This review is actually for the DVD-CV52 (electronics come out faster than epinions adds categories). If you're looking for a 51, please read on though.

The DVD-CV52 is the replacement for the very popular and well regarded DVD-CV51. The biggest difference you notice immediately is that the 52 is only about 3" tall. This is slim even for single disc players. If you are space limited, this is good. Otherwise, it makes the display virtually unlegible from over about 5 feet, less room for control on the player face, and the tray is slightly more cramped. It also adds WMA compatiblity.

The player has room for buttons to control the opening/closing, disc skip, play, stop, pause, forward/backward, CD sequential (plays CDs only), Advanced Surround (produces phantom surround sound from 2 speakers), and on/off. The display is only about 2" square, with the biggest numbers less than 0.5" tall. This makes it very hard to read from the couch. The small face also forces most control to the remote. Which is not truly all that inconvenient, but it is a price to pay for small size.

The remote is a bit uninspired in design, but it is quite functional and relatively easy to use. The disc access is not as direct as I'd like, but otherwise it is easy to use and easy to become aquainted with.

The CV51 has one set each of composite outputs (RCA connections for video/left sound/right sound), S-video out, and component video. As with virtually all DVD players, there is no RF output (the connection used by most cable connections.) It also has a optical digital out. There is no coaxial digital out. I use the S-video and the component video on separate inputs to my 50" television. There is no progressive scan capability.

The DVD picture is very good. And here's a little secret: There is very little difference between the pictures produced by $130 DVD player and $500 DVD players in non-progressive scan mode. I saw no difference between this Panasonic and the Onkyo, H/K, or Sony. One nice feature is the ability to fast forward and still get clear audio. It will also produce a 4:3 aspect ratio from a wide screen DVD to fill most TVs.

This player can also play CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs. My inexpensive CD-Rs and CD-RWs played with no problems. It also plays MP3 encoded discs. I've played one containing 164 songs from a CD-RW. There is also a very helpful menu which displays about 12 songs at a time to allow quick access to MP3s. You can play all discs randomly or randomly from a single disc. Sound quality has been very good in my home theatre set-up.

The menus are easy to understand and navigate. However, quick access to features while playing are done by pictures and symbols. Many of which are difficult to remember and not intuitive in their meaning. This makes them of negligible value.

A few other features:
* Dialogue Enhancer makes movie dialogue easier to hear when the volume is down (and the kids are in bed).
* Bass Plus allows connection directly from the player to a powered subwoofer. This allows a little more low end oomf without connection to a stereo or home theater.
* Advanced Surround produces phantom rear and center channels from only two speakers.
* Plays WMA files and DVD-R discs recorded on a Panasonic machine.
* Ratings selector lets the parent limit the rating on a compatible DVD.
* Black Level Control allows blacker black when using component video output.
* Sleep Timer can be set to 60, 90, or 120 minutes, or to turn off 5 minutes after play finishes.
* Disc Exchange allows you to change out up to 4 discs while the 5th keeps playing.

Finally, the previous CV-51 sold most places for about $229. The new CV-52 sells mostly for $179! The MSRP is $229. Circuit City and Crutchfield sell it for $179. I got an open box from Crutchfield for $161 + $11 S&H in three days. (They still have CV-51s available for $229!?!) About the cheapest I found on the internet was $174 from mystery dealers in New Jersey.

Overall, I think this is a very capable player, very flexible, but with some trade-offs for its small height. If dependability is as good as the CV-51, it should be a good investment.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 172