Panasonic DVDS1 Progressive Scan DVD Player

I had read that this DVD player can actually play burned DVD +R, +RW. Most of my movies are burned, and I had chosen the DVD +R. +RW. My older players Samsung, and Toshiba could not read them at all. Only my Sony DVD Recorder could play the movies. I connected the new Panasonic to my bedroom tv, and to my amazement, it played the DVD+R, and RW burned DVD's. I had called Samsung, and the tech support buy gave me some kind of diddly doo story about my disc are not recorded correctly. I then asked him, "Why do they play on my Sony DVD recorder, and the new Panasonic that I had just purchased?" He could not give me an answer. If you're seeking a DVD player that can play burned DVD's then this one will read the +R, +RW, -R, and -RW discs. My burned dvd's are in the NTSC Video format and are finalized, it seems that the older DVD models cannot read the +R, and +RW's. Great player, and it's advertised correctly when it says, can play pretty much anything. I'm actually ordering another one for my exotic pets. They have a new magnavox DVD player, but it cannot read the +R, or +RW's. Read more

I bought it to view non-american DVDs, but I also need to play MP3s. The sellers info said it would play the MP3s, as did the owners manual, but it won't. It plays the DVDs just fine. My blueray won't play the MP3s either, so now I have 2 DVD players and the blueray attached to my receiver. Why doesn't someone make a player that plays everything for a reasonable price? Read more

Shopping for a DVD player is something I've dreaded. It seems every DVD player model I've seen fails. My dad got a brand new Sony combo VCR and DVD--it skips on new movies. My brother got a used Samsung--same thing. My friend's Xbox spins up and never plays, just starts grinding. My friend's Philips will sometimes read movies and sometimes won't--how scratched they are or not has little impact, except that they're slightly more likely to confuse it if they are. But brand new DVDs without a spot on them still confuse it. It got so frustrating that I finally caved and decided I needed to replace the thing, as much as it was nice to be able to watch movies (sometimes, at least) for free (albeit with lots of headaches). When I ran across this Panasonic, there were no serious negative reviews. No total red flags. The price was good and the features were suitable. But the very first time I tried to load a DVD, the tray withdrew as the DVD was half in--it extended to its full open position and hovered there for a split second when it reversed course. The DVD, which it snatched from my hand in the process, got stuck, and I feared it would be destroyed. But I pressed the eject button and it came out. But again, the tray withdrew very quickly. I looked in the manual--nothing. Inexplicably, one time it stayed open like other DVD players I've seen--long enough to put in or take out a movie and then some. But then it reverted back to its spastic opening and closing behavior. And sometimes when you press open (or click it on the remote), it didn't actually open, it just stuck out a little and said it was open. And then horrible grinding noises came out of it. And then I clicked close and it closed, and then I clicked open and it opened--and then withdrew. The grinding noise stopped. And once it a while it worked fine--I think maybe 3 or 4 times out of dozens of times opening and closing it, it actually did what I asked it to do. Putting a DVD in is like trying to draw a gun faster in a duel: You watch intently and you keep your trigger finger ready, but if you're off by a fraction of a second, you're a dead man. It's completely unacceptable, which is a pity, because I was going to give Panasonic a chance. Now I'm thinking of hitting a couple other brands and seeing if any actually work or if all DVD players are doomed to bugs like these. Ironically, so far it has had little trouble actually reading the movies and playing them. The remote works fine, although as other reviewers mentioned it's a bit small without much finger space. And there's no separate pause button, which is annoying because sometimes I accidentally hit pause. I'd order a replacement of the same type since feature wise it's perfect, but a bug like this right up front just doesn't give me any confidence the replacement will not also fail soon. And since DVD players seem to only have 90 day warranties (on labor, which they'd likely bill it as) most of the time, I'm not confident the manufacturer has any confidence in their product lasting longer than that. So, I've decided to return it. Read more

I ordered this to play region 1 (US), region 3 (HK),and region 6 (China) DVD's. I was a little hesitant since some reviewers had had problems with some products not being able to play all regions, but when this product arrived, it and the box and all materials looked new; even the remote control batteries were still in their shrinkwrap. Interestingly, unlike some other products that came with non-US style power plugs, this had a two prong US style plug. In addition, the box had a return address of Panasonic North America, Santa Fe Creek, CA and all literature materials were US. Manufacture date was in October 2010. The DVD unit itself on the back was labeled region 1, which made me a little wary then. However, putting in region 1,3, and 6 DVD's I've had no problems. I was pretty surprised since the device cost less than sixty dollars! Of note, a brand new Panasonic S38 is running about forty dollars, so I guess the seller might be taking a new S38, modifying the region code system (which is perfectly within the law as i understand) and reselling for a twenty dollar profit. Read more

I've always said that I'm not one of those folks that buy a brand name. I don't care if I have a McCafe or a Starbucks... I just want a warm drink. However, when it comes to my electronics, I am a faithful Panasonic customer. I have a Panasonic stereo (20 yrs old and still works great), Two flat screens and now two DVD players. This latest one works great. The remote is easy to use and the unit doesn't have that annoying red light on the power button just to tell me that it's "Off" I don't know if there's any kind of phantom electrical draw while it's powered down, but those little red lights on some products really annoy the hell out of me. The unit is very low profile and elegant in it's simplic design, however I wish it wasn't so wide...nothing really wrong with that, I would just like one that's narrower. The only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't automaticaly shut off after the movie is done. I like to pop in a movie and go to sleep. I set the sleep timer on the TV so it shuts off after 90 minutes, but I get up in the morning and the DVD player is still running. My last player would automatically shut off about 15 min after the DVD was finished.(wasn't panasonic) It gets 4 stars for looks, ease of use, and no red OFF light! But no star for not automatically powering down after DVD is finished. Read more