Very durable with a nice design. Responsive and ease of use in terms of menu navigation. Video playback is excellent, so is audio. No complaints in that department.

Rejects some dvds outright with a "no play". Sometimes there is "jerky" or pixellation instances. Eg. when i choose a later chapter towards the end. The discs were in pristine condition. It is a random problem, doesn't happen all the time. Wierd.

The Sanyo DVD5100 was just the right model and price range as I was looking for an entry level player 2 years ago. The dimensions were an added advantage as it is not "regular" in size as compared to other brands.

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Not yet, as I'm still relying on this player. Call me cheap!

It plays DVD's... sometimes. I was able to use it as a cd player when my Onkyo 6 disc broke.

Design, quality, value, useability, picture quality, remote sucks etc. etc.

This DVD player is a hunk of junk. Unless you are totally unaware of what it is you need or you just want a cheap-o unit for your college kid or bedroom, don't bother. This dvd player has a myriad of faults: first and foremost, if you lose the remote you can't imagine how difficult it is to play a DVD! There is no play button on the actual unit! Second, you have to press most buttons twice (??what the hell??) to get them to work, most notably the power button. Third, about 2 out of ten times when you put in a dvd the player scans it and says "No Play". Then if you put it in again, presto, no problem. The sound is weak, the picture is only a nominal improvement over VHS and the unit is ugly. Go on ebay and buy a Kenwood DV-503 for about the same price, shipping included, and you will be much happier.

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Sony, Kenwoods

it plays pretty good...

doesn''t play all region1 DVDs. Doesn''t play CDRs, CDRWs, MP3s.

Well, at the time of purchase, I thought it was a great deal, however, it does not play CDRsm,CDRWs or MP3s. However, it does play VCDs... Well, I don''t have too much good things to say except that some of the DVDs work while others such as Charlies Angels and Bedazzled, to name a few, don''t without punching in the "multiregional converter" code... check here if you don''t know what I''m talking about... http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/info/multiregion/full/Sanyo5100.asp

Good picture. Price. Loads disks quickly. Zoom, can choose from different angles of veiws, language, etc. Good remote

None found yet. Still looking

Bought it, Rented the Matrix. The disk had a few scratches, but i saw no skipping during play. Let it play for about 8 hours. Still no problems. Played with features.

Looks cool, compact.

Picture quality is only average!

I think the other reviewers are insane. I bought the Sanyo and used it for a couple of months, before deciding to return it for my current Toshiba. Let me tell you, the picture quality is far superior on the Toshiba.

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Toshiba SD-2109

Extraordinary price. Looks great, nice size, and good remote.

Hmm...

I was doing some impulse shopping today, and stopped by Costco. They had two DVD players on display; a $250 Goldstar player, and this, for $300 (Canadian prices). The Goldstar was being displayed on a widescreen HDTV, and the Sanyo was on a standard TV (36").

The difference was amazing, and immediately noticable. Even with the increased resolution, the Sanyo player looked MUCH better. The remote looked good too. I picked it up (the very last one; these things are hot) and immediately tested it out with Matrix.

My God!

For $300, this is an absolute steal. The setup menus are very intuitive and well designed, and the well-designed remote offers a lot of features (like slo-motion, zoom, etc).

I can't really comment on the audio quality, since I am only Pro-Logic capable... It did have an optical output, as well as S-Video and component video outs.

As far as I know, this unit isn't available in the US (it isn't listed on their page, but it is on the Canadian page). If you are American, you can pick up an awesome player for just $200... Have a Canadian friend pick one up for you :)

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None yet...

Inexpensive. Component video output. DTS Output. Optical digital output.

Problems with some disks. Blue light on front is slightly annoying.

Technically I got this for free because I used points from getting my mortgage with President's Choice Financial, so maybe I am less critical than if I had paid cash. However, the price tag of $149 Canadian makes it an amazing deal for a mid range DVD player...if you can find it any more as it may be discontinued.

For those of you that say the quality of the output is poor, I recommend using the component video outputs and calibrating your TV with Avia or Video Essentials. It is possible that the default S-video cable is the weak link. I have not had the benefit of side by side comparison on the same equipment, but the output is as good or better than some of my friends' set ups using Toshiba DVD players.

One thing I like is that I rarely notice layer changes using this DVD player. One thing I don't like is that the blue light on the front of the player can sometimes be distracting (which I imagine I could solve with electrical tape if I was so inclined).

It seems to have all the standard features that an average viewer might use, such as zoom, bookmark, time search.

I have had some problems with certain disks. American Beauty and Rushmore (Criterion) will not play, and Sessions on West 54th street breaks up near the end. It is the player because these disks work fine on my computer. However, I have probably watched close to 50 other movies with no problems.

If Sanyo has improved compatability on a newer model, and can hit a similar price point, it is definately worth a look. I suspect it beats the heck out of budget players like the Oriton or Apex.

Lastly, rumour has it that there is a region hack for this player. I have no need for it, so it is untested, but I found this link which mentions the hack:
http://www.avaddict.com/web/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000162.html

Like I said before, it looks cool. Pretty good as a low-end unit.

Overall average video quality, had problems with seamless branching (T2: UE and Abyss)

Well you'll that I reviewed this a couple spaces down.. I thought I should give you an update :)

When I bought this unit, as you can tell, I was an absolute newbie... Since then, I upgraded my TV (to a 27" Sony Wega) and bought a DD/DTS audio receiver. I'm not quite HARDCORE yet, but I think my input it a bit more valuable now ;)

Anyway, once I hooked this thing up to my new TV, I saw that I could have quite a better unit... Also, it does not play seamless branching movies well (T2: UE and Abyss). After having to restart Abyss twice in one watching, I decided to bring it back and buy a Sony (to go with the rest of my middle end setup :)

If you can spare an extra $100, go for a Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic, or Pioneer.

If you really don't want to spend more than $200, I'd still recommend this over most other low end units.

By the way, The narrow model has actually been discontinued, but the new model actually looks better! Internally, it should be at least as good, probably better.

So my value rating will stay the same, since it is a good $300 ($200 USD) player, but I am bringing my overal rating down a bit.

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Sony 360

price, great remote, very compact size, aesthetically pleasing

There really arent't any. no joke!!!!!

I had this player for 6 months or more. I picked it up at a costco for $349 Canadian. I ran it through most of my 70 DVD, and found just one glitch in The Lawnmowerman where the picture got grainy and hung. Aside from that one freak occurence the picture is great, the sound is great. No problems with over heating. Only reason I don't still have this unit, is becasue I bough a portable player.

I pulled the following information from this link, there's a picture of the player on this page as well:

http://www.sanyocanada.com/consumer/video/dvd_player/dvd_5100.html

DVD-5100
DVD Player

• Playable disc formats: DVD/CD/Video-CD
• 10-bit video D/A converter
• 24-bit, 96-KHz audio D/A converter
• Drawer light
• On-screen menu
• Picture modes: Cinema/Animation/Sports
• Special effects: Zoom/Reverse slow/Bookmark/ Angle replay/ Last memory
• Screen saver
• Audio out: Dolby Digital/DTS/Digital Optical/2-ch stereo
• Video out: Component video/composite video/S-Video
• Headphone jack and volume control
• 44-key remote control
• 270 x 88 x 293 mm (w x h x d)


MSRP: $449.99 CAD

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Inexpensive, All the necessary connections.

Picture quality

At first I tought the Sanyo was great but the previous reviewver put some doubt in my mind. On some movies, when the image is dark, the picture was not so sharp with lots of horizontal lines. (Hook-up trough S-Video)

I tried the Panasonic RV-30 which I paid $100.CDN more but it is a far better product. The sound and picture are greatly improved.

Thanks to Costco for their great return policy!

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Panasonic RV-30