-Great picture -Smooth, quick chapter changes -Built-in DD and DTS decoders -DVD-Audio -MP3

-No front panel menu controls

This is my second DVD player. My first was the Toshiba SD-4109X, which was problematic from the start. A few months ago it finally died, so I had to start looking for a replacement. I have an older "digital-ready" receiver, so I was searching for something with a built-in decoder. There aren''t a ton of low-priced players out there with this feature, and as far as I can tell, the Panasonic is the cheapest of them all. Not only does it have a Dolby Digital decoder, but also a DTS decoder. I haven''t tried the DTS decoding yet, but the DD works quite well. On top of that, this thing also plays MP3s and DVD-Audio. I haven''t tried either yet, but be certain that I''ll be getting several DVD-A discs when I can find someplace that sells them! To even further sweeten the deal, this player has a 54MHz/10-bit Video D/A, and you can see the difference. Much better picture quality than the Toshiba. Of course, it''s got even more bells and whistles, like virtual surround and dialog enhancement, both of which might be nice when using the headphone jack. I''ve tried all of my DVDs in this machine and so far not a single hiccup. The chapter selections and changes are very fast, and I never worry about the machine locking-up. The search and slow-motion both work very well, and again, no lock-ups. I have the player hooked to my receiver using the 5.1 analog outputs. The sound is as good as one would expect. The audio and video setups were both quick and easy. (I use the THX setup found on many discs.) I''m quite pleased with the quality of this player. It''s tiny compared to the 6-disc DVD player I had before, which initially scared me a little. However, it operates very smoothly, and surprisingly quitely. As mentioned before, it does take a second to eject the disc, but I hardly think that''s a major reason to not buy it. Here''s the final summary. This player has a ton of features that some people may find completely useless. If what you want is a basic, simple player, buy something else. If, however, you are like me and need the built-in decoders, and plan to take advantage of the MP3 and DVD-Audio capabilities, I don''t think you can go wrong. You''ve got Panasonics reliability going for you, which should be comforting. Bottom line - great player at a great price!

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Toshiba SD-4109X

Excellent video and audio quality, great design, well made, remote controls well laid out.

None that I have found yet.

I conducted over 10 hours of research before deciding to purchase the Panasonic DVD-RA60 and am completely happy with my choice. The video and audio quality is better than any unit I have owned in the past by a wide margin. I have experienced no skips or pops as others have reported here. I am very impressed with the "Audio Only" mode directly through the Stereophile Class B equipment which I own. This unit blows away the other CD-only players I have, which I will now most likely sell in favor of using this unit for all my stereo and theater needs.

no chroma bug

Slow loading, Scan lines, Flicker, doesn''t play cd-r''s or mp3''s, cd-r''s get stuck and will not eject

I was hoping to be impressed with this unit mainly because it doesnt have the chroma bug, but sadly, impressed is far from what I have become. Yes, this unit does not have the chroma bug, which makes the picture much sharper than most players. Unfortunately, this asset is all it has going for it. First, although the overall picture is above average, there are noticable scan line that are clearly visible and cause the picture to "flicker". This is very annoying. Second, this player plays very few of my cd-r''s. When I can get them to play I hear all kinds of skips and popping noises, a problem I don''t have with my 10yr old sony cd player, btw. And the searh goes on!

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pioneer, kenwood

Great picture. One of the few DVD players on the market with headphone jack.

Responds very slowly. Skipping around, ejecting disc take forever. No random/shuffle with MP3 playback.

Great for video. Bad for audio CD listening. Takes several seconds just to EJECT a disc? Why does it have to THINK to eject a disk?!?!? Doesn''t make sense. My 1991 JVC CD audio player skips around tracks instantly. When you hit the eject button on the old player, it ejects the disc instantly. Why is a 5th generation DVD player in 2001 SLOWER than old technology.

Fantastic picture, really really great sound. Vivid colors and it works on everything I have put in and PRICE.

no zoom

This is my first dvd player, but I did a lot of research before I bought. I was very interested in getting a player with dvd-audio and not be obsolete in 2 months. The sampling rates on video and audio are twice that of other players in this price range. The RA60 turns out to be a fantastic bargin. The picture is unbelieveable. The audio on dolby digital, DTS and THX ( I have a Kenwood VR-510 THX receiver ) is beyond my wildest dreams. I know alot of the sound greatness comes from the 6 Paradign speakers( 4 Titans,CC 170 center, PDR 12 sub), but I know this player with its very high audio output is a great cog in the wheel. At the price of $179 this is a great,great dvd player.

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none

54mhz/10 Video DAC and 192Khz/24 Audio Dac Built in Decoder

Unit Vibrates at high bit rates playing DVD audio discs without down converting. Small Remote

Just bought this DVD player to replace a Old Sony. I bought it based on the excellent reviews above. Just as stated above it does have great sound and better then average video quality. Also this unit has more high end features compared to other players in this category. Such as a 54mhz/10bit video DAC and a 192khz/24bit audio DAC. Also it comes with a built in DTS and DD Decoder. Oh yeah it also plays DVD audio (but with a minor problem, I''ll get to that later) So I think from all the crops of DVD players out there this one really stands out in the 150-300 range. Only feature it lacks is a progressive out, but I didn''t need that because I don''t have a HDTV to support it anyways. So to use on a regular interlaced tube this player probably provides the best picture thanks to it''s 54mhz video DAC. Okay now to my complaints. Everything plays fine but when you load up a DVD-Audio disc (which the player comes with Barenaked Ladies-Maroon) The unit vibrates VIOLENTLY. I could hear the unit vibrating againts my rack when I''m listening to it 5 feet away. I think it''s because when playing the DVD audio disc it''s playing at such a high rate, but this only happens in the begining of the disc as you progress through the disc the shaking slowly goes away. The vibrating stops around track 4. But this only happens when the player is playing at a high bit rate. When I down convert the signal to 48khz it doesn''t vibrate and plays fine. If only panasonic fixed this problem this would of truely been a great player.

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Sony DVD S360 Playstation 2

Plays most anything. Great picture.

None i have found yet.

Great DVD player, picture is supurb but what i really love about it is that it has played everyhting I''ve put in it flawlessly. I am replacing a Toshiba 2109 and it was of but choked on some disks I had bought and choked alot on DVD rentals. This unit plays the ones the toshiba would lock up on. So far i just love it!

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Toshiba 2109

Excellent Sound and Picture !!! For Audiophiles and Videophiles !!

Lightweight, but very nice looking(in Silver)

By far the best DVD/CD player I have owned. I bought this unit from J&R WORLD(Excellent Customer Service-Victor). I did a side by side comparison with my Cambridge Audio D-500 SE cd player and found the Panasonic DVD/CD to be just a good, but with DVD and DVD-A to boot! Panasonic also sends a nice suprise in the package(Meet The Parents-DVD and Barenaked Ladies DVD-A)!! How nice can a company be? I just found out. I would have paid 450.00 for this unit alone. The customer service from J&R world(Had the DVD at my front door in 2 Days for only $10 extra)and the added software from Panasonic make this the deal of the year and then some. I forgot to meantion that the Audio-Only button is a big plus along with a high quality Headphone Jack for private listening with 4 choices of virtual surround ! I cant think of one thing Panasonic forgot. Forget Circuit City and Best Buy(Crap Customer Service/Crap Products)and they dont even carry this model!! J&R all the way !!!! Peace, and Enjoy...

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Toshiba DVD... Sony DVD.....

10 Bit 54mhz video dac with 4x oversampling, DVD/Audio with 192khz/24 audio dac. Best interlaced picture available.

no coaxial connection, moderate tray noise

I own all of the dvd players above and have demoed many others. The Panasonic DVD-RA60 is essentially the Panasonic DVD-RV80 with DVD/Audio. The RA60 plays CDR, MP3, Video CD, DVD-R, CD, and etc. The picture quality of the RA-60 is remarkable. I have no reservation about saying that there is no interlaced player that offers all the features of this player or the outstanding picture. Since most consumers don't have HDTVS, this player is a must have! The quality of the picture from this player is very close to better progressive scan players.

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Yamaha S795 DVD Player, Panasonic DVD-RV30, Toshiba SD-1700