Price Paid:  $249.00

Summary:
I bought this to replace the junky Toshiba 4109x that I had purchased for 2x what I paid for this Yamaha. (SEE MY REVIEW OF THE TOSHIBA 4109x - what a piece of crap)

All I can do is compare what I had to the Yamaha and what I saw in the store.

First off, let me point out what a tough (sometimes jerk) of a customer I can be. Salesmen for the most part do not like dealing with me, because I have to see everything for myself. I will spend the money, but they need to accomidate me.

I went to Goodguys and as you know they very rarely have all if any of the dvds connected to a TV and if they do it is always that highend HDTV that most of us don't know. I asked him to hook up the DVD players that I was interested to a TV that was similar to mine. He pretty much told me they don't do that, and I told him that I guess you don't want to make a sale or work for a living. I walked over to another salesman and told him what I wanted and he accomidated me, and I made sure that he got the sale.

My budget was under $350. I looked at all the sonys, jvcs, rcas, and two yamahas they had. They did not have the one I purchased. I stayed away from toshiba, since I had so many problems with it.

I notice that the yamaha's had blacker blacks. I could not get the JVC to duplicate it. The RCA seemed cheap and I passed. It was a toss up between the Sony and Yamaha. I have read alot about artifacts with the Sony and that not all discs work with it. (SEE THE SONY REVIEWS).

I did notice the Sony flicker when the picture of an explosion in the Matrix DVD, which did not happen to the Yamaha.

The Goodguy salesman told me he only had the yamaha demo left an they would not be caring it anymore. Thanks for waiting to tell me that after all this.

I went to a local A/V store and they had several models including the 5350.

Pros - simple, super easy remote, and the picture was excellent.

I had 5 movies that either would not play on the Toshiba or had terrible artifacts. I sampled them all at the store on the Yamaha and Sony. The Yamaha played each with out a hitch, so did the Sony (except I duplicated that problem with the Matrix again). I ended up with the Yamaha, not to mention that is cost $50 less then the Sony.

My tips.
1. Make the salesman earn his keep. Have him test each machine with you and with a TV that is similar to yours. No sense looking at the HDTV if you don't have one.
2. Don't be affraid to select from several brands. I am never married to a brand and would prefer to test each one in my price range. I seem to be moving over to Yamaha more and more, not that I have selected it in the first place.
3. Bells and whistles are sales gimicks. You are not playing with the remote when watching a movie. You want something simple and easy. Not the 100+ button Toshiba remote that needs it's own manual.
4. Bring in some of your own movies and sample them on the different machines.

My current system:
AV Receiver - Yamaha HTR-5250
Sat. TV - Echostar DISH NETWORK (S-video & Optical to HTR)
CD - Yamaha CDC-665 (RCA to HTR)
VCR - Mit. HS-U560 (RCA to HTR)

Speakers:
Klipsh KV-1 - Center
Phasetech 7.5 VDT - Front
Celestion Impact 15 - Rear
Infinity BU-1 - Sub

Strengths:
Remote = easy to use, Unit = simple and clean, picture = excellent black levels

Weaknesses:
Have not found one yet.

Similar Products Used:
Toshiba 4109x = crapola