RCA RC5220P DVD Player
just the basics
I found this a good entry-level player. If you have a nice home theater system set-up already, I wouldn't go with this player though. The player lacks several features an audio/video enthusiasts may want: there is no component video output; no coaxial digital output; black levels, color, contrast, etc. cannot be adjusted; it cannot play cd-r/rw's or video-cds. It had trouble reading a DVD (ALL region Hong Kong Movie DVD) and it is very sensitive to the discs it plays; it doesn't even like minor scratches, causing skipping and pixallation. In addition, it takes longer than my other DVD (panasonic Rv31s)to load discs and ESPECIALLY to skip songs on audio CDs. This RCA, however, is great value player if all you do is watch DVDs straight on TV. The colors are good and contrast is good. I feel that the brightness level is a bit on the low-end causing some loss of clarity in the dark areas of the movie. I do pay attention to details so I notice these things. But, the difference is so MINOR visually most people won't notice anything less in this RCA than a more expensive machine. I would say that this player is perhaps the best you can get for this price (better than APEX and Oritron). Samsung players in this price range did get good reviews as well from Consumer Report.