Panasonic DVD-S27K DVD Player

DVD players are popular gifts and their use has become more and more popular as consumers switch from video tape to disk. Some DVD players offer recording and other special features and they can cost several hundred dollars. But if you're looking for a DVD that plays movies and doesn't cost much, one player to consider is the Panasonic S-27 DVD Player. Let's see what this device has to offer:

Specifics of This DVD Player:

This model of DVD player offers progressive scan and plays one DVD at a time in a single drawer located in the front of the player. It also plays CD's and most of the functions can be accessed either from the front of the player or from the remote control.

Some of the features offered with this DVD player are multi- level search; skip; sleep timer; quick replay; quick guide setup; picture adjustment (for brightness, color, contrast, and sharpness); zoom; and position memory. The back of the player has 2 audio out jacks; coaxial, s- video out, and video out; and component video out with Y, Pb, and Pr jacks.

Also featured with this DVD player is a 54 MHz/10 bit video D/A converter to provide higher quality pictures; Virtual surround sound which produces the sound quality of multi- channel audio with only two speakers; and Built in DTS and Dolby surround sound decoders for input into a home entertainment center. A digital display on the front indicates the function currently running. The unit is light, weighing about 4.2 pounds.

Customer Service:

Panasonic.com is the main web site for the Panasonic electronics company. There are a few questions and answers in this web site but if you need to talk to a live rep, the number to dial is 800-211-7262.

Final Thoughts:

Panasonic's model S27 DVD player was the first DVD playing device to enter my household back in the late months of 2004. I had a large video collection and continued to use my old VCR for a long time after DVD were introduced. I knew, however, that it was inevitable that I would need a DVD player so I finally gave in made the purchase.

The reasons I chose this player over the others came down to two main things: Product reputation and price. Being new to the whole DVD thing, I wasn't really sure what to look for a in a player. I knew that some offered the ability to record while others didn't (this one doesn't) and I knew that some offered multiple disks and some played only one disk at a time. Most of the knowledge I had about DVD players came from reading other reviews here at Epinions and while I could see the value that some of these more expensive models offered, I decided my first player should be one a little simpler but also with a solid brand name I could trust at a low price. This player fit the bill on both counts.

This model of DVD player sells for only about $75, making it a very good buy for what you get. The progressive scan is one nice extra with this DVD player. It helps to produce greater quality pictures with more sharpness and crispness than other DVD players without this feature. The Virtual Surround Sound is also nice because it creates multi- channel sound with only two speakers through the creation of digitally enhanced virtual sound field. These and other features like them are very good- especially for a piece of electronic equipment costing only $75.

The search function on this DVD player is good and it allows several different speeds for both forward and backward searching. To get these faster speeds, you simply press the search button multiple times. At the slowest level of speed, the picture moves forward or backward at a rate that is about 2 or three times faster and you can still hear bits of sound coming from your television set as it searches (the sound makes no sense, but there is sound). Beyond this first level, there is no sound at all as the player scans the disk at a faster rate of speed. These multiple speed selections make it easier to find what you want in minimal time. If you already know that you want to jump forward to the next (or previous) scene on the disk, you can press the Skip button and immediately jump to the next section of the DVD.

The remote control for this DVD player is slim and easy to hold, using two "AA" batteries for operation. Every function for the DVD player can be found on the remote control, and that includes the AV Enhancer, Advanced Surround Sound, and even the open/close command for the DVD drawer. One thing you have to be careful with, however, is making sure you press the right button. Because there are so many keys (47 of them) in such a small space, it is easy to press the wrong key and this is especially true if you have larger than average fingers. The stop, pause, play, and arrow keys (used for navigating the menu selections on different DVD movies) are larger than the rest, but it is still easy to press the wrong key. The key I use more than any other is the pause function and I cannot count the number of times I have accidentally pressed stop (the key directly to the left of the pause key) and was then forced to spend time using the search keys to find my place in the movie.

I like the slim, compact design of this DVD player. Its flat, thin design means that takes up little space and isn't very noticeable. Mine rests on top of my big screen television and one small problem this has caused is with using the remote control. Because the cables on the back (that hook the DVD player to the television) are only so long, I have to push this DVD player further back in order for the cords to reach from the back of the player all the way down to the input/output jacks on the television set. With it sitting back so far, the remote control sometimes doesn't register with the television set when buttons are pressed. I often have to hold the remote control up high, aiming it more directly at the DVD player, before the remote control will work.

This DVD player doesn't offer recording capabilities and it doesn't have any of the advanced functions you find on more expensive DVD players. One of the more advanced features that I would like to see is a timer that counts up as the DVD plays. This way, you would have a general idea of how long the DVD has been playing and how much is left to play. Nothing like this exists, so it's a guessing game as to how long the DVD has been running.

Panasonic is a trustworthy name in electronics and one of the main reasons I reached for this less expensive model is because of my past experience with other Panasonic products. Panasonic has generally treated me well, with few problems and ease of use. And this DVD player is also very easy to use, with a low cost that makes it a very good value in home electronics.