dglaser6

Just got myself a great 30" hdtv widescreen, and needed a progressive-scan player to boot. Without really delving into reviews, i picked up the Sony DVP-NS725P at circuit city.

I came home and read a ton of comments from people about the infamous chroma bug that sony hasn't fixed yet, and the cnet review was awful.

I guess my question is, should i just go back to circuit city without opening the box up and try to pick up one of the panny players...or should i give the deck a try to make sure that those reviews and comments weren't bogus.

GMLSKIS

Your ok - chroma bug is so minor it's almost a myth. Unless your an anal retentive technition you won't even notice.

chipmac

I don't think I read any knowledgable good reviews of that Sony player and there were just too many bad reviews to pass it off as opinion. You could return it to pick up a Panny but even though Panny's don't have the chroma bug remember that the new Panny DVD players are not as good as the ones of years past since they don't use the Sage/Faroudja chip any longer for the superior deinterlacing. They're still good players but no longer great at that price point. If you're looking for the best progressivee output using the Faroudja chip take a look at the Denons.

dglaser6

gmlskis, i'm definitely not an anal retentive technician, but at the same time i can't avoid reading the hundreds of posts and reviews that seem to make sony look like it just learned how to make a dvd player.

chipmac, i just bought the 30hdtv, so budget is definitely a concern. the denons look great, but i can't afford them.

i'll take a crappy remote and no optical audio out over a serious prog-scan problem.
what i can't understand is, how hard could it be to make a decently-priced, fully functional progressive scan dvd player these days?

i'm gonna swap the sony out for the panny, thanks for your help.

bpm3k

which panny is that?

dglaser6

well, at one point it was the Panasonic S25S, but after running around to about every radio shack for a coaxial to optical adapter and coming up empty, i opted for their low end 5-dvd changer (the PF85), which had an optical out.

drmoze

I like the panny players better than Sony anyway. good call imo.

Bill Geiger

i have an RP62 and have been very happy with it!

bpm3k

why did you pick the 85 over the 65? I am trying to decide between them myself. the main difference seems to be the dvd-audio. I use the optical digital out so the "5.1ch Surround Sound Audio Out" is not important to me.

Is there something else i am missing?

gotapex

Here's some objective data on how Sony's perform. I'm not exactly sure which chip the NS725 uses, but take a look:

Secrets of Home Theater DVD Benchmarking, filtered for Sony models

dglaser6

bpm, that's exactly why i picked the 85 over the 65, because of the optical out. i didn't see the 65 at CC where i went. the multi out wasn't important to me either.