URGENT!!! What's the best DVD player under $300? (1 Viewer)

[AnitaPeterson]

Hi there,

I have a "quick and dirty" question.

My DVD player (Panasonic RP-56) bought last January was defective, and the store said that, since I had the comprehensive warranty, I can go and get another one tomorrow (February 14) within the same price bracket ($300).

So, what should I get? The Panasonic RP-82 ? A JVC? A Sony?

I'm interested in excellent playback quality, known reliability (so it won't break on me again), features like progressive scan, and *maybe*, if the machine is good to begin with, multi-region capability.

Thanks much!

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

If you can find the RP82, yes, go for it.

Other good players include the CP72 or XP30 (both Panasonic).

If you want multi-region, JVC is a good choice.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Thanks! I hope I'll still find the RP82 (in FutureShop).

Which other players?

 

[Aaron H]

The best player is the one that looks the best to you under $300.

Aaron

 

[AnitaPeterson]

How sturdy are the JVCs ? Any known playback problems, such as those with Toshiba machines? Which models have the capabilty to "create" anamorphic images on HDTV sets?

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Which models have the capabilty to "create" anamorphic images on HDTV sets?

All DVD players do. Whether an image is anamorphic or not depends on the DVD title, not the player.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Woohoo! I went to FutureShop today and I got the RP-82 - they have four more in stock... I don't regret getting the extended warranty anymore

So, for all those in Ottawa, go to FutureShop @ South Keys and get the RP-82 !

 

[Brajesh Upadhyay]

Good for you! If you have an HDTV, use "Auto 1" & "Normal" settings (press Display twice during standby to get to this setting) & enjoy the cleanest, flicker-free 480p picture from any DVD player to date.

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Thanks much!

Cheers!

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

All DVD players do. Whether an image is anamorphic or not depends on the DVD title, not the player.

Depending on how you look at it, this is not entirely true since she did mention "create".

Players that "scale" non-16x9 DVDs are basically "creating" a 16x9 image from the non-16x9 DVDs for the TV to display. So if that's what she meant, then only a handful of players can do this. The RP82 cannot while the JVC's and Toshiba's can. The only Panny that can is the RP91.

Personally, I would've tried a Philips 963sa, if the Futureshop had it. It's still not clear to me that it will scale properly, but it has the hardware for it and may need a firmware fix to get there. Also, it can be remote hacked for region-free playback although the procedure might be a little much for most people. It's also more like $400 though, which was why I didn't bring it up sooner.

Finally, reliability doesn't seem to be a strong suit of the Panny's in general. Her old Panny died after a year, and many Panny owners have had their players die after about a year or so. Maybe it's just because the Panny's sell more, but I do see more posts of dead Panny players than any other brand. Other brands have their problems also, but they don't seem to die like the Panny's do.

Since Tosh was mentioned regarding reliability, I'll submit that I've owned 3 different Tosh players now, and all 3 are still alive and kicking. The only one that's experiencing occasional problem is the one that's also seen an incredible amount of use, ie. avg ~3 DVDs per day for over a year. That's probably equiv to most people's usage over 7-10 years. From what I've seen across various forums, I'd say the Toshiba's are by far the MOST reliable players. Even when problems arise, they are usually fixable via firmware upgrade.

_Man_