Panasonic DVD-S29S DVD Player , Silver
Not perfect but a good choice given its price and features/performance
Background  ----------  * Please read this section so you can adjust the weight of my impressions  * This is my first modern-era DVD player. My previous one was from 1998. I am not familiar with the other modern DVD players, so I can't compare them.  * All the recordable DVDs that I tried on this were recorded on a Panasonic ES20 dvd recorder, which I have reviewed separately. I have not tested any DVDs created by other DVD recorders.  * With VCRs, I am okay with the 6 hour mode. I am not very demanding/picky on image quality  * I have an old analog TV  * I am not an expert  * Some problems may be masked because I am using entry-level components so please keep that in mind!  * I am not brave enough to open this to see what's inside       What's In the Box  -----------------  * Panasonic S29 DVD player, date on the back says November 2005, Made in China  * Red/White/Yellow cable  * Remote control and two AA batteries  * User manual (half-page size)      Features I found useful/interesting  -----------------------------------  * Quick Replay is a great feature (takes you back 12-15 seconds)  * A lot of the functions are available as stand-alone buttons on the remote. The remote control is fine by me. Not perfect, but usable. I am not picky on remotes.   * Time Slip (can advance time by pressing the up and down arrow keys; press-and-hold advances in increments of 10 minutes. Down arrow key does -10 minutes)  * Time Search (available in the same menu as Time Slip) you can enter the exact time you want to start playback from using the number keys instead of the arrow keys  * Remaining time can be displayed but you have to toggle the option in a menu  * Customizable Zoom (Just Fit or manual along with preconfigured ratios (eg cinemascope) )  * Customizable Playback Speed 0.6x - 1.4x with sound (with restrictions)  * CM Skip (commercial skip) - jumps about 1 minute ahead  * Dynamic Range compression ON/OFF: great for late-night so you don't wake up the neighborhood when someone screams in the middle of a quiet movie  * AV Enchancer mode attempts to optimize the picture. You can turn it OFF/ON. When it is turned ON, you cannot adjust things like \\"Picture Quality\\"  * Choice of TV aspect ratio:  4:3 PanScan or 4:3 Letterbox  * Choice of what happens when showing 4:3 on a 16:9 TV  (normal, zoom, shrink, auto)  * You can mark up to 5 positions on a disc and revisit them during a session. If you turn off the machine, or open/close the tray, the positions are reset.  * Black level control: Lighter or Darker options  * Customizable Time Delay for Plasma and A/V receiver setups  * Two choices for displaying STILLs: better picture -vs- less blurring  * A-B repeat  * Customizable Subtitle position?  * Adjustable GUI brightness (!)  * Adjustable brightness (!) of the front panel display  * Direct Navigator is different for DVD-RAMs (VR mode). It shows all recordings as a List without thumbnails, but it starts playing the highlighted title full-screen behind the menus. For DVD-Video disks (eg finalized +/-R and -RW(Video mode) it shows a screen of thumbnail pictures - as created by the DVD recorder)  * Sleek slimline design, thin and lightweight box  * If you are familiar with electronics, you can figure it all out by playing with it. But reading the manual doesn't hurt - it's a short manual anyway :-)      Features Available but I have not tested them  ---------------------------------------------  * Progressive (480p) video output, component output  * Playing DVDs created by non-Panasonic DVD recorders  * PlayLists on DVD-RAM  * Playback of DVD+RW, DVD-RW(VR mode)  * digital audio  * Playing HighMAT discs  * MP3 playback  * JPEG playback      Restrictions  ----------------------------------  * You cannot use these features with DVD+Rs: Quick Replay, Time Slip, Time Search, CM Skip, Advanced Disc Review  * Limited number of outputs: 1 S-Video, 1 Component, 1 Video (yellow composite), 1 red/white Audio  * No RF out, so if you have an old TV you have to get an RF Modulator or use an A/V receiver, or use an old VCR as an RF Modulator (but that will reduce the picture quality and it is not recommended in the user manual)  * No outputs on the front.  * No Inputs  * If you have other modern-era Panasonics, you may want to change the remote control code on those devices if they all respond to it. See annoyance above if you have multiple modern Panasonics within reach of the remote.        Features Not Available on this model  ------------------------------------  * no user-controlled Noise Reduction  * no user-controlled picture quality adjustments of brightness, contrast, etc. You can only choose between five pre-configured Picture Quality modes (Cinema1, Cinema2, Animation, etc)  * no (HD) Upconversion  * no HDMI  * no Position Memory        Problems, Annoyances and Issues  ----------------------------------  * Problem: Direct Navigator screen showing the thumbnails for DVD+R is problematic. The cursor keeps blinking on the first title. If you move the arrow keys to the other titles, it keeps returning to the first title. But there are a couple of workarounds: You can play a title by pressing its number in Direct Navigator, or play the first title and then change it by pressing Functions. Regardless of the workarounds, this is disappointing because these DVD+R were created by a Panasonic DVD recorder (ES20) and the Direct Navigator screen works properly on both the DVD recorder and my ancient Apex dvd player from 1998, but not on the S29! So it is disappointing that this brand new November 2005 DVD player does not display the screen correctly. The titles do play without a problem. The problem is getting to the title.  * Annoyance: If you have other Panasonic devices in the line of sight of the S29 remote control they will receive those signals. Even when you change the remote code on those devices, you get an annoying note on the other device's front panel display that a different remote code was received (thiswas on the ES20). This is not a problem of the S29, but it is a problem for multiple Panasonic devices in the same area.      Types of disks I was able to play  ----------------------------------  * commercial DVDs (DVD-Video)  * DVD-RAM  * finalized DVD+R (see problem above), finalized DVD-R  * finalized DVD-RW(Video mode)  * All recordable discs mentioned in this review were recorded with a Panasonic ES20 (which I have reviewed separately)      Types of disks I was _NOT_ able to play  ---------------------------------------  * unfinalized DVD+R, unfinalized DVD-R  (not supposed to play them)  * unfinalized DVD-RW(Video mode)  (not supposed to play them)       Types of disks I did not test  -----------------------------  * DVD-RW(VR mode)  * DVD+RW  * +R/-R Dual/Double layer  * Whether Layer-change is noticeable on commercial DVDs      Conclusion  ----------  * For the current Amazon price as of this writing ($65 with Free Shipping ($64 if you have A9)), this is a good deal!  * If this cost $100 or more, I would give it four stars, as I would be expecting some more advanced features (see \\"Features Not available\\" above).  * I am giving it five stars because of its versatility and variety of media types that it is able to play and because there are at least two easy workarounds for the DVD+R Direct Navigator Thumbnail bug. Nevertheless Panasonic should fix that bug ASAP.    For any updates, corrections or questions, email is amznreviewsbsg2004 at gmail dot com