Customer Reviews

Panasonic DVD-RV32S DVD Player, Silver

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(32)

 

 

I've been looking for a long time for player that would be versatile, cheap and come from respectable manufacturer.
Finally my search was over.
This new player from Panasonic has a very clean and easy to navigate menus, good features for DVD playback. A lot of functions have been coded into dedicated buttons on remote so you don't have to invoke menu if all you want to do, let's say is to review the last several seconds of a scene that interested you.
The functionality that really won me over was playback of MP3 and WMA files coming from brand new hardware decoding chip. You can say that a lot of modern day DVD Players can play MP3 files. But what about usability? Most of these players won't let you navigate files in tree-like structure and those that do usually crop file names to the first 8 characters, leaving you to guess what could '001. Fl~.mp3' mean. This player displayes up to 41 characters of the file name and presents it in a very nice interface where you can easily navigate between folders and choose the track that you really want. It's such a pleasure to use that I forgot when was the last time I fired up my PC to listen to some track. If you own the receiver, then Optical Digital output will make sure that these sounds will get to your ears unaletred. As for the DVD picture quality, it is great on my 36'' TV with provided component video Outs.
As any other player it is not perfect. Some of the things that you may want but are not in this player:
- no progressive support;
- no mp3 playlist support;
- only Region 1 decoding and only NTSC (too bad if you own DVD movies from Europe or Asia)
But for the price this unit is selling I can afford to buy it now and then replace it in a couple of years with much more modern player without breaking the bank.

The Panasonic RV32S and RV32K are the same machines except for the color of the enclosure. The S model is silver, and the K model is black.

I only demoed this unit at a local electronics store and this player blew away many other machines that were priced... more than this one. I compared this machine to a Toshiba 2500 (I think) and a couple others for which I forget the makes and models.

It has the ability to play back DVDs, VCDs, MP3s and audio CDs. It can read off regular pressed DVDs and CDs, along with CD-Rs and CD-RW discs. The latter two are useful for making your own discs with a CD recorder drive on your computer, or a standalone unit.

VCD video quality is similar to that of VHS tapes, but they are popular in Asia and are region free. Asia also seems to release many US films on VCD before they are released in the US on DVD. I have seen legitamate copies with Chinese subtitles.

The DVD video quality on most machines I tried that day were all the same. VCD was a bit different, however there were still little discrepancies between different units. However, what really blew me away about this machine was the audio quality. When I played back music, whether on DVD, VCD, MP3, or CD-Audio, the RV32 shined over all the other units.

The sound coming from this machine seemed to be brighter and have a wider frequency range. The other machines I tried seemed to have a smaller range of frequencies which they could produce. It seemed that the same notes on other machines were either softer or not there. It's like comparing sound from a radio FM source to a CD-Audio source. It's not that much difference, but it was very apparent.

The bad thing is that few stores have DVD machines properly hooked up for you to demo them to their full potential. The store I went to had this machine connected to a 50" plasma TV, and a very good 5.1 sound system. The other store I visited while DVD shopping was large chain store. They had the players on a shelf, but not hooked up in any way. The employees were even hesitant to hook it up for me to demo. With some coaxing, they finally hooked it up for me, but unfortunately it was to a 20" television. Needless to say, I walked out of there.

I got this DVD player the other day and so far it's working great. I had a little problem using my original RCA cables but the ones supplied in the box did the trick. I also tested a DVD+RW disc I had burned with a HP dvd200i dvd burner and that also worked great! To top that off I tested a CD-RW filled with about 8 folders of MP3s. It played the mp3s flawlessly and changing between songs/folders was also fast. It had a neat playlist view to see all the songs and navigate through the different folders.

The remote is pretty good with the main functions comfortably right at thumbs reach. The dialogue enhancer increases dialogue volume in the movie which worked really nice instead of having to constantly change the volume of the tv.

I really like this DVD. Sure, it's somewhat basic and may have a few flaws and setbacks here and there (which I really have yet to find) but for the price you can't beat it. It has everything you need and plays just as good as higher priced players. I would highly recommend it!

I've been looking for a long time for player that would be versatile, cheap and come from respectable manufacturer.
Finally my search was over.
This new player from Panasonic has a very clean and easy to navigate menus, good features for DVD playback. A lot of functions have been coded into dedicated buttons on remote so you don't have to invoke menu if all you want to do, let's say is to review the last several seconds of a scene that interested you.
The functionality that really won me over was playback of MP3 and WMA files coming from brand new hardware decoding chip. You can say that a lot of modern day DVD Players can play MP3 files. But what about usability? Most of these players won't let you navigate files in tree-like structure and those that do usually crop file names to the first 8 characters, leaving you to guess what could '001. Fl~.mp3' mean. This player displayes up to 41 characters of the file name and presents it in a very nice interface where you can easily navigate between folders and choose the track that you really want. It's such a pleasure to use that I forgot when was the last time I fired up my PC to listen to some track. If you own the receiver, then Optical Digital output will make sure that these sounds will get to your ears unaletred. As for the DVD picture quality, it is great on my 36'' TV with provided component video Outs.
As any other player it is not perfect. Some of the things that you may want but are not in this player:
- no progressive support;
- no mp3 playlist support;
- only Region 1 decoding and only NTSC (too bad if you own DVD movies from Europe or Asia)
But for the price this unit is selling I can afford to buy it now and then replace it in a couple of years with much more modern player without breaking the bank.

If you still have a unit that has experienced the H07 death message, call Panasonic Executive Customer Relations at 201-392-6870. Politely but firmly ask them what they are doing about this widespread problem, and tell them you would like them to fix your unit at no charge.

I've always liked Panasonic DVD players. They are high-quality, easy to use, and always works well, even with dirty DVD discs. The one thing I truly love about Panasonic players is their smooth scan feature: when you fast forward or rewind (there are 4 or 5 speeds), the motion picture is smooth at low speeds and skim gracefully at high speeds. Other players usually "stutter," but not with Panasonic. The RV32S is another solid model at a great price. Highly recommended.

Hi,
I have had good luck with this dvd player, except for what has turned out to be a minor problem. Read on, though, because this seems to be a COMMON problem with this unit.
How to Fix the H07 error code
Like so many others, after 7 mths with this dvd player, the panasonic DVD-RV32S, I got the "dreaded" H07 error code. I checked the manual, followed the reset instructions, and could not get rid of the code. Upstairs, then, to do a google search: 294 hits for "panasonic" "h07", mostly comments to the effect that it's time for a new DVD player.
There were 2 glimmers of hope: one person stated that he sent the player to panasonic and for $45, shipping incl, they repaired the player.
The other was a fellow who took apart his player (very easy: 6 screws), and figured out that H07 means that the motor won't run. He blew in some compressed air and manually spun the motor and got it to work for 2 more movies.
Well, figuring I had nothing to lose and reasoning that maybe all the motor needed was some lubrication, I squirted a couple of drops of oil at the base of the motor spindle.
I did this last Thursday (11-13). My wife and I watched Dvd's all weekend. So, if you've got one of these players, and you've getting this code, with a minimum of mechanical ability, some oil, and a philips screw driver, I think you can resolve this annoying problem.
Note: At first, I oiled the wrong part,the piece that the Dvd rests on. So, the first time I tried it, I got a message that the dvd couldn't be read. If you do this, not to worry. I removed the dvd,wiped off the dvd, wiped out the excess oil out of the player, and both player and dvd are fine.

Overall, I am quite happy with my DVD-RV32. Very nice feature set, component outputs, etc. Even though I do not have an HD monitor, and therefore do not require progressive outputs, it still does a great job.

I do not understand a previous reviewer who returned it because it was not progressive. Well, duh. It was not advertised as such, and unless he has an HD monitor, it is pointless to have a progressive player. And considering the prices dropping on progressive players, by the time an HD monitor is gotten a better progressive DVD player can be had for very little. There is no need to "buy ahead" now with DVD players.

So, if you still have a standard 4:3 interlaced set and want a nice DVD player to go with it, check this one out. It can be found quite inexpensively.

Can't believe Panasonic didn't do a recall on this item.

1 year and 24 days later.. H07 error.

It's now ready for the garbage bin.

Thanks Panasonic I hate you!

This DVD player is amazing, the picture quality is better than most machines 5 times the price. It's solid, looks expensive and it's price is happily not. Buy this if you like movies, or buy a more expensive unknown brand of you don't really want to see great films the way they should look. This machine does it all!