Customer Reviews

Apex AD-600A DVD Player

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I had originally bought this DVD player for the Region and CSS circumvention features. By the time that I got mine though they had replaced the chipset and this was no longer a feature. I am, however, very satisfied with this DVD player and have found it to be a real bargain when you consider all the features that it has. My favorite is its ability to play my mp3's that I've burned to CD. all in all I highly recommend this product.

Absolutely the best DVD player for the money! Awesome picture & sound. Mine plays anything that I throw at it. How many DVD players can actually read CD-R and CD-RW? How many do Karaoke as well as have the ability to play MP3 files you've burned to CD? This one does it all! It even plays VCD's. Why spend $300-500 on a machine that won't even do half of what this one will? The Apex 600A had notoriety for awhile since it was able to circumvent region coding and copy protection. Unfortunately those machines also were riddled with playback issues, most notably the problem with seamless branching noted above. But not anymore! None of the newer 600A's have these problems, making them, in my opinion, probably the best DVD player on the market.

If you're going to be playing VCD's a lot, you may want to go with the Apex 703, as they have a 3 disc tray so there's no need to get up and switch discs during playback!

Apex is a fairly new company, that came out in early 2000. The Apex AD-600A was their very first DVD player to hit the market. It was also the very first of its kind, to have the MP3 compatability that a lot of players didn't have for some time.

Although they are not as expensive as more know name brands like Sony and Panasonic, this DVD player is very dynamic for the price. It has all the usual features, plus one of the very first DVD players to have a guideline similar to the V-Chip on the latest television models.

Although Apex only makes DVD Players on the market, the first model that came out is well worth the buy. If you want to buy a DVD player that is very cheap, but not all that hastle, Apex has DVD players that are worth it.

Secret Bonus Menu for AD-600A:
1) Turn DVD player on, and make sure that the on-screen display says no disc.

2) Press "setup" button, and highlight preferences under the setup menu.

3)Once you've highlighted the preferences, press the "step" button on the remote control.

4)Then, press the "previous track" button, below the button marked "A-B".

5)Hit "Next Track" button, next to the previous track button.

After following these steps, you'll see a bonus "loopholes" menu on the display. On this menu, you can change the CSS Encryption, Macrovision, and Region I.D.

If you think these DVD players offer too much for the price they're asking - you're right. I got the 3 disc version of this player for christmas. It did play CD-R's CD-RW's and mp3 CD's (which is the reason I looked at this unknown brand in the first place). It did not play DVDs well at all. It would skip frequently even on brand new DVDs that I just opened. When I took it back to the store where I purchased it there were already 3 apex DVD players behind the return counter that had been returned that day. When I returned mine I asked the clerk and she said they'd been getting tons of Apex players back since they started selling them (all models). After I went and bought a sony DVD player (see reviews on the sony DVP-S360) I saw 3 more people standing in the returns line taking back Apex DVD players on my way out of the store!

Apex is an unknown brand offering DVD players for 50 bucks less than everyone else. They don't have the quality control or the engineering experience of a company like sony, toshiba, panasonic, or jvc. While it's tempting to have a very low price DVD player with mp3 capability it's not worth blowing 150 bucks or more on an unknown brand with severe reliability issues. Buying one of these is risky. Ask the returns department of any store that sells this brand and they'll tell you to stay away.

Although my 600A doesn't have the much sought after "loophole menu" (i.e. the "secret" feature on older units which allowed you to make all sorts of tweaks including Region Free and Macrovision Off), I was lucky enough to have gotten a Canadian version with FlashROM (firmware v."600-E"), which allows for firmware updates via CDR. This is simply a matter of popping the firmware CD into the tray!

For the uninitiated, the firmware chip is basically where the player stores its behavioral data, which dictates things like user settings, features, graphics, menu selections, and most importantly, in older versions of the 600A unit, it contained the elusive loophole menu!

What this all means, is that if I wanted to turn my DVD player into the version with the loophole menu, I need only burn the loophole-enabled firmware to a CD, place it in the CD tray, and press Close! A much better alternative to the loophole-enabled firmware, is to use a hacked version of the *latest* firmware which defaults to Region Free and Macrovion Off anyway, yet is free of many of the bugs that plagued the loophole-enabled version of the firmware (eg. seamless branching problems), plus it has RCE turned off.

For 600A units without FlashROM-enabled players (mostly US-based units), adding the hacked firmware is still pretty simple, but requires opening up your unit and replacing your EPROM with one that contains the "enhanced" firmware. You could do it yourself or pay somebody to do it for you, but it's much easier and cheaper to try to buy the Canadian version of the 600A in the first place (if you're lucky, sometimes you can find them on EBay, with the firmware CD included).

For the money, it's an excellent unit -- I know people who've paid $600+ for the Karaoke feature alone! (And have you *seen* what they charge for legit Region Free DVD players?!)

For the money, you cannot find a better DVD player anywhere! Picture and sound quality are fine. I've got a kick-[...] home theater set-up, and when my "top-o'-the-line" DVD player pooped out on me, I began looking for a replacement. I cruised the internet for player reviews and found that the geek community was raving about this new player that also plays MP3s. That was it for me. I was one of the lucky few who got the first generation machine with it's minor benifits before APEX caught flak from the MPAA. Anyway, great player that plays DVD, CD, CDR/CDRW, MP3s (for hours on end with no problems!)and Karaoke (not just one mic input, but 2 if you prefer duets). The remote is not designed for scientists (a big plus!) The only drawback I can think of is the MP3 menu is confusing, but hey, put it random mode and go. Presumably your only burning songs you like onto a disk anyway.

Bought one two years ago. Haven't needed anything else. I was able to update the firmware to support multi-region, macrovision disabled, and playback of mpg files.

The hacker types out there have even modified this player by adding an internal hard disk. Those interested in these mods should check the nerd-out dot com web site.

When my mom bought this dvd player a year ago, I was VERY skeptical since it was $100 less than other DVD with the same functionalities at that time. It has been working beautifully since. Her friends bought the same one and haven't had any problems either.

I bought this DVD Player almost a year ago, and I bought an open box one, so it was only (price). So, for the (price) I paid, it's a great DVD player with some great features. It has a x2 and x4 zoom [which is great for scenes like the guy hanging himself in "The Wizard of Oz"], it also has the option of changing your screen aspect ratio so even though you have a regular size TV screen, you can watch most 'widescreen' DVDs with or without the black bars on the top and bottom. It also has the features noted above and with all the features DVD Players in general have, it's a great deal. For only a couple bucks more than a VCR, you have the convenience of movies which will last forever, instant advance to the scene you were at, extra features, all sorts of cool advantages that DVDs have over VHS movies that you can have for so cheap.

HERE IS THE BAD NEWS. This DVD Player is NOT user friendly. If the DVD you are playing HAS closed-captioning subtitles, THEY WILL BE ON THE SCREEN. Lots of other DVD Players default with the subtitles off the screen, this one defaults with them ON the screen. Also, if you want to remove them, [unlike other DVD Players where it can be removed with a push of a button,] you have to go to the movie's menu, find the audio set-up and click them off. Also, if you want to do any cool things DVDs can do, like: zoom in, change camera angles, change the time [so it displays how long the movie has left, how long it's been on, etc], whatever, a bar appears on the top of the screen that shows which function you are doing; so after you are done, you have to go and push ANOTHER button just to make the 'helpful bar' go away. Also, the both the buttons on the Player itself, and the remote, are all the same size, and just it neat little rows, so you have to be in a well-light room to see the buttons, or [like I ended up doing] memorize where the buttons are.

Basically, if you are willing to fiddle with multiple buttons to get it to do something in order to save yourself 30 or 40 bucks, this is the DVD Player for you. Personally, it's almost as though VHS tapes have started to be a little tempting because I have to do so much for the DVD Player just to play the DVD. I'm going to get another, move convenient one for my home theater, and use this one in my bedroom. If you have the extra $$, you should go for the more expensive, but more convenient Player, so you can experience the fun of DVDs without "getting all funned out".

The first AD-600A I bought had severe digitizing problems. After I traded it in for a new one, I have not have a single problem since. It is a very straight-forward and easy to use system, unlike some higher-end models that might seem to complicated to new users. The sound quality is fantastic and the picture is always crystal-clear. All in all a great deal for a good price.