Price Paid:  $99.00 from Circuit City

Summary:
Absolute garbage...but for 99.00 what can you expect.

Strengths:
It works
Audio is good

Weaknesses:
Everything else. The picture quality blows goat kielbasa

Similar Products Used:
Yamaha, Sony, Bose, Acoustic Research

Price Paid:  $100.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
Purchased after extensive on-line examination of reviews. Was looking for the best/least expensive DVD source for a stand-alone analog TV. Of particular importance was anamorphic conversion to the 4:3 format. This unit is simply superb; particularly the picture. I use an analog 27" Zenith; the limiting factor is the raster pattern of the TV. I have never seen any motion or chroma artifacts. Color saturation and tint is uniformly excellent and consistent. What more can I say?

As a test for future TV upgrade, ran a composite output of Gladiator into the front of a 40" Sony XBR-800, using the Sony's internal line-doubler. The scenes were the battle sequences against the Germanic tribes; fast moving action in strongly contrasted lighting. The picture was so good that if I had not seen it myself, I would not have believed it.

It is very rare that a product exceeds one's expectations. This is one such time. At the current on-line close-out price of $100 ($94 here in Phoenix), it is a genuine bargain.

Strengths:
As good as it gets for interlaced output into a standard stand-alone (i.e., non-digital) TV. I find the remote to be excellent, but that's a personal matter.

Weaknesses:
On-screen menus system partly uses graphic symbols, aka hieroglyphics. Very confusing. Should have been all word based.

Similar Products Used:
None. My first DVD player.

Price Paid:  $124.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
Disappointing. Thought I was all set with this unit to fit right in as a decent addition to our system and free-up the kids' Playstation. Unfortuantely, my eyes were spoiled with the Playstation and I instantly noticed a difference in picture quality when watching the first DVD on this SONY, Christmas night. It doesn't come near the Playstation video output. I thought a dedicated unit as this would leave me sleeping well at night after getting it at such a good price. Need to pull out the spec sheets and start comparing. Something I should have done day one before any purchase. I tend to rely too much on the SONY name.

Strengths:
Price.
Ease of use.
Coaxial & S-video outs.
DVD-R, DVD-RW, and MP3 compatability.
Outstanding audio output.

Weaknesses:
Picture quality was disappointing. Get much better resolution, more chroma, and less video noise when using my son's Playstation instead.

Similar Products Used:
Sony Playstation
Pioneer DVD recorder

Price Paid:  $129.00 from Best Buy

Summary:
This unit has a very good picture. The remote is missing the usual number keys.??? On-screen guide is nice. This deck can't handle layer switches. Movie pauses, makes loud "pop" sound, sound drops, and it takes 5 seconds to recover. This was true on all 10 movies that I watched. It's going back. Maybe I have a bum unit, but I am going to try its older brother: dvp-ns415. It has the number keys on the remote and fiber optic out. I would just return it and stick with my older dvp-s360 if it wasn't for the picture quality on this one. You can pick this deck up at sony.com or Crutchfield for $99 and the 415 for $149.

Strengths:
Outstanding picture.
Quiet operation.
Fast load times.
Cheap. Can be had for $99
CD-R, CD-RW, MP3 support.

Weaknesses:
Cheapest remote in DVD player history.
Horrible layer switch handling.
"Smooth Scan" is anything but.

Similar Products Used:
JVC 501bk
Sony dvp-s360

Price Paid:  $125.00 from Super Walmart

Summary:
The first time you turn the player on it walks you through a quick setup which takes 10 minutes (this also includes reading the manual during the process). After that you are ready to watch movies or play CD's.

The picture quality is great (I am using the S-Video output) and the lightness levels can be adjusted along with the surround fields (it can make your TV speakers sound like a surround system, night mode which reduces the loudness of explosions and increases speech volume so you do not disturb family members or roommates while viewing at night).

I am using the component audio outputs to my stereo and the sound is very clean.

Strengths:
Very quiet.
Easy to setup.
Every type of connection except Digital Optical.
Great picture and sound.

Weaknesses:
Many of the functions are not available at the player requiring the remote almost exclusively.
No Digital Optical output.