swells Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 I am just getting into HT leaving the old VHS tape behind. My question is, what do I look for in a DVD player, ie built-in-Dolby, optical output, DTS output, etc. What are some of the more important feature required, I plan on buying a receiver shortly after. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amonteiro Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 start here http://www.epinions.com/elec-topic-Video-DVD-Buying_Guides-How_to_Choose-a_component_dvd_player they have some decent articles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzoz01 Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 Well that really depends on a few things: 1) What type of tv will you be using? Is it capable of displaying progressive images or only interlaced? 2) How much do you plan on spanding? 3) Are you going to bve using it just for moves or for things such as music, mp3s, or SACD or DVD-A as well? As far as digital outs. It'll be hard to find a new DVD player anymore that doesn't have either an optical or coaxial digital out. As far as a built in dolby decoder, you don't need it if it'll be hooked to a reciever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whell Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 In fact, if you're connecting the DVD player to any of the components you listed, you will need to be sure that the player had good on-board D/A conversion. Looks like you're partial to NAD components. NAD, in fact, makes a very respectable DVD player with very good D/A conversion. Don't expect to fully experience "home theater sound", however, w/o the ability to process a 5.1 signal. You're existing equipment won't do that job. You would, at some point, need to add that ability to your system via an external Dolby Digital decoder, or a recevier or processor that can handle the decoding chores for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrgSkidmark Posted May 23, 2003 Share Posted May 23, 2003 I've been looking to replace my 5 year old DVD player. Here are a few features I like. I like bookmarks. I mark my place and jump to other places to reference something then jump back. I like having both digital jacks in the back. I have bought PS2, XBOX, and GCN since the purchase of my DVD player. Having a COAX digital jack available to use and use optical for my game systems was great. The headphone jack with volume control. Perhaps robust repeat modes are useful. Things I'm going to want on my new one. Zoom. Almost zero layer change time. Good search forward and backward with audio. Settings saving for some disks. I'm not sure how helpful this post is to you. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 i am hearing all the bells and whistles, and in truth all of those things are unimportant, first you need to look for audio section and video section, you can buy a decent player with good output, but the components used can be very cheap, they do this to remain competitive, you need to look for types of chips used, transformers, frequency range, future expandableability, for example the thing of the future seems to be fire wire, although not many reciievers are currently fire wire capable, this is said to be where interconnects are heading. and the puioneer 47ai for example has 3 years of free expandability, as another example the 45a and the 47ai are almost identicle in bells and whistles, the difference is the quality of the components, and expandability, a person can tell just by picking the products up, it is kind of like kicking a tire when you buy a car, we all do it, weight in electronics does mean something, larger transformers, amount to better signals, and much more, chips are the same, resistors, caps.....the list goes on and on. the more research and auditioning you do the more satisfied you will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrgSkidmark Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 For an average person just watching an occasional movie bells and whistles are unimportant. But for some movie fanatics any DVD without extra features is not even considered for purchase. I buy all DVDs, whether they have those features or not. I consider all those DVD player features I mentioned to be necessary, because I use them almost with every movie I watch. Currently I probably watch an average of 7 movies per week. When I'm not playing games its way more. Maybe 12. The Audio and Video sections are a given. That's why I didn't mention it. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 actually audio video sections are not a given, the way electronics are advertized, most just assume that they are getting top notch equipment, most bang for the buck, i know when i first started out i wanted all the frills, all the capabilities, and i allowed the salesmen to talk me into thier idea of nirvana, well thousands of dollars later, i am wiser, and much more in love with ht and audio in general. but there are no givens in electronics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted May 24, 2003 Share Posted May 24, 2003 Here's the best and most in depth comparison of dvd players I've ever seen. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 thanks for the artical frankie, at first it made me think quite a bit, and than i realized that the player that i have seen that plays the best was not tested? even the krell was seen or at least not judged to be up to say meridian's standard, and some that i did actually see were not performing as stated, bad machine? in any event it is a good article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksdad Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 well frankie you got me, i went to your suggested site, and it ate at me, so this morning i got up and tested and tweaked, and played, and i did find those "limitations" that the reviews suggested, so after 1 week of ownership i went back to soundtrack machine in hand, and i did basic head to head with the yammy, and it was a tad bit clearer, with no trace of the chroma bug, since both were the same price, i will end up trading straight across, but they wont have any for 1 week, so i am back to watching movies on my sons player until my new s2300 arrives, i do this now because i know me, once i find problems with something it will eat at me until i resolve the problem, and since i upgraded to b&k over rotel, i want my dvd-dvda-sacd player to be as good. i know this is still not on the level of the B&k, but the next leve machines cost significantly more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted May 25, 2003 Share Posted May 25, 2003 That article got me too...I sold my Toshiba SD-9200 and got the Panasonic RP82. I never listen to DVD-Audio so I was mainly concerned w/video quality. I sold the Toshiba for around $510 and got the Panasonic for $150. With the extra money I'm looking for a seperate CD player. While the Panasonic has better video quality, it just doesn't come close to the CD playback of the Toshiba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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