Apex 1500 $39.99 AR Longs Drug Stores Nov 29

[allisolm]

For those of you in those western states where Longs operates:

Longs Ad for Friday and Saturday only, doors open at 7am. Picture shows Apex AD-1500. $39.99 after $20 mail-in-rebate (united rebates, aka long's rebates):
Plays DVD, CD, picture CD, MP3 and CD-R/RW discs. Includes audio/video outputs, Dolby 5.1 channel digital surround sound and parental lock.

Thanks to Tealight at another forum for this which I have blatently copied.

That's all I know as I live over 1300 miles from the closest Longs.

 

[Kaieye]

Thanks for the tip and for helping us find deals on CDR's!

 

[NetworkDad]

Nice!

 

[bizkit]

Is there a link to the rebate?

 

[ULI]

You have to go to a local store for the rebate form.

 

[Jokertoker]

pm cc for a better deal yet.

 

[dongky]

actually, i just saw the nited rebates booklet at Long's.
the 20 rebate starts today, the 27th.
if you're going to buy one now, the price is $89:Q - $20 rebate
so there will be a $30 discount on Friday!!!

btw, are these the new models that do not play VCD?

 

[MrCodeDude]

If you recieve the newer version of the Apex AD-1500, you need to download the 1500 Firmware for the regular A, B, C, D versions to be allowed to play VCD's. If you do not have a newer version, then yours will play VCD's right out of the box.

Here are the external "clues" which indicate that a 1500 is probably one of the newer versions:

- The serial number sticker, located on the long sides of the box, is YELLOW (instead of white)
- The serial number itself begins with "D150002".
- There is no mention of VCD support anywhere on the box or the player
-- mrcodedude

 

[manly]

MrCodeDude,

Hmm, some contradictory information?

Not saying you're wrong but I'd love to know the "truth". During my recent research, I did come across a thread here where a person said they conveniently hacked their AD-1500.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: manly
MrCodeDude,

Hmm, some contradictory information?

Not saying you're wrong but I'd love to know the "truth". During my recent research, I did come across a thread here where a person said they conveniently hacked their AD-1500.

Look at their forums

I have an older model of the Apex AD-1500 that I got last Black Friday from Kmart, it's hackable and upgradable. These new ones aren't.
-- mrcodedude

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: manly
MrCodeDude,

Hmm, some contradictory information?

Not saying you're wrong but I'd love to know the "truth". During my recent research, I did come across a thread here where a person said they conveniently hacked their AD-1500.

Look at their forums

I have an older model of the Apex AD-1500 that I got last Black Friday from Kmart, it's hackable and upgradable. These new ones aren't.
-- mrcodedude

*sigh* Thanks for the heads up. Maybe the Mintek 2110 from Best Buy ain't so bad afterall. :\

 

[CherryBOMB]

Thanxs for the heads up*!*!*!* MrCodeDude

 

[Madib]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: manly
MrCodeDude,

Hmm, some contradictory information?

Not saying you're wrong but I'd love to know the "truth". During my recent research, I did come across a thread here where a person said they conveniently hacked their AD-1500.

Look at their forums

I have an older model of the Apex AD-1500 that I got last Black Friday from Kmart, it's hackable and upgradable. These new ones aren't.
-- mrcodedude

Well, you might want to go look at your link again. Looks like maybe the new ones ARE upgradable! New info posted after your link was put up.

 

[hpfanatic]

I got one of the Longs Drugs Apex 1500's today idenitcal to the one he is talking about. It has the yellow sticker, same serial number, no mention of VCD's on the box. I got it home and flashed the firmware and am watching a vcd right now.

 

[manly]

That's awesome news. We need more guinea pigs.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: manly
That's awesome news. We need more guinea pigs.

I choose you What firmware did you flash it with? The regular A, B, C ones or the SV one?
-- mrcodedude

 

[manly]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude

Originally posted by: manly
That's awesome news. We need more guinea pigs.

I choose you What firmware did you flash it with? The regular A, B, C ones or the SV one?
-- mrcodedude

I haven't checked the firmware page in a couple nights. But I'm fairly sure the SV one does not apply to us at all; in fact the SV units are not "flasheable". You have to reprogram a ROM or something intimate like that.

That's why we were happy when we picked up D units this morning at Long's Drugs. Roller coaster ride eh? I'm not sure when I'll flash the firmware because this house is a complete mess right now (some home repairs) and so I'm not sure where this player goes.

Keep us updated though. I even took the damn trouble to drive to Kmart and CompUSA earlier in hopes of finding older AD-1500 units but to no avail (instead purchasing other items as can be expected).

 

[TheLizardMan]

THEY ARE ALL SOLD OUT!!!

And will NOT be getting any more of them in.

They where sold out as of 7am this morning.

 

[hpfanatic]

I used the A, B, C, D one orginally from a Hiteker GK-1000. Got it here: Apex AD-1500 I did not use the beta one they also have there. I hadn't even seen this thread with the new model info when I did it, I just saw the D serial number on the box and went for it.

 

[MrCodeDude]

Just flashed it, works
-- mrcodedude

 

[chrisjor]

mrcodedude,

please see my plea in HH Gregg thread...Thanks!

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: MrCodeDude
NOT A GOOD DEAL
There is a NEW VERSION of the AD-1500 out. THIS NEW VERSION *CANNOT* BE UPGRADED WITH THE AVAILABLE FIRMWARE, AND IT WILL *NOT* PLAY THE VCD FORMAT!!! So, if you are interested in receiving a 1500 which can be upgraded with the available firmware, it is recommend that you do NOT purchase the player from Amazon.com or Longs Drug Stores!

Here are the external "clues" which indicate that a 1500 is probably one of the newer versions:

- The serial number sticker, located on the long sides of the box, is YELLOW (instead of white)
- The serial number itself begins with "D150002".
- There is no mention of VCD support anywhere on the box or the player
-- mrcodedude

I have the old version of the 1500 that does apparently play VCDs ("no" on all 3 of your listed clues). But from your first sentence, it seems I have to upgrade the firmware for it to be able to play VCDs? Confused (not opening the box yet).

 

[MrCodeDude]

Originally posted by: rh71
I have the old version of the 1500 that does apparently play VCDs ("no" on all 3 of your listed clues). But from your first sentence, it seems I have to upgrade the firmware for it to be able to play VCDs? Confused (not opening the box yet).

No, if your's is an older version, yours will play VCD's right out of the box. If it's the newer version, get the 1500 Firmware located here, and download the one zip that extracts a u1500am.rom. If you're too lazy to look for the firmware, here's a direct link to it.

I'm too lazy to copy and paste the burning and flashing instructions though, so you should check out the Firmware page. Look at the A,B,C,D model ones though (located halfway down the page), you do not have an SV model, which is the first model mentioned.
-- mrcodedude

 

[manly]

Successfully flashed with the so-called "experimental" firmware last night (it's supposed to be better than the Hiteker GK1000 firmware as it doesn't obfuscate the front panel buttons). The only bug I've noticed is that STOP simply doesn't work for VCDs.

Great experience with the flashing. Although strangely, Nero would not fixate when I burned at 1X just to be on the safe side. I burned at 12X and it went fine. Too bad I wasn't able to pick up a couple more units on Friday; they sell for a decent little markup on ebay.

Some other thread mentioned that Northridge, CA store still has quite a few units for sale (too far from me anyhow) but I don't know if the rebate was only for two days. I believe that's what the ad said (maybe just the sale price is 2 days only), but the rebate booklet does not clearly list any dates. Also, it doesn't explicitly ask for the UPC barcode either.

Finally, any recommendation on a cheap, universal remote that works w/ APEX units? I picked up the $4 RCA RCU300T at Best Buy but apparently they don't support APEX (at least they don't show APEX amongst the control codes).

 

[ziptree]

flashed it w/ the experimental software too.

burning at 32x went well, flashing was a breeze. VCDs galore! =)