DVD Player Suggestions (1 Viewer)

[Clayton G]

I just went through the biggest headache in the world with my local electronics dealer. To make a long story short my broken DVD player will remain broken and I'm never buying anything from that a-hole again. With that said, I'm in the market for a new player. Here are my requirements; I want something dependable with good build quality that will perform well with movies (cd's being second). I don't need progressive scan because I don't have an HDTV, nor will I be able to afford one anytime soon. My budget is anything up to 250 dollars possibly 300, depending on how my summer cash intake goes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Clayton,

Sorry to hear about the trouble. For the money mentioned there are a ton of excellent players that would fit the bill. Check out :

Panny RP56
Toshiba 4700/5700
JVC 70/75
Sony 500

...just for starters.

I own the JVC 70BK and am very pleased.

 

[Clayton G]

I went to the websites and checked them out. I couldn't find the RP-56 at Panasonics sight. I did look at the RP62 and it looked like a nice player for 229. I also thought that the Toshiba SD-3800 looked like a nice player. It too was 229. How would you compare the Panasonic to the Toshiba in terms of build and reliability? I don't really need the DVDA or SACD, and that is the only difference I saw in the Toshiba players you suggested and the 3800. For JVC I found the XV-S500 to fit what I'm looking for. I really don't want to go back to a Sony, simply because of the last experience I had. How do you think all three of these stack up as far as performance and reliability? I just don't want to have to deal with another broken player for a good while. Thanks again for the input.

 

[Brian Harnish]

I have the Toshiba SD-4700. It's an excellent player. The SD-4700 showed a 20% improvement in image quality over my old Pioneer DV-525.

 

[Orin Dym]

I would suggest checking out the cambridge audio (nat cambridge soundworks) DVD player. It makes a great no frills dvd player and a great CD player.

 

[Paul Clarke]

Clayton,

Two things...first, the models you saw on the company websites don't necessarily reflect what's in the marketplace. Do a shopping search for any of those listed and any others you might have heard/read about you'll find most of them still available.

Second, I personally would pass on the JVC 500. The Panny 62 is a fine player and would fit the bill better in terms of reliability as well, even over Toshiba. Just my opinion.

As far as DVD-A or SACD, Progressive or Interlaced, I always suggest going for more than what a person might want or need at the moment, especially when the pricing of such features is as ridiculously low as it is now on many quality players.

Good Luck in your choice.