Yamakawa CH-DVD 300S
One of my all-time favorite DVD players
This is a sweet little DVD player. I would love it even were it not for its special capabilities. It has a nice, lightweight remote with well-designed functionality (not the most superior layout, but better than most), a setup menu I found easy to use; and it feels well-built and looks very nice (the latter two being bonuses I did not expect). The player lets you select not only PCM or AC-3, but also provides an equalizer with some degree of customization.<br /><br />The picture quality is beautiful, and the player seamlessly does everything I have demanded. Be advised that US consumers need to concern themselves with two issues. First, the all-important region. Some DVDs are made without a designated region; these are called \\"Region 0\\" and their \\"region\\" is allowed in any player. Some DVDs are made with different regions in mind (US is Region 1); and there have been two different methods used by the studios to implement this. One method allows a DVD player to query the disc for the proper region and can allow play; the other method deliberately foils this. For discs encoded with the second method, a player must first be told it is Region X (where X is the proper region). This is not the fault of the player, but the studios (who, frustratingly, often don't ever release highly-sought-after titles in other countries but STILL disable the discs there).<br /><br />The second issue with which we in the US must be familiar, is that there are other \\"standards\\" than ours here. We use the \\"NTSC\\" standard to encode our DVDs and videos. The UK, for example, uses the \\"PAL\\" standard. If I wanted to watch, say, a DVD of \\"Solo\\" from the UK, I would need to ensure I had a player which could play Region 2 DVDs AND which could convert the signal from PAL to NTSC. Many of the more well-known-brand players I found require you to get a PAL TV. This little Yamakawa does not. All you have to do is politely request that he always play NTSC, rather than leave the player on the default \\"AUTO\\" setting (NOTE: If you see a black and white wavy picture without sound, you are probably accidentally playing PAL). In summary, this player has been a joy to me and has worked flawlessly; and I hope it can provide others with the kind of happiness it has given me.<br /><br />EDIT 04/11/09: My Yammy's Video out and SVideo out stopped working a little while ago, but I *still* use it because it is still the best multi-region player I have found! (I use the component out and the VGA out instead)<br /><br />EDIT 08/27/10: I am still joyfully using my original Yamakawa with its component outputs; and my best friend is still using my other Yamakawa (which has had no problems) that I had gotten a few weeks after the first as a backup.<br /><br />EDIT 05/14/12: I am still using my original Yamakawa on component outputs and VGA outputs depending on what I am doing at the time, and my best friend is still using my other Yamakawa without problems.