It is very good. Also the JVC 70/75, the Tosh. 4700/5700 are all excellent in your price range. No player is perfect and each of these has some peccadillos but overall performance will be quite good.
I got the rp-56 open box for 129 last week at CC, no remote, but I havnet had a real problem with that yet. I really like it...video and audio quality is very good....and its progressive scan. I can't comment on it cause i dont have an HDTV. I hope ot try it out on my parents when i go home from school. But overall it hink its pretty good
I recently picked up the Toshiba SD4700. I am very pleased so far, and I haven't tried out DVD-Audio yet.
When I was trying to decide what to get (see this thread) I was considering the Panasonic RP56, the JVC S60, the Toshiba SD4700, and the Sony NS700P. I had buyer's remorse before I had bought anything. I think at $250, you should be happy with whatever you decide to buy.
What features is the replacement for the rp-56 going to have? I saw the rp-56 at Sears for $179. Also what is the chroma bug associated with toshiba dvd players?