Home > Consumer Reviews > Panasonic DVD-RV31K DVD Player, Black

The good?

- Superb picture and sound
- Plays everything: DVD, CD, VCD, XVCD, MP3, CD-R, CD-RW
- Supports MP3 CBR and VBR
- Quick loading mechanism
- Front panel (display and controls) is fairly complete
- Supports black level expansion
- Brightness, contrast, and color adjustments
- S-Video, component, optical, and subwoofer connections
- Icon based menu system is very polished

The bad?

- Feels cheap, especially the remote
- Cannot play SVCD or XSVCD
- No coax digital out
- Surround sound, dialogue and bass enhancers, and cinema mode are useless
- MP3 player has NO features

The MP3 player does not display filenames! Any directory structure that exists will get flattened. You'll get to know your songs by number... "1 of 122" or "24 of 122" etc. Programmed or random play would make things better, but unfortunately, those features are not supported during MP3 playback.

The bottom line?

If you watch DVDs most of the time and occasionally listen to MP3s, then the Panasonic RK31 is highly recommended!

I bought this player based upon the stellar reviews posted herein and at (...). The player worked terrificly for the first four months (exceptional audio and video on our standard 27" TV). However, after 4 months, it started freezing up randomly more and more frequently until it doesn't play DVDs at all. Occasionally, it gives an "H02" error before it freezes (as alluded to by several other postings for this player at Amazon).

When I called the Panasonic repair center, they were very discourteous and rude and told me to send the player and $90 to have them fix it (with no estimated return time). I've decided to purchase a different brand instead.

Bottom line: there are an inordinate number of people in this forum outlining this same problem with this player after a few months of use. Also, the warranty period for labor is a very short 90 days. I suggest that the model design may be defective and that potential buyers stay away.

What I meant by being like me is:
* first time DVD owner
* don't have a home theater system
* planning to just plug into a TV and use its speakers
* like intuitive remote control buttons
* want to be able to play VCDs as well

This is the perfect DVD player for you then. I found it especially easy to use. Right out of the box, just hook up the power and color coded video/audio cables to the back of your TV and it's ready to go. They even supply the batteries for the remote. I for one don't like to read manuals, but i really didn't have to. Power the player on, hit Open/Close, load your DVD disc, turn on your TV and it starts playing. If I want to access the menu, there's a clearly marked button called Menu and direction keys (Up/Down/Left/Right) and an Enter button at the center to make selections with.

The price for this player makes it attractive as well. After canvassing around department store for basic DVD players and adding the tax to it, Amazon's selection and convenience just won me over.

I had problems with my unit from the beginning. The major problem was hooking up the audio. This unit has only one analog audio (RCA) line out and one optical digital audio line out; no coaxial digital out. From previous reviews I did not think this would be a concern since I would just hook it up to via optical cable. But BEWARE!

I could not get my digital optical hookup to work. After repeated calls to Panasonic's customer service, and getting various degrees of help from none to fair, it appears that my digital cable was broken. I haven't heard of this in previous reviews, but evidently, digital optical cables are know to break fairly easily. I could not get the digital optical line out to work after buying three cables and spending many hours of time. So, it may also be a defect in the unit, despite what customer support said. Another problem with digital optical is that some cables (e.g. Monster) have plastic protectors that are not easy to detect and when inserted in the stereo or DVD, may come off; or the cable type (round v. square) may not be fit correctly. I am told if the protector comes off, it is very difficult to get out. So, using optical cable definitely has pitfalls. Therefore, the best way to hook up audio, I found out, is through coax - which does not exist in this unit.

Without using the optical digital cable for audio, the only remaining option is the analog RCA connection. However, with only one set, you need to choose between connecting your stereo to either DVD or CD connections; you cannot connect to both since this unit doesn't have an extra set of RCAs. If someone else is using your system and does not know better, it causes a real problem.

Other nuisances are that the video menus do not seem to be as intuitive as with others (e.g. GE) and it takes some time for the CD/DVD disc to open/close and play.

Maybe I have a lemon, but because Panasonic skimped on their audio line-outs in comparison to many less expensive units, and their customer service is poor, I think it deserves a very low rating. I spent a lot of time reading most of the reviews on this unit and did not find the concerns I'm expressing. So, be careful. Even if the video works great, what good is it if you don't have excellent sound, or it takes you days getting this unit set up?

After trial and error, and considerable research, I narrowed down my choices to the Sony S-360 and the Panasonic RV-30. Then I discovered this model, the RV-31. Despite the higher retail prices of the previous models, it's important to remember that international exchange rates, production efficiency, and greater consumer demand enable manufacturers to sell the newer, improved versions at lower prices. (Amazon's pricing, incidentally, reflects the commodity's inherent "value" far more accurately than other sellers, who are likely to have the RV-30 priced higher than the RV-31 simply because the seller's initial cost was higher.)

I was leaning to the Sony, primarily because of its sleek yet modest face and ultra-compact design (the thinnest and least deep). But for all its consumer-seducing bells and whistles (a "cinema mode" button? how many times is a DVD not a movie?), the RV-31 is still the inescapable choice in this price range. The ability to play variously encoded CDs, the disc-stabilizing feature, the shuttle control for fast scanning all represent advances in quality and convenience. And despite its more "gaudy" face, the machine's dimensions are almost as compact as the Sony's.

On the "down" side, the remote, like virtually all others I've tried, does not allow me to access my television set's menu, which must be set to "auxilliary mode" for the player to work, at least if you plan to continue using a VCR. But most viewers by now have become accustomed to using 2 or 3 remotes anyway. If not, the minimal exercise involved in walking to the set should not prove injurious to anyone's health.