Enthusiasts,

My supermarket quality DVD player just died - something I have been hoping for for some time now as it gives me the opportunity to do something different...

I have a older Panasonic 1080i/720p HD 50" Plasma
I also have a Onkyo 875 AV receiver which is about to go back for a firmware upgrade in the hope that a few mildly annoying issues can be sorted out.

I use a PC for Blu-Ray & HD playback - and plan to keep doing that for a while but its an ongoing project that everyone else is scared to touch (and I don't encourage anyone to play with it either)

I have no Blu-Ray and a few HD DVDs

However the SD DVD player needs replacing...

Given the above equipment and assuming that at some point the TV will change for 1080p - which DVD player should I go for...

A few questions or points
1. I have thought of purchasing a Toshiba XE1 (assuming I can still get one) as that seems to have excellent reviews - but is there any point as I would have 2 * Rheon upscalers in the circuit - although I guess only the DVD player one would do any work at that point.
2. I am not planning on buying a bluray device at this time - that will happen later
3. Must be region free (or capable of being made region free easily). I will not under any circumstances buy a deliberately faulty DVD player

Any suggestions / ideas and comments are welcome...

Regards

Sean

[YellowSphere]

Budget?

Good question....and one I am appalling at answering.

I can get a XE1 at 350.00 - so I guess less than that...

Regards

Sean

[badbob]

You do know HD-DVD has been dropped? So unless you have a large collection I'd sway towards Blu-Ray. Unless you buy a combo player

[David Mackenzie]

Oppo DV-980H.

It's built in processing is serviceable enough for films to start with, but since you say you have an off-board video processor anyway, you can use the 980H to feed 480i/576i over HDMI (or Component) to the processor/receiver.

The player doesn't have the CUE error, it passes super-white and super-black shades, it has a very short (sometimes non existent) layer change, it can be made region free (remote code: SETUP, 92100) if yours doesn't come that way. And it's well supported with firmware updates, as are all Oppo products.

Originally Posted by badbob

You do know HD-DVD has been dropped? So unless you have a large collection I'd sway towards Blu-Ray. Unless you buy a combo player

The HTPC has a bluray and HD on it - what I am looking for is a good SD DVD player

Sean

[chris57]

Another vote for the OPPO. Dont be put off by the price it really is a gem of a player at a very low price v performance.

[g3tcs]

You could buy the best upscaling DVD player currently in the known universe...

And that would be the new Oppo DV983H available in the UK from CRT Projectors. Region free out of the box.

There is a separate thread on this little beauty and I consider myself one of the lucky new owners of this player. For £299 I am stunned by the quality.

Each night since it arrived I have been going through my collection trying out old favourites like a kid in a sweet shop.

If you cannot wait for the new shipment the other models are also very highly regarded although I have no experience of them.

Just to make things a bit more complex....

I am being offered a Toshiba XE1 which I understand is quite a good player...and it has the advantage of playing by selection of HD films alreay - which gives me longer to fix (again) the HTPC. How good is that upscaling likely to be in comparison to the Oppo?

Regards

Sean

[Cynar]

If it's a quality SD DVD player you're after, they don't come much better than Arcam.
I have a DV79 for sale here. No upscaling but you don't want to upscale twice anyway.
The picture quality on my Panasonic 50" plasma is superb and unlike most DVD players it's a superb CD player too.