Advantages: PAL and NTSC playback, multi region, MP3 support
Disadvantages: problems with discs using seamless branching, some disc menus fail to work correctly

...Considering the price, I was impressed with the picture quality. While not the best I have seen, it was a lot better than I was expecting. I was also surprised with the speed of navigation through disc menus. Discs which seem to take an age to navigate on other players seem to fly on the Apex. The VCD support is good, and the Apex can also play music CD, CDR and CDW as well as MP3 files. However, in order to recognise the MP3 files, the CD must be 'burned' in a specific format. The Apex supports both PAL and NTSC discs, and can convert one playback standard to another. This along with a easy to access 'hidden menu' allowing the region coding to be bypassed or altered makes the Apex a true multi-region machine. There are a few problems - nothing is perfect. My version of the machine will not play some titles with seamless branching... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Good Pin Action
Disadvantages: May not suit dry lanes

...On the 11th June 2001 at Charrington Bowl using the APEX I bowled a perfect Game of 300. I have been bowling 22 years and the best I had was 11 strikes in a row. The strikes were all in the 1-3 pocket. When I got the first 10 strikes my legs became very wobbly and the last 2 strikes I could not beleive I got them. Well I guess if you persevere you will get there in the end. A report can be found at the Big A League web site. http://sites.netscape.net/bigaleague/ The scoresheet is at http://sites.netscape.net/bigaleague/news.htm The APEX was very good on the night. I managed to get a 729 series. This ball when handled well can achieve good scores. I beleive there is a newer APEX but I will check that out for next season. Thanks goes to Geoff Buck for the drilling and advice.... Read review

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Advantages: Lasts long time, good performance
Disadvantages: Lack of image playback and surround sound support.

...The APEX DVD player is basically what you get for your money. It offers the basic features of DVD playback but lacks some key features required in todays technology. The DVD player is capable of playing most DVD's however it is quite poor at picture disc playback as it often tells you that there is some form of error. It also lacks LCD display so it is hard to tell features such as time lapsed, chapter number and so on (unless you bring it up on on-screen display). I also found a problem when resuming a film. When you insert the same disc you have just played the player tells you to press the resume button to continue; when there is no such button on the remote or player itself. This DVD player however can take quite a bit of work and perform pretty well. Overall I would say that this DVD player is only recommended for 'cheap... Read review

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Advantages: Very unusual building
Disadvantages: No

...The Pantheon is an interesting place in Rome. It is the best preserved ancient building in Rome, used to be a temple for pagan worshippers but it's now a catholic church. It has a very unusual design. It's circular and the walls roll up into a dome at the top. Dome is not uncommon in many European architecture but a hole in the apex of the dome is definitely worth going to have a look. There