Been out of the loop for a while.....Need a new DVD Player (1 Viewer)

[paulBAW]

For the most part there is no real performance difference at the $200 price point CDN for DVD players. If you think there is in picture or sound you are kidding yourself. Sony's 715 progressive at least uses 12-bit Video DAC's which is better then all the other crap you'd find in low end Pana's, Toshiba's, Samsung's and JVC's...going to a Pioneer Elite, NAD or even Harman Kardon is a nice step up. The sub $200 price point offers no value in performance and is decided upon features. Sound and Video suffers.

 

[Kirk Gunn]

For a stop-gap player until improved models or HD-DVD comes out, I chose a refurbed Denon DVD-900 from ECost.Com for 115.00 USD shipped P1. Cosmetically and functionally perfect. Has the Chroma bug, but Chroma categories either passed or were borderline. I judged it's interlaced performance to be poor, but that could be my Sony GWII's built in line-doubler, which is horrendous.

From the shootout: This is a generally good player, with a lot to recommend it. The fairly steep frequency roll-off and the Chroma Upsampling Error are the only significant concerns.

Another review:

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Hardwar.../Denon900.html


While I wouldn't buy it at MSRP, 115.00 seemed reasonable.

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/shop/detail.asp?dpno=144989

It replaces a Panny RP-82 that died on me after 8 months of light usage. Not sure if I'll get the Panny fixed since labor is not covered in the warranty.

Good Luck to all in finding that perfect !

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Kirk that 900's a great buy at that cost! I got my Denon 1600 from eCost as well and its been rock solid for me. I know of a lot of other people that jumped on the refurb 1600's as well and non of them have compained about reliablity either so I'd say its a pretty safe bet

 

[Alex_Santos]

so the Denon's then huh?

 

[Tim Abbott]

Good thread, Alex, except I think you were probably looking for a bit more direction, as am I

I am asking myself the exact same questions that you are....I recently upgraded the video portion of my system and I am now able to take advantage of progressive scan and HDTV. I have no idea in regards to whats out there, as my 3 DVD players are 3+ years old.

Ironically enough I currently have a Toshiba, Panasonic, and Pioneer. This was over three years ago, but the picture quality is similar in all three. I am guessing that things are still in a similar state. I honestly don't have a very discerning eye, so I may just pick one up and try it out. I think that the so called entry to mid level DVD players are all very similar.

Now that I have a more 'sophisticated' set-up, some of the flaws mentioned in this thread may become more apparent to me. I will just have to see.

If I run across any helpful information, I will be sure to post it here as well. Let us know what you decide on.

 

[Ryan FB]

If you have an HDTV with DVI input, or are planning on getting one, the new Bravo D1 from V, Inc. might be worth looking into. The picture quality is supposed to be amazing via the DVI-out (if you have a digital display with DVI-in, everything gets kept in the digital realm with no D/A A/D conversions), it plays just about everything (DVD, MPEG-4, VCD, SVCD, MP3's, etc.), and it's only $199. There's a lot of positive things being said in reviews and over at AVS. Keep in mind this is one of the first DVI DVD players around, and there's only two other players that have it (the Samsung HD 931, which is $100 more and hasn't received as good of reviews, and the Momitsu DV-880, an all-region foreign unit that also costs $100 more and seems to be very similar to the Bravo).

 

[Brian Lawrence]

Do a google search on "Panasonic H02" - it's the error message that just occured on my DVD-RP82 and many other DVD models. Purchased in Nov '02 with light usage, this is unbelievable. Only 90 days warranty coverrage for labor. My last Panasonic purchase.... too bad considering the Pix quality was excellent for the price.

Tell me about it, I have the same exact model and the damn thing crapped out on me tonight. I bought the damn thing just last November and I got nailed with the damn Ho2 error

 

[Alex_Santos]

What about the new Panny units? I was trying to find out if any of the new models have the Farojuda chip since I can't seem to find any of the old models in stock anywhere. Anyone know if the new models carry it?

 

[Alex_Santos]

Can't find any Panny's with the farujada chip. Oh well, on to another brand I guess.

 

[Alex_Santos]

Yeah, after some research I found that only the XP 50 and 30 models have the farujada chip. This sucks. What do you guys think I should do, buy an older player (maybe refurbished) that has the farujada chip, or buy a newer player that will be cheaper but possibly lesser in quality.

 

[Alex_Santos]

bump

 

[Alex_Santos]

Well Im still up a creek with no paddle on this one. If anyone else has suggestions Id apprecate them greatly.

 

[JustinCox]

You could trade your Paradigm CC-370 for my Panasonic DVD-CP72, the 5-disc changer version of the RP82. You're looking for a Faroudja DCDi player right?

 

[JustinCox]

BTW--none of the new Panasonic players have the Faroudja DCDi spec you're looking for unless you can find an XP30 or XP50 and they're getting hard to come by unless you're willing to pay inflated Ebay prices.

 

[Alex_Santos]

So if none of the new players match the quality of the older players, in respect to any of the brands, then why buy a new model?

 

[Jay Foster]

What is the consensus? What brand has the faroudja (spelling)chip and at what price range?

 

[JustinCox]

So if none of the new players match the quality of the older players, in respect to any of the brands, then why buy a new model?

Why buy a new model? Because unless you're lucky enough to obtain one of the older models (which I have been), you have no choice. And to date, there's no consensus on what to buy in the sub-$200 price range. You won't find a single model from any brand you choose that someone hasn't panned or criticized in one of the major home theater forums.

We all seek the Holy Grail of DVD players, and to my knowledge, it doesn't exist in any price range. Having walked down this road for many many months, I've determined the most important you can do is figure out what's really important to you, what you can do without, and what "flaws" are least likely to drive you nuts. Find a player that closely meets your criteria and buy it.

The road to the Grail is the road to madness...

Good luck,

J

 

[JustinCox]

What is the consensus? What brand has the faroudja (spelling)chip and at what price range?

Like anything you might be shopping for, be it video cards, lawnmowers, or tires for your car, there is no consensus. Many products and many options for many tastes. :frowning:

I've seen two lists of DCDi players (at the Faroudja site and in the DVD Hardware forum at AVS). Neither is complete and neither lists pricing. Such a list would be nice but I don't know if anyone has taken the time to compile one.

J

 

[Derek Leath]

I don't know much about the Samsung DVDP231,
But it does have Faroudja DCDi. And it's under $100.00
I would like to see some tests on this model.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Try the Denon 910 or the Mitsubishi 8040 both should be less than $300(US).