Panny RP82 Problems - Need New Player for DVDs AND CDs (1 Viewer)

[Dane]

Just received my new Panasonic RP-82s from Crutchfield's ($213 delivered). Works great on DVD's but is now giving me tremendous problems with CD-R's, of which I have a lot. It's not that it simply rejects them as unplayable -- some tracks it will play, others not, some it drops out for a while and then returns in the middle of the track. Sound is lousy on some tracks (lots of background distortion). In short, a real mess.

So unless anyone has some brilliant suggestions as to how to get this machine running properly, it's back to Crutchfield's for a replacement. And the question I want to raise is what I should go with for a replacement? I listen to CDs/CDR's a lot, so the ability to play these is important to me. I'm running this through a regular TV, so progressive scan isn't really necessary, and my receiver decodes DD/DTS, so a decoder is also unnecessary. I've also been thinking that a multi-disc changer might be nice, though I worry about any extra mechanicals that can break down over time.

Right now I'm considering Sony, either the 715 or one of the two multidisc changes, the 615 or 655 (which looks like the multi-disc version of the 715). Any comments on these or other players that are particularly strong on playing both CDs and DVDs would be welcome. By the way, my previous player (a Phillips DVD825) did very well on this count for 3 years, playing pretty much every disc I threw at it up until the day it died. It did have dual lasers and I'm wondering if this might have been a factor in its performance.

Dane

 

[Nick L]

I had the same problem with a cd player not playing discs like you are saying. Turns out my cd burner was going. I replaced it with a new burner and everything plays great now. I have discussed it several times with different techs and they say when a cd burner is getting old the laser gets weak. Causing it to be stronger in some places than in others. Try a cdr that was burnt on a different burner and see if it works.

Nick L

 

[Allan_Lim]

I have never had a problem with a CD-R in my Panasonic RP-82.

There was a little insert in my box that said CD-R's shouldn't be burned at higher than 16X and CD-RW's 4X for them to work reliably in the player.

I have an older CD-RW burner that can't go faster than 4X so that's what I burn at. Never had a problem.

 

[Ernest]

We have played a ton of CD-R's in our RP82 with excellent results. Maybe your CD-R's are faulty?

 

[Je-P]

Yeah, the paper insert says to burn at a max of 16x.

 

[Dane]

All my CDs were burned at 1x on a Pioneer PDR-609, so burn speed wasn't the problem. Rather, the problem seemed to be related to the I had used generic Office Depot music CD-Rs -- previously CDs burned on Maxell and Memorex media played okay on the Panny.

Unfortunately, I have a fair number of CDs recorded on that Office Depot media, many from analog sources that are difficult and time-consuming to reburn. So the Panny went back to Crutchfield's. Since I don't expect to need progressive scan for a couple of years, I went cheap on the replacement and picked up a Pioneer DV-250, hoping that it might stand a better chance of playing CDs burned on a Pioneer burner. In fact, it does play ALL my disks and so far at least seems to do everything I need it to do quite adequately. The DV-250 is, I believe, identical to the DV-353 except in silver and is sold only through WalMart for $99.

 

[Aaron H]

Dane,

How'd you get that price at Crutchfield? Did you buy scratch and dent?

Aaron

 

[Dane]

Aaron -
Sorry, I must not have expressed myself clearly. The Panasonic when back to Crutchfield's for a refund, and I bought the Pioneer at WalMart (actually at www.walmart.com) for about $106 delivered.
Dane