What do you guys make of this one?

Here is an interesting approach in selling cheap-o APEX DVD Players on eBay. Heck, the write up is worth a few bucks!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3068874116&category=32864

 

Extraordinary!!

 

A hat, a broach, a pterodactyl...


Seriously, this guy has presumably come up with a way to override Macrovision copyright protection on DVDs. He can say what he wants about "Fair Use", but I am quite certain that these modifications are illegal, at least in the US.

Note also that shipping and handling is $25!

Also note this statement about his 90-day guarantee:

So, no refund.

Also, I would call the toll-free number before buying to make sure that it isn't bogus.

Is he also selling fireworks? What is this picture about?

 

This was the Apex player that had the hidden menu function on the remote that defeated the Macrovision flag. The MPAA sued and Apex had to recall the machine and modify it.

Circuit City sold these briefly a few years back, and there was a run on them once the word got out about the Macrovision thingie. After the MPAA suit/recall, the "hacked" machines started appearing on Ebay in droves.

 

OK. That explains the "magic" part. Very strange, so the guy has an eprom burner and can copy the original firmware.

Gezz, everybody's out to make a buck. I thought that the APEX players were generally considered junk with a capital "J"? I seem to remember them as being the first under $100 players available a few years ago.

 

David,

I remember that APEX player, but didn't realize that this was the model the guy on eBay was selling. This model was hot on eBay a couple of years ago.

So, is the guy on eBay selling the original APEX player or did he modify it to override Macrovision?


Jon,

APEX is junk. I've read all sorts of complaints about their players ranging from poor picture quality to reliability issues. APEX announced the first budget universal player a couple of years ago -- the AD-7701. I didn't buy one, but every review I read said that one should stay away from it. There were reliability issues and it just wasn't a good audio component. I remember that it wasn't on the market for too long, which made me wonder if APEX hadn't gained permission to include one or both hi-rez formats. As this component came out early in the hi-rez game, I wonder if Sony and Philips hadn't granted APEX permission to include SACD. Also, there had been rumours a couple of years ago of APEX releasing a '7702 as a successor, but that never materialized.