I spent alot of time researching low- mid priced dvd players for my entry level system. everybody's products seemed to have some faults of some kind ( lip synch,disc freeze, audio drop-outs , etc.). i saw the zenith locally for $350. and at shop4. for $ 300. i bid on it new at ubid for $ 229./ 16. shipping after contacting Zenith for warranty info ( all zenith repair centers honor warranty from ubid. ). not wanting to spend alot of $$ on a unit until they reach better performance levels , i bought this. i have played around 5 discs thru the unit with no problems. the picture is sharp and detailed , however at 4x/16x zoom it does grain up( is this normal ?). the dd sound thru my sony 835 , infinity rs5's and surrounds is really good to my ears. i have yet to try a" dts disc and will first audition the Eagles :" when hell freezes over ". this unit has built in dd w/ dts out , optical-digital outs , component out , 5.1 outs and lots of other features. I'm sure others are better but for the cost you can't go wrong ( i also checked with Zenith and it does read/play dual layered discs ). for price features a difinite 5 but for true performance a solid 4. check out zenith.com for the features and keep an eye at ubid.

I have had this VD for a while now and have had only one problem with it -- I get occasional macro blocking on the wedding singer, Although I am not convinced that this is not caused by the copy of the disk I rented.

Overall this DVD seems feature packed at a decent price -- especially for me since it was a prize