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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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Apex dvd player
Gordon Gaskell:
Other than cleaning the laser lens.... see the repairfaq at http://repairfaq.org/ for safety information and cleaning procedures...... there is very little else that an inexperienced, non technical type can do. Reliability can, many times, be associated with the price that you paid of the unit. Next time instead of buying a $39.95 DVD player at WalMart, try going up in price a little and stay with name brands like Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, etc. Even if you pay more for a name brand unit there is no guarantee that you won't have problems with it but your chances are better that it will have better performance and last longer. In this particular case you got about what you paid for..... a cheap DVD player. -- Best Regards, Daniel Sofie Electronics Supply & Repair - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Gordon Gaskell" wrote in message om... Greetings fellow technicians: I have an Apex dvd player AD-500W with a DVS DSL-710A computer type disc reader drive. When a video or audio disc is inserted the player spins and searches the disc for a while then displays "No Disc". Intermittently it will begin playing a video or audio disc. Any suggestions to improve the reliability will be appreciated. Thank you. Gordon Gaskell AAS |
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Apex dvd player
"Sofie" wrote:
}...Next time instead of buying a $39.95 DVD player at WalMart, try }going up in price a little and stay with name brands like Panasonic, }Toshiba, Sony, etc. But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. Stan. |
#3
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Apex dvd player
Stan ) writes:
"Sofie" wrote: }...Next time instead of buying a $39.95 DVD player at WalMart, try }going up in price a little and stay with name brands like Panasonic, }Toshiba, Sony, etc. But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. Stan. And doesn't Apex use standard DVDROM drives? I have no first hand knowledge, but I'm sure I've read that. In which case, one can keep it running by buying a new drive, and keep the features of that low end Apex. Michael |
#4
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Apex dvd player
And doesn't Apex use standard DVDROM drives? I have no first hand
knowledge, but I'm sure I've read that. Some models do, some models don't. This particular Apex model does use an IDE drive, but the mountings are not standard. Some modifications of both the drive housing and the player chassis are required to secure the drive into the player. In which case, one can keep it running by buying a new drive, and keep the features of that low end Apex. Depending on the model of the player and the version of the model, setting various options can be as easy as pushing a series of buttons on the remote or as drastic as having to physically replace the player BIOS with a hacked chip. - Reinhart |
#5
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Apex dvd player
(Michael Black) wrote: Stan writes: "Sofie" wrote:
} } }...Next time instead of buying a $39.95 DVD player at WalMart, try } }going up in price a little and stay with name brands like Panasonic, } }Toshiba, Sony, etc. } } But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. } } Stan. }And doesn't Apex use standard DVDROM drives? I have no first hand }knowledge, but I'm sure I've read that. In which case, one can keep }it running by buying a new drive, and keep the features of that low }end Apex. Yes, it does (been there, done that)...but you must use a DVD drive that does _NOT_ require authentication. Stan. |
#6
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Apex dvd player
Yes, it does (been there, done that)...but you must use a DVD drive
that does _NOT_ require authentication. Fortunately, there are some high quality computer drives available that meet this criteria. I just tested a AD-500W that I've got with a stock Lite-On/JVC E-IDE DVD-ROM drive. It worked perfectly, and better than the original DVS drive that was in it before. - Reinhart |
#7
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Apex dvd player
Back to the coment `` buy a better brand``
Well ..... did you know that the good brands are now starting to put cheap insides into their cases ??? Just go out & buy a new Panasonic vcr-dvd combo deck and take the top off . Pana is also starting to use Samsung cook tubes in their microwaves that are all dropping dead . I`m sure other brands are going to follow to compete with the price war Toshiba was having problems with cheap capacitors in their dvd players I get to work on all this brand new stuff where i work where they buy large lots of store return `everything` so i get a first hand look into these brand new products . Its getting ridiculous |
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Apex dvd player
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#9
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Apex dvd player
On 24 Jun 2004 09:43:05 -0700, (Gordon
Gaskell) wrote: Greetings fellow technicians: I have an Apex dvd player AD-500W with a DVS DSL-710A computer type disc reader drive. When a video or audio disc is inserted the player spins and searches the disc for a while then displays "No Disc". Intermittently it will begin playing a video or audio disc. Any suggestions to improve the reliability will be appreciated. Thank you. Gordon Gaskell AAS http://www.degregoriis.com/dvdrom.html http://www.nerd-out.com/darrenk/600/Body.htm http://rdell.best.vwh.net/apex/ Above are a few links to apex mod sites. The AD500W lends itself to easy service or modification. I've gotten replacement drive trays from pirhana.com for very low prices. Your problem sounds like either bad or scrambled BIOS or a defective tray. To reburn the bios simply remove the tray and hook it up to a computer as you would a cd drive.(the safest and most certain method) Or just use a bios CD in the unit. The apex group will have urls to downloadable bios's both original and mod-bios's. Download and burn to a cd-r. Follow the instruction in regards to inserting the cd in the dvd drive tray and boot up etc... At the group you'll find all sorts of projects to modify your Apex for other uses. |
#10
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Apex dvd player
I have an Apex dvd player AD-500W with a DVS DSL-710A computer type
disc reader drive. When a video or audio disc is inserted the player spins and searches the disc for a while then displays "No Disc". You could try cleaning and relubing. But, more likely, the laser optical pickup is worn out. I've got an AD-500W myself that someone wanted me to fix and those are the exact same symptoms. Cleaning and lubing did not help so the only possibility is a marginal pickup. - Reinhart |
#11
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Apex dvd player
UPDATE.
On your AD-500W, check the condition of the ribbon cable that connects the optical pickup to the drive's control electronics. Chances are, there may be some severed conductors on the ribbon on the side that is connected to the pickup. The cuts would be located on the section of ribbon that is creased. I discovered this problem on the AD-500W I was working on just now and have managed to get the player up and running again. - Reinhart |
#12
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Apex dvd player
It's no doubt that you can make an Apex do many things.
But, for my uses, I'd rather spend extra to get a player that does what it's designed to do with few, if any, compromises to video and audio quality. If you make measurements of the video and audio sections of any Apex player, you'll find that they are among some of the worst players in terms of A/V performance, which is typical of any no-name DVD player, as well as players from Funai, Sylvania, Magnavox, GE, and RCA. The only nice thing to say of Apex DVD players in that regard is that they will have a better picture than VHS. Parts are easy to get at very low prices.(I get the drive tray at pirhana.com for around 20 bucks.) What about the optical pickup? - Reinhart |
#13
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Apex dvd player
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#14
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Apex dvd player
That's the whole shebang. The drive tray contains the capstan/motor
and laser assembley as well as a small circuit board that contians the bios chips and controller. In other words, it's the entire disc drive. With absolutely no modification they'll fit in a computer drive bay. I wouldn't say that they would fit in a drive bay unless you shear off the fastening points on all four sides of the drive housing. (I guess they're in essence a DVDrom drive.) Actually, they are E-IDE/UDMA DVD-ROM drives. And for 20 bucks you can have a DVD player for your computer. Bwahahahahaha! And get stuck with a no-name DVD-ROM drive that's known to be problematic within two years? For my computer, I'd rather have a Pioneer DVD-ROM drive. Superior readability and reliability. However, I've got a JVC/Lite-On in my rig. Four years and it's still working like new. To answer your question tho'. I don't know what the price is on a pickup. If they sell entire drives for such a low price, then I'm willing to bet that replacement pickups are not available. There are many DVD players to where the optical pickup is not available for replacement, but a complete traverse assembly is for a high price. - Reinhart |
#16
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Apex dvd player
But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision.
That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart |
#17
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Apex dvd player
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#18
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Apex dvd player
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:03:19 -0500, gothika
wrote: On 24 Jun 2004 20:34:24 GMT, (LASERandDVDfan) wrote: But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart Who doesn't? Many of us. Kal |
#19
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Apex dvd player
Why would anyone copy a dvd to a tape?
"Kalman Rubinson" wrote in message ... On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:03:19 -0500, gothika wrote: On 24 Jun 2004 20:34:24 GMT, (LASERandDVDfan) wrote: But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart Who doesn't? Many of us. Kal |
#20
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Apex dvd player
On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 21:13:51 -0400, Kalman Rubinson
wrote: On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 19:03:19 -0500, gothika wrote: On 24 Jun 2004 20:34:24 GMT, (LASERandDVDfan) wrote: But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart Who doesn't? Many of us. Kal yeah well... If I purchase a copy of a DVD and choose to make a use copy in order to archive the original that's my right. If the film and recording industry didn't really want us to make copies they'd make the medium more durable. Instead their plan is to make it more fragile in the hopes that it'll get damaged forcing the consumer to "of course" buy it again. Just another case of greedy *******s wanting to have their cake and eat it too.(I worked for most of my adult life in the film and recording industries and have been privy to many a executive skull cession on how to make the consumers pay more for a product and more often as well.) Before you start in ask yourself this. They spend almost no money on R&D towards building a scratch proof CD/DVD. Yet throw oddles of money at encryption schemes and copy guard technology to prevent the consumer from making copies. Real simple, just coat the discs in high grade lexan. As a result no damn scratches. But that'd kill all chances at repeat sales. Might cost a few cents more too. Which cuts into their fat profit margins. That'll never do. |
#21
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Apex dvd player
That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart
Who doesn't? Me, for instance. I've no use for VHS copies of DVDs because you can't get 5.1 surround sound or the benefits of component video with excellent anamorphic enhancement on a VHS copy of a DVD. You can make an anamorphic VHS tape, but why settle for inferior quality? - Reinhart |
#22
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Apex dvd player
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#23
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Apex dvd player
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#24
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Apex dvd player
"LASERandDVDfan" wrote in message ... But then he wouldn't be able to turn off the macrovision. That's pointless unless you want to copy DVDs to video tapes. - Reinhart Or use the composite inputs on your vcr to feed the only set of inputs on your tv. |
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