Price Paid:  $279.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
I purchased this dvd player after divx was terminated. Circuit city was getting rid of them for $279. they originally sold for $399. the unit's construction is pretty solid. i like the all metal shell. i also purchased the 3 year service policy. i did this knowing that new technology is not perfected and chances are i would have a problem within 3 years. i was right. about 15 months after using the dvd player i noticed pixelization and long delays between layer changes on dual-layer dvd's. particularly "the world is not enough". the casino scene was unplayable. i brought it in for servicing at circuit city and they replaced the optical pickup which costs $124. luckily i didn't pay a dime because of the service contract. we'll see how long it lasts now. i still have over a year of my service contract left. my next dvd player will be a pioneer.

Strengths:
Shell is all metal.

Weaknesses:
no composite outputs. doesn't play cdr's or mp3.

Similar Products Used:
N/A

Price Paid:  $329.00 from Curcuit City Store

Summary:
This DVD worked fine for the first 13 months. In that 13 months, I must have played no more than 20 DVD Videos. The picture freezes up on all movies now. Plays fine for the first hour of the movie, then it freezes up. Panasonic and Curcuit City did not even want to help. Please do not buy this product, IT SUCKS!!! HEED MY WARNING!!!

Strengths:
Great Picture Quality

Weaknesses:
Broke down right after warranty ended (13months). Panasonic and Curcuit City did not want to help me at all. STAY AWAY WITH THIS DVD, IT SUCKS!!!

Similar Products Used:
Sony DVP-S360
Onkyo DV-S535

Price Paid:  $449.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
This player started getting pixelized images recently. Then it started not recognizing some disc's. Now it won't even read DVD's at all. It says that the player can't read the disc.

CD's work fine, but forget about DVD's.

Buy a Sony. I'm going to. It just figures that the warranty is up, and it stops working.

Strengths:
Worked good for about 13 months

Weaknesses:
Quit working after warranty was up.

Price Paid:  $250.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
This DVD started to refuse to read DVD discs after 13 months.

STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT!

Strengths:
Works for a year or so.

Weaknesses:
FAILS AFTER 13 months, my DVD player stopped working. I started to become choppy and then it refused to read disks.

Summary:
I've been using my player a little over a year and have had no faults. The pixelation that most people talk about really seem to only happen on older DVD's or really dark areas of some dvd's, but as a whole the picture quality is as good as any other mid-ranged player. The sound is pretty damn good. I have a pioneer 509s and for the under $1,000 market, the combination of the 2 is pretty top notch. As far as the remote goes, I like a less bulkier remote. I feel as though I can access all of the features with ease. I bought mine at CC and got the display model for $219 a year ago, which was and sitll is a great deal. Sure there are some new DVD players out there that I would like to have, but until I can upgrade to a big screen Digital tv and the new 7.1 THX receivers I think all is fine for the next year.

Strengths:
Dolby Digital/DTS sound and picture. multiple slo-mo fwd and back

Weaknesses:
no stand out weakness

Similar Products Used:
pioneer laser disc