Price Paid:  $350.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
A cheap, poorly built product not worthy of the Denon name. Used it for two days and it failed. Just out of curiosity I openend it up before returning it. The build quality is worse than that of your typical WalMart product. This is just a crappy Chinese DVD player with a Denon badge and a $200 markup.

Strengths:
In all fairness the picture quality (while it worked) was decent. The image was crisp but flat. The picture lacked "punch" although it was detailed. Even my girlfriend who doesn't know MPEG from Emeril commented on the lifeless picture.

Weaknesses:
Very poor build quality. The tray felt like it was going to break off just from the weight of the disc. The front panel buttons are cheap and have poor tactile response. The remote is poorly designed and exudes the same cheap feel as the player.

Similar Products Used:
Sony 560D (complete junk). Toshiba SD4700 (on it's last legs). I have bad luck with DVD players. They usually last about one month past the warranty.

Price Paid:  $400.00

Summary:
Interlaced (progressive not tested) DVD picture quality is very good -- smooth, yet crisp and detailed. Color tones are very natural. The Pioneer's picture is terrible by comparison -- way too soft, lacks detail, and the color red is too intense. The Toshiba's picture is better than the Pioneer's (much crisper, better color), but not quite as good as the Denon. DVD-Audio (only tested in stereo using Metallica's Black Album) sounds good on the Denon, but I think the Pioneer might sound a little bit better. The low-level detail seems to come out more on the Pioneer and with the volume turned up, it's more "in-your-face", but not harsh because of the higher resolution of dvd-audio. The audio characterstic of Denon products is a warm, laid-back sound, so I guess this is to be expected. This was my first experience with DVD-Audio. The format itself sounds noticeably better than CD audio -- louder, more detailed, more dynamic. It's like going from 30 frames per second to 60 frames per second on your favorite PC game. CD audio is very unimpressive with the Denon. It sounds clean, but very flat, lifeless, and digital. By comparison, my 5-year old Yamaha changer has better stereo imaging, and a more dynamic and natural (analog) sound. Comparisons were made using analog outputs for cd and dvd-audio and coax digital audio output and s-video output for dvd-video.

Strengths:
Very good interlaced picture (progressive not tested) DVD-Video sounds very good

Weaknesses:
DVD discs get very warm Does not retain front panel display's dimmer setting when powered off Rocky -- Unit does not sit level on shelf

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba SD-3109 (dvd video) Pioneer DV-563A (dvd video/audio) Yamaha CDC-902 (cd audio)

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Crutchfiled

Summary:
Picture quality is top notch but sound quality is a horrendously bad

Strengths:
Nearly 3D picture quality

Weaknesses:
Sound quality ranges from tolerable on DVD movies to a complete disaster on audio CD's and DVD-A's.