Low cost, simple to use, DD/DTS ready

Faulty optical pickup on many units

Bottom line - if this unit was more reliable, it would be a must buy. But I have had to have the optical pickup replaced (a $200 proceedure) twice after only a year and a half of casual (semi-weekly) use. Panasonic refuses to make a recall, and the firmware upgrade does nothing to fix the problem. Stay away. Just because it hasn't happened *yet* to many of the reviewers here doesn't mean it won't in the future.

Decent player. Had hardware problem, though, that
were fixed by Panasonic. Worked flawlessly since then.

When I bought it, it was the only one besides a Yamaha that had dts (and it was said, the Yamaha was made by Panasonic).

None that i have found.

Despite the reports of lemons, I must have gotten lucky. I have had NO problems. I have tried all the disks mentioned in complaints and they played perfectly (even Matrix which most of the complaints have been about). I also have used many DTS audio cds and they also work VERY VERY well!
I recommended it to my parents and sister. I selected it simply because when I bought it, it was the only one that had dts capability besides a Yamaha that I was told was the exact same player (for twice the price). No regrets. Cant imagine one working better.

nice component styling, can restart where you were when you last turned it off.

cannot play the layer change on "Them Matrix" correctly (it skips the first part of the second layer) and the remote is ugly

I like the player, but it does have problems with some DVDs. I called Panasonic Tech support, and since it has been more than 1 year (the warrenty) I have to pay over $100 to get the upgraded firmware. That is unaceptable.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 2107

Problems with certain discs...

I've had the A-110 since January of 1999, and it has been a dependable machine. The only problem that has arisen is a nasty dislike to certain DVD's... the player plays 99% percent of my discs perfectly, but there are a few ( and from what I hear, I'm not alone) that the player just locks up on and I get the "blinds" effect. But, this coming from a 2nd generation player, I can't complain. Everything else is great about this machine.

Good value, DTS output, good picture and sound quality.

Problems with reading Saving Private Ryan DTS edition.

I owned the product for about a year, and everything worked fine. I just bought the SPR DTS edtion, and the player cannot read the disc. I thought the player was defective, but it works fine with all my other DVDs. I called Panasonic, and they said the movie was incompatible with my unit. Even though the player is a good value, I just think that it's unacceptable that a retail DVD is incompatible with the player.

Similar Products Used:

PC-DVDs.

Excellent video and audio playback.

When there is a layer switch the player will sometimes skip to next chapter on certain movies. If you buy this product make sure you rent Robocop Criterion edition and Hunt for Red October. If you get through these movies without pixelization and lockup then you probably have a good unit.

Like I said abouve make sure you try out those two discs after you buy this machine. Panasonic will fix it within the first 90 days. After that I was told it will cost about $100 dollars to fix. Too bad they didn't do the right thing and recall all of the defective units. I will never buy Panasonic again when it comes to DVD players.

Price

Problems

This is the second unit I have had. THe first unit was returned after problem. No problems with second unit for over a year except and ocassional flash (scene Jumping) during a bright flash during the scene. Could be tv

Good overall unit

I purchased this unit new in June 1998. I have had no problems whatsoever; it's been a nice little performer. Reading the reviews, I see some other owners have had a different (i.e., unpleasant) experience. Personally, I've always had good luck with Panasonic (bought and still have their LX-900 autoreverse LD/CD player). I do know that all DVDs are not created equal - there are real quality differences in the discs being pumped out by the various manufacturers. I wouldn't be too quick to blame a DVD player unless it had a problem with most discs I put into it. I do understand peoples' frustration if the player they bought proves to be defective.
Thre are better players out there, but you're going to have to pay more - and probably a LOT more - to get them. Sony low-end and mid-range models are usually garbage (DVD,LD,TV,VCR)and/or overpriced for the performance level they offer; only their top-end (read: expensive) models are worth buying. Panasonic fills that mid-range to lower top-range niche of the market.

I give the Panasonic A-110U a "3" for solid basic performance at a reasonable price. If performance is the sole criterion, probably only "2.5".

Great perfoming player. Video and sound quality are excelent. Pitty about the Firmware and quality problems.

Had the pixelisation and no disc errors which started suddenly about a month ago. Player suddenly wouldn't read anything. Took mine back to the Repair center, and it fixed the problems. They replaced the laser, some memroy and gave it the upgrade.

Every problem disc I've had now works, and I havn't noticed a drop in quality. BUT a new problem appeared. The discs now randomly freeze for anything between 2 and 10 seconds. Rewind the disc to the freeze point after it starts again and it won't happen. Hope they can fix it properly this time.

I know this is a new technology, but these problems that everyone has had are not isolated incidents due to lack of care. They are problems inherant with the product we purchased.

Panasonic realy should be addressing this in a better way than they are. Both when I rang the help line and when I took it in Panasonic denied all knowledge that the upgrade existed. Doesn't fill me with confidence for future purchases of Panasonic products.

For perfomance I have to give this 5 stars. For reliability/warranty coverage it has to be 1. Overall 3 stars (It works realy well - when it works, but the problems and customer service just drag it down)