Good looks.

Crappy drive motor.

Bought this unit brand new. Owned it for almost a year. The drive motor decided to quit. Even though the part is under warranty but labor was going to cost almost as much as what I paid for the player itself. The player was lightly used. Not even a scratch on it. The service center personnel told me that he has a same unit with the exactly the same problem. I guess it's our luck or Panasonic picked a bad supplier for their motor. So I trashed it.

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Pioneer

Great looks, easy to use, shuttle dial on unit.

No progressive scan, lack of coaxial digital audio out, lack of zoom feature.

Great looks, bang for the buck. plays all formats ie. VCD, CDR, CDRW, CD, and DVDs.

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Toshibas, Sonys, Pioneer and JVC.

Reads DVD, Video CD, MP3, CD-R CD-RW. Will read any disc I put in it! Even cheap generic CD-R's. It's quiet and loads fast! (If you get it in silver it looks sweet!)

no shuffle on mp3 playback.

For the price paid this is an excellent player. It plays virtually any disc you put in it. The mp3 playback is very impressive. That was the main reason I purchased the unit. It plays all bit rates without a hitch except variable bit rate. You can fast forward/rewind/pause/repeat during mp3 playback. It doesn't have shuffle but I can live without it. As far as the dvd picture is concerned, it is as good as it gets. Vibrant colors and never any pixalation artifacts. I upgraded from the dvd-a120 (a very solid dvd player but hardly any options. For example, it couldn't even play back cd-r.) I recommend buying this player for the compatibility and price. It is a very good value.

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic dvd-a120. An solid dvd player.

hassle-free operation,great looks,good features(price-wise)
reads dvd,mp3,cd-r,cd-rw,optical output,dolby-digital dts compatible

maybe the lack of 5.1 channels output jacks
i guess panasonic had to leave somethings to the rv-41 :)

great performance for an entry-level dvd player,great features,image adjustments let's you adjusts image quality to your likings,optical output for dts sound enhanced dvds,reads allmost everything you'll throw at it,(haven't tryied mp3s yet,but my buddy has...and like i mentionned above,i would've like panasonic to offer only one model in this serie...the looks of the rv-31s(silver) with the conveniency of the 5.1 channel output jacks...
heck! make a silver edition of the model rv-41,but at the price of the rv-31 :) my kit consists of:
philips 32rf50s(32"tv)
panasonic DVD-RV31S
panasonic VS-4821 s-vhs vcr
technics SL-MC7 110 cd changer
pioneer VSX-D510 audio/video receiver 600w/total
5X 100watts front,centre,surround speakers
100 watts sub-woofer(8")

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none,first dvd player for me...

Solid picture and audio

Minor (see below)

This is a solid unit.

It has user contrast, brightness and color controls which enabled me to retain the settings best for cable/vhs while fine-tuning the player to get a more crisper and vibrant picture I ever thought possible with a standard 32 inch set (Toshiba CZ3241) using s-video. Shimmering is less apparent and, if one wants to, monitor sharpness can be increased without the worry of a harsher picture with poorer edge enhancement.

The audio is also richer than the Kenwood it replaced (which began not reading DVD's it could in the past). This was surprising because I thought audio quality of the 5.1 and DTS bitstreams was dependent upon the receiver rather than the player.

The only drawbacks, and these are minor, are 1) you must press a "playback mode" button prior to stopping the disc otherwise the unit will not retain memory after shut off, and 2) you must use the on-screen display to go to another chapter (cannot go directly by pressing number buttons on the remote).

Unless you need a progressive scan player or are interested in a multi-disc changer, there is no reason to look for any other DVD player. Note: this is the same unit as the Panasonic RV31K (this is silver and the other is black) so you might want to look at the reviews for the RV31K if still undecided.

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Panasonic A-100, Kenwood (1999 model)

Very Good Video and Sound, Good Looks, Many features and functions.

Slow ejection of cd tray.

Overall, I believe that this player is a solid choice for a DVD player. It is very good at everything that it is suposed to do. I haven't tryed the MP3 capability yet so I cannot report on that. Cd playback is on target and detailed but is missing some character. My DVD's look great and the sound is also very good. I would recomend this changer as a no brainer entry level changer that is not going to break your pocket.

My system:
Sony Wega 32FV27
Harmon Kardon AVR 520
Sony CD 335 (300 cd changer)
Definitive tech Promoniter 100 (mains)
Def Tech Procenter C2 (center)
Def tech BPX 1.2x (rears)
Def tech Prosub 100
JPS Ultraconductor speaker cable (front 3)
Audioquest Type 4+ speaker cable (rear 2)
Monster HTS 1000 power station.
Panasonic DVD 31s

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none, First DVD Player

Stunnig Picture with COMPONENT, average with other outputs

None that I can find.

Wow, this thing is great! It is astheticly pleasing in all aspects. Audio/video quality is wonderful. I have had it for a few wekks and i am very picky consumer. I am notorius for taking things back and having salesmen look at me like im a nutjob. BUT THIS THING IS STAYING PUT!
HIGHLY RECOMENDED!!!!

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First DVD player

Just be aware, DOES NOT PLAY MP3 IN EUROPE!
The rest of all reviews here I agree with, and I find it important for Europeans to know that Panasonic has made a software change, to avoid playback of MP3.
Bummer.

Great entry level. Can be made region free via software.

1. The RV-31 bought in Australia does not play MP3s!
2. Does not automatically remember last play spot after you turn it off.
3. No optical audio out.

This is a good DVD that plays DVDs my old Sony NS 300 did not. It can be made region free (Oz one is not region free out of the box), but does NOT play MP3s. Panasonic Australia confirmed this. There may be a hack around this, but I havent found it yet. Email me if you find out on serpeant@hotmail.com.

This DVD does not play standard compliant SVCDs, but plays non-standard compliant SVCDs if burnt in this way with NERO. I can play 720*576 at 2500 bit rate.

Similar Products Used:

Sony NS 300