- nice up-conversion quality
- SACD/HDCD support

- lack of DCDi by faroudja
- no HDMI
- must use DVI to up-convert to 720p/1080i

I picked up this up-converting DVD player to compliment my Samsung HDTV. I like the minimalist styling on the front and the brushed silver face plate is visually appealing. The main reason why I chose this player over the others was the 850's SACD/HDCD support. I should have read the fine print however since in order to output SACD to your receiver requires you to hook up 6-channel out. It would have been nicer to have been able to pass it though the optical or coaxial out but what should I expect for $99. The up-conversion is nice although you must use the DVI out in order to achieve anything other than 480p. I tried the hacks but could not seem to get it to work over component video. Another quirk I found with this player was when fast forwarding if you hit play it would skip to the next scene on certain DVDs. I would recommend this player to someone looking for a cheap SACD player. For $99 you can't beat that value. I will be upgrading to a Denon model sometime in the future as the quality of the HD850 is not top notch.

Customer Service

Customer service at Tiger Direct is really good. My first HD850 didn't work and I had to send it back. Tiger Direct paid for shipping both ways.