Twin tray, great for the Godfather series! HDCD, lot's of extras.

Outdated (not progressive scan)

Well this unit has treated me great for the past year. I have not seen any of the others complaints in my unit, ie joystick hard to figure out, confusing instructions, banding on screen etc. What I do know is that this is a good unit with good sound quality and picture quality. I find the remote simple and easy to use, and as for the instruction manual, if I had a pet chimp I would have let him set it up. Everything has a logical order and the rear panel is open and uncluttered. The only one bad thing that I can say about this unit is the lack of navigation controls on the front, if I lose the remote I'm F#$%ed.

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None

Dual Trays, does play CDRW/VCD Great picture

Big remote,

Just thought i'd drop a review to let people know that while this product doesen't play most CDR (i've found a few that it does play) it does play all CDRW that I've tried, audio or VCD.

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Phillips DVD-710

Excellent Price, DD and HDCD built in. Overall good picture quality.

Letterboxing introduces a few artifacts.

This is an excellent entry-level player. I am starting to outgrow it, but alas, I have no money.

The picture quality is good enough for most, but not the greatest. Of course it is interlaced (at this price point), and has the standard features you would expect from your average DVD player. The only problem I can see thus far is the letterboxing of the DVD player introduces some jagged edges on straight lines. This is of course only noticable on anamorphic DVD's, but most are these days. You will also only see this problem if you have a 4:3 television. The problem is not too severe, and is forgivable given the players low-end target price.

I also have noticed a very slight skip when the player changes layers. The skip is barely noticable, and the first time I saw it, I wasn't even sure if it skipped. Sure enough, the skip is there. It is a veyr slight skip, and is again forgivable, given the player's very low cost.

Other than the letterboxing, the player is excellent. The video quality is very good, and the DD built in can really save the entry-level consumer some money. I recently upgraded to a Denon AVR 1601, and it sound better to me, but that is of course subjective.

I have not noticed any of the color banding or colored lines that other people have seen. I have owned this unit for nearly a year, and watch movies at least twice a week. I am sure the unit has had plenty of use, and would have broken by now. It seems to me that there is a lemon problem. I also have never needed to upgrade the player. Otehr than the slight skip I see between layers, every DVD I can throw at it works flawlessly.

I am giving this unit 3 stars, because to give it 4 or 5 would mean it is equal to higher end products. A 5 should be reserved for reference-quality players, not entry-level players. That said, a 3 is about the best a unit can do in this price range.

For price, I am giving it a 5. For $200, it is hard to find a better player. Especially one with DD built in.

System:
Denon AVR 1601
Toshiba SD-2200
Panasonic 27" TV w/ component video
Mains: Paradigm Titans
Center: Paradigm CC-170
Surrnd: Teac 2-ways (weakest link...)

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Samsung DVD player (it sucked)

Very Good price, decoder, cool screen saver, mine plays CD-Rs fine (80 min Gigastorage ones anyway)

Having to go into Menu to switch to stereo mode to play CDs, having trouble reading scratched DVDs, could do without the twin tray

It was the cheapest DVD I could find with the 5.1 decoder, luckily it also had a 3 level zoom which I am very glad to have. I don't konw why the others complain about CD-Rs, mine all play fine, but its a pain to go into the menus and switch to stereo from 5.1, even when having an extra pair of RCAs going into "CD" on the Tuner, it sounds weird if not in Stereo mode for CDs, like some kind of pro-logic. Mine also is having trouble reading some DVDs, lots of pausing, it "crashed" a couple times, but the DVDs did have some scratches on them although those kind of scratches would not phase audio on a decent CD player, but maybe DVD is more sensitive, and mine could also be defective and not indictive of the model, I will see if it gets worse.

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Computer DVD rom

Clean video, audio.

None so far

Works and looks great. Bought this on Ebay for about $179
after shipping. This is a refurbished unit but works fine.
Watched two movies so far and works and sounds great.

Think I made a good choice with this DVD player as my first
purchase. Can't wait to see some well produced movies such
as The Matrix or Blade Runner on this unit!!!

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None, first DVD player.

very customer friendly unit.

none

I purchase unit after owning a previous sony s560d.I throught with all the hoopla over sony I would see what,s up. Big Mistake the sony,s picture was way to soft for my taste.The toshiba,s picture is extremely accurate and well defined.I also read several sources you know those so called home theater magazines.Only one gave a true representation this wonderful dvd player,kudo,s widescreen review.I would truely recomend this player/unit without any hesitation.If you,re looking for true quality/value for your buck run out an get this player while it,s still around.

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Toshiba 3109

Great picture, sound clarity, plays dvd, vcd, and cd, also dolby digital decoder is great for people without a dd receiver

not many, haven't found any yet!

This is a great dvd player. a huge value for people just getting a dvd player. plays many of the dvd's. havent found any dvds it doesnt play. much better than the sd 1600 model. the sd 1600 model freezes up on many of the dvd movies, and the picture is a little pixelated. All in All a GREAT VALUE!!!!!!!

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toshiba sd-1600

Sound quality, ton of video outputs, zoom feature, and progressive forward/reverse variable speeds

Can't think of any

Great entry-level machine for new or hardened DVD devotees. Loaded with features and enough outputs to run 2 or more video sources simultaneously. Sony recommends using "S-plug" connection for best picture on their 27" WEGA TV. Still experimenting with BITSTREAM output. Can't honestly see any difference between the two (with or without Monster Cable). Some folks have badmouthed the remote when it comes to layout and response time. I find it to be fine and workable. Even with the dual-tray being selectable, is it important to eject disk 1 or 2 from the remote? You still have to physically change disks manually anyway.

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Apex, Pioneer DVD players.

Video quality, 2 disc trays, zoom feature, sheer amount and variety of outputs.

Doesn't play CD-R, but I bought a DVD player, not a CD-R player.

I am very happy with this player, so far at least. I played The Matrix, X-Men, and a couple of other relatively new DVDs and it worked flawlessly. The only issue I've found so far is on Gladiator. There is one point the picture will pixelate, the audio will skip, and the movie will freeze up. I know for sure that this isn't the layer change spot. If I fast forward through this area, I can resume playing the disc with no problem. I kind of think that this is a problem with the DVD, but I'm not sure. If anyone has had this problem too, please email me so that I know if I need to get my player fixed before the warranty runs out. Thank you.

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First DVD

Video quality, 2 disc trays, zoom feature, sheer amount and variety of outputs.

Doesn't play CD-R, but I bought a DVD player, not a CD-R player.

I am very happy with this player, so far at least. I played The Matrix, X-Men, and a couple of other relatively new DVDs and it worked flawlessly. The only issue I've found so far is on Gladiator. There is one point the picture will pixelate, the audio will skip, and the movie will freeze up. I know for sure that this isn't the layer change spot. If I fast forward through this area, I can resume playing the disc with no problem. I kind of think that this is a problem with the DVD, but I'm not sure. If anyone has had this problem too, please let me know so I know if I need to get my player fixed before the warranty runs out. Thank you.

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First DVD