. I would strongly advise against buying any Panasonic equipment. Obviously, they are producing defective units by the thousands and not taking responsibility for it. Thank gosh they don't make tires.

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
broken