Review on 📀 Panasonic DVD-F87K: 5 Disc Progressive Scan DVD Player in Sleek Black Design by John Surabhi

It's getting harder and harder to find a DVD/CD changer. Previously, most electronics manufacturers offered a few models. Now many, like Pioneer, Samsung and Philips, don't make them anymore. Companies like Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon and Sony only offer one model. The only one Pioneer has is this one and they don't make it anymore (but there are still plenty of items to buy). VCR/DVD combos, DVD recorders and single DVD players up to 1080p are popular now. Really why would anyone need a DVD changer. It's not like someone watches 5 movies, flops down on the couch and watches 10 straight hours. You can't just switch from DVD to DVD. You have to wait for the menu to appear and then choose what you want to play. You can't even put in some live videos and just let them play. You always have to interact with DVDs. Where the changer is effective is with CDs. You can drop 5 CDs, press play and walk away. And then you can have more than 6 songs without extra steps. The only reason for a DVD/CD changer is to have a CD changer and then a DVD player, so you don't have to buy two separate devices. I researched all available DVD/CD changers and bought this one for the following reasons: - It was the cheapest (even before it went on sale). - It has an HDCD decoder for better sound from HDCDs. HDCD stands for High Definition CD and is a CD recorded at a higher resolution. You can play them on a standard CD player and they sound better than most CDs, but they sound even better with an HDCD player. There are many HDCD CDs out there, including Roger Waters and almost everything from the Grateful Dead. It plays CDR and CD-RW discs (almost all DVD players). It advertises that it plays DVD-R, but I've seen reports that it can play all recordable DVD, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW formats and maybe even dual-layer recordable discs . It can play all CDs in random mode. Sony (and some other devices) can only play one random disc at a time. You're missing out on one of the most important reasons for using DVD/CD changers. NOTES ABOUT THIS DEVICE: - It has a SPIF output (coaxial digital) but no optical output. It wasn't a problem for me. Most recipients do both. It has component output but no HDMI. Older HDTVs like mine don't have HDMI inputs. They have Dolby and DTS decoders and a five-channel output. I don't know who wants that. I also don't know of many surround sound systems that don't have a decoder. You will play DVD-Audio discs. There is a note to only play them in stereo. But I think that's only if you use the 5 channel output. If you use the digital output, it can play DVD-Audio in surround sound, but I don't know for sure. It does not play Super Audio CDs. I don't think DVD-Audio or SACD will last long. You can't get many discs in both formats. As with most DVD/CD changers, there is a DVD mode and a CD mode. In DVD mode, you can play CDs, but you must play them one at a time. In CD mode, DVDs will not play at all. But in CD mode, the player now acts as a CD changer and plays one CD at a time, or it can play all CDs in random order. PROBLEM: - The remote control sensor is on the far right side of the device. It is blocked by the door frame of my stereo office. The default setting is DVD mode every time you turn on the system. It takes about a minute before you can turn on CD mode. If you put the system into CD mode while playing a CD, it will start playing the CD again. There aren't many controls on the device. To program it or switch to shuffle, you must use the remote control. And you have to turn on the TV to see what you're doing. The small numbers that indicate the positions of the discs on the carousel are hard to see.