Price Paid:  $700.00 from Internet

Summary:
I found the Panasonic DVD-H1000 just by chance. It was drawn to my attention by its weight of 40 lbs, its build & its list price of 3k (yes you heard it right: Panasonic DVD for a whopping three grands!).

Every good thing I read about this baby regarding the look & build, picture & sound including the out of reach tag price was a YES, buddy, it's absolutely true! I had it for about 2 months but I was so excited & compelling that I deeply owed everyone my part of the review as I had based my decision on the others'. Surely I don't know much about DVI and HMDI and I'm not trying to compare apple & orange either. My projector doesn't have those connections anyway. But for the pure Cinema Progressive Scan I can't imagine the picture quality of a DVD can ever get better than this baby. (the BlueRay or HDVD in the future perhaps?). I now hear and see things that I didn't before. The picture looks real 3-D in all regards. The colors distinctively defined. Chroma outstanding. Right now I'm sure I'll settle with this baby for as long as my Sharp DLP XV-Z9000 projector would last. Together they're perfect companions. Needless to say the xv-z9000's picture would always look good on any dvd player! It just finally found its match for perfection!

I'm also a CD fan who certainly wouldn't want to throw away 500 CD collection anytime soon for SACD or DVD-Audio perhaps until after all the dusts are settled. Or maybe never. My point is the problem wasn't in the format, Dude, but it's in the recording industries/engineers that didn't care or know how to make it look or sound at its best. (Puzzle: why some CDs sound extremely better than the others? Likewise for movie DVD pictures? Are they different in format? Nope!). Listen to MFSL gold CD or XRCD then you know dawn well exactly what I meant! The DVD-H1000's sound is very analog-like and much better than my old audiophile Pioneer elite PD-75. My XRCD collection is now like the eagle finally found its open sky or the fish its ocean water! My good CDs sounded accurately much better. Alas, distinguishably it also revealed my bad CDs so sad that I would rush to Rasbutin store to get rid of them at once.

Now, I can enjoy my 480p Pure Cinema Progressive Scan DVD movies & analog-like CDs music at near their nirvana! All at a fraction of the list price. However often times luck plays a crucial part when buying a used equipment. Because who'd know if it's been abused, beaten up or worst internally damaged! That's the risk that one must carefully calculate!)

Thanks for reading!

Strengths:
High fidelity sound & picture quality.
Analog-like sound. Image is precise. Color is deep & real. Intrutments sound distingishable accurate.
Built like a tank!
Look as expensive as it costs!

Weaknesses:
Put an end to your bad recording CDs and DVDs. Believe me, you won't bother to put them on any more (time is too valuable to waste on such!).

It could be a good thing for used record stores!

Similar Products Used:
My System:
Dedicated room. Size 15' W x 27' L with cathedral ceiling and controlled light.
Denon AVR-5800 ultra-THX Receiver
Sharp XV-Z9000U DLP front projector
Ceiling mounted.
DA-Lite High Power 16x9 Screen. Size 120" diagonal.
Pioneer Elite PD-75 CD player
JVC XV-D723Gold DVD, DVD-A player
Pioneer Elite LCD-53 Laserdisc player with Legato Link.
Infinity Kappa 8.1 series II front speakers
Klipsch center
JBL surround and back speakers for 7.1 channels.
Two EarthQuakes and Audiosource Subwoofers 15".
600 CD collection. Mainly Jazz/Classical/ Classic Rocks (Dire Strait's).
200 Laserdiscs (ouch!). I just got rid of my 400 LPs 4 years ago (another ouch!).
100 DVD and the 2-DVD "Movie-Pass" membership at BlockBuster!

Price Paid:  $700.00 from Local dealer (demo)

Summary:
Another irresponsible and useless review posted down there. 1/1? You gotta be kidding. I have two words for people like that "Grow up."

Anyway, I bought this unit demo at $700. I was also offered similar price for Sony DVP-S9000ES and Toshiba SD-9200, so I asked for A/B comparison on these units. The result was quite surprising. I wanted to like Sony unit with SACD capability and the brand name. Toshiba also has more functions like DVD-Audio and CD-R's. But, at the end of the hour, both my wife and I were surprised to find that our top pick was the same, Panasonic H-1000.

H-1000 is about 3 years old, but it's one of the very-well made units with top notch parts. Picturewise, the difference was not subtle. H-1000 had the best contrast and sharpness of the three. The transition was very smooth, and the color was so vivid and just awesome. Then, Toshiba was just a tad better than Sony, I thought. The difference between Panasonic and the other two was a lot, though.

Audio. This is where Panasonic kills the other two. Comparison is for regular CD's only. I have about 700 CD's and am in no plan to buy DVD-A or SACD until their fight is over. My current CD source is California Audio Labs Alpha DAC and Delta transport connected by Kimber Select pure silver digital cable. Almost $3000 for CD playback only. H-1000 came very close in sound quality. Alpha/Delta has much wider sound stage and depth, but Panasonic was better in clarity and bass extension and definition.

If you are looking for a DVD player that can also be your MP3/CD-R/CD-RW/SACD/DVD-A machine, then H-1000 is not for you. But, if you want a solidly built quality player that can play DVDs and CDs at the highest level, Panasonic H-1000 at its discontinued, used/demo price, is a steal. The current H-2000 model is identical in performance except DVD-A and CD-R/RW playback at >$2500.

In summary, H-1000 is not an ordinary Japanese mass-produced unit, but a top quality product in the same league with serious audiophile/videophile products.

Strengths:
Top notch audio and video performance

Weaknesses:
CDs and DVDs only. No CD-R/RW, DVD-A or SACD playback.

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP-S9000ES, Toshiba SD-9200

Price Paid:  $840.00 from JandR

Summary:
Very solid, well built unit. Easy to set up. A steal at $899
or less--I paid $840 plus shipping. Will be replaced by the DVD-H2000. Only difference is the inclusion of DVD-Audio
on the new unit and chanpagne in color. Price will jump back up to around 2K with the new model just for DVD-Audio and champagne cosmetics. This is the piece to buy if you're looking for a high end, no compromise progressive scan
player. Performance is superb.

Strengths:
Stunning audio and video--Robust construction--Now available for $899 or less from JandR

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
CD audio output comparable to Sony CDP-XA7ES

Summary:
This player can't now compete in market. Beacause Toshiba and Sony having new players which using same Genisis decoder but also to having SACD (Sony)DVD-A (Tosh). This model is offers less but charging too much money. They all look good...very few artifacts and trues inverse telecine, but this player now outclassed and underprices by better units from Sony and Toshiba. I think the S9000ES is the best player now -- having 12bit color decoder and SACD.

Strengths:
looking good picture

Weaknesses:
too much expensive, getting too hot

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba SD 9200, Sony S9000ES

Price Paid:  $1650.00

Summary:
This player has met my expectations in every way. For $3000 it's a tough sale in light of the price of Toshiba's 6200 but for under $2000 it is practically a bargain. And unlike the Toshibas, all features on the Panasonic can actually be used in progressive mode, rather than interlaced only(I still can't figure out why Toshiba would have features on a progressive scan player that can only be used with interlaced output.) The audio performance is also second to none that I have heard. The only thing that I would add to it would be scaling ability (which is rumored to be included in it's successor the H2000) and maybe a slightly better remote, though the remote that comes with it is one of the best I've seen and is only surpassed by the remote for the Sony 7700. The gamma control afforded by this player is a must if you own a 2000 model Mitsubishi hdtv and the players ability to force film/video detection is a big plus with many discs. However, even it's auto detection seems to work alot better than that of the Toshiba 9100 I have thats been collecting dust for the past 6 months. Colors on this player are also the best I've seen from any player that I've used or demoed. I'm sure this is due to it upsampling the color to 4:4:4. I have little doubt that the H1000 will be surpassed in quality and features sometime in the next year but, for now it seems to be top dog at least in it's price range. I've never actually even seen some of the more elite players available that go for $10,000 and up, though. The H1000 has been a ground breaking player, offering features and a level of performance not seen prior to it's release late last year. And it will probably remain a very well respected unite until the advent of HD DVD. If you are looking to buy this unit, though, I recommend that you consider the extended warranty as the manufacturers warranty is severly lacking. I have not personally had a problem as of yet with the unit overheating despite having it stored in a very open cabinet. However, several people I know of have had the problem and due to it's cause it almost seems inevitable with this unit. If this unit is out of your price range, the Toshiba 6200 seems to be the way to go. Good luck!

Strengths:
progressive video, audio, features, build quality, remote

Weaknesses:
price, availability, poor/no ventilation can cause over heating if stored in a small cabinet or stacked with other heat producing components, short warranty period for labor costs

Similar Products Used:
Mitsubishi DD1000, Toshiba 3108, Sony 7700, Toshiba 9100