Best DVD player for FP? (1 Viewer)

[DaveGTP]

I found out from DenonJeff on AVSforum (the Denon rep that posts there) that their players are indeed set to CCS=off. So they're not sure what is causing the jitter problem on certain displays. Plus, the X1 was losing synch with the 910. From what I hear, the X1 was also losing synch with the Zeniths, but it should clear up once I upgrade the firmware to 4.3.

I still don't see the logic in upconverting to 1080i to downconvert to 480p on the X1, but as long as the image is artifact and jitter free, I guess I don't care. The Denon rep said all of the Denon Faroudja players would likely have the same jitter problem, since they all have identical hardware.

I'd wait unti the Zeniths were more thoroughly tested, but with the 1080i possibly being disabled in later shipments, my CP72 dead, my Denon DVD-910 to be returned, it's now or never. I guess I'll see by popping in some anime when I get my hands on it (artifacts pop out pretty badly on animation).


Plus, I can always return the player, much easier than an Ebay purchase, if I am not satisfied. After the hoops I have to jump through to return the 910 to Ecost, I'm looking forward to a worry-free purchase.


Honestly, I will never, ever buy a display that locks in Full mode @ 1080i - too much anime and videogames to ever do so. If I had a unit like that, I'd definitely feel differently! I can't stand stretching.

The vertical/horizontal adjustment is going to be irritating to reset when I want to play the Gamecube, but I'll live.

EDIT: Hey Nick, does the Horiz. adjustment on the X1 follow the user saved settings like the contrast, brightness, etc do? Could you set user1 to a certain horiz. setting and user3 to a standard setting?

 

[PhilWW]

Wow, so much for defending XP30. Anyway, welcome to the BIG Zenith camp! I am sure Don will be very disappointed!

Let us know how it performs when compared to the CP72. I am sure you will be happy with your purchase. My coworker who has just bought a 318 to work with his X1 is very impressed with the 1080i image on both his 16:9 and 4:3 materials.

 

[DaveGTP]

There's no "defending" of the XP30. It's a tried and true, best SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN PQ & reliability, issue free unit. I just don't like doing large $ purchases via ebay and paypal.

Well, if I could get a new XP30 from anywhere but Ebay, I would have one. Or an RP82/CP72 with a motor & optical pickup that won't die. My CP72 was 100% consistent unit, with no issues or problems, until it died. No losing synch, no horiz. adjustment needed, no color bleeding, zip.
But, there's no way to get an easily-returnable, reliable unit. I would have fixed my CP72 if it was still within warranty for labor (I had it 1 yr 4 months). I can't afford a DVD player at all right now, since I'm getting married and on honeymoon in 2 weeks! And we are too poor as it is! I can't afford a mistake. $200 isn't pocket change for me!

If I could get a good deal on one on Ebay (say sub-$200), I would have gone ahead and chanced it. Maybe.


Honestly, the Zenith could have reliability issues. There's no telling yet. Personally, the Zenith name doesn't scream "quality" to me. My Zenith 27" TV developed minor ghostng issues within 2 years of purchase. I can't think of a product I've researched that Zenith has come up as a well-reviewed and reliable top pick (plasmas, widescreen CRTs, VCRs, DVD players, speakers, portables, nothing). Although I also can't think of a product they've come out on bottom with (like RCA ) either.


The Zenith has a lot of niggling issues with it that will/may prove irritating. (The horiz. adjustment problem ESPECIALLY!). And I would still like to see a Secrets review of it.

I'll kick the Zenith's ass for quite testing it out - old anime (probably based on a composite transfer), new anime (to test the deinterlacing for video), B5 on dvd, some of the problematic movies that the Secrets folks use to test performance, etc.

I can always take a 2 hour drive and go return it. That's why I'm giving it a shot. And I STILL don't think it makes sense to upconvert to 1080i and back down again.

 

[Shawn Keeler]

What I don't get, is why somebody would drive two hours wasting $40.00 in gas and their time to save maybe $30.00. Isn't your time worth something. Just a thought..............

 

[DaveGTP]

2 hours is $40 in gas? I'm not driving an Expedition, here. Geez. The Zenith isn't in stock anywhere else. I don't see the point of waiting for it to ship to me from 2 hours away (probably less than 2 hours, really). Besides, I should really visit my Grandma (about 30 minutes that way). It's really about 45 min out of my way each way, in real driving time (Yahoo isn't really accurate for short jumps). Better than waiting for the shipment to arrive!

 

[PhilWW]

Well wait till you see the picture and test it all out for yourself to see if it makes sense or not. I am glad that you've decided to get one to prove that you can really trust your eyes.

Zenith has never been a reliable brand until acquired by LG a while ago. LG is an established brand in Asia for a couple of decades. The Panny dies in 16 months had already spoken for itself, isn't that the mother of all issues/problems? I am surprise that you still want to get another Panny. The horiz. adjustment problem of the Zenith isn't really an issue, it's a one-time fix by adjust your proj.'s horizontal position a few steps towards right.

FYI, Gauchnoers still has this player in stock for $160 shipped, that could possibly save you some bucks if you decided to keep it. And FYI again, I saw a 'top-rated' XP30 for sale at eBay for $49.99 2 days ago, I am not sure if it's still there.

 

[Don_Berg]

PhilWW your info is stale - Gauchnoers sold out completely on their next batch some time ago, wait until August now. I got my XP30 on EBAY 9 months ago and EBAY now offers a "money back guarantee" option for about $15, so there is no risk - I had absolutely no problem at all and received it shipped faster than most retail outlets.

 

[PhilWW]

Well the whole SOLD OUT info is stale! WWE seems the only dealer NOT getting any more 318s from Zenith. Everybody else have no problem getting one, including your former ally GreenMonkey the Honeymooner(congratulations!).

 

[DaveGTP]

Phil, I see you missed the post about snide comments and sniping. Please revisit the comment. The last thread closed due to those kinds of comments.

I'm not really trusting my eyes on the Zenith - it does have Faroudja DCDi, after all. There's a certain minimum level of quality there. Hopefully the MPEG decoder is good as well. The professional review at keohi.com helped as well.

Human eyes are easily fooled - there is a substantial bias or placebo effect if you know anything about psychology. Faroudja is trusted, were people's opinions aren't. After all, legions of people swear by Bose!

I'd get it from Gauchner's if they actually had any in stock (they don't, although they are expecting more). I need the player in hand before I leave on our honeymoon/wedding trip in 10 days if at all possible, so I can't really wait too long. I don't want it to show up while I'm gone and get left on the porch for two weeks, nor do I want to chance waiting until we come back in mid-june and find they are impossible to get.