CyberHome CH-DVD 500 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
As good as other expensive DVD players...
OK... I admit that I bought this DVD because it was dirt cheap. But I was pleasantly surprised how good it was. I've been using Panasonic DVD-RV30 (Amazon rating=4.5 stars) for about two years and I can confidently say this DVD player is as good as Panasonic. <br />Pros)<BR>1. It has component video, S-Video and RCA video output. Not many DVD players do. And if you have latest HD TV, this one is ready for it with Progressive scan and component video output. By the way, if you have regular tupe TV, you don't need component video but S-video does such a good job. <BR>2. It also has optical audio and coaxial audio output. If you have a killer home theatre system, wouldn't you want to use it to the maximum capacity? By the way, this supports DTS, DOLBY 5.1. <BR>3. It plays DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R,RW, MP3, VCD, and JPEG files on CD. I moved my mini audio system from the living room because this machine can play all kinds of medias. (I do have a Sony receiver for AM and FM)<BR>4. Excellent support - I contacted them with a stupid question but they responded with excellent answers and reasonable delay. They promptly provide BIOS update on their website as well.<br />CONS)<BR>1. Material is not as good as those expensive brands but the player itself looks quite nice with my other decor. I hope they have a black casing though. <BR>2. Information on LCD panel can be better. It shows basic information. <BR>3. Start-up is little bit on the slow side. It takes longer than other brands to read the content at the beginning. <br />Well... That's it... For $, you cannot get a better deal anywhere! I guarantee it. I've been thinking about APEX because it is hackable and cheap but for about the same price, they lack component output and other outputs. If you are going to use it with a TV only, you can go for it but if you have a theatre system this is much better deal. By the way, this one is also hackable. (whatever that means...)<br />Bye~