Apex dvd player

[Bill Renfro]

Uh, MacroVision? - Reinhart

Yep, MacroVision. Makes a DVD totally unwatchable when signal is passed
through my VCR. No I do not have a cheapo $35.00 VCR. I do have a Apex
500W DVD player, in fact I have two of them. When I got them they were some
of the few DVD players that would play almost any disc. Including vcd, svcd
and DVD-R. And it is nice to be able to turn off MacroVision, or watch
discs from other regions if I want to. By the way they both still work
flawlessly after two years. If they die I will repair them if possible.

 

[gothika]

In other words, it's the entire disc drive.


I wouldn't say that they would fit in a drive bay unless you shear off the
fastening points on all four sides of the drive housing.


Actually, they are E-IDE/UDMA DVD-ROM drives.

Nit pick, nit pick, nit pick.
For the sake of simplicity I simply call them DVDrom.

Bwahahahahaha! And get stuck with a no-name DVD-ROM drive that's known to be
problematic within two years?

You really are a brat. I've got one of those "no-name" drives and it's
been running fine for nearly two years now.(Well worth the 20 dollar
investment.) AND that is the wholesale price btw.
(I use it in a small mass dupe setup as the slave/output drive. and I
run the crap out of it. I've been expecting it to die for a long time
now yet it keeps on going.)

For my computer, I'd rather have a Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Superior readability
and reliability.

However, I've got a JVC/Lite-On in my rig. Four years and it's still working
like new.

I have a couple of Liteon drives, a 411s and a 811s. Both are very
good drives for the money.(Never had a read/write problem and I get
DVD's from all over the globe in all sorts of formats/codecs)
Did apply a region remover hack tho'.

If they sell entire drives for such a low price, then I'm willing to bet that
replacement pickups are not available.

There are lots of jobbers selling just about any type of pickup laser
you could want. If you really looked i'm sure you could find the one
for that Apex.

 

[gothika]

It is true that manufacturers are outsourcing their production on those crappy
DVD/VCR combo units.

However, for standalone DVD players, Panasonic, Sony, JVC, and Pioneer still
make their own DVD players.


For sound and LED display problems, capacitors 927, 928, and 929 on the
mainboard are prone to failure not because they are cheap. They fail because
they don't have a high enough voltage tolerance. The same brand and rating of
caps are used throughout the entire mainboard, yet those three caps are the
only ones that seem to fail.

That's purely sematics you're trying to argue.
It can be said they're cheap because the maker wouldn't spent a few
cents more for the proper rated cap.
Just more cut cornering.

 

[gothika]

You get higher luma resolution with S-VHS over regular VHS, but you still use a
chroma-under-luma encoding scheme for the color and all the warts inherent with
that. In short, you still lose out on quality.

Still you must go back and read again. The difference is not
discernable on th e average home tv.

Besides that, if a DVD is always handled like a record, you will not have
problems with damage. It's easy to handle DVDs like this, too. It suprises
me, amuses me, and frightens me why there are people that make such a big deal
out of having to do something that simple to ensure that their investment will
last. This simply shows me just how lazy and ignorant people can be.

You're stuck in you single point of view go back and read my post
again.

As for 5.1, you'd be surprised just how many people have the capability to
reproduce that kind of audio. Anyone who's able to get a home-theatre-in-a-box
can enjoy 5.1 in Dolby Digital and DTS, and there are many systems that are
fairly decent which are very affordable that can give you this capability. -
Reinhart

Yeah! I've seen such crap in the retail outlets. A kit form of a5.1
theatre is mostly crap with compromises inherent.
You can't honestly say that a small polystyrene box you can hold in
your hand is actually a sub woofer.
And the tiny ass cubes they call mid/highs that are used for the front
and rear stereo channels are even worse.
True you and I can build a killer 5.1 system for less, but most
consumers don't have the knowhow or desire to spend all the time
required to build it themselves.
In order to have quality THX certified QUALITY sound in their dens the
consumer is looking at a couple of thousand bucks for an out of the
box solution.

 

[gothika]

Well, if I were to make a backup of a DVD, I'd do it with DVD-R, not VHS.


How do you propose making the medium more durable?

Like I said a thin coating of high grade Lexan over the surface would
do just fine. Might try making the actual disc material out of it as
well.

I've not had that problem because I handle all of my discs with care. And, the
interesting part about being careful with your DVDs and CDs is that it's
actually easy! It's just a matter of developing good handling habits and
remembering to always put the disc back into its case when not in use.

But, I suppose that's too simple for anyone to follow, eh?

No but you make gross assumptions about others you know nothing about.
First off the main market(at least the one the dvd/video market is
spending millions to market to.) are families. Last time I checked
this meant children who as well all know are anything but careful.
Then there are those whose manual dexterity isn't as nimble as the
average 14-24 yr old computer nerd. This would include the elderly and
the handicapped.(Not to ring my own bell here but that'd include me.
I have a condition much like carpal tunnel. Nerve damage that makes
handling things like cds and dvds a bit difficult at times.)
Not to mention that the surface of commercial dvds are so soft that
even errant dust in the works will eventually scratch them.(The avrage
family house has nearly 10 pounds of dirt free floating in the air.)

Oh, a conspiracy theory, eh? You'd better be careful before Jack Valenti
decides to make you the next Jimmy Hoffa. (sarcasm off)

If corporate tactics are a conspiracy I guess so then.

And I can guess that you don't take good care of your discs and also allow them
to be handled by idiots.

No. try readig my reply above on that issue.

Because how can you make such a disc?

Use a better plastic? Plastics can always be scratched, and there isn't really
anything more suitable for DVDs and CDs than polycarbonate.

Actually as I said LEXAN. The make it all the way up to bullet
proof.(The helmets of the Apollo astronauts were made of Lexan as well
as the gold plated transparent visor shields on them.)
GE marketed a cassette tape back in the late 70's early 80's made of
high grade shock proof Lexan(same grade as the football helmets were
made of.) with a tape formulation that was extremely heat resistant.
We in the film and sound industry loved 'em. You couldn't kill them.
The cost was only slightly higher than the comparable hifi brand names
on the market.(As I recall I payed about 1.50-2.00 bucks more over the
same maxell/denon/tdk tape of the same bias and size.)
I still have some of the tapes in my archive vault today. They still
play with the same highs as when I recorded them nearly 25 years ago.
And that's just one superior plastic, one I might ad that is nearly 40
years old.
There are newer plastics that've been developed since that would work
just as well and probably cost even less. HDPE is one that comes to
mind.(No it is made in rigid formulations)

Apply some sort of scratch resistant coating on the irridescent side? You can
end up actually altering the optical properties of the disc, rendering it
unplayable. The polycarbonate layer also acts as a lens of sort which works
with the objective lens on the pickup to focus the beam on the track path.
This is why these discs don't have a lexan coating as you've suggested as
applying such a coating alters the optical characteristics of the disc, which
can cause problems.

No you simply use the lexan instead of the polycarb. Simply adjust for
the refractive properties of the Lexan. In fact I've used high grade
optical lenses made of lexan.( If you go to GE labs they'll give you
the optical properties of lexan, you'll find it's got a much higher
rating than polycarbonate.)
And while it's certainly not cost effective, we've had the technology
to grow synthetic diamonds.(It's done in a solution.)
That tech know how has been around since the 50's.
Esentially what I'm trying to say is that we have tons of
technological solutions for making a cost effective scratch proof
cd/dvd.

In one way, all of these provisions makes it hell for the consumer to practice
his fair use rights. Then again, I can't really blame the studios as they are
just simply doing what they can to protect the profitability of their products.
They are businesses, after all. However, I do agree that they should stand
back and get a fresh look at the problem and find real solutions that won't
cripple the consumer.

Consider it cost pennies to actually mass produce the cd's and dvd's
on the market today.
Yet look at the retail price.
Still the real point of it is they WANT to sell you the same product
over and over again.
That was a market model that the recording industry built in the 60's
and 70's.
One the film and music industry are loathe to abandon.
I'll believe their line of crap about business costs being awful when
I see a record/film company exec driving a vw bug and wearing suits
from K-mart.

But, that will never happen because every movie studio fears the possibility of
making a "Heaven's Gate" and would like to brace themselves for a finnancial
bath, just in case.

That's really not a legitimate argument.
whenever a film is signed on to be made all sorts of insurance and
bonds are contracted to avoid any possibility of financial loss of the
prinicipal.
The "financial bath" is really just the lost opportunity to rake in
millions in box office and secondaries.
The attitude of the investors is that if they lay out millions then
they expect to see at least double that in intial profit in the first
year. Or even in the few weeks of first release.
(Or box office receipts if the contract deal only allow for first run
profits for principal investors. i.e. no monies for them on video or
cable etc..)
They get very unhappy if they don't make 2-3 times over their
principal.

"Heaven's Gate" was a motion picture released in 1980. It cost over $40
million to produce, but it flopped big-time. The finnancial loss of the film
was so staggering that it pretty much killed United Artists, the studio that
commissioned the motion picture's production. Or, at least, forced
Transamerica, UA's corporate parent, to sell UA to MGM to recover its losses
and answer to its investors. - Reinhart

That was a studio film that was backed pretty much by the studio
itself.
What really crippled the studio was the perceived loss of
insurability.
If you can't make a huge profit on a film no Completion bond company
will carry you. i.e. you can't make films because no investor will go
near you.
you stop making films for even a short time your stock goes down.
Your stock goes down, stockholders make a run to sell.
You crash.
The 40 million it cost to make Heaven's Gate was mostly just inflated
hype and over pay.
Heaven's Gate was supposed to do what Star Wars did for science
fiction films usher in a new golden era for box office westerns.
The viewing public was just not in the mood for westerns at that time.
The same film could have been made for as little as 9 million.
That wouldn't draw the curiosity of the potential viwers though.(the
mindset being that if it cost big bucks to make it MUST be good.)
They were also banking on Michael Cimino's box office rep, which was a
bit over inflated.(He did make The Deerhunter and Thunderbolt and
Lightfoot)
Yet soon proved to be a bit of a flash in the pan and just could not
keep up the level of box office draw the execs wanted.

 

[gothika]

Mainly because they are unaware of any differences or to safeguard their
investments from their children.


Far fewer people have S-VHS and S-VHS ET than the capability to have 5.1
surround sound. I'd argue that one.


HDTV, which there have been plasma, CRT direct view, CRT projection, LCD
projection, LCD direct view, and DLP projection devices made for that standard
as well as other developing technologies like LEP direct view.

As for acceptance, the FCC is pushing for the halt of NTSC broadcasts and
integration of full HDTV broadcasting. This is something that will happen in
the near future, so a purchase of an HDTV is advised if you are in need of a
new primary-use television. A set top converter should also become available
for those not yet able to purchase an HDTV set.

Actually the FCC mandate on the crossover was originally for some time
around 2006.
It's since been suspended.
Ultimately it's the consumer market that will determine when it will
take place.
(FYI surveys showed that the reason consumers haven't made that leap
is the over exorbitant price of a decent set. When queried in detail
they cited their distrust of an industry that burned them in the 80's
on vastly overpriced VHS machine and the tapes that went in them.)
i.e. the consumer market is now wise to the price gouging tactics ot
the electronics market and simply won't budge untill prices on HDTV
sets drop substancially.

NTSC is going to be phased out and replaced with HDTV to catch up with Europe
and Asia (particularly Japan, as they have had a functioning HDTV broadcast
system [Hi-Vision] and an HDTV play-only video format [MUSE/Hi-Vision LD] for
years now), which was the whole intention in the first place. - Reinhart

You show all the signs of one who's completely enamored to all things
high tech. If it's not the latest and greatest you don't want it.
You'll always be caught in that viscious circle of keeping up with the
jones.
Which is exactly where the retailer want you.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Actually, they are E-IDE/UDMA DVD-ROM drives.

Nit pick, nit pick, nit pick.
For the sake of simplicity I simply call them DVDrom.

Nit pick?

Without knowing details, you can look like an idiot, which is what anyone would
look like if they tried to use a SCSI DVD-ROM drive on a device designed to use
only IDE.

You really are a brat. I've got one of those "no-name" drives and it's
been running fine for nearly two years now.

Well, now. I've got a brand name drive and it's been running for twice that
long.

You call me a brat for my observations and, perhaps, my unwillingness to
sugar-coat it.

This is being able to recognize the difference between quality components and
utter pieces of shit.

Brands like JVC/Lite-On and Pioneer are quality. Brands like DVS and Afreey
are shit. Simple as that, but I guess you do get what you pay for.

Repair experience is one reason why I'm not particularly fond of the drives
used in the Apex players, like the AD-500W. I fixed the problem with the
AD-500W that I've got, but it has problems reading RSDL DVDs while it will read
single layer DVDs and CDs just fine. A firmware upgrade from LT1.4 to LT2.4 on
the drive has not yielded any improvement, which means the pickup has probably
gone marginal.

There are lots of jobbers selling just about any type of pickup laser
you could want.

Can you buy a genuine Sony pickup for a DVP-S360 that's brand new, not
refurbished, and not separated from a complete traverse assembly from your
sources?

There are parts, such as pickups, which are not available separate from a
complete assembly.

Several repair professionals here can confirm this fact. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Use a better plastic? Plastics can always be scratched, and there isn't

really
Actually as I said LEXAN. The make it all the way up to bullet
proof.

I still have some of the tapes in my archive vault today. They still
play with the same highs as when I recorded them nearly 25 years ago.
And that's just one superior plastic, one I might ad that is nearly 40
years old.

A superior plastic for magnetic tape, but what about optical discs?

Also, how can Lexan be implemented without causing problems?

Can lexan be melted down at a certain temperature point with desired fluidity
and at a safe pressure to where it won't cause problems with current injection
molding equipment without expensive retrofitting and to where acceptable discs
can be crafted?

How would it react to being chilled down immediately after the casting?

For injection molding of discs, all it takes is a very minor deviation in
pressure, temperature, and timing to completely and utterly ruin the yields.
If the injection molding is not done properly, you will have discs that are
highly susceptible to cone warp, which is where the disc starts to have a
tendency to warp into a dome shape.

There are specific reasons why polycarbonate was chosen over other plastics.
In short, it had a balance of qualities that were needed to make a pressed disc
easily, economically, reliably, and safely with minimum problems.

The process of manufacturing is easy, but the decision for what kind of
materials to use was not.

Consider it cost pennies to actually mass produce the cd's and dvd's
on the market today.
Yet look at the retail price.
Still the real point of it is they WANT to sell you the same product
over and over again.

While I do agree that they charge too high of a premium on something that is
cheap to mass-produce, your reason as to why they do this, in my opinion, is
grossly incorrect.

They do this because there is a perceived superiority over the 4-track
CompactCassette format and the vinyl LP.
To marketing, that means that the consumer may see a justification for the
higher price through the quality difference, so they take advantage of that.
After all, regular consumers didn't really know just how cheap it is to make
CDs until recently.

And, as usual, big businesses are always too slow and aloof to properly react
to changes in the market, likely because they are blinded by the bottom line
and are unable, and also unwilling, to make needed changes for the long term
benefits.

I'll believe their line of crap about business costs being awful when
I see a record/film company exec driving a vw bug and wearing suits
from K-mart.

Executives don't have to worry about that. It's always the **employees** that
get screwed when a company has problems.

Just look at Michael Eisner. Disney is having real problems, yet Mr. Eisner is
still comfortable despite his mismanagement of Buena Vista Corporation
(corporate parent of The Walt Disney Company). But, the people who work under
him are surely suffering.

(Heaven's Gate is) really not a legitimate argument.

Actually, it is. It helps to explain why the corporate side of the
entertainment business will do anything that is possible to minimize risks to
their profitability, real or unfounded, including making formulaic films and
annoying copy protection.

Although all of this crap really started when Paramount fell to Gulf+Western in
1966, it really hit full circle in the 1980s beginning with "Heaven's Gate" and
its effects on United Artists.

On an off-note, the executives meddling in creative affairs would have some of
the biggest impact on Universal, if films like "Legend," "Howard the Duck," and
"Dune" are anything to go by. I've observed that the best Universal films from
the 1980s were usually ones that were released through Universal, instead of
being produced or commissioned by Universal. (Although, to be fair, "Dune" was
released by Dino De Laurentiis through Universal.) - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

That's purely sematics you're trying to argue.

It can be said they're cheap because the maker wouldn't spent a few
cents more for the proper rated cap.

It doesn't mean the part is cheap, as in shoddy. It means that the part was
simply unsuitable to the demands that would be placed on it in the circuit.

Just more cut cornering.

Or a design oversight. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

I do have a Apex

500W DVD player, in fact I have two of them. When I got them they were some
of the few DVD players that would play almost any disc. Including vcd, svcd
and DVD-R. And it is nice to be able to turn off MacroVision, or watch
discs from other regions if I want to. By the way they both still work
flawlessly after two years. If they die I will repair them if possible.

Fortunately, if the drives go, you can just use a standard E-IDE DVD-ROM drive.

I've had success using a Lite-On LTD-163 with an Apex AD-500W, which is a
superior drive to the DVS product that's originally used in this model.

As for turning off MacroVision and region discrimination, you have to swap the
original BIOS chip with an EEPROM containing a hacked player OS. - Reinhart

 

[James Sweet]

No you simply use the lexan instead of the polycarb. Simply adjust for
the refractive properties of the Lexan. In fact I've used high grade
optical lenses made of lexan.( If you go to GE labs they'll give you
the optical properties of lexan, you'll find it's got a much higher
rating than polycarbonate.)
And while it's certainly not cost effective, we've had the technology
to grow synthetic diamonds.(It's done in a solution.)
That tech know how has been around since the 50's.
Esentially what I'm trying to say is that we have tons of
technological solutions for making a cost effective scratch proof
cd/dvd.

I'm not sure that's an ideal solution, yeah Lexan is more scratch resistant
than polycarbonate but it still scratches quite easily. I work a fair bit
with lexan and acrylic, the lexan is far easier to cut and drill and far
more shatter resistant, it does scratch much more easily than acrylic
though. Neither is as flexible as polycarbonate. Every material has
advantages and disadvantages.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

You show all the signs of one who's completely enamored to all things

high tech. If it's not the latest and greatest you don't want it.
You'll always be caught in that viscious circle of keeping up with the
jones.
Which is exactly where the retailer want you.

I guess that DOESN'T explain why I keep a stockpile of VHS and Beta VCRs and
still use a Sony DVP-S360 DVD player, which is a 1999-2000 year player and was
the low end model for Sony at that time. Still works perfectly, too. No need
for a new DVD player. Although, I have three spare DVD players. Two Toshiba
SD-1700 players, both with the bad caps replaced and one with minor power
supply repair, works perfectly and has their remotes. One Panasonic DVD-A110
with remote. Someone gave it to me when it stopped reading discs. I called
Panasonic and they honored a warranty service on it, even though it was years
out of warranty, so I ended up with a free working DVD player at Panasonic's
expense.

As for getting better things, I'm quite resourceful, and having luck never
hurts.

I got my Sony STR-DA4ES receiver for $300 complete with manual and remote, and
that Elevated Standard model retailed for over $1000 in 2002 and still enjoys a
high price on retail and used markets. I enjoy 7.1 surround sound and superb
stereo sound because of this 44 pound beast! Excellent shape.

My stereo mains are a set of Optimus Mach Threes. Yeah, they're RadioShack
speakers, with one minor detail: they were speakers that RS managed to get
right. The sound is neutral and accurate, but very smooth. Love listening to
stuff from classical and new age to pop and hard rock, and these speakers plays
all with aplomb and very efficiently so there's no reason to replace them with
a set of Infinity or NHT speakers.

Surround and center speakers are KLH, and they're not bad for cheapies. I
place a greater priority on stereo reproduction than surround sound, so I am
more than content with KLH speakers for the surrounds, but would like a better
center channel speaker.

My turntable, a 1983 model Technics SL-7, was purchased for $10. I replaced
the belt for the pickup kicker mechanism and cleaned it up inside and out, and
it looks like it came fresh from the factory with nary a scratch or blemish in
sight. The Ortofon cartridge and stylus were still good. Excellent shape.

My tape deck, a 3 head JVC TD-V711 SuperDigifine, I bought for $15 bucks from a
seller who was convinced it was worthless just because it was a tape deck.
Excellent shape.

My 1994 model Onkyo DX-C106 CD changer I essentially bought for $25. I applied
a slight modification by changing the JRC 4560 opamps with Burr-Brown AD2604
opamps in the analogue section for improved sound quality. Excellent shape.

My primary monitor, a 1999 model Sony KV-27S66, was built from two defective
sets of the same model. Calibrated to THX OptiMODE and is capable of working
with 16x9 anamorphically enhanced DVDs. Not bad for $60 ($30 for the two TVs
and $30 for the remote. Sony graciously shipped me a copy of the user manual
for free, as they assumed I paid a lot to get the set repaired). Excellent
shape.

My primary VHS VCR, a 1990 model Sony SVO-160, was given to me. Power supply
was rebuilt with new capacitors and the capstan bearing problem was fixed. I
spent $25 on getting the remote and manual. Excellent shape. Has the best
picture and hi-fi sound of any VHS deck I've used with only one possible
exception: the Panasonic AG-1980 S-VHS Editor.

My primary SuperBeta VCR, 1985 model Sony SL-HF400, was purchased for $225.
Unit is mint with remote and was barely used. If you don't have a large number
of Beta tapes, then you wouldn't understand why I thought this wasn't a bad
deal.

My primary LaserDisc player, a 1997 model Pioneer DVL-700 with remote, was
purchased for $75 from a pawn shop. Resurfaced the spindle hub friction
material to restore lost grip on the LaserDisc, which fixed the slippage
problem that is fairly common on that chassis, which was also used on players
like the Pioneer ELITE CLD-99 and Pioneer CLD-D704. Excellent shape and one of
the finest LD players I've used.

My PlayStation 2 was bought new. Had to get the TOSLink cable and the S-Video
cable to integrate it into my rig the way I wanted it to.

My Microsoft X-Box was bought used for $120 including two games and two
controllers. Had to replace the optical pickup (Samsung DVD drive with Seagate
HD, IDE cable replaced with UDMA cable) and bought an A/V pack to connect it to
my rig using S-Video and TOSLink.

My Nintendo GameCube was obtained by trading a VCR with a friend. The GameCube
had a faulty optical pickup, but Nintendo honored the warranty, even though it
was over by two months. So, I ended up with a refurbished GameCube for the
price of a VCR.

My CED player, an RCA SJT-200, was bought from a flea market for $10. Cleaned
and rebuilt with a new belt and fresh lube brought it back to life. Stylus has
plenty of life left to play those needlevision discs, to which I have a
collection.

There is a lot more. Anyways, my system as a whole is probably worth in excess
of $3000 and is capable of playing VHS, Beta, LaserDisc, CED, DVD, LP, CD, and
CompactCassette. But, I spent a fraction of that by simply being at the right
place at the right time and I'm quite content with my equipment. Some of my
equipment are simply superior to what's sold new today unless you go much
higher end than what Best Buy sells, and I got almost everything with pennies
on the dollar.

I love high tech, but I don't nosedive into something like that unless I
absolutely need to. Since my current TV/monitor is still working perfectly, I
don't watch broadcasts on it but use it strictly as a monitor, and can enjoy
anamorphic DVDs on it complete with the 30% virtual resolution increase, albeit
with no progressive scan but having a detailed and sharp image nonetheless, I
have no need for a new HDTV at this time.

So much for your theory about me. If anything, I compete for getting the
biggest bang for the buck instead of just getting the best. I usually end up
getting some high end stuff AND saving money. You can't beat that combination.


And, I'm willing to bet that the other techies here have also had great
success, perhaps greater, at building their systems by getting the right stuff
for great prices and using their capabilities to get broken high end stuff for
a low price or for free and to repair them for resale or use. - Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Still you must go back and read again. The difference is not

discernable on th e average home tv.

Whatever.

Besides, my TV isn't an average home TV, so why should I care what you think?

I don't have a beef with people doing what they want, I'm just saying that I
have no need to do what you think is a great idea.

I don't need S-VHS copies of my DVDs because I take care of my DVDs. Under
proper care, DVDs will not wear out from normal use.

And, why would I want to copy DVDs for illegal distribution, if you are
thinking of it that way?

Yeah! I've seen such crap in the retail outlets. A kit form of a5.1
theatre is mostly crap with compromises inherent.

If you buy shit from Apex, Coby, Audiovox, or Bose, then I can see why you'd
have such scorn.

But, systems from Panasonic, Pioneer, and JVC aren't as bad as you make them
out to be and they don't cost an arm and a leg. Perfect for those who just
want a decent sounding 5.1 system for movies in a small-to-medium sized room.

And, as you've implied, the average consumer may not care about quality. As
long as THEY think it sounds good, then more power to them. But, I've heard
the sound of box solutions from Pioneer, Panasonic, and JVC. While they're not
as good as my rig driven by an STR-DA4ES, I was suprised that they did sound
pretty good for what you'd get.

You can't honestly say that a small polystyrene box you can hold in
your hand is actually a sub woofer.

Now you're feeding words in my mouth.

Since when did I ever make a bullshit remark that a cube speaker can accomodate
a subwoofer?

If anything, a subwoofer is required to complement a cube speaker, to fill in
the lower end that those "speakers" are incapable of reproducing. (Which is a
sleazy tactic that Bose does to push their Acoustimass modules on the sales
floor.)

In order to have quality THX certified QUALITY sound in their dens the
consumer is looking at a couple of thousand bucks for an out of the
box solution.

For a true THX certified system, EVERYTHING from the speaker cable to the
actual room acoustics have to conform to the standard. This means you will
spend more than a couple of thousand bucks for a true THX system.

And, IMO, THX certified equipment for the home is almost a complete waste of
money. THX for the home is not like THX for the theatre circuit or THX for
post-production studios, where strict quality control is mandatory.

For the home, THX only means you potentially spent a lot more than you should
have for your equipment.

Home THX will certify anything that pays for the brand. There is a Kenwood
receiver, the KRF-X9992D, that's THX Ultra certified, which is the highest
possible THX certification for home equipment. But it doesn't deserve it
because of some screwy design decisions and horrendous design shortcuts. For
instance, if the ventilation fan fails, the whole output section will overheat.
Also, the DSP electronics are all located overhead of the heatsinks, which
means they get a big dose of heat radiated from the output sections when the
receiver is running. There are also no condensor capacitors for the primary
power supply and the secondary power supply is underdesigned. This thing uses
a lot of transmission ribbons and all cabling are organized in an almost
totally haphazard fashion. Overall, this sucker is an expensive example of
what not to do with receiver design. Yet, it manages to get THX Ultra
certification?

Sorry, but if THX allows big ass fuckups like this, then I don't have faith in
their standards for the home.

I'll stick with my Sony ES receiver, thank you. Better design and build
quality with better sound for about half the price. (Although, I paid less
than half the MSRP for my Sony ES receiver.)

If Sony ES weren't an option, I'd go with Harman/Kardon, Denon, or Onkyo
(preferrably without THX). - Reinhart

 

[John Miller]

I'm not sure that's an ideal solution, yeah Lexan is more scratch
resistant than polycarbonate but it still scratches quite easily. I work a
fair bit with lexan and acrylic, the lexan is far easier to cut and drill
and far more shatter resistant, it does scratch much more easily than
acrylic though. Neither is as flexible as polycarbonate. Every material
has advantages and disadvantages.

What th'....

If you actually do go to GE Labs

<http://www.gelexan.com/gelexan/>

you'll see that Lexan *is* polycarbonate. (It's in the very title of the
above web page: "Lexan (R) Polycarbonate Resin from GE Plastics.")

--
John Miller
Email address: domain, n4vu.com; username, jsm

Nasrudin walked into a teahouse and declaimed, "The moon is more useful
than the sun."
"Why?", he was asked.
"Because at night we need the light more."

 

[Licensed to Quill]

And you ignore all the self-righteous members of this group who insist on
how carefully they take care of their discs without even mentioning those
who buy rare ones second hand?? How do contributors to this thread who
handle their discs with kid gloves respond to that?

BTW, I have never been inside my unbelievably slow-reacting Apex DVD player
which I bought for $15 but assume from this thread that it has only a simple
computer IDE cable in it which makes it obviously easy to swap for one which
has a normal 2 IDE device chain so anyone can then add a spare HD to that
chain (although IS there a spare power supply cable in there and if so,
why???): But how on earth do you then configure it so easily and how do you
then connect it to the computer so that you can DO anything with that added
drive?

Licensed to Quill

 

[Kalman Rubinson]

It was a rhetorical reply. Which means it doesn't really need a
responce, especially a snippy little quip.

The quip was intended to point out that, in the wide world, there are
many people who have no reason to copy DVDs. Some do.

The number of those ripping their own DVD's vs not are far greater.

I doubt it but I have no data. Do you?

Why else the proponderance of ripping software coming out?

Preponderance? They are available, of course, but, again, no data.

BTW, this post does not require any response as it represents only my
opinions unless, of course, you have some hard numbers to deny or
support my contentions.

Kal

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

And you ignore all the self-righteous members of this group who insist on

how carefully they take care of their discs without even mentioning those
who buy rare ones second hand??

I buy second hand discs, but after I give them an inspection to ensure that the
lacquer layer is intact and the irridescent side is undamaged or only scratched
to a minor degree. If it's damaged in a way that I find unacceptable, even if
it's rare, I won't buy it. Simple.

Secondly, you blow the whole concept of careful handling of discs utterly and
totally out of proportion.

You don't even need "kid gloves." All that's involved with careful handling is
holding the discs by the edges and touching nothing else of the disc while it's
on its way to the player or its storage case.

That's it! It's as simple as that and that's also how LPs are usually handled,
yet people like you cannot comprehend this and still contend that it's some
unwieldly and complicated process.

Quite frankly, I think you are lazy, ignorant, and really full of shit.

And I'd love to see just what kind of condition your DVD collection is in.

BTW, I have never been inside my unbelievably slow-reacting Apex DVD player
which I bought for $15 but assume from this thread that it has only a simple
computer IDE cable in it which makes it obviously easy to swap

What model is it?

There are Apex players that use standard IDE drives, but there are also Apex
players that do not. It depends on the model number. Apex does not make their
own players, but takes players from other brands and slaps their name on them.
- Reinhart

 

[James Sweet]

What th'....

If you actually do go to GE Labs

<http://www.gelexan.com/gelexan/>

you'll see that Lexan *is* polycarbonate. (It's in the very title of the
above web page: "Lexan (R) Polycarbonate Resin from GE Plastics.")

Lexan is a GE trademark and is a bit different than standard polycarbonate.
The local plastics shop stocks both and the Lexan sheets are significantly
different.

 

[James Sweet]

I buy second hand discs, but after I give them an inspection to ensure that the
lacquer layer is intact and the irridescent side is undamaged or only scratched
to a minor degree. If it's damaged in a way that I find unacceptable, even if
it's rare, I won't buy it. Simple.

Secondly, you blow the whole concept of careful handling of discs utterly and
totally out of proportion.

You don't even need "kid gloves." All that's involved with careful handling is
holding the discs by the edges and touching nothing else of the disc while it's
on its way to the player or its storage case.

That's it! It's as simple as that and that's also how LPs are usually handled,
yet people like you cannot comprehend this and still contend that it's some
unwieldly and complicated process.

Quite frankly, I think you are lazy, ignorant, and really full of shit.

And I'd love to see just what kind of condition your DVD collection is in.

While you have a few good points, I'm not really sure what you're going on
about. Obviously you're vastly superior to the average person and you
obviously only let other super-beings into your residence. That's fine but
there's no point in going on about it trying to boost your ego or whatever.
The rest of us have normal social lives, friends with kids, people who are
not perfect, etc. I take good care of my DVD's but it hasn't stopped
careless people and defective players from damaging a few. I live in the
real world where nobody is perfect and accidents happen on occasion, some
people are clumsy or have bad habbits handling things, I wish they weren't
but it's not a reason to lock up my entire house and never have people over.

 

[Bill Renfro]

Fortunately, if the drives go, you can just use a standard E-IDE DVD-ROM drive.

I've had success using a Lite-On LTD-163 with an Apex AD-500W, which is a
superior drive to the DVS product that's originally used in this model.

As for turning off MacroVision and region discrimination, you have to swap the
original BIOS chip with an EEPROM containing a hacked player OS. -

Reinhart

I will have to keep an eye out for some replacement drives. I know it is
only a matter of time before they do fail. I think two years is pussing my
luck. They are cheap players.