Summary:
I borrowed this unit for a few days from a friend to test out my Yamaha HTR 5240 reciever. Was not impressed. The very first thing i noticed was when watching The Matrix (wich supposedly has some of the best video on DVD) was compression blocks. Now the thing is that this was clear to see on my 1982 21" tv. Trying it on some better TVs with the video and s-video connections just brought this out more. Especially the making of the matrix where there was 60 FPS video. Disgusting. In the layer change in the DVD (right after morpheus picks up the phone and says "we're in" the unit froze up and it sounded like the little laser thing was trying to move but the grars were just stripping. No buttons would stop this and i had to unplug the unit. When plugging it back in and going to this part it only paused for a second, seems to only happen when you watch it from the begenning. I've seen better video coming from my dreamcast in the intro to ecw anarchy rulz. As for the sound it's perfect but that is not hard as it is only outputting ons and offs.

I hope that this is not what DVD is about and it's just due to poor video processing in this unit. Since this is an inexpensive player in guessing that it is directed towards people with regular TVs (you know, non-progressive scan bubble-screens.) My $160 s-vhs in my opinion has better picture when viewed on a regular TV when taped from a good source.

For thopse of you who are interested i opened it up and it had a computer dvd drive (complete with red, black, and yellow power supply jack and IDE cable)

i gave the value rating 3 stars (fair deal) because if nothing else its nice to have something that will output a PCM (including 48 KHz) signal for 650 mb worh of mp3 s on a CD-RW disc and saying to your friends "yeah i got a DVD player."

overall rating is 2 stars (not completely happy) because of the incredible artifacting in the picture. More than DSS. completely clean unscratched disc if you were wondering. 'Nuff said.

Strengths:
Sound, Reads CD-R & CD-RW and MP3 CDs.

Weaknesses:
Video, completely locked up once.

Similar Products Used:
None.

Price Paid:  $200.00

Summary:
You would be better off with $200 worth of dirt.

Strengths:
Works sometimes

Weaknesses:
Usually won't load DVDs that have ANY blemishes. Most rented DVDs don't work or skip the whole time. Freezes in play are contiuous and annoying. My fiance and I both have the same model and they both do the same thing.

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer DVD

Summary:
I was heartened to read other reviews on this site and find out that the problems I have been having with my player are not unique to me. This DVD player is very sensitive to smudges or dust on disks, and as a result, make cleaning of any rented or borrowed disks a must. The player reacts to problems with the disk by freezing. This can usually be resolved by pausing and un-pausing the disk, but usually requires throughly cleaning the disk (since freezing once is usually followed by repeated pauses--very annoying during the key point of a movie).

I got this player (new) at a very good price (

Price Paid:  $165.00 from discount video

Summary:
Well this is a very Honest review with the intent to inform people of good hard fact finding.

First setup is simple with a twist. You can connect it to either your TV, AV unit, A sat dish reciever, or whatever and have it play, only here is the twist.
You need to make sure what you have it setup for is matched in the Menu. Such as the Audio output, Screen Size, and some other features. Also as a extra plus I have the unit running a optical to my AV for perfect 5.1 surround and RGB to my VCR. This works great for my TV only has a Coxial input and that is why I am running this way, but still It works and works great.
Ok next part is about problems. Well after a few days I tried the DVD angle and it did not work and the DVD disk had the feature. To this date after 100+ DVD's with the angel feature it still will not work, Also on note should be the fact that getting some DVD to play can be a pain as the unit will try and load it only to stop or spit it back out. Turns out the DVD everytime had prints on the surface. Another tiny thing to look at is this is not progressive and with progressive being the in thing you might want to keep looking.
Ok here is the great part that makes this a real contender.
First every DVD that I have or rented 300+ different have played from Dineys Oz, Matrix (10x +), Mask, and a host of other DVD that have been posted of not being able to play in higher end units. That makes this a unit to be sure to not forget.
Ok next is the fact that you have so many outputs and the fact they can be used in combo is a great feature. You also have the menu that may be a tad plain is great and offer several features like 5.1 or 2 channel decoading and you need to decided if you want the AV to do the work or the DVD player. You can also have a Aduio out to your AV, TV, and VCR at the same time with all 3 running.
Over all this unit has great benifits, but the problems make up enough to give it a black Eye.

To sum it up with who should buy and who should not.
Anyone looking for a DVD that is not that much into high end stuff or just wants a DVD player that will play ever DVD then this will work wonders. Also first time buyers should make this a first look unit.
Anyone looking for a unit that will play a DVD at higher outputs, Angels, 3 or 5 disk tray should look at some other units.

Strengths:
Plays all DVD's, A ton of outputs, DTS + DD decodeding.

Weaknesses:
Never powers off only sleeps, Problems with DVD if they have finger prints, No -- NO Progresive output.

Similar Products Used:
Non about to upgrade to a Progresive Scan DVD.

Summary:
This little machine wooed me into the world of a digital home theatre system. The unit was on sale for $180 US. Soon after, I purchased a full digital dolby home theatre system and big screen TV to go along with it as I became hooked on DVD's (at a cost of $4,000). The Sharp then became the weak link in my system. At inopportune times, and to the disappointment of my guests, the unit would freeze up or stutter (slow motion) which became frustrating and intolerable. I upgraded to a Toshiba SD2109. The Toshiba was only $75 more and came with 5 free DVD's and 13 free DVD rentals from Blockbuster. The Toshiba is definitely a higher quality unit with features such as multiple fast forward and rewind speeds, picture zoom, the ability to turn off the unit via the remote, a bit stream indicator, etc. The Sharp proves that "if the price is too good to be true, it probably is" or that "you get what you pay for".

Strengths:
Price. Very affordable. Price grabbed my attention and made me buy my first DVD player. One month later I took it back and upgraded to a Toshiba SD2109

Weaknesses:
Can not turn unit off from the remote. Some of the features on the remote did not work. Picture continually freezed up and stuttered which was very frustrating.

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba SD2109 was the model that I upgraded to.