My Panny A320 just died!!! (1 Viewer)

[Mick Wright]

Well, after 13 months of steady operation, my panny dvd-a320 died rather unexpectantly last night.
I was hoping to get some advice on whether I should try to get them to honor the warranty anyway or to just chunk it and buy a new one (which is what I may have to do anyway, I already miss watching dvds).
One thing is for sure - I'm never buying another Panasonic. I've had three different models die on me after a year or less of service.
Any advice appreciated.

 

[Richard_T]

Sorry to hear about your DVD player Mick. I had the same problem with my A-310 player about 1 1/2 ago but fortuantely, it happened while it was still under warranty and since then (knock on wood...) it's worked pretty well. I as well will not buuy another Panasonic product because of the problem I and many others have had. They should have recalled these things a long time ago and made themselves look good by helping their customers but they decided to try and hide it and ride out the storm. Again, sorry to hear about your player. Hopefully you'll get another DVD player soon.

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[JohanK]

Sorry to hear that; I hope the same fate does not await my RV80. I would definitely ask to get it fixed under warranty; they may do it if it is only one month over.
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[Andrew Pratt]

This isn't good news at all I love my A320. Out of curiosity was there a heat source like a receiver or amp directly below the A320?
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[Mick Wright]

Andrew, I babied my 320 after my first two players died. I kept it away from any heat, free of dust, etc. I was in love with that player, so I'm shocked that it failed. I hope none of you other guys have the same fate.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Well I guess I spoke to soon since mine too appears like its on its death bed. I am now seeing all sorts of pixilation even on brand new DVD's, I heard the transport for the first time ever and it refuses to play the lift off sequence from the Earthlight DVD... what was that number to call?
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[Billy Fogerty]

Thats just great. I was thinking of getting an RP 91, Now I don't know. Just the fact that two guys on this forum had thier Panasonic players go at about the same time, isn't very reassuring.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Billy there are serious flaws in the old A110 and A310 models thats well documented http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/Archives/Archive-000002/HTML/20010301-14-034447.html Still two players out of how many is not indication of a trend.
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[William Anthony]

See, this is what I'm talking about. I went through 2 Panny players, and will never get another. I got flamed because of it. They make an unreliable product, period.
[Edited last by William Anthony on August 19, 2001 at 06:45 PM]

 

[Billy Fogerty]

I want the RP91, but after hearing all this, I wonder? My S7000 has been going strong for 3 years, and zero problems. Maybe I would just be better off with the 700P ? It might not have all the features, but is it more reliable?

Or maybe go with a Toshiba progressive scan player?

Bottom line is, will the RP91 be reliable? I have read some negative things about it's build quality, and now this. Damn!!

 

[RyanMM]

after seeing all the problems with other players, not just panasonic, I am inclined to stick with my sony 7700 & buy an Iscan once I get a HDTV in the next few months

 

[Kevin P]

Mick & Andrew - were your A320s from early in the model year or later on? I'm wondering if maybe the first run of them used the same (defective) optical assembly as the A110/A310, and then was fixed in later runs.
Wasn't the A120/A320 already out when the problems with the A110/A310 starting happening on a large scale? If that's the case, it's possible that the first few batches of A120/320s are also defective.
Who knows, though. Only time will tell if newer models (RV, RP, etc.) will have problems.
KJP

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Kevin I'll check and see but from what I heard all A320 use new optics...guess time will tell if I'm just unlucky or the newer pannys are just as unreliable.
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[Edited last by Andrew Pratt on August 21, 2001 at 06:18 PM]

 

[John Wilson]

I will preface my remarks by saying that I own an A320 and even though I have not played alot of DVDs on it, it has performed very well. I am selling it ONLY because of the fact that I would like to upgrade to the RP91.
Not very long ago the A320 and its sucessor the RV-80 were being touted as two of the better interlaced players out there. Just do a search on this Forum or check audioreview.com to see for yourself. Now, because 2 players are showing some signs of problems, are all the A320s now bad? Come on, lets not get carried away! All makes of DVD players have had problems but lets not turn and run in the other direction at the first sign of trouble. Panasonic makes very good DVD players but even they will make a few that won't live forever!
rant off...
Are there other A320 or RV-80 owners that are having problems at this time? Lets hear from you! How about happy owners like myself?
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John F. Wilson
Timing is Everything.
[email protected] Weekdays
[email protected] Nights and Weekends

 

[John Morris]

I just got back my more than 3 year old Panasonic A310 from the Panasonic National Repair Center. I was hoping for a new RV65 but they replaced the Optical Lens Assembly(or something like that?) instead. I guess I shouldn't complain... it was free and now it works good as new.
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Take Care,
merc
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DFAST, 5C, DVI, HDCP, SafeAudio, Macrovision and Lewinski!!!

 

[Andrew Pratt]

John like you say two players doesn't make a trend only time will really tell.
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[Steve Schaffer]

I bought my A-320 just after they were discontinued, based on the good reveiws from Obi, Andrew, and others. So far no problem, but I do have a Sony 550 on reserve just in case.
I love the A-320's picture quality and color reproduction, and would hate to give it up if the player dies on me. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Is there any non-progressive player out there now that equals the A-320's picture quality? I really don't want to upgrade to progressive scan as that would make an hd-ready tv upgrade too tempting, and the old plastic is already near melting point.
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Steve S.
I prefer not to push the subwoofers until they're properly run in.
[Edited last by Steve Schaffer on August 20, 2001 at 06:46 PM]

 

[Andrew Pratt]

well I sent Panasonic Canada an email expressing my concern over the fate of my player so I'll report back when I hear what they are going to do about it.
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