dvd choices down to 3

[ken_p_young]

I believe I have narrowed my DVD player choices down to three. They are the Denon DVD910, Denon DVD1200, and H/K DVD25. My budget is around $300 and the only 2 requirements are that it be BLACK and have Progressive Scan. The unit will be used mainly for DVD viewing and not much CD listening. Any recommendations between these three?

[RGA]

Why are you spending this much money if those are the only features you want. Plenty progressive scan black players are selling here for $119.00CDN

I bought an Aspire AD900 for $50.00 on Boxing day that had MORE features than models costing quadruple the money - and the picture if anything is much better than my Pioneer. More features, better remote to boot.
Now it truly sounds horrible on cd but I ran it into the Marantz receiver digitally for D/A which helped considerably. Of course the other brands you list are not exactly wonderous.

There just isn't need to spend huge money like this on DVD players - the mega expensive ones might offer superior picture - chances are it's either spend very little or a ton the stuff in the middle is questionable unless it has a feature you absolutely need.

[ken_p_young]

But still, wouldn't you rather have a Denon or H/K in you rack than some bargain priced DVD player? Surely even an entry-level Denon or H/K would have better audio and video than most cheap priced units.

[Woochifer]

If you can get them for the same price, go for the Denon DVD-1200. The video processors used in h/k's DVD players haven't fared too well in Home Theater Hi-Fi's video performance benchmarks, while the more recent Denons have generally done well in those same tests (their design is a modified Panasonic, which makes some of the best performing budget priced DVD players out there). The DVD-910 and 1200 use the Faroudja DCDi decoder, which is one of the best regarded video processors out there. Between the 910 and the 1200, they are basically identical, except that the 1200 adds DVD-A playback. If you can get either one for $300, go for the 1200. DVD-A disc prices have gone way down in the past year, and the sound quality improvement with the ones I've sampled is notable. And the audio quality with the DVD players that use the Burr-Brown DACs that are in both the 910 and 1200 is consistently well regarded.

[Woochifer]

But still, wouldn't you rather have a Denon or H/K in you rack than some bargain priced DVD player? Surely even an entry-level Denon or H/K would have better audio and video than most cheap priced units.

It does vary. Some of the bargain priced DVD players are decent with video performance, but where they typically skimp is in the build quality. And the video processors that a lot of them use tend to fail more of the benchmark video tests. Also, several bottomfeeder DVD players have had reported trouble with specific discs. Keep in mind that even top-of-the-line DVD players can have firmware glitches and other issues, but how those issues get resolved is another big difference (comparing Apex and Denon's customer service, there's a big difference).

My Denon DVD player has notably better picture quality than an entry level Toshiba player that I compared it to (this was using a video monitor calibrated to each player, so both players were viewed with the same benchmark settings). But, I did not compare it to the Panasonic model that shares the same transport and basic circuitry with my Denon, so for all I know, the Panny might be just as good.

[dean_martin]

How about the Sony DVP-NC685V for $250? It's a 5-disc changer w/progressive scan and SACD too. Its SACD and video performance are supposed to be excellent for the money.

[Gina Urnshow]

I have bought the Harman kardon dvd 25 and I was satisfied with the video and specially audio quality of this dvd player. Compared to the denon which I had before, dvd 900, the hk does not have the extra bells and whistles of the denon. However, the denon only has optical output compared to the hK which has both (coax and optical). Also, the fine detail, and black background of the video of hk is better. hope this helps

[N. Abstentia]

I'd go with a Panasonic. The picture quality is identical if not better than Denon. Sound quality will be NO difference since you will be using the digital output. Save yourself $150 and use that money to buy more DVD's to enjoy.

[ken_p_young]

I decided to go with the Denon 910. It is being delivered today.