new dvd player recommendations ~$200

[agtpunx40]

A few months ago, I got a new HDTV. I'm still using the same cheap Toshiba DVD player that I had before. It's really bare bones. Nothing wrong with it exactly, but I've been thinking about upgrading it. I figure with a new TV, and all the time and effort I've put into really setting it up right, I might benefit from something more than a bottom of the line dvd player. From what I've read, an upconverting dvd player probably won't make much of a difference since I have a CRT RPTV. Since I'm upgrading anyway, however, it may be worth it, especially since, in the future, it might be useful to have the HDMI (which my tv does have). Is it worth the upgrade, and does anyone have some good recommendations?

[bruce3404]

I just bought an OPPO. Check out the reviews. It is rated higher than DVDs costing much more.
I haven't had the chance to use it as I'm accumulating equipment for a HT that's just now being drywalled, but it seems a really good deal.

[vxaudio]

i bought a samsung upconverting dvd player a few weeks after i got my 55" sony lcd proj hdtv, i have it set to upconvert to 768p and there is a noticeable difference from 480p. definetely worth checking out. im not sure if they have 1080p out or if you have a 1080p tv or not. the one i got was 130 at cc including a hdmi cable and 5 pack of free movies...sweet deal.

[paul_pci]

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but a $200 price point isn't exactly an "upgrade" from the low end model you already have and it's unlikely you'll notice a difference justifying the two bills you lay down for it. For a substantial upgrade, we're talking about players that begin at $500. For $200, all the players are pretty much the same, so choose the one with the best build quality and features you want.

[edtyct]

I don't believe that investing in a DVD player with a digital output is necessarily warranted in your case; as you say, CRTs don't normally benefit from it. So far as the future is concerned, the next wave of DVD, which will most likely require digital output to achieve the stated 1080i and 720p resolutions, won't play on anything that you can buy at this point. In other words, your HDMI input won't make any difference to you until hi def DVD sources arrive, when you'll need a new player that comes with one, anyway.

That said, however, it isn't necessarily true that your current DVD player can't be bettered by a new $200 model. The gain in video might not be a great as the gain in audio, since you can now get SACD and/or DVD-A at this price point, but, depending on when you bought yours, the improvement in DVD player performance may still be visible to you. Scaling and deinterlacing are much more competent at lower prices than they used to be, and players have more useful features now. And any deck that currently lists at $200 will most likely sell for much less (and, by extension, a nominal $300 player will have a street price close to $200). One player that apparently overachieves is the Pioneer DV-588A, which is available for about $130. It doesn't have a digital output, but it should give you an indication of whether you're missing anything by staying with your current player.

Ed

[paul_pci]

Fine, but will the picture quality be $200 better? Setting aside the fact that such decisions are often a judgment call or whether or not the purchaser can afford to toss around that money, on some objective scale, we should be able to say, yes or no, is the improvement a $200 improvement. I say, no.

I don't believe that investing in a DVD player with a digital output is necessarily warranted in your case; as you say, CRTs don't normally benefit from it. So far as the future is concerned, the next wave of DVD, which will most likely require digital output to achieve the stated 1080i and 720p resolutions, won't play on anything that you can buy at this point. In other words, your HDMI input won't make any difference to you until hi def DVD sources arrive, when you'll need a new player that comes with one, anyway.

That said, however, it isn't necessarily true that your current DVD player can't be bettered by a new $200 model. The gain in video might not be a great as the gain in audio, since you can now get SACD and/or DVD-A at this price point, but, depending on when you bought yours, the improvement in DVD player performance may still be visible to you. Scaling and deinterlacing are much more competent at lower prices than they used to be, and players have more useful features now. And any deck that currently lists at $200 will most likely sell for much less (and, by extension, a nominal $300 player will have a street price close to $200). One player that apparently overachieves is the Pioneer DV-588A, which is available for about $130. It doesn't have a digital output, but it should give you an indication of whether you're missing anything by staying with your current player.

Ed

[edtyct]

Paul,

I don't know what agtpunx's been using up until now. For example, black-level adjustments accompany certain players at his price point and not others. I think that they make a difference. If agtpunx was using a DVD player with an S-video output, he'd certainly be raising his game a step with a new player, as he might be with progressive capability. It all depends on the $200 player.

I also think that it's hard to put a cash value on improvement, and I don't think that agtpunx was asking for one--only somebody's idea of whether any improvement were possible. Is the $11,000 Ayre DVD player better than the Denon DVD 3910 by $8000? How the hell do I know? It certainly presents images that have an ineffable superiority about them, but how can we avoid the subjective element in any buying decision? Some people with the requisite cash will buy it, and others won't, even if they like it better. I worded my reply to agtpunx cautiously, leaving open the question of whether the degree of difference would be worth the $200. That would be his call, not mine or yours. I still say that improvement is possible, depending on where he's starting and what he chooses for comparison, but whether he happens to find anything worth his hard-earned cash is beyond me.

Ed