Question about DVD players and their basic functions (1 Viewer)

I've been a member of this Forum for 3 years, and I still have a very newbie-esque question to ask.

My first DVD player was a Panasonic A115. I've had it for years, and have been very pleased with its performance. However, I decided to upgrade to a progressive scan player with component out, so I bought another Panasonic model, an S35, today.

I've noticed a few minor features of my older Panasonic model are missing on my new one. These same features were missing on other, more off-brand DVD players that friends of mine have owned, and I just assumed they were missing because the players were of lower quality. The features in question are things like the player automatically remembering where you were in a DVD, even after you turn the power off, and using the numbered keypad on the remote control to choose chapters. The latter feature is available on my new Panasonic, but you have to do it when the disc is stopped.

So, my question is this: Have these features been eliminated in the newer model DVD players, or is it just Panasonic? If they are available, is it only on higher end players now? If I remember correctly my original Panasonic A115 was pretty low end when it was released.

Perhaps just different design? As an example, my older Pioneer 535 and 233 have a "search" button on the remote that allows me to scroll between searching by title, chapter, or time, and if time is selected, you just punch in the time-code, enter and you're taken straight to that point in the movie. In contrast, the newer 655 requires you to press "set-up", select "disc navigator" and then either title, chapter or time, before entering that information. More clumsy and slower, IMO.

As for remembering where the disc last stopped, I think on my Philips, the info is only retained if you go into sleep mode via the remote, and not if the hard-button on the machine is used to actually switch it off. In contrast, the Pioneers only have "sleep" buttons, not "hard" off buttons, and can always be turned on via remote, and hence they always remember where the disc last stopped.

Perhaps they're "simplifying" things, for J6P who just pops a disc in and plays it once through, rather than us "crazy" types who do strange things...

my sony will remember where the dvd left off if someone hits "stop". but, if you power down or eject the dvd it starts all over.

i would say it's simply design choices on the manufacturer's part. some dvd players have cool features like remembering specific audio/video settings per dvd.

My Pioneer DVD player will remember where I left off only after I press the stop button (very clearly indicated in the manual). It remembers this for 5 discs, even if I power off and disconnect it from the mains.

Plus, the remote has the chapter number selection so I can go to any chapter I wish via the remote.

So I guess it's just your player that doesn't have this.