QuikSilver

Hello all, I just bought a new widescreen 23'' Samsung LCD TV and now plan on getting a new dvd player. But I need some advice on which one to buy. I'm looking to spend no more than $150. Is this reasonable? I know there are a lot of cheap dvd players on the market with some even going for $75 or less so I would assume $150 would get me a top of the line player.

Some questions I have are:

- Which brands are the better players and one that would be good for my new Samsung?
- Is progressive scan intergrated in all players now or do I have to specifically look for it in a player?
- Should I get a player that has dvd recording/burning capabilities?

I know everyone here are experts so any advice would be much appreciaitive. Thanks in advance.

rlogle

Hope you enjoy the new TV. We just bought us a new one also. Got the Sony KDS-R50XBR1. It's the Sony using SXRD, and we love it. We also got an upgraded DVD Player. We were using a Sony. We bought a Sony for this one also. The Sony we bought was $149.95 from Circuit City. We went for this one because it was the only one with HDMI output. This is a single disc DVD player and the HDMI does make a difference. Using the HDMI from our HD/DVR receiver to the TV doesn't, however, make a difference and actually the picture is worse usin' the HDMI. This DVD player is, by no means, top of the line. Some of the best DVD players go for upwards of $600. Do you need one of those $600 DVD players... Probably not. Good luck on your hunt. BTW: Prices, at least to me, seem to be cheaper at CC than like Wal-Mart.

Spiky

Top of the line starts at $3500 and goes up from there.

That $150 Sony is becoming very popular. Seems like an excellent unit.

Progressive scan is almost always a standard feature now. The latest feature that you may want is upconversion via HDMI as rlogle mentioned.

Not many burners have been decent players, if any. But if you want to record stuff, a burner is certainly a great product. Love mine.

BobDole42

LOL! No offense to the OP, but it always makes me laugh when I read posts about "top of the line" or "state of the art" gear and see the dollar figures that people associate with "top of the line." I recently posted in a thread at AVS where the poster was looking for "top of the line" surround sound for $1600 - for everything (speakers, receiver, etc.). I've spent ~25k on my main system and consider it to be, at best, mid-level. I won't be happy until I hit six figures worth of gear

Come to think of it, what would you consider a "top of the line" DVD player? The Denon 5910 is certainly very good. In my experience, most of the high-end DVDps are really just excellent CDPs with mediocre video circuitry. I have heard that the Ayre DVDp is an exception, but I haven't seen it myself.

Spiky

The 5910 is what I was refering to, and basically there's no reason to go above it, IMO. Read the specs on its scaler, nice. Actually, it has 2 of them, one just dedicated to de-interlacing. I'd start top-of-the-line at the $1500 3910 (and comparable Pio Elites) if they'd get rid of that silly Faroudja processor that makes the machine optimized for video content instead of film. I agree on the high-end companies, too. As I've been ripping on Onkyo recently for not bothering to look at video as important. Although they all are finally starting to be better, I believe. Onkyo is, Krell upgraded for the Standard, etc.

Meridian is one answer. No SACD, though. Silly.

QuikSilver

Thanks for everyone's comments. Really appreciate it. I am now looking to buy a player with HD upconversion.

Rlogle, what is the model of your Sony dvd player? Is it the Sony DVPNS70H Progressive-Scan DVD player with HD Upconversion?