Which progressive scan changer $200 or less? (1 Viewer)

Hey all.
Thought I'd get some opinions before making my next HT purchase. I'm looking for a 5+ DVD changer with progressive scan capabilities. I don't have an HDTV just yet, but hopefully by the end of the year. But the DVD player in my bedroom crapped out on me, so I figured I'd go ahead and pick up a PS player for the living room and move that one to the bedroom. I'm trying to keep the budget at $200 or less. If I have to pay a bit over that with shipping and or tax, that's fine.

The units I'm looking at are:
JVC XV-FA90BK
Panasonic DVD-CP67S
Sony DVP-NC655P

Some of my thoughts on the above... The JVC looks to be a good value, what with room for 7 DVDs, but my roomate has a JVC 3 DVD changer from a couple of years ago and I don't really like the setup options or remote. No chroma bug (I think?)

The Panasonic is 5 DVD of course, but has a better reputation in my eyes. My current living room player is the Panny CV52, which I love! Remote, options and everything else are top notch. Again, as far as I understand, the CP67 doesn't have chroma bug either. Right or wrong?

The Sony looks good too, but it has the "dreaded" chroma bug. The rub there is that I don't know that I'd even be able to notice. I had a first generation Sony for several years, and never noticed the chroma bug.

The one I'll eventually choose has to play at least 5 DVDs (DUH!! ), be Progressive Scan (DOUBLE DUH!! ), and be able to play DVD-Rs and MP3s. I'm 99.999999% sure the above do all those. I don't care about DVD-A or SACD, so... that's no biggie.

So which is my best choice? Or did I not even list my best choice in my price range and required feature set?? Comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Skippy

Hi Skippy,
To me this is a "no brainer"--get the Panasonic CP72--you can get it at Crutchfield for $199 and with the $30 rabate we're talking $169 for an excellent all around DVD/CD player.So what if it has DVD-A,you don't have to use it and if you want to use it down the road you're all set.Why get the CP67 when you can get the CP72 for virtually the same price? You can also still find it at Circuit City.

Thanks, Kevin.

You know... I have no idea how I missed the 72. And I also thought the rebate ended. So the 72 is a possibitlity. The one thing that would keep me from getting it... and I know this seems trivial, but I wanted the player to be black so it would match the rest of my equipment. Crutchfield only has silver. And I can't even find anywhere else online that has it (Circuit City, Amazon, even eBay had no listings!!) :frowning: Suggestions?

Oh, and I wouldn't rule a player out because it had DVD-A. I was just saying it's not required.

Ok, I have a new question now... I did a bit more research on the Pannys and found that the CP67 also offers the $30 MIR, and Crutchfield has that one in black for $159, so that's only $129 after rebate! The only posotives I see that the 72 has that the 67 doesn't are 1. it has the DTS decoder built in 2. it plays DVD-RAM 3. DVD-A.

So my question is this: Do the 72 and the 67 have the same decoder chip? and is it the Faroudja? Because if PQ is gonna be the same since it's the same chip, then I can overlook itmes 1-3 above. Especially for $40 less. That's two DVDs.

As far as the Sony goes, 1st generation Sony DVD players did NOT have the chroma bug so you wouldn't have seen it on your old player. Now most of their models do, including the one you mentioned.

And where are you finding the CP72 online? I haven't seen it anywhere in a while, including the silver one.

I wouldn't assume the CP67 has the same chip as the CP72. Panasonic did some cost-cutting on the new line, which is sad since their last line with the RP82 was highly rated.

Well this is just my luck... I had found a coupon for $20 off at Crutchfield, and was gonna use a referral code for another $20 off, and then the $30 rebate, making my net cost like $129 or so. But I was waiting to get my tax money, which I did today. So I go to Crutchfield's site to order it and wouldn't you know??? It's GONE!!!

So now I need to know should I
A. Go for another one from Crutchfield (JVC 900, Panny 67, Sony 655, Kenwood 605, or another that you guys might suggest) and use the $40 off.
B. I found a Factory Service Black CP72 online. Am I able to trust that? It's only $158, minus the rebate is $128. The Factory Serviced thing just makes me kinda nervous.
C. Go with a totally different player that Crutchfield doesn't carry or that I can find for cheaper than Crutchfield price -$40.

Help!!! I'm soooooo confused!!!!!!!! :frowning: