Panasonic DVD-RV30S DVD Player - Hi Ho Silver!
Written: Feb 21 '02
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Pros: Build quality, ease of use.
Cons: Mushy buttons on remote. Only one type of digital-audio out.
The Bottom Line: "The RV30S is a nice player, but you're not going to find it for sale often."
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| radioguy's Full Review: Panasonic DVD-RV30 DVD Player |
The DVD-RV30S is the silver version of Panasonic's popular DVD-RV30 DVD player (black). These are both 2000 models, since replaced by the DVD-RV31S and DVD-RV31K (silver and black, respectively). With both the RV30 and the RV31, of course, there's no functional difference between the silver and black models.
An Endangered Species
Because of its age, you're not likely to find the RV30S for sale new. Of the links here, the one for millionbuy.com is a mistake, but, apparently, centralpcs.com is really selling it for $210. I'd pass up that deal, because jandr.com has the newer RV31 for $161. The best price on half.com for the RV30 is $147. It's not really worth saving the $14, because the RV31 adds CD-R/RW and MP3 playback to the RV30S feature set. Also, to save a few bucks you'd be buying used from a private seller versus new merch with guarantee and warranty from jandr.com.
If you're interested in the RV31, which adds several features to the excellent RV30S, take a look here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_54680325764
RV30S, the Silver Version of an All-Time Classic
The RV30 enjoyed a very popular run in its day, as reflected by the 60 reviews it got here at Epinions, one of the best-rated DVD players ever listed here. It's not surprising that the RV30 did well. It's a solidly-built machine. In fact, unusual for consumer electronics products these days, it's actually made in Japan.
The silver version of the RV30, the RV30S, is a single disc DVD player. It will also play CD's, VCD's, and DTS-Audio discs. The picture quality is excellent.
This player's digital-audio output will pass either a Dolby Digital (DD) or Digital Theater Surround (DTS) datastream to your A/V receiver. The digital-audio output will also pass the PCM signal from your CD's. There is a single optical (fiber-optic) jack for the digital-audio output.
Ease of Use
The RV30S is pretty straightforward. If you don't want to mess around, you can connect it to your TV, hit the drawer-open button on the remote, lay a disc on the platter, hit drawer-close, wait a minute for the disc to start spinning at play speed, and hit play.
There's a menu system to allow you to make any necessary changes, such as setting the player for 16:9 (widescreen) output instead of the default 4:3. You can also make changes which affect the type of signal output when DD or DTS soundtracks are played.
Inputs/Outputs
In order of ascending quality, video outputs include composite-video, S-Video, and component-video. Audio outputs, besides the optical digital-audio output, include a set of L/R analog outputs and a low-frequency effects (LFE) line-level bass output. The bass output is for situations where you are using the analog stereo (L/R) outputs of the player and you want to feed a self-powered subwoofer. It's somewhat superfluous since, if you had stereo speaker wires coming out of a receiver fed by the L/R output from the DVD player, you could just run the speaker wires into the speaker-level input of most subwoofers. You would then run speaker wires from the subwoofer speaker-level outputs and you'd have stereo audio through your speakers plus sub-level audio from the sub. The RV30S's sub output would come in handy for subs that had no speaker-level I/O's. When you are using the analog outs plus the sub out, Panasonic calls this "2+Bass" mode.
Please note that if your TV doesn't even have a composite (a.k.a. A/V) input jack, and only has RF input, you'll need to buy an RF modulator in order to connect the DVD player. These are available at Radio Shack for about $30. Unfortunately, you'll lose quite a bit of the picture quality advantage of DVD by running it through the RF input with a modulator. Think about maybe treating yourself to a new TV also.
Transport Controls
Folks who love reading credits will be pleased to note that the RV30S features a frame freeze control. Between the freeze frame, and the higher resolution of DVD's (480 interlaced horizontal lines versus 330i for broadcast TV and 240i for VHS tapes). Control freaks will do doubt be pleased by the RV30's frame-by-frame advance, plus high-speed smooth-motion scan with five speeds, going as high as 100x. I bet you can think of many ways these features could enhance your A/V experience and many video productions which would benefit greatly from the ability to stop at individual frames. I know I can.
A "chapter preview" feature can refresh your memory of a movie by automatically displaying the first three seconds of each previously-viewed chapter. The "quick start" feature will be a boon to folks who just can't wait for their favorite movie to commence. To quickly get to any place in a movie you desire, there's a title/chapter search with marker function and a skip forward/reverse function.
Remote
The remote on the RV30S is compact. The buttons work fine, though they are mushy and provide no tactile "click" feedback. The remote isn't backlit, but there's a small nub on the play button and you will soon learn to operate all the major controls with your thumb without having to look at the remote.
Included Cable
The RV30S comes with an A/V cable which will carry the L/R audio and composite-video feed from the player to your TV. It's a perfectly good quality cable and there's no need to replace it if using it for the DVD-TV connection. If you need an optical digital-audio cable, an S-Video cable, component cables, or a separate audio cable to feed a receiver, you'll have to buy that separately.
Conclusion
The RV30S is a nice player, but you're not going to find it for sale often. When you do, it'll probably be priced too close to its superior replacement, the RV31, to make it worthwhile. Because of that, I'm not going to recommend it. If you can find a good deal on e-bay with this player, say for under about $100, then go for it. Otherwise, just get the RV31 from jandr.com.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 150
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radioguy
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Member: R.U. Experienced
Location: New York, NY
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