After owning for a week...

Video Asylum

TVs, VCRs, DVD players, Home Theater systems and more.

In Reply to: Panasonic RP82: a second and third non-technical opinion posted by cfraser on August 22, 2002 at 15:22:47:

I guess it's a keeper after all. Part of the problem is the manual, but once you try everything and know the answers, THEN the manual makes sense. The manual is particularly poor about connecting the unit up, you have to know how and know which methods are better, it won't help you get the best results with video or audio.
For DVD-A audio, for most people, the analog connections (5.1 or stereo) will be far far superior to the digital connection, which essentially just gives you DVD quality sound. For DVD's, the Dolby/dts decoders and DAC's in the RP82 are quite possibly superior to the ones you already had, so you might want to use the analog connections for movies too, if you have them... For video, no S connection to the display is ever required for any menu any time, unlike some earlier models. Spend some time in the picture menu, and you may also have to readjust your TV display settings for best results. I have only used the progressive mode.
One thing I noticed is the laser pickup seems to be quite intolerant of discs that aren't perfectly clean. Even discs that superficially looked clean had some consistent/repeatable skips, but were fine after a quick wipe with a cotton cloth. May not be a good player for rentals...or could just be mine.
Though the remote is cheap, the buttons for DVD use are big enough and adequately separated. The ones often used with DVD-A (with the TV display off) are too close together though. I copied what's needed to the system remote, so no problem. Put some proper rubber feet on the case so it doesn't slide around. Tray mechanism is very smooth, unit quite quiet generally. Built-in display doesn't keep up with the shuttle dial at all well at any but the slowest speeds, so is a little awkward if searching by time. I wish designers would always put the built-in display and the remote sensor in the *middle* of the package, makes unit positioning more flexible on average.

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Panasonic RP82: a second and third non-technical opinion - cfraser 15:22:47 08/22/02 (9)

Both choices are better with the sound off. - Duilawyer 10:13:09 08/25/02 (1)

I was kidding - cfraser 12:49:00 08/25/02 (0)

Chroma bug, some other bug-free choices - Auricle 06:03:29 08/25/02 (1)

Addenda, clarification - Auricle 06:08:53 08/25/02 (0)

DVD-A and burn in. - Auricle 05:54:15 08/25/02 (1)

Re: DVD-A and burn in. - cfraser 16:29:08 08/25/02 (0)

After owning for a week... - cfraser 11:26:31 08/24/02 (0)

Panasonic is making some superior gear.. the RP91 also rocks! - EdM 15:45:16 08/22/02 (1)

DVD-A's are scarce around here! - cfraser 17:55:49 08/22/02 (0)

Follow Ups

After owning for a week... - cfraser 11:26:31 08/24/02 (0)

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