Panasonic's vision of the digital future is driven by the needs and aspirations of its business customers and millions of consumers around the world who use its products every day. The company shares their dream to live a fuller life by providing ways of working smarter and enjoying the rewards of technological advances.
Proving that big performance doesn't necessarily mean "big ticket," Panasonic's ultra-slim DVD-S35K DVD player handles standard DVD-Video, DVD-R and DVD-RAM, CD-R and CD-RW, MP3- and WMA-encoded CDs, and even JPEG picture discs. Blending astounding performance with an elegant design, the DVD-S35K is slimmer and sleeker than its predecessors. The deck features a progressive-scan video processor that doubles the scan lines of an interlaced signal (from 480i to 480p) by scanning all 525 lines in 1/60 of a second for each pass. The higher-density video signal (designed for high-definition and HD-ready TVs) brings a film-like quality to DVD images, extraordinarily close to the way they originally appeared in the cinema, with rich detail, incredible depth of field, and precise color reproduction. The high-resolution picture is also free of motion artifacts.
For optimum viewing enjoyment, the monitor-select function lets you choose the best connection option according to the type of display being used. Other video enhancements include Cinema Mode (which diminishes glare and improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast), Depth Enhancer (which reduces image background noise), and Hi-Speed Smooth-Motion Scan (which enables fast-forward/reverse at up to 200 times normal speed, offering a quick way to access desired scenes).
You'll also enjoy audio features like Bass Plus (which enhances bass when connecting the player with an optional subwoofer), Dialogue Enhancer (which boosts the volume of the center channel during Dolby Digital 5.1-channel presentations), and an optical digital-audio output for channeling DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound to a surround-decoding audio/video receiver.
1 known defect - tends to die within 12 - 24 months
I bought this DVD player in July 2003 and enjoyed it until Apr 2005, when it stopped working with a "HO2 - NO DISC" error.
It turns out that premature death is a common problem with this player. A search on "Panasonic DVD-S35" and "NO DISC" will bring up these reviews.
Reviewers share a common complaint -- the player is great for the first year, and then dies (I got 18 months out of mine).
I strongly advise that you do not buy one of these used, as it is unlikely to last even a full year.
--Pat
2 Worked well until HO2 error, but fixable.
Two days ago my DVD player died with an HO2 error. After reading online that the problem was pretty widespread, I was ready to junk this player and buy another non-Panasonic player. Then I ran into the review from K00l Me! "Vic" saying a little cleaning should help. After much difficulty getting the side screws off the case, I was able to get to the lens. It did the trick, no more HO2 errors, everything plays beautifully again. Hopefully this lasts a while, and hopefully some others of you with these errors will not junk your player too quickly.
3 stars out of 5 for good operation for nearly 2 years, but lost the other two stars because shame on Panasonic for creating a player with such a widespread defect.
3 Absolute Junk
I bought this dvd player April of 2004, and if failed yesterday morning, January of 2005. It kept turning off and sometimes displayed an HO2 error. Do NOT waste your money on this junk. Panasonic was NOT helpful and recommended a repair shop. I recommend a different brand that comes with reliable reviews. I'm extremely disappointed. It took my daughters and I a year to save for this dvd player and less than a year later, we have nothing again.
4 Died in a little over a year
I purchased this DVD player in June of 2004. On January 1, 2005 it died. I put in a DVD, it tries to read it, and simply...turns off. No HO7 error or "no disk"...just turns off. I'll never buy a Panasonic DVD player again. However, I purchased their matching amplifier, and it works great, thought there is a fan in the back to cool it off, so not sure how long THAT will last before it breaks. I'm off Panasonic, moving on to Sony...
5 Was perfect - but lasted for only 13 months of light use.
We had no problems with playback of DVDs, VCDs, and CDs with JPEGs, and used the DVD player about 2-3 times/month.
At 13 months, it failed completely, powering off as soon as any disc is inserted. The power will stay on as long as I don't insert a disc, but as soon as I open the door, load one in the tray, press the open/close button, and watch the tray slide closed, it shuts off within three seconds.
Quick searches on the web (and of other reviews at Amazon) show this to be a very common problem. Apparently there is even a more common HOX (X=2-7) error that affects many others' players, although we did not experience that with our particular unit.
My own limited research shows many Panasonic models are affected by these problems, so to be safe, I plan on seeking another brand as a replacement. I will only buy another after doing extensive research on the web to identify a more reliable brand.
6 For those of you with a H02 error
I found this on another site.
"This message is for all those who have encountered the H02 or H07 errors. I have a similar Panasonic DVD palyer: Model 35S and had H02/H07 error.After much investigation i found that although the problem seems to be of motor it is actually "dirty lens" that causes the motor to stop. A good lens cleaning cures the problem. If air spray or lens cleaner CD doesnt work open up the dvd palyer and clean the lens with alcohol based aftershave or nail paint remover. (You may have to rotate a wheel under the DVD tray to get to the lens.) Hope this helps all the troubled souls.
navendu "
Hope it helps you out!
7 I too agree!!!!
This worked great for one year!. Now it shows "no Disc" or
H02(what is that mean?!!). I have to double think before
buying a panasonic again.
8 Broke down right after warranty expired
I am so disappointed in my S35 player. I bought it in April of 2003 and had no problems whatsoever, then in July of 2004 the "laser" went out and showed "No Disc" on the display screen everytime a disc was inserted. According to an authorized Panasonic dealer that I contacted this "laser" would cost me a few Hundered dollars to replace, even though the player itself cost only $90. It's awful that big name companies are allowed to do this to thier consumers who go to them expecting quality products, not a wild goose chase, or a loss of hundreds of dollars for a simple piece of equipment.
I would have been better off buying the no name player my friend got for $20 at the swap meet......at least his still plays :(
9 it sucks
I purchased it back in Sept 2003 and just used it from time to time . 2 days ago it stopped working; every time I put a DVD in it says NO DISK. It costs $90 to get it repaired . Their customer support is useless also; you have to stay on hold 30 min before they'll tell you that the best thing you can do is buy another DVD player. This time make sure is not a Panasonic!
10 Beware Short Lifespan
I unfortunately have to concur with the previous Panasonic S35 DVD owner. After about a year of moderate use, tonight it just stopped playing DVDs, and would shut off everytime I tried to load a DVD in it. The player had some great features, but apparently Panasonic uses inferior parts in its home electronics. I've read similar reports regarding other Panasonic DVD player models.
11 Panasonic POS
I purchased it back in Oct 2003 with minimal usage. I unplugged the unit today and went to plug it back in and it will not turn on. Based on other reviews I am not the only person to have this problem. This DVD player is a true POS. They gave me the option to get it repaired since it is beyond 90 days.
This is not worth a repair....Save your money... Panasonic sucks.... They charge a $90 flat fee but they cover the parts... Why would anyone pay $90 to repair a $90 DVD player... Throw it in the garbage and cut your losses. Their customer support is useless also
12 Stopped reading DVD's & CD's
Like other reviewers after about 1 yr it just stopped reading DVD's and CD's. Broke down just as the warranty was expiring. I bought another Panasonic in 1999 that is still going. I alyways thought this one seemed cheaper. I guess I was right. Because of the price its not worth repairing. Time to change brands.
13 It died on me in less than a year
I bought the DVD player in late September last year. I watch about 2 to 3 DVDs per week and had no problems with the player until last night when it suddenly wouldn't play any DVDs. I put in several and everytime I did it would just shut off. It would stay on as long as I didn't place a DVD in it. I called Panasonic and from the tone of customer service rep I could tell she had received similar complaints. She also told me that she had also received complaints in which consumers received an error message similar to the one described by previous reviewers. She said it sounded like something had shorted out and recommended a repair service. Frankly, I'm not surprised that this product has been discontinued.
14 excellent
close to two year of very heavy use not one problem. reads better than the high end sony we got at twice the price.
15 Died after 9 months
It was a great dvd player at a great price . . . while it lasted.
After 9 months it stopped accepting all of my dvd's (store bought movies and burned dvd-r's): I put one in, it tries to read it, and then it just shuts down.
A lot of people all over the Internet are reporting problems with this model, as well as other Panasonic models. Would I buy another Panasonic? No way.
If you still think you want a Panasonic, do a lot of research before spending your money. Don't get caught with a seriously flawed player and a crappy warranty (1 yr. parts, 90 days labor--and the labor costs about the price of the machine).
16 Unreliable Junk
Don't bother with this unit. It may have nice features and a great picture, but that won't last long. Had mine for just over a year and it failed like many others with and HO2 or H07 error message. Not heavily used, maybe one or two movies a week. What a disappointment! I guess their short warranty period would underscore my UNRELIABLE JUNK comment. Don't buy this unless you have money to throw away.
17 Pnasonic DVD prone to HO2 failure
Got it less than a year back.
Did not use much, but it failed while watching a
movie.
The error was HO2.
Do not buy this model.
18 Ditto after 8 months of heavy use (H02 error)
Thanks for all of the reviews on this discontinued product. It made giving up on trying to figure out the problem go much faster. We've had ours since July and watch 5 movies a week. Now I realize that some of the problems we've had with DVDs over the last few months were the player - not the DVDs.
19 Fine for a while....then HO2 error...
Just like the other reviews you are reading. Works great for a about 6-8 months then any dvd you put in...DEAD.
20 Ran well for 5 Months --- DOA ( H02 error )
This unit ran well from Oct 2003 - April 2004 Died during Dora the Explorer... Unhappy little boy...
Bought a Toshiba ... Is this typical of Panasonic Electronics ? Heck the batteries in the remote lasted longer than the player.
21 Died after 5 months
Good quality for a while, but died after 5 months with HO2 errors. Stay away from this one.
22 Read the reviews for people who have had it a while...
I am shocked by the number of reviews with my same story. I had the unit just long enough to be out of warranty when it shut down. Mine will not even read DVDs, much less other media.
As good as Panansonic appears for the money, I will find it hard to buy another.
23 May have to replace it in less than a year
Bought it in June 2003, started to give me errors (H05) in March 2004. It locked up half way through a couple of DVDs. New clean DVDs. It keep trying to read the disks and failing. A google search revealed that a lot of people said their panasonic dvd players didn't last a year. The warrenty is only 90 days for labor, 1 year for parts, so the options were to ship it away for a month or so then pay more than the cost of a new player for labor to get it fixed or buy a new non-panasonic unit. I bought a JVC for 80 bucks instead of getting it fixed.
24 Worked for a while
Small comfort that I'm not the only one having trouble with this player. It has been steadily degrading since six months after I bought it to the point where I no longer can play DVDs without the player ruining the experience. Called Panasonic and got no help except being offered to buy a refurbished replacement for $90 + shipping. No thanks! I will never buy a Panasonic DVD player again.
Stay away!
25 Very Pleased
I got this item for Christmas, I am always very cautious before writing a review and I examine a product for several weeks.
Easy to use, simple remote, easy hook up. I would recommend this DVD player to anyone. I have played over 100 DVDs on this play so far and not one problem yet.
(Even from some of the scratched ones) If you are thinking about this player don't hesitate buy it you won't regret it.
26 Died with HO2 errors after 5 months of infrequent use
While I enjoyed decent picture quality and sound with this DVD player, it suddenly decided to die after 5 months. I already had had bad luck with it making lots of weird disturbing whirring sounds when playing certain DVDs (all bought from good retailers) and sometimes malfunctioning, pixelating with lots of artifacts. It would sometimes stall and I would have to reset the player by turning it off and unplugging it. Finally, after 5 months of infrequent use and perfect care, it refused to play any sort of disc whatsoever and gave me HO2 errors. It would also turn off by itself.
Suffice it to say that I am **very unhappy** with this unit and won't be buying another Panasonic DVD Player again.
27 Plays everything....for 8 months.
I was really happy with this player, until it started giving me H02 errors for every DVD fed to it. Cost of repair is as much as a new comparable unit.
Just not acceptable....sorry, Panasonic, you've lost a customer permanently.
28 Was okay for first 9 months.
This unit worked fine for the first nine months we had it. Then, we kept getting an HO1 error. The DVD would act like it was starting then the entire player would shut off. We read the manual, which was no help. Called Panasonic for tech support. They said the laser is probably misaligned from a drop or putting something hot on the unit (neither happened). They said we could send the unit (at our cost) to them and they would charge us for parts and for labor OR we could purchase a new player for $100. Since we'd only had the player for nine months and had treated it wonderfully, neither choice seemed acceptable. We are not satisfied with the way Panasonic handled this case. Basically, we had DVD watching for less than a year and we'll have to purchase a new player. It certainly won't be from Panasonic.
29 Good DVD player for a reasonable cost
I purchased it last month and no doubt, it's performance is good. This is my first DVD player. Earlier I used to have a VCD player. Compared with that, this box is good one. Amazing audio quality.
But, I am struck with the video quality. The movie is sluggish. Is it due to the step-down transformer I am using to bring the voltage from 240 to 110? Infact, I got a US model to use in India. So, I am using a 110V step-down transformer.
Other than that, everything is wonderful. MP3 and JPEG playing quality is quiet good.
30 Panasonic DVDS35K HO HUM AT BEST
The DVD player played MP3's, VCD, CDR, CDRW, DVD, DVD-R, DVD-RW when I bought it on 08-17-03. Now..12/14/03... DVD only. I have re-initiliazed the DVD player several times, tried every other trouble shooting tip only to walk away feeling a bit agitated with my purchase.
Let me preface this with I realize there are lemons out here. Apparently I bought one. The sad part is no one is willing to do anything about it and it has only been 4 months since I purchased it.
The machine after a short 4 months stopped playing any other type of media except DVD. The really ironic part is I was replacing a Panasonic 5 disc DVD player that lasted 2 years. (I'm starting to see a trend here)
The Store I purchased it from in WI does not offer returns after 15 days and has a 90 day exchange policy. Panasonic is more than happy to have me send it there way, though labor is an extra charge on top of shipping. BOTTOM LINE.... BUY SONY!!!!
31 Best DVD player I own
I own 2 of these Panasonic dvd players and the picture and sound quality are the best. I bought the first one back in February, and it gets used alot and never had a problem. I bought the second one in September and for the price, quality, features and the Panasonic reputation I'am buying more for Christmas gifts. I would definitely recomend this product over all the other competitors.
32 Poor Picture nice features
I have a 32" letterbox Toshiba TV (NOT high definition). I put in a DVD and then used the zoom to fill the tv screen. The picture quality degraded very badly. Be clear, it was not a minor amount. The faces became blurred and the colors turned to mush. I tried everything in the manual to correct the problem. I tried the same test on my old Philips DVD player and the picture only degraded a minor amount. I am not recommending Philips because it has a hard time with episode DVD's, remote is bad news, and loading is forever.
I am not a picky detailed person. If something works okay that is good enough. I do not expect perfection.
The remote on the Panasonic was okay and the DVD tray opened quickly. See, I found something good to say about the Panasonic.
33 Hmmm - not up to spec
I have owned over $100,000 of Panasonic manufactured devices, professional video and audio equipment, phones, bread machines, VCRs, and DVD players. All of the equipment that I have owned from Panasonic has been great with the exception of their DVD players.
The first Panasonic DVD player I owned was the DVD-RP62 - Easy to setup, Awesome picture and sound, but the player skipped scenes, played intermittently, and finally, died after 10 months of light use. Yesterday I purchased the DVD-S35 - brought it home, set it up, and put in a DVD. The sound of the DVD was immediately apparent, it sounded like one of those wind up rubber band airplanes. An error popped up on the display indicating that I had put put in the wrong disk. I ejected the disk and checked it and replaced it. This time, it skipped the first two scenes of the movie, and started at the third scene where it immediately froze, stuttered, and jumped to the next scene.
Panasonic has been a great company for every product I have ever owned. But I will never buy a Panasonic DVD player again.
34 Fantastic Product with a fantastic price
If there is a better DVD player for the price, I haven't found it. I recommended this to a friend who was amazed with the features and quality for the price. My friend has now purchased a couple of more for his family. I'm thinking of buying another one the other tv in the house.
35 Great Buy
I looked at Harman Kardon And Onkyo, and this was a best buy by far for the features, reliability, and price. You can also add an extended warranty directly through Panasonic, but you probaly wont need it based upon Panasonic reliability history.
I must say I did find it less expensive at Target and Wal-mart $59 after rebate, but even at $79 after rebate at Amazon it is a great buy.
There was not a S-video cable included, but at least it had batteries included for the remote and rca cables.
36 One Aggravating Problem!
Overall, this is a good unit, but if you're a movie snob like me, you may be annoyed by the brief pause that will happen during a layer change on any dual layer DVD (and almost ALL DVDs are dual layer these days). I find the pause distracting - I thought the whole point of DVD was to see a "perfect" version of a movie. Most other players do not have this problem, but a customer service rep at Panasonic told me that ALL Panasonic DVD players have this pause during layer changes. My 5 year old RCA player didn't even have this problem, and most DVD tech sites will tell you that any decent player shouldn't have this problem either.
I'll still give it three stars because it's a GREAT Mp3/WMA player and it does a good job with VCDs, SVCDS, and DVDRs. Ironically, the only place that this DVD player fails is in playing DVDs!
37 Perfect in every way!
I ordered this DVD player with a bit of skepticism. The claims were that it played every type of disc, it was progressive scan, and the price was well under a hundered with a twenty dollar rebate! I had to see this.
The first thing you'll notice is that the weight and size of this player. It is so light, so small and so slim! There is definitely a wow factor, and I'm sure it's even cooler with the silver model.
I started by playing a VCD, no problem there! Then a DVD, very good picture, and excellent sound. Then I had a disc that had everything on it, software, MP3s, and JPEGs in a fairly complex directory structure. Using the setup, you tell the machine whether you want to hear MP3s or see your JPEGs and it does this beautifully. There is an index for the JPEGs and nice navigation for the MP3s.
This DVD player is amazing, and it is by far the best deal in the DVD section! Enjoy!
38 Plays Everything Great!
I got this as a second player, specifically because my older ( and much more expensive) unit couldn't play JPEG files. This does so brilliantly. Very easy to set up, and it does a better job on every level with every kind of disk. Not to mention the price! This has now become my main machine.
Heartily recommended!
39 variable zoom:best feature
Buying an electronic product which isn't made by Sony is a first for me. As I have already invested a lot of money in 2 32" 4:3 Sony tvs 3 years ago I have been quite unhappy with the fact that now most of DVD movies are been made only in the widescreen aspect; this translate into having my 32" screens been cut in half (even though if some DVD offer the option between 4:3 or widescreen I just don't understand why they don't all offer this convenience unless they are set on creating a need to switch to a widescreen tv sooner than later but that's another story! ).
That been said, I have no intention to replace my 3 year old tvs and therefore have been looking at restoring the size of their screen (when viewing a widescreen dvd) so when I heard of the zoom option on some DVD player that could do just that I went out to find out more. But if this option seems simple enough you really need to research what this feature means not only for each manufacturer but for each model.
For example Sony has this option on some of its higher end models but it's really not related to getting rid of those black lines since at a minimum the picture size is doubled ( too much of the image would be lost). I also tried out a samsung which makes getting rid of the letterbox black lines part of its advertizing but if when used it works the picture seemed really streched. Panasonic or at least this model (since its version of combo DVD/VCR has a zoom feature similar to Sony) has 6 preset zoomed aspects on top of possible additional fine adjustments which not only makes it easy to get rid of these black lines but makes it possible to find just the right balance so that the picture maintains its quality while losing as little screen size as possible, in comparison with Samsung the picture on this model can be made bigger while maintaining its quality. If you own a widescreen tv or simply these black lines don't bother you then maybe there is a better option for a similar investment but you really want a full picture on your 4:3 tv when viewing a widescreen dvd and still maintain a quality picture than this model is a great buy!
40 A Best Buy
This is one of the best products that I have ever purchased. I was new to DVD and wanted to make sure that I bought a DVD player that was high in quality, high in realiabilty, and low in price (A combination that is rather hard to come-by). The Panasonic met all of my expectations and then some. I love it so much that I bought two more, one for each of my sisters. If you want an excellent DVD player at an Excellent price, then this one is probably the right one for you...It certainly gets my recomendation.
41 Pleased
One minor issue. This DVD does not have a composite digital audio out. It does have the optical audio out. My fault for not noticing it, but if you want to carry a digital signal to a surround sound system you will need an optical cable. Other than that, it's very user friendly. Even for those that are not technically inclined, the menu will walk you through a first time set up. Very nice unit.
42 Good for one week?
I bought 2 Panasonic s35s and one Panasonic s55s, panasonic s55s never worked,it has no power so i have to shipped it back to the merchant and the s35s works fine for a while!I was able to use it for one week and after that just like the other unit it was totally dead-no power! How frustrating, i used tho think that panasonic is durable because we have this panasonic TV that we have since i was a child and it's still okay but after my experience with their DVD i am having second thoughts. I think it was a Nightmare!
43 Price is good but quality is a bit lacking
My two and a half year old Sony DVD player broke suddenly. Needed a replacement.
After reading all the good reviews about this Panasonic player, I bought one. I was very happy with the price
considering that it is less than 1/4 of what I paid for the old Sony, even before the $$ rebate.
After watching a few DVD's and listening to a few CD's, however, I had this feeling that neither the video nor the audio quality
was as good as my old Sony's. To make sure it was not just my imagination, I went out and bought a Sony DVP NS725P. Did a
side-by-side comparison of the two players using same DVD's and CD's and same audio receiver and TV display. Both my wife
and I observed lower video and audeo qualities from the Panasonic comparing to the Sony. Subtle music and vocal details as well as
the richness of video colors simply did not come through with this Pansonic as they did with the Sony.
The end result was very noticeable degradation of both video and audio qualities.
Finally we played a favoriate VCD disk. The Panasonic skipped frames and video was jittery and blurry at times while the Sony
played the same VCD smoothly and perfectly with vivid and detailed colors. This was the last straw. I promptly returned
the Panasonic and kept the Sony.
For the price it is selling and its long list of features, the Panasonic is indeed a very good deal for the money.
But if budget is not your only concern and you are picky about video and audio qualities, I'd suggest that you skip this
Panasonic and look at step-up models from major manufacturers. This Panasonic simply won't cut it.
44 nice player let down by build quality and poor support
i bought this unit in april and have really enjoyed it...until now. here it is, only august and already it is broken. it now emits a loud growling sound during the menu and first five minutes of every dvd. obviously it is having some difficulty spinning at that speed. the warranty for parts is one year, but after 90 days, the warranty for labor is already up. i had my previous player, a pioneer for 4 years with no problems. you get what you pay for i guess.
45 Great DVD player
I really like this DVD player. Used it to replace an older and much more expensive Toshiba. It plays DVD-R discs flawlessly. The menu system is perhaps a bit complex if you go into advanced set up, but everything else is simple, and the images are clean. You will need an optical cable if you want digital sound, since it doesn't provide an RCA digital out. You might want to pick up an optical cable with your order. Also, consider the F65S. It has a wider body and might not fit all areas, but it is like this unit but supports 5 discs.
46 Plays VCD's for a while then freezes and locks up
I love Panasonic products and bought this S35S DVD Player because I needed a player to play ALL formats including VCD, WMA, MP3, CD-R, etc. Unfortunately, when playing one of my commercially produced VCD's it would play for awhile, and then lock and freeze the screen forever, until I turned off the power. And it kept on doing it, repeatedly. Sadly I returned the Panasonic for a full refund. (The VCD was not defective, because it plays fine on my older JVC player, and on my computer.)
I then purchased the JVC XV-N50BK DVD Player which plays all formats, including my above mentioned VCD, without any problems. I am very happy with the JVC XV-N50BK, and this is the best in the market. Incidently all my other AV components and TV are JVC, and which can all be linked and interconnected with the JVC Compu-Link control system.
47 Nice DVD Player
Good deal, I like the component output and the optical digital audio output as well. The remote is a bit clumsy, but overall it is a great deal and great output.
48 Great DVD player at a great price
My family likes this machine a great deal, the Amazon.com price is better than any I've found for a single disc, progressive scan player. We originally purchased it for our daughter's small 13in TV, but when my husband saw the picture difference between our old non-progressive scan player and this new one, our daughter got the old machine and this one was connected to the family room's HDTV and surround sound system. So far its played every disc we've thrown at it, even older DVDs that are scratched (the ones our other player refused to play and would prompt that infuriating "no disc" display as the popcorm goes cold), CD-R's, MPGs & video CDs. Its easy to hook up and you can operate it without extensive study of the manuel. The zoom feature that allows you to get rid of the black lines of letterboxed movies is my favorite feature. With our old player using that feature affect the picture quality cuz it always seemed that some part of the movie was being left off the screen, but thats not the impression with this machine. You don't really notice the zoom is on at all.
There were 3 tiny insignifigant, annoyances
1) There were no instructions or info that allowed connecting the player to my satellite receiver. I ended up having to call Panasonic and found that it needed to be hooked up directly to the TV or via our surround sound system. Our old Toshiba allowed connection through the receiver. Hooking it to the TV means you have to utilize the TV's tv/vid button, so if you've lost your TV remote, and you want to switch between the TV and a movie, you'll have to get up and do it manually. And even if you have the remotes, you'll have to juggle if either isn't unified. Its not a problem with the set up we have now, but it would've been, had it stayed in my daughters room, since her TV remote disappeared a while ago. She uses the satellite remote to control every thing but can't access the TV's Tv/Vid control with that. She would've had to get up to switch and you know how opposed teenagers are to actually getting up while watching anything.
2) Also, the input connectors that came with the player has red, yellow & white plugs, but my daughters TV video inputs only have white and yellow inputs and the manuel didn't mention what to do in that case. The solution was simple, just don't connect the red on the DVD end, but it would've been nice if the manuel had mentioned that scenero. (what would be really nice was if the people who wrote those manuels approached it as if the person doing the set up would have no idea as to what they'd be doing. I bet it would cut down on calls to help lines. But thats just a pet peeve of mine having nothing to do with this wonderful machine.)
3) The numbered buttons on the remote are very small, probably not a problem for women with small hands but my husband hates them and ends up dropping the remote when trying to use them.
Those 3 things account for my 4 out of 5 stars rating.
Other than that I have no complaints with this purchase and am planning to purchase another of the same model very soon. You go with what works, right. In short, you won't go wrong if you purchase this machine.
49 Exceeded Expectations
This is as far as you can go with a single-disc DVD player.
You can expect all of the top of the line features, such as Component Video, optical out for surround sound, progressive scan, DTS and Dolby Audio. etc. There is a unique Zoom feature which I liked the most. On the turn of a nob you can turn to manual zoom and "zoom in" on a picture frame. This feature is great when zooming in on "widescreen format" movies, formating them "virtually" to fit the full screen.
+ It's Thin.
+ Zoom in on picture frame on the turn of a knob to custom fit.
+ Plays a wide variety of formats(MP3's,WMA,CD,DVD,), plus you
can even put your JPEG pictures on the screen.
+ Hefty construction (hard plastic remote) adds durability.
This purchase was actually an upgrade for me, some old DVDs that I had purchased used got stuck in my old equipment. I soon noticed how this DVD player worked around the trouble spots - I love that.
50 Fantastic player for the price
Like many here I was suspicious that a player at this price could have this solid a picture and rich a feature set. I've had cheap DVD players that skipped and lurched on even moderately complex DVDs, and were positively lost on playing something like Fellowship Of The Ring. But this player really seems to handle everything with a smooth, rock-solid, brilliant picture. And the feature set leaves little or nothing to be desired -- I suppose there are higher-end features I'm not getting here, but so far I haven't missed them. I'm quite impressed and happy with my purchase.
51 Great Value for DVD player under $100 price
Panasonic S35S is probably the best DVD player you can get for under $100, heck its even better than some of the higher priced DVD players out there. The picture and sound is crisp and clear, and I have yet to encounter a DVD that dont work. My old DVD player, a Samsung, have trouble playing Anime DVDs and wont play any Recordable media (CD-R/DVD-R).VCD/SVCD works great, even ones that are self-made thru NERO 5.5, and the JPEG picture viewer is also a nice addition.
PROS: Under $100, plays DVD-R and CD-R, excellent video and sound
CONS: tell me if you find one..
52 Perfectionist's Perfect DVD player.
I have it hooked up to my sony 50 inch LCD rear projector.
if you ever tried to calibrate one of these unit, you would know it takes days to get satisfying picture.
I didn't know there were DVD players with fine picture adjustment availble until I read the manual on this unit. It's well hidden and it took awhile for me to find "Picture Menu" but when I found it... wow.. User custom settings even has gamma adjustments in it. two overlaping adjustment for each parameter, you can really fine tune your display. I finally achieved picture what I considered to be a perfect display.
Audio processor seem really good too. I hear crystal clear sound off of my receiver through optical output. dynamic range is not exagerated like other DVD players (very small dialogs sound and all of sudden big bang effect that bleeds ear)
It has Dialog Enhancer specific for that matter, but It seems already in good range without using this feature.
It plays MP3 just fine. did not play homemade VCD that I have(I might have used custom codec while making the disk)
Have not experince glitches such as freezing on files it doesn't support and etc. in fact file browsing is intuitive and quite easy.
Only improvement I can think of is...
remote control button should be raised little higher. I build habit of pressing with my thumb nail. sharp edges around remote makes it feel out little dated.
Overall, I really love this DVD/MP3/Jpeg player and I Highly recommand it!
53 JPEG did not work on this unit
After reading the reviews, I had expectations that there would be problems with this unit. It seems to be constructed well. It played all of my DVD's without a problem. However, it had difficulty reading my jpg disks. Some would scan while others would abort halfway through the picture. I wondered if something was wrong with my disk. I had received one of the very cheap Norcent players as a present. I popped the same disk in it and it played with no problem at all. As far as I could tell, the Norcent player is more cheaply made, but it plays everything I throw at it. Not the same with this player. Maybe my unit was defective. I sent it back and asked for my money back. One more thing. The unit is quite wide as well.
54 Considering the Price - 5 Stars
This is a very good DVD player for the price! I purchased it as a temporary as my Denon 2800 is being repaired. Last fall I finally decided to take the plunge and build a theater room. I don't know how I managed it, but I got my wife to go along with the idea and basically got to spend what I wanted. I will not bore you with the details, suffice to say that I have a 95 dollar DVD player hooked up to 14,000 dollars worth of audio/video equipment. The truth of the matter, MAYBE there has been a slight deterioration in picture quality, and MAYBE the picture is not as true as the film version. However, to sum up the Panasonic's performance, I'll use a question from wife that she asked after just watching the latest Bond DVD, "So explain to me again why it was necessary to spend an extra 700 dollars on the first DVD player?" Actually, folks, it has progressive scan, component video out, optical out, and it runs quiet - you will not be disappointed.
55 Stop Waiting, Panasonic Has You Covered!!!
If you are like alot of people who have been waiting for the industry to decide on one particular format. Or, you've been waiting for prices to come down on DVD players, and for the companies to come clean with all there "new features"... Wait no longer!
The Panasonic DVD-S35 plays every format out there, and also plays CD's, Jpeg's, & MP3's. To find anything even close to the features this player holds, and have similar sound and picture quality, you will definitely be paying hundreds more. This is a no brainer purchase, no matter what the parameters of your purchase are. Price, Quality, Features, Brand Name etc!
56 Sweet, my dream dvd player
I bought this one as a replacement for my 3 year old DVD player. So you guess I already have a list of attributes for my dream DVD player. The Panasonic DVD-S35K comes very close to that: Energy efficient, quiet, play all formats from DVD to VCD to SVCD, ability to zoom and crop letter box to fit the screen of a normat TV with 1 click on the remote ( besides the variable zoom), memory so I can go back to where I left off. The picture quality is great. No complaint about audio. I fully recommend this unit. The price.. after rebate, is a steal.
57 No skipping with Netfix DVDs
We bought this DVD player because we wanted to sign up for Netflix. Our old DVD player used to have a lot of skipping problems when we watched rented DVDs. With this one we have not had a single skipping problem with any DVD that we received from Netfix.
Also I love the zoom feature, so for all the Wide Screen editions we can watch a bigger picture on our standard TV (sure, the edges on the left and right are slightly clipped, but that does not really matter in most movies).
Marc
58 Great, thin, inexpensive
I really like this DVD player. It's thin enough to fit nearly anywhere (which is a good thing, given the way empty space is at a premium in some people's homes), but feature-packed. But the most beautiful thing about it is it cost me less than a bill. In today's financial climate, quality and value are important.
I haven't come across any bugs yet; every DVD has played crisply. One feature I like, but didn't think I would, is the zoom, which increases the size of the picture without a loss of clarity, which is a boon on a tiny set. Yes, you lose a little of the peripheral picture, but, for the most part, it's not enough to damage the viewing experience.
I like it.
59 Very Good
I love this DVD Player!!!!
The appearance is beautiful.
The quality is good.
The color is great I'm tired of all my electronics being black.
I had a Dvd player that plays JPEG images but it never showed full screen it was always half the size of the picture.
This dvd player shows the images FULL SCREEN!!!
While watching a movie I could ZOOM up close and I can change the color to a little dark or lighter.
This is a good DVD PLAYER for a good price.
60 never again a Panasonic product for me
On October 12...we bought a Panasonic PV-V4612S VCR...to replace an old VCR. We took the VCR home, hooked it up, and tested it to make sure it worked. We have two VCRs and don't use either one very often, so it wasn't until December that we realized that the new Panasonic VCR would not play or record on older video tapes but instead would spit these tapes out immediately. Our other VCR (and the VCR that the Panasonic was purchased to replace) never had this problem.
I called Panasonic's 800 number and discussed the problem with a Panasonic representative because I thought maybe the VCR was supposed to reject older tapes for some reason unknown to me. The Panasonic representative assured me that the VCR was not supposed to reject older tapes and told me to take it to an authorized Panasonic service center, which in this case was Consumer Electronic Service. I dropped off the VCR at Consumer Electronic Service. However, Consumer Electronic Service (CES) told me there was nothing wrong with the VCR. I brought in one of our older tapes and showed them that the VCR rejected the tape. The CES representative told me that it worked fine with his sample tapes (which appeared to be brand new) and that there wasn't a problem if there was only one tape that the VCR wouldn't work with. I told him it was many tapes, that our other VCRs had no problem with these tapes, and offered to bring in more tapes to show him the problem. He refused, insisting that if he could get the VCR to work with his sample tapes that there was no problem with the VCR. I appealed to Panasonic, but this time a different Panasonic representative told me that Panasonic would have to accept the service center's diagnosis....I am sure that most consumers expect to be able to play their entire video tape collection on a VCR that they purchase. Because this VCR could not play the majority of our videotapes, I believe that this problem certainly does constitute a breach of warranty and consumers who purchase such a machine should have the option of returning the VCR to the manufacturer for a refund....I will not be doing business with either Panasonic or Consumer Electronic Service of Cary in the future.
61 Accepts MANY formats incl DVD-R DVD-RW etc.
Jys a great looking player with a great on screen menu layout. The formats it supports are the best: it will play almost ANYTHING you feed it, inclusive [inexpensive] DVD-R discs.
62 Bad sound quality
I bought this DVD player based on the reviews I saw in amazon.com. This what I have found - The picture quality seems to be good (in HDTV) but I was really disappointed with the sound quality. It produces very noisy sound quality and it was not at all crystal clear. I was hearing some additional disturbing sound which I never even heard in that movie. When I played the same DVD with the other DVD player (different Panasonic model) it was so good. So I returned and looking for a good one with the Progressive scan technology.
63 Superb picture and sound, but not user friendly enough.
The sharpness, color, and audio sound of this DVD player are superb. Even music audio CD's sound excellent. However, there are operating limitations which made it very difficult for me to use this model S35. Although others may not find these limitations quite as bothersome, I returned my machine because of them. First, the remote is too small, the buttons are tiny and close together. I have a normal sized adult hand and could not manipulate the buttons with one hand lest I press the wrong button. The print that identifies the buttons is tiny and dim, not readable in a darkened room. I also had trouble controlling the skip button, moving ahead more than one track if I wasn't real careful. Second, the details of the on-screen display are too small to see except when you get closer to the t.v. screen. And the readout on the unit could also be bigger. The S35 model is touted for its thin styling, and advantage. But perhaps its thinness sacrificed a larger display on the unit. Third, I never had a DVD before, so I needed to learn its various functions. The manual was useless to me. Yes, it showed all functions, but it did not really explain some of them in enough detail for me to understand. For example, the manual showed what buttons to press for "group"but did not explain what a "group" is.
I would rate this S35 ten stars for picture and sound quality but about 2 for convenience of use. I have not tried any other machines and therefore don't know how they compare with this one.
64 New Buyer - Review & Query
I just bought this machine and so far have been very happy with its performance. The many features makes it a great buy for the price. My one complaint is regarding the size of the wording and display when using the features. I understand the desire for not having these feature displays block the movie you're viewing, but the print is so bloody small!! Is it just me? Ok, I admit I maybe aging and maybe my vision isn't what it once was, but I found it kindof annoying. Other than that, I am very happy with this purchase. The picture clarity is great and the machine is wonderfully quiet. I definitely feel like I got a good bang for the bucks.
65 Not for big screen TV
You can read all the glowing reviews on what is good about this DVD player. It is in fact a fine, inexpensive DVD player with lots of features.
But it was inadequate for my new 51" wide-screen HDTV monitor. Noticed the problem with the Road to Perdition DVD, and then also on Pulp Fiction. As if the DVD player did not have enough color depth (like a computer running on 16-bit color instead of 32-bit).
Did some research, found the "DVD Shootouts" on the Web and figured I needed the Panasonic XP-30. Very-very difficult to find as it is discontinued, but it was worth the effort. It is just a little better than the S35, but that little bit is a MUST for a serious TV.
In short, the S35 is fine for a non-HDTV or smaller TV-set, but not good enough for serious movie watching.
66 Great player - amazing video quality, features, and options
I love this player. It does everything that I want it to do including great pictures quality, progressive scan, and the abiltiy to zoom into the picture at will to take off those nasty letter box lines.
The construction of the machine is high quality, although it is very light. The front display is bright and very high quality. The on screen display is also very helpful and full of options to customize. The machine is also very quiet which I love. My old Sharp unit could be heard across the room.
Some great minor things about this machine are the adjustible scan which can play audio while scanning (really good feature), a quick replay for playing back that last 5 seconds, and the ability to memorize the playback positions for 6 sepearte DVD's - pick up where you left off.
I am very pleased with the machine and would recommend this unit especially for this price.
67 If I could give it six stars I would!
There are two diffrent colors for this model Black and a very slick looking silver its model number is dvd-S35S instead of the black dvd-S35K other than the color they are both identical players I usually purchase the black players but the silver is very nice and looks great on this slim model.For a more Detailed review on this player look under the dvd-s35s(silver model)for everything you need to know about this fantastic player.6 stars!
As good as it gets,no one could possibly ask for anything better.
Becouse there is nothing better.....
68 10 Stars if it were possible
I just gopt this DVD player 2 weeks ago and hooked it up to my Kenwood HTB-503 Home Theater System and the sound is exellent. The picture quallity is exellent and the price was unbeliveable concidering all the features is comes with. I like that is has an optic out hook-up. All I can to this is if you want a good dvd player with a lot of features and a great price i would strongly recommend getting this one.
69 Awsome : 6 Stars if i could !
This is crazy, this professional type DVD player at this price .First off I use to work at a major Electronic store selling DVD players,so I've had plenty of time to look at all makes and models.Not including the 5 or six players i've owned and still do own.This by far is the best player i've seen made to date.I have other reviews on Panasonics 2001 and 2002 models and they both scored 5 stars.Why; you ask A few simple reasons Picture:as good as it gets.Sound:Better than most models.Durability:I,ve had 2002 model for nearly 2 years now not even as much as a githch,skip,bad audio,wont play disc,nothing at all none of this IN TWO YEARS,thats saying alot about Panasonic's durability.Also Panasonics owe so to easy to use own screen display features.
"NOW" lets get back to this years model dvd-s35.There's not much to say but "WOW" its everything like last years perfect model ecsept better,i didn'nt think it was possibell.First off it plays anything and everything you name it it plays it including JPEG (pictures taken from a digital source).Its ultra slim body looks great.One of my biggest problems with last years model was the remote,well Panasonic took that into considiration becouse the remote with this model is nearly as good as it gets with perfect button lay out,easy to operate in the dark.AlSO IF YOUR LIKE ME AND SIT 10 FEET FROM YOUR TV FEAR NOT THIS PLAYER IS LIKE STEALTH you cant here it playing unless you stick your ear up write next to the player.Its very,very quite.Now this is were it goes from 5 stars to six stars in the features or you could say Bells and whislels.Nothing has more "NOTHING" i COULD TYPE 10,000 WORDS ON THIS TOPIC BUT I'LL KEEP IT TO A FEW.First off say your watching a movie in subtitles (Crouching Tiger) and you say to yourself i wish i could move those subtitles to a diffrent part of the screen.Well now you can, you can put them literally anywhere.You can also brighten or dim the color of the subtitles.It has What Panasonic calls Cinema mode(you can see dark images on the screen better) you can choose one of 3 preset modes or custimize it yourself to get the best picture pssible.The on screen display is just plan simple to operate and its just plan silly how many features there are to play with,or not you can just hook it up let it run and you still have the best player out there.Here's a fact this is the best made Dvd player made yet regardless of price,its the new 2003 model and there always on sale when they first come out.This player wont be this inespensive for long.Do yourself a big favor buy this player dont even think of another trust me theres nothing better.Or you can waste your money on some other model for some reason or another,well thats your choice but you'll be wasting your hard earned money.Thankyou Panasonic I finally have the perfect dvd player.
70 And this costs how little!
We've already got 3 DVD players at home. A 4 year old Onkyo DVD changer, a 3 year old Toshiba, and one of those portable Panasonic DVD players. Well the Onkyo went on the fritz, and I decided to replace it with a progressive scan single disc player, since we have an HDTV and the picture is supposed to be better.
Last time I checked progressive scan DVD players ran $... and up, yet here is the Panasonic on Amazon[.com] for under $. Well the price is right and the product is incredible. The picture quality is very impressive, definitely better than the old Onkyo. Plus the features are better as well.
Zoom is much better with complete flexibility to zoom to any level, not just a few presets. No signs of any artifacts or digital pixelation that I've occasionally seen on my other players. Very smooth transition during DVD layer changes, and excellent sound over my stereo. Plus this player is absolutely skinny!
It has all the outputs you would expect for video and audio(except perhaps audio coax, but I think the industry has committed to optical). Operation is simple, and my kids have no problem using it.
No way you can beat this for the money. I say go ahead and make the purchase.
71 EXCELLENT PRODUCT!
Very elegant design and excellent picture quality. Add easy to use and low price, and you have a really marvelous DVD Player. You will not go wrong with this one.
72 It plays VCDs, SVCDs and MP3 & WMA
This is a great Progressive Scan DVD Player. I am very, no, suuuper happy with this machine. I bought it because of the reviews (the silver version has about 4 reviews but the same one in black has a lot more reviews Panasonic DVD-S35K) and the price. I am 15 year old high school student and I wanted a TV and DVD player for my room, a very small room. This DVD Player gives me what I want, I am a big fan of copyng DVDs to VCDs and playing them on a DVD player. Unfortunately my old DVD player a Panasonic A110 (one of the first ones) only accepted 650mb expensive Memorex Platinium CD-RWs but this one accepts any kind of recordable CD. It even plays Panasonic's stupid format DVD-Ram. About the progressive scan I do not know because I have an analog TV, you need an HDTV to see the difference. I bought the RCA Xbox-ready F27650 , it's a 27inch tv with stereo speakers in each side in stead of the bottom for a truse 2-channel surround (you should ready the reviews about the tv everyone rated it 5-stars and it only costs ...).
About the DVD player, it is a simple slim dvd player with a simple and easy to use remote. For the VCD, SVCD, MP3 or WMA disc you just insert it and it recognizes it automatically, sometimes it takes about 10 seconds to recognize it but it does. The only thing I did not like is that if you have over 100 songs in an mp3 or wma disc it will be very frustrating to get to any song. You cannot see a playlist you just change next or previous without seeing what song comes next. It has component video out that I have not used yet. The S-video quality is horrible maybe it was the cable but I disconnected it as fast as I could because I could not let my eyes see such a horrible picture. It is so easy to program it with a universal remote control. The picture quality with the A/V outputs are greeeeeat! If you only have a medium quality tv and a non-flat tv you should buy this DVD as fast as you can. BUT if you have a high-end (including non-HDTV sets) then consider a ...Krell or a ... sony or panasonic.
73 PICTURE BLOWS ME AWAY
Have only had it a week, but have used it on DVD movies. CD's CD/R. Amazes how good the quaility of sound it reproduces playing MP3's. Picture quality is excellent. Much better than the VCR. Hook-up was easy. I do play it through a Sony reciever for the sound and into a Sanyo TV using the monitor out at the reciever, and video in at TV. Haven't tried the S-video hook up yet but will when I pick up cable. The manual could be easier to read. But you figure it out with just a little use. Reviews for this player at other video tech sites was excellent. They didn't lie.
74 SUCH A STEAL!!!----I MEAN DEAL!!!
This is a wonderful DVD player , even though it is our first. I had done research on Amazon.com , and other websites to find the best deal, ease of operation, set-up, and value for well over 4 months. I finally found this one that was up to my expectations being a 'newbee' in DVD kingdom. Well, all has been as the previous reviews have said---easy installation, wonderful picture,and ease of operation. Even the quotes about the remote, which is a bit difficult at times to use, but with practice a breeze!! So , for the $$, and especially easy EVERYTHING, a MUST BUY for the first time user---this coming from one!!! ENJOY THE DVD EXPERIENCE, & the great price only Amazon.com can give you!!!
75 More Bang For Your Buck
This DVD player gives you so many options that makes you wonder why it doesn't cost more. I've only just recieved mine, but found the entire set-up system to be extra fast (has a "Quick Setup" option that's practically fool-proof). The player is a full-fledged Progressive Scan DVD/CD player, for more versatile home entertainment. It'll give you breathtaking realism and impact of the cinema in your own home. Features Direct Disc Select, Disc Skip, Disc Program Play, Disc Random Play and Dolby Digital & DTS Surround Sound outputs. Also gives you the option for dialogue enhancement, which brings dialogue to the forefront and makes it stand out over the background music. Includes picture enhancement settings combines brightness control with picture noise canceling to provide better picture quality in certain viewing conditions. It lessens glare, giving you colors that are more cinema-like and picture resolution that is gentler to the eyes. Cinema mode also improves the visibility of details in dark scenes (more crisp) by automatically adjusting picture contrast, and helps to suppress color smearing, as well. The player offers Super Hi-Speed Scan up to x200. This feature provides crystal clear scan quality in five speeds, ranging from slow motion to high speed, in both forward and reverse. At the highest setting, you can search at an incredible 200 times the normal speed in order to rapidly locate desired points on a disc. Capable of playing Multi-Disc Playback DVD-Video, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, Video CD, CD, CD-R, CD-RW. And as for the playback--very crisp. One thing: Does not have a clock display when it's turned off (or maybe it does and I haven't figured it out yet...doubtful). But overall, a great player for the price;it will really serve your DVD needs.
76 Excellent player for the price
I recently purchased this player based upon its almost amazing combination of features and low price. About the only thing it won't play is DVD-Audio discs, which aren't all that common, but if you're looking for that, look elsewhere. I haven't used it much yet, but the quality seems excellent so far and it plays MP3s and SVCDs on both the recordable and re-writable discs I tried. Also, I don't have a progressive scan TV yet, so I can't vouch for how well that works.
If I had to find a complaint, it would be that it does not support reading of the ID3 tags on MP3s. Apparently, even though Panasonic is known for having one of the best MP3 player interfaces in the DVD market, they chose not to implement reading of ID3 tags. It, of course, doesn't say this anywhere that I can find on their web site, but it does explicitly state it in the manual. Other than that, the MP3 interface is as good as I had hoped and it played everything I tried.
As far as the other person who complained about not having a digital coaxial output, this is stated very clearly on Panasonic's web site. It's no problem for me as I use the optical connection anyhow, but there are converters available if you really need the digital coax. Overall an excellent player with a very good price.
77 Where is the coaxial digital output?
This unit supports a wide variety of audio and video formats, has a good selection of video outputs, but where is the coaxial digital audio output? That is considered by most experts as the best form of audio connection and is supported by almost every other major manufacturer. Why has Panasonic decided to save a couple of bucks and leave it off their DVD players?
78 Fantastic DVD player - incomprehensible user manual.
This is certainly the best buy on the market for a single disc, progressive scan DVD player. It comes with a good cable for direct TV hookup, providing you have a audio/video receiver and know how to use it, or the video/L/R audio RCA jacks on the front or rear of your TV.
The manual will tell an average user how to turn it on, open and close the drawer, and then punt. The explanation of the features must have been written by the Chinese engineer that designed it and then translated to English by a Mexican secretary. The level of information is well above the average user, and almost useless unless you have substantial experience with audio/video hardware.
A meaningful rating for this product would be ten for the player itself and -2 for the manual. Run out and buy one quick while the price is this low but be sure all you need to do is plug it to those three jacks on the TV and just play a DVD. Fancy capabilities are there but you are on your own to learn how to use them.
I just ordered my second one.
79 A Must-buy Bargain
SEE UPDATE BELOW. I've used my trusty ol' Panasonic A-110 DVD Player (circa 1998) for years and have been happy enough. I had paid $... for that model. Now comes the Panasonic DVD-S35. What a player! I guess a lot of improvements have happened over the years. From my perspective, this is a bargain. It plays everything but DVD-Audio, including JPEGs and MP3/WMA files, flawlessly. I don't have a DTV, so cannot comment on the progressive scan capabilities. But I have the S35 connected via component video cables to a Sony Wega TV and it looks great. All operations are smooth, quiet and intuitive. A must-buy bargain.
UPDATE: One serious "glitch" I've just found is that this player cannot accurately play back the movie A Bronx Tale. Starting around Chapter 14 to nearly the end, this player introduces badly pixelated scenes, where muptiple squares appear on the image. To eliminate the possibility of a dirty lens, I checked the same model in Circuit City, which showed the same flaw! In comparison, with the IDENTICAL DVD disk, I tried last year's Panasonic RV-32 and the even older Panasonic A-110. They both played the same disk flawlessly. You be the judge.
80 So Far, So Good!
I just received my Panasonic DVD-S35K player today... I am totally new to the DVD scene, and wasn't quite sure how I was going to hook it up. The instructions were fairly simple, although I did need to call someone a couple of times to walk me through the set-up. Really easy though, and the unit itself is so light weight. The DVD quality is great, I've been playing some movies. I also played some CD's and am really loving it. I'm using a Sony 20" vvega TV. It's not digital, but hey, the DVD picture still looks great. For [the price] you cant go wrong. And the unit, as it says, is ultra-slim, which I like. It sits nicely and lightly on top of my Panasonic VCR, and is just slightly smaller than the VCR. I'm definitely giving it 5 stars, for price and because it works well.
81 Excellent inexpensive DVD player
The look and feel of the Panny DVD-S35K is very sleek and modern. We've placed it on a bookshelf in our bedroom, and the slim lines of the unit means that it does not "take over" and visually dominate the other items on the bookshelf.
This unit was so low-priced that I was not sure what to expect in terms of picture quality, but I was pleasantly surprised. The colors are accurate, the image is sharp, and I have not seen any visible video artificats in any of the numerous DVDs we've watched so far. Within the display limits of our television I have absolutely nothing bad to report about this DVD player. Overall, the picture quality from this unit is head-and-shoulders better than that from the flaky and unreliable 3-year-old Sony 530D DVD player I have in our living room.
(When reading my comments as to picture quality, please bear in mind that we are using this player with a Philips 20PF9925 20" LCD panel TV. As many of you already know, there are certain trade-offs in using LCD technology, e.g. lower contrast; and of course a 20" screen is not exactly widescreen and hence certain categories of defect are largely invisible even when they are - or might be - present in its input feed.)
This unit is also feature-rich. As advertised, it can play CD-R's with MP3's/WMA's and JPEG images. Frankly, I assumed that this would probably be poorly implemented and/or frustrating to use. But in fact I was rather startled to see how *well* it worked. I placed into the tray a CD-R made a couple of months ago which contained about 150 family pictures in three different directories. After only a few seconds load time, the player correctly identified the disc as containing photos, indexed all of them, and offered me the choice to begin a slide show. Very easy to operate and highly configurable, for instance if you want to show the whole disc or merely one directory. Easy enough that even the proverbial "grandma" could use it.
Final comments: in giving this player 5 stars, I am relating it to my expectations for a DVD player in the "budget" category. I think that if I wanted a progressive scan player for a dedicated home theater, or for a big-screen (43"+) HDTV monitor, I would probably look elsewhere and buy a more expensive unit with a more advanced decoder chip, SACD or DVD-A support, etc. But among players in its class the Panny DVD-S35K simply cannot be beaten.
82 Exceptional bargain!
This is the best bargain yet for a DVD player, especially if you have any need to play DVD-Ram discs (like those recorded on one of Panasonic's DVD recorders). The features you get for this price are incredible, starting with progressive scan output, and including MP3 playback, extensive zoom control (if you want to offend the Original Aspect Ratio gods) and picture controls (user adjustable). But the real steal is the DVD-ram playback. Only last year a machine to do that would cost more than [$], and progressive scan for under [$] was not possible. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but it has enough to satisfy almost any user without special audio or video needs. My only complaint is that it isn't available in black.
83 little one with lot
This is a very good DVD player with all features for low budget guys... you can buy this DVD without giving second thought. it's progressive scan feature is handy. The Technical features are very good.
