Pioneer DV-434 DVD Player
Best and Biggest Bang for the Bucks
We purchased this DVD player so that we can use the progressive scan for our Mitsubishi Diamond Series 65&quot; HDTV ready projection TV.  For the price you pay, this DVD player is one excellent buy!  We compared the player to other DVD player including the Toshiba SD 5109 and the JVC 723GD ...  Compared to the Toshiba models, the Pioneer was a bit more blurry but that's only after we switched the input image back to back on our TV which means unless you look for it, you probably won't notice the difference.  Furthermore, you have to decide whether the difference (very minor in my opinion) is really worth the big $$$ difference.  In comparison to the JVC model, the Pioneer beats it hands down.  In fact, we were extremely disappointed with the JVC since our stereo is JVC and with the special JVC link, it would have simplified our remote control.  But the picture result from the JVC turns out to be even worse than the Pioneer which we have previously considered the most basic entry level DVD player with progressive scan (although strictly speaking, we were told that the Pioneer version is a line doubler not a real 3-2 pulldown progressive scan technology).  But however you classified it, the images don't lie and we were very happy to save quite a tidy sum of money by going with the Pioneer than spending more on either the Toshiba or the JVC.  The Toshiba, money aside, remains our favorite, but depending on your priority, it might be worth it to save the money and get a HDTV setup box so that you can get HDTV reception.