Price Paid:  $400.00 from Audio-Visual Solutio

Summary:
I had an earlier one tray version (DVDS700 '99) of this DVD player. I worked well for a while, then while watching "Deep Blue Sea" the picture bcame pixel-lated. I attempted to get it repaired. The bottom line was to get it replaced. I gave it to my daughter. She hasn't had a single problem with it. I was a little leary about getting the carousel version of the same thing. However, I couldn't have made a better decision. It's been great!!! I'm a owner of 457 DVD's (1300+ CD's) and I haven't had a problem so far. I originally had to decide whether I wanted the Yamaha or the Denon Home Theater Receiver/DVD player. I made the correct choice for me. I especially like the idea of the coaxial connection between the unit for the 6 channel descrete sound. It works perfectly. My set is wonderful. I have no complaints even today.

Strengths:
It works superbly with the matching Home Theater Receiver. It has the coaxial interface that works perfectly and eliminates a multitude of RCA connections. The DTS detection is great also.

Weaknesses:
Yet to discover it. Perhaps mine needs more wear. But at the rate I using it I have zero regrets.

Similar Products Used:
DENON

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Miranda HiFi

Summary:
The audio quality of this unit is excellent. I was keen to get a player with good CD audio and I've been really impressed. CDs have never sounded better, and I find myself listening to a lot more music than before. far superior to the Pioneer c503 in this respect.

I've watched about 15 DVDs so far and haven't had any problems. An earlier review talked about skips and stutters. This guy probably bought a lemon because mine hasn't missed a beat. Layer changes are seamless. Colors are bright, contrast excellent and the video is sharp and well defined. Audio is again excellent.

My unit is modded for multi region and is happy playing R1 and R4 disks and has no problems with RCE encoded disks (important for Aussie buyers). Just pop em in and away they go.

Short recommendation, excellent unit, but a pity it won't play CDR (would have got a 5 in both cases).

Strengths:
Sharp picture, great CD and DVD audio

Weaknesses:
won't play CDR or CDRW

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer C503

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Ken Crane's

Summary:
For the love of anything electronic, don't buy this unit! After searching for a DVD player for months, I relented and bought this Yamaha. The video components are identical to Panasonic's A310, I believe. Thinking, perhaps, that Panasonic fixed the glitches on the A310, I bought the Yamaha, despite it having Panasonic parts inside. Boy, was I wrong. Now I'm ticked! After only having the DVD-C996 for a week and a half, it's showing the same exact problems as the A310 did. Pixelation, picture freezing, sound droppage, CD skipping, etc.

Since the store I bought it from only has a 7 day moneyback policy, I'm stuck either with the player, or I have to exchange it for something of equal or greater value. Talk about feeling ripped off for $500 smacks.

At this point, I'm ready to skip buying DVDs and DVD players until the manufacturers can get their components and software to work correctly. Ever since my Panasonic A310 started to pixelate, freeze and drop sound, I've been on the hunt to find a replacement. It's been a joke, to say the least. I was really happy with the A310. The sound and picture were excellent. But the problems started occuring after only 2 years of modest use.

So, with credit card in hand, I shopped around and looked at the reviews here. To my dismay, most of the players out on the market have a lot of technical glitches, or share components from other manufacturers--- which also have technical glitches. I tried JVC. Poor, poor quality. I tried Pioneer's lower-priced line. Cheap quality. I tried Pioneer's Elite 37. Great picture, terrible Pioneer sound. Tried Sony. Soft picture, okay sound. Tried Harmon/Kardon's DVD 50 at $599. Cheap quality and terrible "audiophile sound." Finally, I bought the Yamaha DVD-C996. Bad, bad, bad, bad!

I've been a fan of Yamaha for years. I would've thought they'd be careful in selecting components on their DVD players. If Yamaha knew that Panasonic, which is normally very reliable, had problems, don't you think they'd address them before putting the parts into the players? I've heard that some companies will fix the glitches on their players. How come Panasonic hasn't? Yamaha and Panasonic have burned this loyal customer. See if I buy anything else from you guys again.

Strengths:
Yamaha looks

Weaknesses:
It's Panasonic on the inside! It skips, pixelates and drops out the sound while playing a DVD. I tried playing a normal CD, it skipped, too!

Similar Products Used:
Pioneer Elite 37, Sony 560D, Harmon/Kardon DVD 50, and so on.

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Tweeter

Summary:
I originally bought the dvdc900. Turns out the reviews of that product were pretty accurate. The thing worked well for about 7 weeks then things started going wrong. The dvd would stop mid movie and return the splash screen. I knew right away what the problem was (thanks to audio review)and returned it the next day. It's a shame i didn't find this sight sooner. Luckily Tweeter has a 60 day exchange period. I took the c900 back with about 3 days to spare and got the c996. So far everything is working good but I have to admit after the problems with the c900 I am still a little worried. Hopefully whatever was internally wrong with the 900 was fixed on the 996. It will be interesting to see if this unit has the same problems. I'll have to stick with my fellow Pennsylvanian from Reading with my ratings. I will keep everyone updated.

Strengths:
nice quality picture and sound. cd and dvd in one unit. still working good

Weaknesses:
none yet

Similar Products Used:
yamaha dvdc900

Price Paid:  $375.00 from stereo Barn

Summary:
i dont care about specs.I let my eyes and ears decide this yamaha is an excellent dvd player. remote well set up picture is excellent sound is great function is great.the yamaha does well compared to a Denon for the money ill take yamaha.i used a yamaha rxv-795a high quality speaker cable optical link front jbl 4312 rear jbl 4410 center B+W 600 Hitachi tv.

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
Hitachi Denon