Londo

According to Malata Canada, the 006 is offically discontinued. Supposed to be replaced by the DVP-520 with the same features just slimmer. No word on availability yet.

roseart

Glad I waited. Will the price be about the same?

dleedlee

I hope the quality control is better, too.

Matt Stevens

Hopefully it will include the same X-Y scaling and filters. Those features are what put the player over the top.

carnifern

Makes no difference to me. The 996 is a great quality player with great picture, sound and features. I also haven't experienced problems with any DVDs except for Star Wars and the problem was different, and lesser than, the problem many others had. Also, unless one of the mail order companies hacks it, it won't be region selectable and my current Malata is (it's not a standard feature).

So if you already have a 996, why upgrade? And if you don't then you may be able to get one a lot cheaper when the new model is released.

axolotls return

Doubt it.

Mine still is finicky but I figured out what the problem was with the DOA power-on I sometimes get.

Haven't figured out why it sometimes gets stuck in a "LOADING" freeze that only is remedied with a Power-Off from the player itself.

Tristran

I saw the 520 a while back but I didn't get a chance to see it hooked up. I also forgot to check out remote but have been told that it is different.

Should be out in mid-May and the price should be the same as it is essentially the same player. Also, I've been told that they still sell the 996 but only have the silver model in stock.

The 996 comes from Malata region-free and region-selectable so the 520 should be the same.

Civic2oo1

Good looking out, I'll wait then.

carnifern

Actually the 996 is not region selectable from Malata. The region selectability is a hack done by retailers and does not come standard. I confirmed this when I spoke to Malata Canada about sending in my player for repair (which should be finished today). They confirmed that they do not make the players with that feature.

Tristran

All the 996's I've tested that came directly from Malata have been region-selectable.

The only mod that avdeals does is the VGA output.

carnifern

Maybe that's a feature they don't want to advertise then since some companies (like Apex) got in trouble in the US for adding that feature into players. When I called them about my player being repaired they told me that their players are not region selectable and that it was AVDeals that modified the player.

roseart

Any word yet on the DVP-520's release???

roseart

I have another question. AVDeals says they only have the VGA out version which is a $100 more. Plasmadeals has both versions, but only in silver.

The 2 sites look the exact same except for the color (one blue, the other green), and my link says AVDeals. What's the deal? Are these the same company (ala Suncoast/Samgoody), and if so why does one have something in stock and the other doesn't???

http://www.plasmadeals.com/malatan996.htm

Thanks in advance...

Matt Stevens

There is an AVdeals email link at the bottom, plus AVdeals emails at the Contact page.

movielib

I've seen the Plasmadeals site and it seemed quite obvious that it is the same company as AVDeals.

You can try to get the 996 there but I'll bet they have just not updated the site yet. Still, what have you got to lose?

roseart

Just called them. They are the same company, and like you said they haven't updated the plasmadeals site yet.

Are there any other places to get the 996 w/o VGA out that cheap?

paranoized

Well there's mindlogic.com which is expensive but you might be able to pricematch... but why buy a 996 with the new models just around the corner? The DVP-520 is a slimmer 996, and the DVP-530 has the additional, very sweet feature of viewing JPEG picture CDs.

roseart

Found it here, $300 shipped:

http://www.220-electronics.com/dvd/malata996.htm

movielib

I know they were selling this for more not too long ago. I trust you grabbed it?

roseart

Yep, in Silver. Should have it by Wednesday. Can't wait

Wormwood

Glad I found this thread. I too didn't want the 996 with the VGA, I didn't need it. Btw, thanks roseart.

shaggy

Its coming in early May according to Malata Canada.

They have a few 996s left for $350 Can. about $220 U.S

movielib

There's an auction on eBay now for a 996.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=1347322592

It has a "Buy It Now" price of $350.00 and a reserve that hasn't been met. It's at $242.50 now. Shipping is $20.00.

The seller tells you that the model has been discontinued but does not mention that there's a new model coming which is essentially identical in its features and operation.

roseart

So is this the new Malata, and not the DVP-520???

http://www.lfvw.com/malata996.html

It's slim (like the DVP-520 was supposed to be), and looks pretty sweet!!!!

Comes out on 5/28...

movielib

If you click on the player image to get a bigger picture, you will see that it is labeled DVP-520 and not DVD-520 as the text says. So this is the DVP-520.

One thing (not that it matters to me because my receiver decodes DTS): built-in AC-3 (i.e. Dolby Digital) decoding is listed as a feature but not built-in DTS decoding. It could be just another mistake of the web site, but for those to whom it makes a difference, you might want to be sure.