Worked for a few months.

Didn't work after a few months.

This is truly a piece of trash. I strongly discourage anyone from buying the Panasonic A-110. After a few months of using it maybe once a week, it started pixelating and locking up. I called Panasonic and they said it just does that with some movies. Well, I had no choice but to accept that answer since they wouldn't do anything for me. It continued to happen occasionally until a couple more months. It read "No Disc". I had to send it in to be repaired by Panasonic at a fee (they said they would pay for half of it. Woop dee doo!). They then promised that the player would work from then on. OK, 8 weeks later, I got the player back and it worked. Well, here I am a year later with the same problem. Am I going to send in the POS to be fixed a again for $100? or buy another brand?

Not only is the product terrible. The service and support is absolutely HORRENDOUS!

For 2 years - played beautifully. Features, value, etc. etc. Was a great second-generation DVD player until. . .

. . . Crapped out on RSDL (dual-layer) discs then stopped altogether.

What can I say that hasn't been said already? This was my first DVD player bought in June 1998. It worked well for almost 2 years then started pixellating and freezing at the layer change on RSDL discs. Mr Holland's Opus was a nasty case. I thought it was a faulty pressing so I popped it into my DVD-ROM on the PC and voila! Played perfectly.

Later on it started reporting "NO DISC" when discs that it had played before worked. I lubed the laser carrier rails and blew off the laser with compressed air - all to absolutely no avail. Now it coughs up the Sopranos and The Perfect Storm as well, along with almost 20% of my other discs.

That's when I did a Google search on A-110 problems and found this FANTASTIC website. I went out and bought the Toshiba SD-1600 based on everyone's glowing reviews and now this stinkin' A-110 sits on the shelf at an amortized cost of about 10.00 per disc viewed - we didn't use it much, as if that mattered.

What I found particularly galling was the fact that Panasonic wouldn't even acknowledge there was a faulty laser carriage. They offered to repair it for 150.00. Oh absolutely! I'll tell them where they can have this machine.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-1600 (its replacement) Toshiba 4.8x DVD-ROM

Great picture, audio, and customer service

Defective laser pickup unit

Like so many people who own the A110, my player started to pixelate and freeze up. When it first did it, I blamed it on rental DVD's, but then it did it to existing DVD's that had previously played fine. These problems didn't appear to be related to heat, as others on this site had reported, I had two DVD's that failed for the first 7 to 13 minutes and would play fine for the rest of the movie. After reading about the A110 issues on the Internet, I decided to replace it with a Pioneer DV333, which works great. But, I couldn't bring myself to just throw away a $300 player. I'm glad I didn't. After reading here that some people were able to get their player replaced by Panasonic, even though it was well out of warranty, I decided it was worth a try. I had to make two calls to get a case number assigned, and once I received a case number, a Panasonic Customer Service rep called me within 24 hours. I sent my A110 back to Panasonic, and they will send me a model RV65 - no charge!

Here's how it went - Called customer service number and was told that it was a repair issue, I explained that I had read a lot about this particular problem on the Internet, and felt that the problem was with a DEFECTIVE Laser pickup unit, and that repair often did not resolve the problem. She took down my name and phone number, and told me someone would call me within 24-48 hours. I did not receive a call in that time, so I called back. They had me in their system but didn't have the serial number and date of purchase, once I gave them that, I was given my case number. When I received the call from Panasonic, I was told that it sounded like the laser pickup unit, and it was more expensive to repair it than replace it. She gave me an address to send my A110, and that upon receipt, I would receive a model RV65 within 6 weeks.

I am cautiously optimistic here, I haven't received my RV65 yet, and when I do receive it, will it be brand new or refurbished? Either way, I am very pleased with Panasonic, who were under no legal obligation to do anything about it.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer DV333

Worked well (Dolby Digital) for about 15 months

No DTS O/P, Customer Service, Sometimes stops after about 1 hour.

This is a follow-up to my two (2) previous postings of 2/18.

On 2/21 my newest and best friend Chris from Panasonic called and stated that she, after a review of my case, had been authorized to REPLACE my A110 with a new RV65 AT NO COST. I believe this is more than fair and congratulate Panasonic on "stepping up to the plate" at least in my case and those of several others.

I hope the Company will follow-up with the folks on this site who have complained of the same problems as well as reviewing prior Customer Service logs for similar cases.

Panasonic is badly in need of either a consistent Corporate policy regarding the 110 or, should one exist, better communication to employees. If no policy exists, I suggest that a a replacement unit be given for one that is 18 months or less in the consumer's hands otherwise provide a decent credit toward a new player.

Also, a new Customer Service script should be developed and implemented which directs A110 owners, when specific symptoms indicate, to a central source which will handle and execute the above policy.

To those of you with complaints on this site, I suggest that you persevere, you may run into your own Chris.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba 1st. generation

Great, when it works

Picture freeze and lockout

Well, I guess I'm just adding to the discontent out here on this product.

Since this model is no longer manufactured I would warn anyone away form the used market for the DVDA110. I'm even assuming Panasonic's follow on products are of questionable build quality.

I have had my Toshiba much longer that the A110 and it still performs excellent. I purchased the Panasonic since it was such a great buy at the time for adding the DTS capability to my DVD's. What a mistake!! The A110 will play for about an hour and then totally lock up. The unit now only sees limited use in my bedroom system while I put the Toshiba back into my main theater room for now. I'll probably scrap the A110 soon and buy a progressive scan player with HDCD and component outs soon.

Please don't buy this unit, even form a good friend.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-3107

Good picture quality while it works.

Short life

I have had my A110 player since Sept 98. Last Monday it stopped playing all DVDs. CDs are fine. I get a NO PLAY message on the DVD panel, and the TV screen says "This type of disc cannot be played...".
Is this the same as "NO DISC" message mentioned in many of the reviews here?

I agree with what they all said great player, great sound, great video. You couldn't possibly ask for more at this price (I paid $350 last October, my buddy, knocked out by what he saw - and he has a 300+ laserdisc collection- got his for $250). However, if I could change any thing, I would make it a little more sensitive to input from the remote control at wider angles, and I would add the zoom features that the Philips and other (lesser sound quality) players offer.

good picture and sound for the 12 months it worked

reliability

let me add yet another miserable, scathing review of both the a110 and of panasonic. a mere 13 months after i purchased this unit i began to experience the now cliched pixelization, lockups and no disc errors. i was quoted $300 to 'repair' what is obviously a design flaw.

i have watched about 50 dvd's on this unit. that comes out to about $6.00 per view not including the cost of the rental or purchase of the disc.

having read similar stories about other panasonic dvd players i will now avoid them like the plague. i forwarded this review to 800.com where i purchased the player (who are great by the way, despite everything) and advised them to stop carrying panasonic paperweights.

don't buy panasonic.

Very happy with the picture and sound quality, when it is working.

As with many others, the player began to no longer recognize dvd discs. Called Panasonic and was told there was no service bulletin and to expect a minimum diagnostic service charge of US $89 for a potential repair. Extremely disappointed in Panasonic's lack of customer service.

Fortunately, I came across this thread with the advice to lubricate the tracks for the laser mechanism. Approximately ten minutes with some Vaseline, a cotton swab, a toothpick, and a Swiss Army knife and the machine is once again a dvd player. Thanks.

At this point, I will continue using the machine. However, I will no longer buy, and will actively encourage others to not buy, any Panasonic products.

Great Picture when it worked

Quit working after 18 months

This was my first DVD player, I purchased it at Future Shop
before they left the country. I was concerned about it being new technology so I bought an extended warranty from
Future Shop. Since Future Shop closed all of their USA stores and retreated to Canada they have been stiffing their
customers on all their extended warranties. Local shops
won't work on their stuff. Naturally, my player quit working. One day it worked fine the next every dvd gets a
"NO DISC" reading. It still plays cd's fine however. I
currently have it in the shop for repair, at my expense, but the tech cannot determine the problem and is currently in
communication with Panasonic trying to solve the problem.
I think that I will stay away from Panasonic in the future.

Similar Products Used:

none