Customer Reviews

Panasonic DVD-RV32K DVD Player, Black

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

First off I owned the earlier model RV-31,and like this one they are both perfect.Secound this may sound bad but before buying the rv-32 i took advantage of a 30 day return policy at a certain electronics store.I tried every player i could sony,toshiba,jvc,samsung the store got to know me well in the end it was the panasonic to win out hands down.The picture,the sound the durability,the easy to use on screen navigation is the best i have seen of any player. I use to work at an electronics store so i,ve seen them all.What most people dont mention in their reviews about dvd players is the display on the player itself.This is also another area where the panasonic tops its competition.It displays the chapter your on in the movie,the time,the type of disc your playing and you can dim the display level to your needs.This might sound small but all some other players (toshiba) display is the running time thats it.Small things like that add up.Another great thing about this player is the smooth fast forward and rewind it shuttles at 200x speed and it does it so fluid and smooth even at the highest speeds.My only beef is with the remote the buttons are way to small and positioned bad,but thats ok becouse you can go to panasonics website and order the rv-31 model remote every button works the same as the rv-32,exept this remote is the best remote of any and all dvd players nice big buttons were they should be and its only [money].i'll tell you again all the rv31 and rv32 remotes work the same way either remote can operate either player,just wanted to add that so if you do buy this player you can go to panasonics website and order the rv-31 remote and not worry if everythings gonna work with the rv-32 it only takes a few days to ship it to ya and BELIEVE me its worth it,and so is everything about the RV-32 panasonic dvd player buy it!

I've had this player for a week so far, but it seems to be an ideal replacement for my 4-year old RCA player that has begun to glitch on me more often.

It's not perfect, though, as some of my glitching DVDs also glitch on this DVD player, too, but not as severely. This just tells me that my DVDs themselves may have gone bad.

I once read that RCA players were simply rebadged Panasonic players. That statement might very well be true, as the menu system on the Panasonic, although more detailed with more options, seems almost identically laid out with my old RCA player. Of course, this player has many more options with both DTS and Dolby Digital output, along with component and S-Video video output, zoom in-out, and several other cool options.

One knock is the somewhat unintuitive remote control, which doesn't seem to be laid out ideally. Normally, you might find the rewind and fast-forward buttons on either side of the play button. Here, the FF and REW are on another row of buttons, and they're tiny little circular buttons, sized almost as if they're intended not to be used very much. The skip chapter FF and REW buttons are the same, unfortunately.

One other annoyance is a slightly slow load-up time for the DVD to start up. My old player loaded DVDs up within 2-3 seconds, while this player take 6-8 seconds to load up DVDs. Minor inconvenience, but not a major complaint.

I plan to run this player through its paces for the next 3 weeks to let me decide if it's worth keeping. So far, it's held up to dual-layer DVDs, seamless branching, animated menus, closed-captions (my previous JVC player failed this test), interactive Infinifilm-type DVDs, etc. Even scratched rentals seem to play fine on this player.

So far, I'm happy with this Panasonic player, which is superior in every way to my previous player, which is ideally what any person would want when buying the latest and greatest gizmo.

The fine print: It only reads DVD-R's that were created on a panasonic DVD burner. I have several that it can't read that came from a generic burner. It does however read DVD+R.

Immediately after purchasing the player I had to return it because it hesitated badly on almost all DVDs. The player was gone for two weeks, but worked fine when it was returned. Player worked for the next 12 months of (infrequent) use, then just quit working. It is not worth paying for repairs, so it is being junked and I am buying another brand to replace it.

Add me to the list of people who have encountered the dreaded "H07" error. The unit is slightly over a year old and was lightly used. (about 2-4 times a month) Last week, I powered up the unit, put a DVD in, and up comes the error message on the display. THANKFULLY, I was wise and purchased the 3 year extended warranty. Why? Because my last DVD player, also a Panasonic (DVD A120), suffered from the infamous laser pickup failure. This is the second machine I've owned that's went bad on me, and although my unit was repaired, I will no longer consider another Panasonic product. Over the years, I've been a faithful customer of Panasonic/Technics, but since around 2000 or so, they have had some serious quality control issues with their products that prevents me from recommending them as a first choice. Although their TV line is still acceptable, I'd be hesitant to recommend any other Panasonic product. This is inexcusable why these things are suffering from major failures when they are still rather new. Whatever happened to the days when something would last 10-15 years and seldomly (if ever) needed repairs? Are all companies designing products with a short lifespan now? This is nonsense. I have an old AM/FM console stereo with turntable and 8-track that is STILL working fine after nearly 30+ years of weekly use. What's going on? It seems to me that in the electronics field, anything over 3 years old is considered antique, so why not buy a new one since the cost of repairs will likely exceed what the product is worth??? Come on Panasonic, get your act together! We're not talking about mass-market junk here, we're talking brand name products from (once) reputable companies. In the past five years alone, I have replaced the following, (all within 3 years old):

Zenith TV after two years (bad picture tube)
Panasonic DVD (laser pickup failure)
RCA CD changer (general failure)
Sony Discman (motor failure)
Technics Receiver (general failure)

Teac Single-CD player (laser failure)
Zenith VCR (piece of junk that never worked right)
JVC double cassette deck (unrepairable problem)
Pioneer Amplifier (circuit board failure)

I'm getting sick of having to go out and buy new A/V equipment almost every other year. No sooner would I get something paid off, then something else would go on me. Maybe I've just had bad luck, but reading all these other reviews, as well as reviews from other makes/models, really makes me wonder just what is going on. Are they ALL producing junk now? First it was the dreaded laser failure on Panasonic DVD players, now it seems they are having issues with the tiny DC motor that spins the stupid disc. Oh sure, I called their 1-800 number, but after spending almost 45 minutes on hold and getting bounced around the switchboard between customer service and their technician, I hung up. It was painfully obvious to me that nobody had a clue what I was even talking about. Took it into an authorized service center, and the guy smiled and yelled out to the back room: "another Panasonic player on the fritz", which leads me to believe that the place must have been FULL of these things. It took nearly a month to get it back, and although Panasonic agreed to honour the warranty, they said that next time they wouldn't pay for it, and to just go out and buy another player. (which is exactly what they want you to do) Apparently, the life expectancy of these things is only 2-3 YEARS? Come on!!! As for me, I learned my lesson the hard way. From now on, I'm not going to purchase anymore "quality, brand-name" products, since they don't seem to hold up any longer than the mass-market Wal-Mart junk does. Buyer beware.

After four years, my RV32 recently gave the dreaded H07 error. This appears to be caused by a sticking spindle motor (the mechanism that spins the disc).

Those handy with a screw driver and spray lubricant may be able to breathe a few more weeks/months/years into the unit. Not for the faint of heart but if you are handy and careful, you may be rewarded:
1. On a good work surface, turn on the unit and hit eject.
2. FOR YOUR SAFETY: Unplug the unit (with tray open)
3. Remove the cover (7 screws: 4 sides, 3 back)
4. Remove the front panel and disc assembly (gently remove two-wired connector, top circuit board, etc. - six screws, two nylon clip posts, plastic clips and connectors on front panel). Be cautious and gentle on this part -- take your time to see how everything comes apart.
5. Spray a synthetic/PTFE lubricant away from the laser assembly towards the spindle motor shaft. This is the metal rod that spins the black circle that then spins the disk. WD40 could also be used, but may gum up more quickly (leading to H07 again). Only a VERY SMALL amount is required.
6. Reassemble unit. With cover completely reinstalled, plug unit in and cross your fingers.

A week after this repair my RV32 is still going strong. In a dusty/dirty environment this motor will likely stick sooner rather than later.

Be Warned. Many users of the previous model DVD RV31k are experiencing a system error "H02" that renders the machine unusable after 10 months or so. It happened to me last week. Check the reviews. I would be very wary before buying a Panasonic DVD player no matter how good the picture and sound. That is what they said about the RV31k also until they started to breakdown.

Buy a Sony or Toshiba and save yourself aggravation down the road.

The unit worked great for about 12 months before I got the H07 error. Very disapppointed that this type of fatal flaw is present, with no workaround, and that Panasonic is silent about any kind of repeal. As a shareholder and consumer I am bailing on Panasonic. Either they have a flawed approach to Quality Control or this is part of thier strategy.

In September 2002, we purchased the Panasonic RV32S and were quite happy with it. Excellent value, picture quality, ease of setup... and all the other things people have raved about. UNTIL we got the dreaded HO2 error and couldnt play DVDs. It was still within the 1 yr parts warranty of course though over the 90 day labor warranty. So the shop we took it to wanted a deposit just to look at it and estimated it would cost more than half the price of a new player. "Oh well - we got a lemon", we thought and happily went and bought another one. Now, 92 days after purchasing that new player, it wont read ANYTHING! zip, zero, zilch... put in a disc of ANY format and it says "No Play". It cant read ANYTHING... just sits and spins the disc around! Course what does Panasonic say? "Take it in for repair" - of course, to that same ... repair shop.

Off to buy a Sony - "Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me". Should have bought a Sony last time.

i loved this DVD player since i got it 2 years ago, it has operated flawlessly until i got the H07 flaw the other day. I thought i had just overworked it so i let it cool for a few days and looked it up in the manual. After repeatedly trying to reset the player (like it suggests in the manual), i looked the problem up online only to discover that IT IS NOT FIXABLE!!!!!! guess i'll have to shell out another $200 for a dvd player. my third in 4 years.

thanks for the info guys.
-P