Apex AD1500 DVD $69.99 @ CircuitCity.com

[EXman]

Z,

I find it hard to believe no one else posted your Link? there is also a really good APEX forum for most models and many other brands as well nerd-out I got the 3201 APEX that had a remote control hack no flashing required

 

[Juicebox]

Hello!

I'm confused by that web site. The 1500 you bought recently and were able to CD upgrade was the 1500? You wre able to remove Macrovision and play the mpgs? I got the idea they had different versions of the 1500. One upgradable and the other not.

I have an Apex 600a but this 1500 sopunds good to me.

Thanks

Jim

 

[EXman]

Look at that website up 2 (forum and read up on 1500's there are some that you cannot hack.

 

[TechTones]

Can someone please tell me if the Apex-500W and 500WM is better then the 1000? The specs look the same but why is more money then the 1000 and 1500? Is the 500 worth the extra $18 or so?

What's the diff between the 500W and WM?

 

[SimMike2]

<< macrovision copy protection and region locking is all built in to dvd player making it impossible to route it to your vcr >>

You can route the DVD player through your VCR just fine. But if the tape has macrovision and you try to record something, you will see the macrovision right away. I have only tried this with two different VCR/TV combos, but in both cases it worked fine.

From my experience, maybe 5 to 10% of DVDs don't have macrovision and you can make fantastic copies. I always test them out by trying to record.

BTW, the reason I route through my VCR is that I have a S-VHS VCR and only one S-Video input on my TV.

 

[EXman]

<< You can route the DVD player through your VCR just fine >>



this is incorrect. Only some DVD players will let you do this. Some, Like my Apex 3201, you cannot even watch the DVD, it blue screens and jumps, let alone tape it Until I turned off Macrovision. Possibilty that it is my Sony VCR but I have heard the same from others a very good site/forum is linked in my post a few back click on it read through and you can pick up some DVD smarts real fast. Also lots of Hacks for many players

Some will allow you to watch some will not your milage will vary.

 

[Muddauber]

The remote on this player sucks. The buttons are way too small and you have to be 5 or 6 feet away from the player or its very unreliable. I have this player but I often wish that I had spent a few more bux for something better.

 

[GooberedUp]

Tapes don't have Macrovision sensitivity. It's built into the VCR. The Macrovision encoded signal causes the VCR junk up the signal. Now, after you rn the Macrovision hack on this, you can route it through the VCR.

For me, it may be cheap (price and build), but there is no other player that can play MPEG1 and MPEG2 streams straight. Which means that I can record MPEG2 off my capture card, put it straight onto a CD and watch it. No more having to convert to SVCD, etc. The time savings more than make up for the chintzy remote.

Also, I was reading on another forum that you can pop off the colored plastic on the remote front and uncover the IR transmitter(s) and you get your distance back.

 

[fwfan]

This is an awesome DvD player for its price. I use it to route to my VCR and it works like a charm.

 

[GooberedUp]

Went and got one last night. This in a real sense is a hot deal at any price below $100.00

I LOVE it!!

Drawbacks:

- Crappy construction
- Simple LED display
- Crappy remote
- Smaller than my other a/v stuff
- Sensitive to dirty disks

Advantages:

- Will play about ANYTHING (without the hack) you can think about throwing at it - DVD/XSVCD/SVCD/VCD/MPEG1/MPEG2/MP3 (128/192/256/??). So, raw MPEG off a TV vidcap card works.
- Hackable (to remove MV at least)

Video quality seems pretty good also. Probably not like the top of the lines, but for me, the first advantage of this player outweight almost anything of which I can think.

Thanks Zwingle for bringing these features to my attention.

So, between the OD Clie and this, I'm pretty pleased.

 

[dimwit]

Will play about ANYTHING

Now if it would just play DivX...

 

[GooberedUp]

Yeah, that would be the ultimate. Problem is, DIVX is such a hacked standard that no manufacturer is going to put in the codecs for that until all the licensing issues are worked out. And, I don't think they have yet, if ever.

 

[howiehour]

<< Now if it would just play DivX... >>



Pick up one of the quality freeware converters out there and you can get a great DivX->VCD conversion. I've been tweaking here and there and practice makes perfect.

BTW, the easily hackable AD1500 was still $79.98 at CC as of this evening (1-16).

 

[CyberZenn]

also - and i could be wrong about this - i believe the divx compression is such that it would need special hardware decoding to play it - i dont think it could be supposrted with a mere firmware update. As such, i doubt many companies would shell out the extra money for supporting a hacked codec that only a small (technically inclined) portion of the general public is aware of.

 

[zinkpig]

<< As such, i doubt many companies would shell out the extra money for supporting a hacked codec that only a small (technically inclined) portion of the general public is aware of. >>



i bet this went thro. the minds of people who built the first Mp3 players.

 

[GooberedUp]

<<

<< Now if it would just play DivX... >>



Pick up one of the quality freeware converters out there and you can get a great DivX->VCD conversion. I've been tweaking here and there and practice makes perfect.

BTW, the easily hackable AD1500 was still $79.98 at CC as of this evening (1-16). >>



I paid $9.00 more for mine from Wallyworld. The CC guys told me that they had them for 89.98 so I just got ir from the other store (since I was there). Was that the price on the shelf or the ring up price? I read somewhere that the shelf tags show it higher than the ringup price. I still may have gotten it at Wallyworld because things seem to be easier to return there (I have 90 days in which to do it) and based on many comments in other forums, this dude can buy the farm at any time. Still love it, but just in case . . .

 

[GooberedUp]

<<

<< As such, i doubt many companies would shell out the extra money for supporting a hacked codec that only a small (technically inclined) portion of the general public is aware of. >>



i bet this went thro. the minds of people who built the first Mp3 players. >>



Maybe so. But, I thought the DIVX codec was based on a non-licensed hack of the MPEG4 compression algorithm that was ripped out of some Microsof code, resulting in copyright and licensing issues. I don't know the history behind MP3--but it sure has taken a LONG time for the major manufacturers to come around.

 

[ihaveanevilplan]

It seems many of you are very knowlegable about the APEX brand DVD players. I've been thinking about picking one up for some time now because it'll play just about anything you toss in. I have a little spare cash so I dont mind paying a few extra bucks for a better model...can someone please list the APEX DVD Player heirarchy? From the website, I cant tell which model is better than which. Thanks!

 

[GooberedUp]

You absolutely need to check out this website at http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/index.php. I am not certain of the hierarchies (600 may be better), although price may be a good indicator. But, pricing along with reading up on some of the forum articles will be to your benefit. Not all Apexes are created equally (bad or good?) and not all are capable of playing everything and being hacked, etc. like the 1000 and 1500.

If you want a really nice component of high quality and durability, this ain't it. But the flexibilty is worth how cheesy it looks in my cabinet.

 

[TheGoodDoc]

I was in Sam's Club in Savannah and they had an open box Apex 600 for $99. I have the Apex 3201 and love the fact that it can be made region free and no macrovision via remote. Works like a charm. Enjoy.

TGD

 

[greenant]

I made a VCD out of home made digital video but my DVD player ( Sony DVP -S560D ) doesn't play it.
Even though it plays regular VCDs.

Now .. will this Apex play home made VCDs ?

 

[Zwingle]

My Sony DVD will not play anything on a CDR or CDRW not even read it....says "No Disc".....the Apex will read anything......whether there is anything playable or not.

 

[howiehour]

<< Was that the price on the shelf or the ring up price? I read somewhere that the shelf tags show it higher than the ringup price. >>



Yeah, the shelf price was $89.98 and they'll tell you that price on the phone. In the computer, it's $10 less.

I was almost suckered into buying an 'Open Box/Floor Model' special for $84. Thank goodness.

 

[howiehour]

<< Now .. will this Apex play home made VCDs ? >>



ABSOLUTELY!

I converted a .AVI capture of a television program to .MPG using some freeware out there. I forget the name, but do a Google on 'convert AVI to VCD' and you'll be on the right track.

Then I used Nero 5.5 to burn the .MPG to VCD. Played on my AD1500 like a champ...with quite impressive sound and picture.

There are some great step-by-step tutorials out there. The Google search I spoke of above is a great start. 'Create VCD' will return some quality sites too.

 

[Zwingle]

Website still shows 89.99 also....was 79.99 about 2 weeks ago....when I bought my second one. Got my first on Black Friday for 69.99.....I was about 300th person in and thought I had no chance of getting one.....but they had case stacks 6 feet high everywhere they could think of to put one. Both work great.

Off topic......Apex is set to release a new model DVD player next month for $299 that integrates Windows Media Player.....and is rumored to be flashable with more codecs......but plays wma and avi natively and all other formats that Apex currently supports.....maybe this one can be used to play DivX.....will see if I can find more info and post info here.