Panasonic DVD-S55S Digital Remastering Progressive-Scan DVD , Silver
Great Features for the Price
My family has been buying Panasonic products for years, but this is the first time I've ever bought one of their DVD players.  I've previously had a Sony and a cheapo KLH Home Theater in-a-box.  When I was looking for a new player I knew that I wanted something that looked nice, had progessive scan (for the future), could play DVD audio, photo CDs, and MP3s.  Oh yeah, and should be affordable for a college student.<br />Enter the Panasonic DVD-S55S.<br />1. DVDs boot up quickly and it plays them perfectly. I've tested a few movies out and I don't even notice layer changes (a BIG problem with the KLH).  There does seem to be a fair amount of flicker with contrasting colors on some menus.<br />2. Photo/MP3 CDs play well and are easy to navigate.  However, vertical photos don't seem to play and MP3 filenames can be cut off if they're too long.  The flicker shows it's ugly mug again on photos, but is easier to ignore.<br />3.  Features galore!  Progressive Scan, DVD-A (don't assume that all players can play these!), Dynamic Range Compression (kind of evens out the louds/softs of the movie), Optical audio output, Component video, and several ways to tweak audio/video for better quality.<br />Overall, I'd give this player 4.5 stars but had to round up.  The flicker problem could just be my TV or the way I'm hooking it up, I don't know.  My only other real criticism is the remote.  It's just kind of there.  A little ugly but very usable.  So, if you're looking to get into DVD or looking for a cheap player that will be able to keep up with you for several years, look no further than this one!