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My APEX DVD player has been one of the most flexible, useful, reliable pieces of entertainment hardware I've ever owned. It played all the VCDs and SVCDs I threw at it, whereas brand-name players costing twice as much refused to play them. Aside from that, I never found a difference between the cheap foreign players and the expensive American ones.

Oh, and you could flash the APEX's firmware so it would display a different background image. That was kinda nifty.

--grendel drago

If it has all of the capabilities of a standard OEM PC then isn't it a PC?

Not exactly.
Right now, someone at MS is looking at the apextreme PC Consloe and thinks that the next XBOX should have that capibility as well. My guess would be that it would function like the apextreme more than a PC.

They are also watching Sony as well. They have been thinking for a long time to Turn the PS2 into a PC. (Sorry No English, with these pics at least) If Sony doesn't do it with the PS2 then possibly the PS3. Doubtful, but who knows.

If they did build it so it performed much like a PC, with LAN Parties becoming more mainstream, something like this would be intresting, especially if it keeps the same footprint. An XBOX is big but it's still smaller than most PC's and if it can do play anything a PC can play, why lug a PC when you could lug a smaller, lighter XBOX.

on the dev side of things though, PC developers would worship this thing like a god, primarialy since a system like this would be completely standardized hardware wise. (that is if MS makes it so you cant upgrade it.) Thats one of the reasons the XBOX is so crash free. Since every XBOX is the same internal wise, they only have to make sure it works on that hardware alone. On the minus side, however you would see the devs standardize on XBOX Next first, PC second. So their games would probably run with less errors on the XBOX next then on a PC, even though the PC was the main target.

This looks promising.. Apex makes cheap stuff of decent quality, and the specs on this look promising.

Basically what the Phantom plans to be (which is why I dont doubt the Phantom will exist). I predict tons of dvd-form-factor PCs marketed as PC/Console/PVR/etc...

Try the Apex AD-3201 which you can get for around 100. It has the hidden menu which will allow you to disable Region encoding and Macrovision settings, instructions Here. It is also a fairly good player and one of the few low-end DVD players that can truly handle all types of CDR media.

Prices for Digital TVs should be comming down as soon as Apex releases their Digital Televisions. They were the ones that created the ever popular DVD/MP3/VCD/SVCD Player at well under $100. They haven't been making the best quality equipment, but at the prices they are likely to be pushing (most likely under $800) they will drive down the prices of most other HDTV monitors.

Since the Apex DVD Players hit the market, there has been a huge influx of Sub-$100 DVD/MP3/VCD/SVCD players...among them Magnavox and Hitachi...Even most high-end players now have the MP3/VCD/SVCD capabilities.

They have already released some very nice Flat Screen TVs at very cheap prices. Apex has only been around for ~3 years, and just Recently got into the TV market, but it looks like they are stiring things up.

My friend went for brand names and bought a JVC player for twice the price and he can not play VCDs! My cheapo ($150 @ circuit city), noname (APEX) 'meepts' everything out there. Now some people can claim picture quality / sound quality ..etc. But for $150 I am *extremly* happy. I can see/hear the movies/MP3 fine.

If I am out to buy any CD player I would definitly consider Apex's line of players first. They deserve my business

Recently companies from Taiwan & Hongkong are coming out with far superior (atleast functionality wise) products than 'brand' Goliaths. Some areas are MP3, DVD & Cell phones. I am happy to see the competition as I don't have to give up my rights (e.g to watch region encoded DVD) just for the privilage of having a sony/panasonic at home.

I am surprised even early adaptors like Slashdot crowd are stuck with 'brand names'

My friend went for brand names and bought a JVC player for twice the price and he can not play VCDs! My cheapo ($150 @ circuit city), noname (APEX) 'meepts' everything out there. Now some people can claim picture quality / sound quality ..etc. But for $150 I am *extremly* happy. I can see/hear the movies/MP3 fine.

If I am out to buy any CD player I would definitly consider Apex's line of players first. They deserve my business

Recently companies from Taiwan & Hongkong are coming out with far superior (atleast functionality wise) products than 'brand' Goliaths. Some areas are MP3, DVD & Cell phones. I am happy to see the competition as I don't have to give up my rights (e.g to watch region encoded DVD) just for the privilage of having a sony/panasonic at home.

I am surprised even early adaptors like Slashdot crowd are stuck with 'brand names'

i've been shopping for a DVD player that can play CDs and MP3 CDs, in order to partially replace my aging stereo, and have found that most, if not all the DVD/CD players i've seen will not play (or won't officially support) CDR discs. the only ones that say they will are those that also play MP3 CDs (and it makes sense, as there aren't very many pressed MP3 CDs out there)

i doubt it's a sony (or pioneer, or panasonic, or AIWA) thing. I suspect it's the lasers the DVD players use. those that read CDR may have an additional laser, or else have a different kind than Joe DVD. they also have the tendency to play VCDs, which makes me think it's more than just an anti-piracy thing.

anyhoo, my 2 cents, from having spent many hours researching a good combo DVD player (i bought a sony, and i'm returning it for an Apex 703 - 3 disc changer, upgradeable firmware, plus MP3 playback)