Apex Digital 600A DVD Player
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- Number of Discs: 1
- DVD Type: DVD Player
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Must have if you have a CD burner
Pros
Good price, plays MP3 CDs, digital connections, secret menu
Cons
MP3 filenames don't show fully, has some problems with CD-RW's
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
These players are hard to get now, especially the older models (even on eBay). Don't count on getting the secret menu if you do buy one though.
Napster Lover's Dream
I bought the Apex AD-600A player a few months ago at Circuit City for about $179, as they advertised that it could also play burned MP3 CD's. I had recently bought a CD burner and discovered Napster a few months earlier. It would also be my first DVD player, as my TV reception is not the best in the world.
Plug and Play
Hookup was simple, and I just had to hook it to the A/V inputs of the VCR. Later on, I was able to hook it to a surround sound receiver using digital sound input (DTS/Dolby Digital). It also has S-Video output and color component output, but I have not tried these features. With standard analog video, picture quality is excellent, which is a standard for DVD. There is no "cable" output, so a VCR with component input may be necessary.
Rip, mix, and burn
I first used my AD600A just to play rented DVD's and music CD's. I also tested it out on MP3 CD's. A "hard drive" CD-RW made with a program such as Adaptec DirectCD does not seem to work, but when I burn a straight CD using a program such as Easy CD Creator, it does work and straight CD-R's appear to work. One of the problems with the MP3 feature is that it does not support long filenames. It would just display the first six letters than "N1" (like the "~1" filenames in DOS). It also seems to have trouble reading burned CD's with different subdirectories. I tried this with some of the free CD's from MP3.com, and they don't work. The CD has one directory for the music files and a few other folders for other files. I was, however, able to get a CD working with an empty root directory with several sub-directories with just MP3's. It would also help for more advanced options for MP3's, such as long filename support and better menu navigation.
Point and shoot
The remote has lots of options, and is the only way to do anything with the player. It is slim and has many small buttons, except for the menu navigation. Other people have complained about how awkward it is to use, but I find it good for my needs. The most commonly used functions are easy to find, such as zoom, skip, and play. The only problem I had was that it tended to go missing a lot.
If you like to sing...
There is also an option to play music CD's and karaoke CD's, but I have not tried the karaoke feature. I have also heard that this player can also play Video CD's, but I have not tried out that feature either. I found that there seems to be a glitch when playing music CD's, where the system would go silent for a few seconds. I don't know if it is the player or the DTS receiver I have it connected to, but it never goes silent when watching DVD movies.
You should not be here
One of the big features of this player is the secret menu. My player is one that still has this feature, and others have said that newer models do not have this. There are options to turn off Macrovision, and to change regional settings (play foreign DVD's). Macrovision allows DVD movies to be recorded onto videotapes (hopefully for private viewing, not selling copies). More information about the secret menu can be found at http://www.nerd-out.com/apexold/Secret_Menu/secret_menu.html. This can come in useful for watching DVD movies on a VCR or when connecting a VCR between the player and a TV. Only the first generation of the AD600A player has this, and most other Apex players do not have this.
Hacker's delight
There are many sites around the net dedicated to this player, and how to modify it. Some people have hacked the ROM chips to get a different background picture, for example. The player is also easy to repair. The DVD tray itself is s standard IDE drive, and can simply be replaced with a standard PC DVD drive if the original loader dies. In most cases, a new drive may work better than the original drive.
No need to rewind
Overall, I think this is a good buy for a first DVD player. It works great with my surround sound receiver and the picture looks great. There are a few newer DVD player models also by Apex, including a changer. They also include Mp3 support, but do not include the "secret menu".
Update 03/07
I still have this player and it is still works reasonably well. The original DVD drive died many years ago, but replacing it with a standard IDE drive brought it back into working condition. The player does not have the appeal that it used to due to inexpensive DVD burners, BluRay/HD-DVD, DVD Decryptor, firmware modifications, lossless backup methods, iPods, and other digital devices.
I bought the Apex AD-600A player a few months ago at Circuit City for about $179, as they advertised that it could also play burned MP3 CD's. I had recently bought a CD burner and discovered Napster a few months earlier. It would also be my first DVD player, as my TV reception is not the best in the world.
Plug and Play
Hookup was simple, and I just had to hook it to the A/V inputs of the VCR. Later on, I was able to hook it to a surround sound receiver using digital sound input (DTS/Dolby Digital). It also has S-Video output and color component output, but I have not tried these features. With standard analog video, picture quality is excellent, which is a standard for DVD. There is no "cable" output, so a VCR with component input may be necessary.
Rip, mix, and burn
I first used my AD600A just to play rented DVD's and music CD's. I also tested it out on MP3 CD's. A "hard drive" CD-RW made with a program such as Adaptec DirectCD does not seem to work, but when I burn a straight CD using a program such as Easy CD Creator, it does work and straight CD-R's appear to work. One of the problems with the MP3 feature is that it does not support long filenames. It would just display the first six letters than "N1" (like the "~1" filenames in DOS). It also seems to have trouble reading burned CD's with different subdirectories. I tried this with some of the free CD's from MP3.com, and they don't work. The CD has one directory for the music files and a few other folders for other files. I was, however, able to get a CD working with an empty root directory with several sub-directories with just MP3's. It would also help for more advanced options for MP3's, such as long filename support and better menu navigation.
Point and shoot
The remote has lots of options, and is the only way to do anything with the player. It is slim and has many small buttons, except for the menu navigation. Other people have complained about how awkward it is to use, but I find it good for my needs. The most commonly used functions are easy to find, such as zoom, skip, and play. The only problem I had was that it tended to go missing a lot.
If you like to sing...
There is also an option to play music CD's and karaoke CD's, but I have not tried the karaoke feature. I have also heard that this player can also play Video CD's, but I have not tried out that feature either. I found that there seems to be a glitch when playing music CD's, where the system would go silent for a few seconds. I don't know if it is the player or the DTS receiver I have it connected to, but it never goes silent when watching DVD movies.
You should not be here
One of the big features of this player is the secret menu. My player is one that still has this feature, and others have said that newer models do not have this. There are options to turn off Macrovision, and to change regional settings (play foreign DVD's). Macrovision allows DVD movies to be recorded onto videotapes (hopefully for private viewing, not selling copies). More information about the secret menu can be found at http://www.nerd-out.com/apexold/Secret_Menu/secret_menu.html. This can come in useful for watching DVD movies on a VCR or when connecting a VCR between the player and a TV. Only the first generation of the AD600A player has this, and most other Apex players do not have this.
Hacker's delight
There are many sites around the net dedicated to this player, and how to modify it. Some people have hacked the ROM chips to get a different background picture, for example. The player is also easy to repair. The DVD tray itself is s standard IDE drive, and can simply be replaced with a standard PC DVD drive if the original loader dies. In most cases, a new drive may work better than the original drive.
No need to rewind
Overall, I think this is a good buy for a first DVD player. It works great with my surround sound receiver and the picture looks great. There are a few newer DVD player models also by Apex, including a changer. They also include Mp3 support, but do not include the "secret menu".
Update 03/07
I still have this player and it is still works reasonably well. The original DVD drive died many years ago, but replacing it with a standard IDE drive brought it back into working condition. The player does not have the appeal that it used to due to inexpensive DVD burners, BluRay/HD-DVD, DVD Decryptor, firmware modifications, lossless backup methods, iPods, and other digital devices.
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