I have owned the A310 for about 6 month and it has worked great. I have had no problems with it reading DVD's or poor picture quality when it changes layers. The DTS works great!. I would recommend this unit to anyone who wants a excellent DVD player at a good price.

I recently purchased this player from the "marketplace" section of the site. The guy shipped it to me used for $350 (but with a couple of years still on the warranty). He wanted a fancier player, but he must be extremely picky if he's not satisfied with the A310!
This unit has the following features; a built in dolby digital decoder with 6 channel RCA output, a digital output for dolby digital or DTS, four different video outputs (2 RCA outputs, 1 S-Video, and a component video output), a headphone output, and a remote that can control the DVD and the TV.

The picture quality is incredible. Even on a medium sized (19-21 inch) TV, it looks noticably better than VHS. When I get a couple more speakers, I can hook it up to my Dolby Digital ready receiver and have digital surround sound. If you don't get a DVD player w/ Dolby digital built in, you'll have to pay at least an extra $100-$200 to get it in the receiver anyway. Of course, there are also regular stereo outputs so that you can hook it up directly to a TV (which is how I have it set up now).

There's nothing really bad about this awesome machine (which can also play CDs of course), but I must say that the FF and rewind look pretty jumpy at the faster speeds. I don't know if the tip top models do it more smoothly, but you'll be watching at normal speed, right?

To summarize, I highly recommend this machine, especially if you don't yet have a CD player and plan to use it for that too (which is what I do). It's leisure time well spent.

I have just read the review from s.a. de caro he pretty much summed it up so I can shorten my review what he said about when sometimes buy a piece of electronic equipment it like a lottery it should't be but that how it is sometimes I have had it for about 4 month and no probelems have not played mask of zorro but don't forsee any problem when I do [ TRY T2 ] it is also dual layered I feel bad for all the people who have had bad luck with this unit but there many who have had good luck I also paid a good price for it 430 total back in Jan . I then found this site I read a few reviews and got kind of scared cause I also had brought the SONY 925 [ will review next] and you also see the many negative reviews I had felt like I had brought two of the worst pieces of all time but they have performed very well for me

I have had the Panasonic now for about a year and a half, bought it through my local Good Guys; and shelled out for the extended guarantee; not knowing how reliable it would be. Needn't have worried. Player looks and sounds great. Never fails. I liked the built-in decoder feature, and I run the 5.1 outputs into a Yamaha DSP-492, which gives me all the front/rear/center/sub adjustments I need. Additionally, the player has a mixed output which carries the standard Pro Logic feed, which I also use, for an awesome blend with dual rears. One quirk:I send the optical out to a Phillips 870 for burning CD's, but the Panasonic won't play the completed discs. May be due to that pernicious SCMS. Over all, a great player for use with a receiver that has 5.1 inputs or for a similar situation. It is easy to spend much more, but when do you pass the point of diminishing returns? With the DVD-A310, an excellent choice that won't break your bank.

Great player. Superb picture quality, excellent audio. The remote takes a little getting used to, and isn't back-lit. CD playback is awesome! It even plays 24/96 CD's, which sound incredible. Have it paired with an Onkyo TX-DS656 receiver, Paradigm Titans in the front, Paradigm CC-170 center, and Paradigm Atoms in the rear, and a 50" Proscan TV.
As for CD-R's, my A310 WILL NOT recognize them - it says NO DISC on the display. One person here said his A310 was able to read CD-R's. My question is what brand of CD-R's are you using? I've tried Sony, TDK, Ricoh, Hewlett Packard, and Imation/3M, all to no avail. Keep in mind that these are computer CD-R's, not the ones intended for use in the new component CD Recorders. If anyone can recommend a brand of computer CD-R's that will work in the A310, I'd appreciate it!

The problem with this forum is that everyone with a Sansui receiver thinks he/she is an audiophile. That's why I make it a habit to state what equipment I'm using using. People who have much better and critical equipment may take a "great" from me with a grain of salt.
I've had the A310 for about a year and a half and tested it with an Adcom GFP555 preamp, a BEL 1001 poweramp (front) on Magneplanar SMGa speakers with A GFP535 amp on the rear with Spica rear speakers, a Spica subwoofer and a Yamaha DSP1 processor. I recently replaced the amps and preamp with a B&K AVR202 receiver.

In either setup the video worked flawlessly. Obviously, the older setup didn't have AC3 or DTS playback ability but it sounded excellent anyway. On the B&K AVR202 it sounded clear, detailed and dynamic in all modes including 5.1. I haven't tested it with DTS as I have no DTS software - yet.

My pet complaint is the navigation of the menus to change audio setups for discs. I could swear it doesn't default to 5.1 automatically. Also, I seem to forget which set of arrows on the remote is for skipping to the next chapter and which is for fast forwarding. They should be market better.

Overall, for the price of this unit (I paid around $350 with 2 free DVDs from Cameraworld of Oregon -www.cameraworld.com) it can't be beat.

I have a complaint about the Panasonic DVD-A310, it worked fine for about 4 months. Then the picture started to display small blocks and the sound went crazy. I found that if you leave the unit off for a min or two it will play fine as long as you don't scan back or go to a still frame. Unfortunately, this is not a fix. I don't won't my unit fixed I won't a new unit that works or my money back..

I upgraded from the A300 (had it 2 years) to the A310 for the DTS.....I've had ZERO problem with this player as the A300. The Dac is the same as the Sony 7700. The picture is excellant as is the sound and I've not experienced any layer changes and stoping with 25 titles i own. The DTS music dvd's are Great!! and the Appolo 13 DTS launch scene is awwsome...

I got mine as a floor unit and paid $350 out the door....

I love it... It's run into a Denon 5700 with Klipsch Synergy speakers..
and a paradigm Ps1000 Sub..

After working in an electronics store for 2 years, I decided to purchase a DVD player. My initial choice was the Panasonic 110. After about two mmonths the picture started to freeze up & display small squares. Figuring I had got hold of a lemon, I upgraded to the 310 to take advantage of the component video. Now, about 4 months later, I'm having the exact same problem with the 310. The sound & picture WERE great, but what good does that do when it plays a disc for 5 minutes, then freezes up. Highly disappointed, next time I'll put my money elsewhere.

Garbage is the correct word to describe this unit, how can panasonic sell this thing when it freezes up every 5 mins. Bought the unit back to the dealer and tried another one to no avail. Actually even my CDs skip as well. I'll just wait for the next generation of DVD players.