Apex releases the Swiss-Army Knife of cd/dvd players

[Chip Stylus]

Is there a chance that this thing sounds good despite the low admission price??

http://www.apexdigitalinc.com/html/Apex_Digital_s_New_SACD_DVD_A_MP3_DVD_Pl ayer.html

[Paul L.]

Sorry, Thomoz, but this unit has been widely rejected for unsatisfactory and noisy sound, and for being of poor and unreliable build. Don't consider it at any price.

[Richard Feirstein]

They and several other venders achieve low quality and low cost by avoiding the payment of license fees for the patented technology. I understand Sony has an action pending in China against APEX and others. My experience with 4 of these units was very bad. :mad:

[Chip Stylus]

http://www.audioreview.com/PRD_125983_1587crx.aspx

ten negative reviews, one so-so and 3 positive responses. This does not look good.

[RicP]

The Apex player is absolute Trash...end of story.

Don't waste your money.

[RetroSmith]

Just to be fair, I've been following the APEX 7701 debate on he APEX discusssion boards.

No question, the 7701 has severe problems, do NOT buy one.

However, APEX is coming out with a second generation unit (maybe called the 7704) that is supossed to fix ALL the problems with the 7701 and then some.

It should retail around 350$

[Richard Feirstein]

They have announced a 7702 for the second quarter that will sport a digital audio output for DVD-A I presume and the ability to play WMF audio disks.

[Paul L.]

Personally, I don't see any point in giving Apex more chances. I bought one of their inexpensive DVD machines a year or so ago. It had severe lip synch problems. Exchanged it for another unit, also bad. Another unit, also bad. Gave up and got my money back. By the way, Circuit City resealed the units and sold them again.

[RetroSmith]

Paul, I can understand your fustration. Apex really blew it with the 7701, it just wasnt ready for release.


But, you know, even huge companies like Sony have their occasional loser product that just doesnt do what its supposed to.

My hope is that APEX learns from this fiasco and the 7702 works pretty much the way its supposed to. Even if it works 95 5 of the time, at that price I'd be happy.

[Richard Feirstein]

But Sony and other non-Chinese brands pays a license fee for the underlying patented technology such as CD/SACD/DVD/Progressive Scan/S-Video output/Component Video Output/DD/DTS, etc. It also pays for certifications to sport the logos printed on the hardware. This helps pay for research for new technologies.

All indications are that APEX and other low cost Chinese venders and Chinese sourced venders do not pay any license fees and do not pay to have their units certified. Those companies that are paying to develop new technologies are taking a licking in the marketplace. APEX is now number one in DVD sales in the States! This cannot be a healthy situation.:eek: