MP3 playback, Image, price, read all disks, MP3 sound quality in 5.1 system, optical and coax outputs

MP3 sound quality seems to be lower on a simple stereo system (not on a 5.1)

My system:

front speakers: Jamo E470
center: B&W cc6 s2
rear: B&W dm601 s2
Ampli AV: sony str435 (Dolby prologic)
DVD: aiwa xd-dv370

I'm fully satisfied with my aiwa DVD, I play my mp3 files on a 5.1 system(above), it rocks !!! Great sound quality !
On a 2 channels system (simple stereo), the sound quality when playing mp3 seems to be lower. I don't know why. But does someone still listen to a simple stereo sytem ? Eh, eh...
I certainly recommend this DVD player.

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Mp3 play,digital output,optical connector, 2 audio outs

slow loading

I've had this unit for a couple weeks and I am completely satisfied. It does everything its supposed to do with no problem. It's a little slow loading but as long as your not in a hurry it's alright. The remote is simple and the manual is alright, too bad for no random play on the Mp3. I was seriously thinking about an Apex but thanks to this site and the local Circuit City employee they steered me into buying the Aiwa. One cool thing -at least for me is that I can use the secondary audio out and plug it into my old pioneer gr-777 and have the spectrum analyzer going while I watch movies or listen to tracks. Its cool if only for asthetic reasons. This is definately a bang for the buck unit and should be looked at before Apex. I'm sure the is better stuff out there but not at this price.

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none-first DVD

Mp3; cd-r; cd-rw as well as dvd playback. Very quiet operation and has played everything I've put in it without a hitch.

remote: slow load, but you have to be picky to have these bother you

First purchased the Apex 500 for $99.00. Had so many problems I took it back and traded to the Apex 600. First one didn't work at all, second had as many glitches as the 500. Finally ( after some research ) decided on the Aiwa. It's been great. Does everything it's supposed to do all the time. No problems at all. Good picture and sound. Bottom line is you can get a good DVD for around $200, but the lower priced Apex isn't even worth fooling with.

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Apex 500a and Apex 600a

-ROCK SOLID RATINGS
-ROCK SOLID REVIEWS
-BULLETPROOF DVD PLAYBACK

The only retail outlet it appears to be available at is Circuit City, but it is widely available online.

Why is this Aiwa DVD player only available at Circuit City? It's not like Aiwa is one of those cheap no-name brands.

I purchased one for $119 (refurbished) from an online auction. Before I purchased it, I went down to a Circuit City here in San Diego to see it in-person. I talked to a salesperson who spoke quite highly about it. Circuit City also carries the Apex DVD units which also play MP3s and CD-RWs. He said there have been lots of returns on the Apex units because of MP3 compatiblity and other problems, but NOT with the Aiwa.

So far, I have only played 2 DVDs on it: "Car Wash" and "Michael Jordan To The Max". Both play brilliantly. I will be renting "The Matrix" and "X-Men" to see if the unit has any of the well-documented problems with those movies (not a problem from what I have read). I played one CD-RW music disc with no problems. I haven't tested the MP3 capability yet.

I have done a TON of research on this model and I have found nothing but A+ comments and ratings on it (both consumer reviews and professional reviews). Why there are not more reviews on epinions.com (one of the most popular consumer review websites) is a mystery to me. They don't even have a listing for that model as of this writing. The unit is apparently quite popular oversees also.

For some cool reason, this dream machine is apparently capable of playing 99.9% of DVDs without a problem. Non of those layer-change problems, no problems with most scratched and dirtry DVDs, and non of the infamous " The Matrix" or "X-Men" problems found on many other players - BULLETPROOF! In fact, according to a few reviews, it plays some discs that models from other major brands would not. It may be slow to load MP3 discs but SO WHAT. At least it has the capability and at least it works. It is loaded with outputs on the back of the unit.

Here is the address for one great review of the Aiwa XD-DV370 in the United Kingdom which sums up everything the consumer reviewers have found:
http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/hardware.asp?Index=3235

Ron

I've been using the Aiwa XD-DV370 successfully for four months since purchasing an unopened, boxed player in January of 2001. I enjoyed the great number of features combined with the lower price, however, I've recently encountered a fatal problem that has tainted my perspective on both Aiwa and Circuit City.

In short, as I was watching a film, the movie suddenly skipped ahead about seven minutes. I thought it might be a dirty DVD, but the film was brand new. Nevertheless, I put in a different film and found the the Aiwa screen and film playback was grided and pixelated. The player was very suddenly unable to read the disc at all, shwoing gridded green and blue screens in the film, at the film's menu screen, and again on the Aiwa screen. The two new films (Hard Eight & The Ice Storm) are American releases, and I've since tried it on a number of discs I've successfully watched in the past, but saw the same problems occuring.

The real problem I found, however is that since this occured four months into ownership, the warranty from Aiwa would only cover parts, but not labor, should I seek to have the model repaired. Circuit City was similarly unhelpful as they no loger carry this model and would only repair the item after payment of a $30 "repair estimate." I understand that I can pay an Aiwa-approved shop to examine the item, but I was frustrated ewnough by the short term of the labor warranty amd the poor customer service I received from Circuit City that I would strongly suggest that buyers interested in MP3-playing DVD players (as I am), look for a similar model from Toshiba (which has outstanding reviews for its entry level players), or Panasonic (which offers a well-reviewed model that also feature MP3 playback).

A telling sign is that the model is not listed at www.aiwa.com. Instead a newer model, the DV380, is featured. Again, you may wish to consider looking at other models from manufacturers who have more DVD player products behind them, and who offer lengthier warranties. Toshiba offers one year on both parts and labor. Panasonic offers 90 days labor and one-year parts. There are enough DVD/MP3 players on the market now that the Aiwa model is, for me, a poor choice.

plays all media

slow loading, does not remember where you left off

We have been enjoying the AIWA 370 - it plays everything from dvds , vcds , cdrs with mp3 on it. My only problem is with some of the mp3 I converted to from RA to mp3. Can anyone tell me what settings I should use when doing the conversion? The only thing I would like AIWA to improve on is for it to remember where you left off in the movie. When the machine powers off and you hit play, it starts the movie from the beginning. My old Samsung 709 can remember where you left off which is a nice feature. For the price, it is not a bad machine.

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samsung 709, philips 711

Decent Video Playback; Has Good Zoom Capabilities

MP3 playback and interface are horrible
It breaks after 4 months of limited use
Terrible customer support and repair options

I did a lot of research on DVD players and had planned on spending $250 or less on my first model. My home theater is in the poor people level of existence, so I figured I could buy a cheaper DVD to start with and upgrade later once I had put together a quality setup. I went in to Circuit City in January with the intention of buying a Sony system, but the salesman sold me on the Aiwa because of the MP3 playback and its superior video playback. Usually I stay with my own judgement, but the guy was an excellent seller. I was happy with the system for video, but to be honest, it had more problems with the MP3 playback than I would have liked. It often skipped the first 30 seconds of songs and there was no scanning through the list of songs. If you move through the list, it plays ever song you touch. I thought about returning it, but I figured the MP3 aspect was a bonus anyway. I only watched movies sporadically over the next few months, because I was working a lot of hours. About 100 days after buying the system, I was watching "This Is Spinal Tap" when the audio and video started to skip and go out of sync. The video was moving about 1.5 times too fast. It would start out slowly and then build momentum until the picture was shaking and the sound was completely distorted. I tested my DVD collection, and all but two of them had this problem. I checked into possible fixes, but I determined that my player had taken a dump. Since I was out of both store and manufacturer warranty, I knew I was in trouble, but I figured I could get a break from Circuit City because their salesman had vouched for the quality of this machine. Not only were they unhelpful, the service people told me that it would be a non-refundable $30 charge just to estimate the damage. I had a huge fit and argued with the service manager, customer service manager and then finally reached the store manager. I am not the kind of person who lets these people take advantage of me, so I had to get ugly. I used to sell video cards to Circuit City, so i understand how their hierarchy works; they claim they can't RTV (RMA) a product after a given time, but trust me, they will if you complain enough. After threatening to go to corporate, the manager said I could bring the machine in for free and they would get it repaired. After a week and a half, I called their repair center. The tech was a complete moron who had been unable to figure out the problem; thus, he sent it back and told me to call Aiwa myself. He had no tech manual for the machine and didn't bother to check with Aiwa for a firmware or PCB upgrade. Basically, he said the player was "too new" (funny that it has already been replaced by a new model in Aiwa's catalog) and he didn't have enough info to go on to fix it. He spoke almost no English and seemed to be extremely lazy. After calling him every name in the book, I called the Circuit City District Manager for my area and demanded a credit for the machine. It took several hours of arguing and talking to different individuals, but they finally relented and gave me the credit. AIWA has definitely dumped this model, and Circuit City doesn't even do repairs on them anymore. If you own one and experience this problem, I suggest that you immediately push Circuit City into replacing it. They have the ability to RTV it for as long as they want; however, if they let this info out, nobody will ever buy their stupid extended warranties. If you have this machine and it is still under warranty, I highly recommend that you claim that it won't work and ask for a credit. I guarantee that it will break sooner than later; it has a really bad circuit board that catastrophically fails. I had to buy the Sony model, because the rest of Circuit City's DVD selection is horrid; at least it works. DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

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SONY DVP-NS300

Solid playback with beautiful picture and sound--have not found a problem yet with any dvd's. Plays VCD's and mp3's on any media I've tried so far including CDRW!

A little slow load time, but I can live with it! I haven't figured out how to display remaing time on dvd's, which I would like to know if anyone has any info. Can play VCD but not SVCD.

I previously tried three, yes THREE separate Apex 600A's which were impossible to watch due to problems. Then tried an Apex 703, which was a lot better, but still had tremendous pixelation on most movies. I then tried the Aiwa XD-DV-370. I couldn't be happier. It plays everything fine. I only wish it could play SVCD, as I had many for my Apex 703. It does play VCD disks which is a good trade-off considering its reliability. As far as mp3 function, it doesn't have ff or rew, but I don't know of any players on the market at this time that do.

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Apex 600A & Apex 703

Good Sound and nice screen. Plays mp3's like a computer.

plays MP3's, has digital and Coaxial inputs good picture good remote.

slow loading time,light

I have had the unit for about a month, it does what it is suppose to do play DVD,VCD and CD-R and CD-RW flawlessly..
Hometheather magazine has a write up on in it in the 03/2001 issue see page 118. all in all a good player ..the slow loading of the disks is a minor thing..We electronics consumers want everything to work fast..

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