Well, I am sick of the inconvience of watching DVDs on my ROM, so I decided it is time to bite the bullet and get a real player. Howerver, I really don't know where to start. Are their any good sites that compare the different players? What features should I look for? Any recomendations? Thanks for any input.

i am in the same boat!
waiting for the masters to speak!

Terry & ea - I am by no means a master, I am in the same boat as you guys. So far the sites I have been recommended are

www.audioreview.com

www.hometheaterforum.com

Hope these are helpful. You also may want to search the DVDTalk site. There are numerous threads that can provide insight.

You can also try Cnet. It's a good place to get general price ranges and user reviews. You also might learn a lot about which players are "buggy".

Here's some basic info on what to look for:

<a href="http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000722.html">http://forum.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000722.html</a>

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-David
Other forum

Fortunately, DVD players are getting to be like CD players: even the most low-end ones sound/look pretty good. I wouldn't worry too much about what player to get, at least not more so than worrying about a CD Player or VCR purchase.

Want some safe bets? Look into these two models:

Pioneer dv-525
Toshiba SD2109

Can't go wrong for the price. Good luck and enjoy http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

--HN

I second the Toshiba - a great Newbie player, and I should know.

Just my opinion, but Sonys are not all that great.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chaka:
Just my opinion, but Sonys are not all that great.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Finally a wise voice among the masses....

..and you cant go wrong with the Toshiba 2109/1200 or the Pioneer 525 best bang for the buck on the market...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chaka:
Just my opinion, but Sonys are not all that great.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Finally a wise voice among the masses....

..and you cant go wrong with the Toshiba 2109/1200 or the Pioneer 525 best bang for the buck on the market...

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A free Tibet - Keep Hope alive...

Thanks for the links!

I have everything Technics and trust their remotes to work with other Technics and Panasonic units and they look WOW stacked together (same dim.) but everywhere I ahve heard negatives about Panasonic x1x series - are the x2x like c220 or 320 dvd players also bad? there are very few reviews - all i find is either 110 or 120.

Can anyone tell me about panasonic dvdc220?

It didn't take long for this blissful state to end, eh?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by eauctiontrust:
i am in the same boat!
waiting for the masters to speak!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Toshiba SD2109!!! DD/DTS output, great player for great price!!! No doubt about it!

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Toshiba SD-2109, Luxman Amp. NEC Pro-Logic Processor... I want 5.1!!!
HELP! I'M TRAPPED IN A 14 YR. OLDS' BODY!!!!!!

etown recently reviewed the new zenith DVC-2200 (replacing the DVD-2200) and gave it a great review - ranking it above the Toshiba 1200 as the best low priced player on the market (it has a list of $179) Does anybody have any thoughts on this? Any experience with the Zenith?

I would also chime in that the Toshiba SD-2109 is a great unit. It has been replaced by the SD-1200, but almost identical specs.

One thing I did come across though was when I moved to get a DTS receiver. If youre hooking a DVD player to a basic stereo, no problem, as plain RCA audio outs (on any DVD player) will do fine. If you intend to hook up to a Dolby Digital or DTS receiver, you have to use the digital outputs on the DVD player.

All that said, many low end players (sub $300) only have coaxial digital outs like my SD2109, as opposed to optical. I ALMOST got caught when purchasing a Technics DTS receiver, and discovered last minute it didnt have the coaxial input I needed. I finally decided on a Pioneer model with both coaxial and optical inputs, and am very happy with it.

Long story short, consider what kind of audio setup you might want to hook the DVD player into, so that you are certain to determine if you have the right connectors on both ends. While optical is the rage, many experts I spoke to said coaxial was fine, with minimal noticeable difference unless you have a majorly high end system.

Hope this helps you in your quest, and future considerations

I purchased the Sony DAV-S300 system recently. It is a great mid-level system. It includes a DVD player with many features as well as a DTS/Dolby Digital decoder WITH speakers (5 surrounds and a subwoofer) for about $600. Check it out!