Pioneer DVD Player DV-440
Better than most, if not all, for the money
First, let me explain my experiences with DVD players. My first was a Sony s330, given to me a few years ago. Then a Toshiba 2109, then a Panasonic RV31 (discussed in another review below), and now this Pioneer 440. This is included so that those with some of the other models have a reference point.<br />The Sony, because it was my first, set the &quot;standard&quot; for good or bad. On my Toshiba 36in TV, which is supposed to be pretty decent, all of those players looked good. Besides the lack of component outputs and an occasional lipsync problem, the Sony was kept because its remote control was the best (though no lighted or glow-in-the-dark buttons), it has smooth FF and reverse, plus a convenient feature I'll mention later.<br />The Toshiba had a good image, but I hated the control (I think it has been improved in newer models), and I didn't like the jerky FF and reverse. So I sold it after almost a year.<br />I bought the Panasonic RV31 next, after reading many reviews on the net. It's apparently one of the few without a red-chroma bug, and its image is supposed to be very good. On my TV it did seem impressive, but I don't know if that was a placebo effect. However, it was returned because of one major problem: if I stop the movie and turn off the machine, it does not continue where it was stopped. Minor you may think, but my wife and I often watch movies late in the evening, and it's nice to continue where we left off before. Also, while it could play MP3s, it could only play them sequentially, not randomly. Kinda annoying. Also, while FF and reverse was smoother than the Toshiba, it was still inferior IMO to the Sony's. Or maybe I'm just used to the Sony.<br />That brings me to the Pioneer 440. Again, lots of research (its score is really high at audioreview.com), and the price is reasonable. The control is OK, not worse than the Panasonic, but I still prefer the Sony the best. Again, maybe I'm just used to it. The image is great, though again maybe it's theplacebo effect. FF and reverse seems smoother than the Panasonic and close to the Sony's, if a little different. It resumes play at the same location after being stopped and turned off. Finally, it can play MP3's randomly.<br />If all that jabber above doesn't mean much, at least take the following advice. Unless you have a really nice HDTV (then you should get a progressive scan player!), the difference in image quality is not nearly as noticeable as remote control ergonomics and some of the convenience features. Finally, make sure the unit doesn't have any known bugs like the lipsync problem mentioned above, or problems playing certain movies.