what to do with 250 bucks??? (1 Viewer)

[MarkHughes]

A buddy of mine is looking into his first DVD player. He doesn't necessarily need progressive (but I think it would be nice in case of future upgrade). He has about 250 bucks to spend and we were looking at a few in the stores. We saw the panasonic rp56, the Toshiba sd-3750, and also the JVC XV-S60BK. I am hearing some criticisms about a few of these i.e: picture beak up, poor layer change, etc...

Any recommendations of any player in this price range would be appreciated. Help me get this guy into the 21st century with an awesome experience and little pain in the wallet area.

Thanks,

Peace, Love, and Homer Simpson to Y'all!!!

--M

 

[Gregg Hart]

I love the new Toshiba 5700 which I got for $270 shipped from onecall. The 4700 can be had for about $50 less which provides the same picture quality. The players have progressive scan and DVD Audio.

 

[tony randall]

The Toshiba 3750, 4700 and 5700 are all the same specs for the video, and I called Toshiba to confirm. The differences are the 4700 has DVD-Audio, and the 5700 has DVD-Audio and HDCD.

Onecall is an authorized Toshiba internet dealer, and they use FedEx 3 day ground.

I think the 5700 might now be $249, but I cant remember if that was shipped or not. The 4700 was $224 shipped as of 3/19 and the 3750 was $189 or $199 shipped. Dont forget at least $30 bucks for the optical cable DTS to the receiver, as well as a minimum $40 bucks for the component video cables to the TV.

The Toshiba 3755 is a 5-disc model, but I understand it is not as advanced in the picture quality as the 3700 - go figure.

I have no complaints with the picture on my 4700. Obviously there is an improvement over VHS, but when I played T2 last Friday, I was blown away. Can't say that any other title I have viewed has a better picture than that one.

I would say that as far as CD playback goes, if I just sit down to listen to music, I prefer it on the CD player. If I put a CD in the DVD and am doing something, reading or whatever, I couldn't tell the difference between the CD player or the DVD.

 

[Greg Br]

Definately get one with DVD Audio, I really think after listening to it a bit its going to explode in the next year.

 

[Eujin]

If your friend doesn't have a TV that can take advantage of progressive scan players right now, forget about these players. Just get a good interlaced player to begin with--any of which will come in at half the $250 budget. Even if there is a potential TV upgrade in the future, I can guarantee you that by that time he'll want to upgrade his DVD player too. C'mon how many of us here did the same thing? I know I did--TWICE.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I've read here that the interlaced Panasonic something-60 is available for $200 with DVD-Audio. If your friend has a sound system along with the DVD player this is what I'd recommend. If they're getting the DVD player for just a TV then go with a Sony.

 

[MarcVH]

Weird, there's no such model on Panasonic's web site that I can find...

I would consider DVD-Audio to be of questionable use unless the player does bass management and channel delay timings, unless your speakers and room setup do not require these (not the case for most systems.)

(Well, OK, myself I don't think I'd consider DVD-Audio until there's a real digital output, since going back to analog interconnects is just wrong, but that's me.)

 

[Philip Hamm]

What exactly is "wrong" with analog interconnects???

 

[MarkHughes]

Thanks for all the great info... keep it coming.

Marc, I think the model number is actually dvdrp56 for that Panasonic... maybe thats why you cant find it.

any more info would be greatly appreciated, I look highly on the opinions here.

Peace, Love, and Himer Simpson to Y'all!!!

--M

 

[Eujin]

Mark, the RP56 does not do DVD-Audio (I know, I have one) and is progressive scan. For the money, it's a great little player--especially if you have a progressive scan capable display to go with it. I think it was the RP61 that did DVD-Audio with interlaced video, but it never made much of dent in the market--most people opted for the RP56 with the Sage chip or RP91 for DVDA and its scaling capability--and quickly disappeared.

That said, Panasonic is supposed to be releasing the RP82 this summer (no confirmed date yet) which will be progressive scan (with the Sage chip) and DVD-Audio capable. The reported MSRP is supposed to be $300 or thereabouts--basically it's the RP56 with DVDA added on. Sony will also be releasing the NS755P which will also be prog. scan and offer multi-channel SACD--basically the existing 700P with SACD added. It too will price out around $300.

 

[MarcVH]

Mark, thanks for the number, but I'm not sure that was the right model; the DVD-RP56 has progressive scan but doesn't appear to have DVD-Audio. I don't see any $200 DVD-Audio players from Panasonic, though I could be missing them.

Philip, my issue with analog interconnects (assuming a quality digital source) is that they can let the signal degrade and that subsequent processing (e.g. bass management) can't be done in the digital domain. I'd prefer to keep the signal digital as long as possible, so normally having a digital interconnect between the source and the receiver or prepro is a step forward from an analog one. Naturally there could be exceptions, such as a situation where your player's DAC is better than your receiver's.

 

[Jeffrey R]

It's actually the Panasonic DVD-RA60 that you're talking about. It is an interlaced DVD player with DVD-audio. I bought it for my brother, and he is very happy with it. I got it for about $179 I think.

 

[Yohan Pamudji]

How about the Sony NS500V? It's interlaced but it does SACD and can be had for $230 online and B&M. With tax or shipping and handling that will come in right around $250.

 

[Mark Gurney]

I received an e-mail quote from www.jandr.com this week for the Sony NS500V -- $189. Not too shabby.
Mark

 

[tony randall]

Eujin recommends avoiding a progressive scan unit if the TV can not take advantage. I would disagree. Once he watches a few movies, he just might want to upgrade the TV.

 

[Eujin]

Eujin recommends avoiding a progressive scan unit if the TV can not take advantage. I would disagree. Once he watches a few movies, he just might want to upgrade the TV.

Actually, you're missing my point. It's that upgrade bug, that I'm sure will hit, that leads me to recommend an interlaced player if the current TV can't take advantage of progressive scan. I think that the likelihood of someone spending upwards of $1500 to take advantage of a $250 progressive scan player is a little unrealistic. To me, if the TV upgrade occurs, it is also probably likely to be accompanied by a DVD player upgrade. If the interlaced player is the first purchase, when the upgrades occur, the existing analog TV and interlaced player can easily be moved into the bedroom for a second system.