Panasonic DVD-RP62 DVD Player

After purchasing two of the Panasonic DVD RP62K, I decided to try out the RP62S. I needed a player to go with my bedroom tv, and being a girl - I wanted one that matched my new silver flat screen.

The design is sleek and snazzy - ultra lightweight. Only a few inches in height, it sits sparkly and sexy on top of the tv. Okay, maybe not sexy - but it does look really good.

Being a person who has gone to great lengths to incorporate old and new technology (I just can't seem to let go of my college stereo) I was ecstatic about all the choices for connection in the back. Take your pick from S-Video output, composite output or component output. If you want to take advantage of the progressive scan feature, you need to use composite output.

So this sparkling little gem is now attached to the matching television.. I turn it on and voila!! Beautiful picture!! I had only used S-Video to hook up my other progressive scan DVD player, and now I'm going to have to rush out and get more little cords and doo-dads to change all the DVD Players to composite. The difference is huge, and oh, so lovely. I put in The Lord of the Rings dvd and almost wept with joy.

As for audio inputs, they seem to be the same as the RP62K - standard analog RCA or optical digital output. I only have experience with the analog, but it sounds great with a 10 year old stereo. My point here being that you don't need loads of new technology to make this DVD player work for you. That was a huge concern of mine - I need options, choices - I don't want a $179 to quickly turn into $500.

So far I've played DVDs, CDs, a burned cd with MP3's on it (both CD-R and CD-RW), and a DVD-RW of my employer's annual promotional video.. the latter was not by choice, but it did work perfectly. It apparently also plays VCDs and XVCDs, but I don't even know where to get these, so I can't comment.

When playing MP3's, the RP62S does display song titles and root structure. The sound quality is easily as good as a cd player.. I'm thrilled with the player being able to play audio CD's - I'm one more component up on a new stereo!

One thing I did notice is that it played a scratched CD easily - whereas the same CD brought my computer to its knees.

The features are great - I LOVE the position memory. If for some reason you hit the wrong button, it can start up at the same place again. You don't have to look at every little scene and figure out where in the heck you were. The frame advance is also a life saver. It allows you to go forward and back at 5 different speeds. So if you're like me, and you have to see every, single second of a movie - you can get to the exact spot. If you're like my boyfriend - you can fly through the fluff scenes at the speed of sound. The other day he watched a 2 hour movie in 30 minutes - and claims to have seen it all. Since the picture is so incredibly clear during the forward and backwards scan modes, I couldn't really argue.

Between the two of us, we've really put this model to the test, and so far it hasn't even shown a glitch. My only complaint is the remote. It's not that bad - but it's not that great. The buttons are small, and since it's not illuminated, it's hard to use in the dark. But like all the remotes in my house - I've committed the entire scheme to memory and now operate it like a pro. I don't like the way the buttons work to turn subtitles on and off. You have to move down, then sideways and then click. I get confused sometimes.

I researched other players and their specs, but the Panasonic is the best player for the best price. All the other players that had the same deinterlacing chip were MUCH more expensive.

I'm usually very loyal to other brands when it comes to audio and video products, but these Panasonic DVD Players are really making their mark with me.