Apex AD-5131 3-Disc DVD Player
I returned it reluctantly
I have an Apex 1200 and I loved it to this date.  But I need a changer.  The only Apex DVD changer available is a 3-disc one, which is the only one changer listed on apexdigitalinc.com.  Yes it plays everything, -R/RW, +R/RW, PAL & NTSC, JPG, MP3 and more.  Unlike some later Apex players that I heard of, it doesn't play JPG on DVD (only on CD), and I guess the same for MP3, on CD but not on DVD.  The two mic karaoke input is a plus.  The bad - it's noisy.  It's like playing a VHS or even a 8mm film.  In the worst case, you can hear it during quieter moments on movie.  If you go near it, you just feel ashame of it.  While my old Apex, still playing strong, is silence for the same disc.  Surprisingly the play back of non-ideal disc is worse than my old Apex.  The disc plays smoothly in the old Apex without a hint of problem, while it jerks all the time in the new Apex.  The remote is more stylish.  But instead of narrow they go wide.  Yes pretty thin but they opted for 2 AAA battery.  It's slightly better than my old Apex remote - difficult to use.  In a way it's more difficult because you now have more function.  The range and operating angle of the old remote is not good at all, but at least you know the target, a little labelled square, to aim at.  The new one is even worse and they don't tell you where is the bull's eye.  I have difficulty using the remote except sitting down on the couch in front of the player.  If you eject the tray, it's very likely that you cannot use the remote to close the tray again because the large tray is blocking everything.  I don't really understand.  Many many years ago the IR remote control signal used to reflect over walls and glass windows, at least the Sony's are.  Why after so many years the Apex still can't make it right?  Any other remote control in my living room never miss anything.<br />So I got a Sony 5-disc changer.  That's the only choice because I need -R and +RW.  It's more likely that a person don't have a DVD player,than that his/her player doesn't play -R.  If you have a DVD burner, and you don't want to finalize the DVD or never heard of it, go for +RW.  If I really need to watch PAL disc, I can convert it on my PC and burn.  JPG and MP3 on CD doesn't mean much to me unless it can also play them on DVD.  If I want karaoke, I have to add a little box with a mixer, probably you can build it yourself, cheap.  If you play karaoke you have to use the 2 channel sound build in the Apex anyway.<br />What surprised me is that the Sony is like a ballerina while the Apex changer is like terminator rough.  You can open or close the Apex tray while the disc is still playing.  The advantage is that you can change disc without disrupting play.  But it's slightly dangerous for tiny fingers because you can touch the spinning disc at high speed, can be sharp.  The main disadvantage is that you will get lost.  For the Sony, when you open the tray, the playing disc will turn to the front ready for taking out.  That's the only good reference as you normally don't and won't remember what's the other disc.  The Apex tries to do everything fast, tray close, turn disc, spin disc, but one after the other, a bit rough too.  The overall response time is rather slow.  Everything is synchronized in the Sony.  When the tray begin to close, the disc turns gracefully into position before the tray is fully closed.  The overall response time is much faster.  With the multi-disc resume feature, you can play each disc in turn where they stopped last time, and see what's the disc are.  With the Apex it takes forever even for 3 disc only.  You use only 1 button to look at the next disc.  For the Apex you need to remember to press disc 1 button, disc 2 button or disc 3 button.  If you want one of the Apex changer about to turn up, be sure to test drive one and compare to the others.  The Sony runs a quick setup first time.  And also the manual is much better.  If you still don't know what's SPIF, PCM, RAW, than the Apex is not for you.  You never get anything out from them.  But somehow Apex want to demonstrate their userfriendlyness, by calling the DVD menu button DVD digest!  But I have to mention that the Sony is most sensitive to non-ideal disc.  For the disc that I mentioned, the Sony spin it up, must have failed some test, and refuse to play outright, while the disc runs normally on my old Apex, jerky in the Apex changer.<br />I forget to add that the Apex is thick.  If you have a thick home theatre box, you may have problem putting the two together in a typical 32-36\\" TV stand.  I only have a tiny fraction of an inch left, and the Apex is directly sitting on top of the theatre box.