Panasonic DVD-CP72S 5-Disc Progressive-Scan DVD Player , Silver
Finally, a DVD player that does MP3 right
I already had a 3 DVD changer, but now that I've amassed a collection of some 50 MP3 CD-Rs (all ripped from my own CD collection or downloaded from eMusic, a subscription MP3 service) I was eagerly awaiting a DVD/MP3 player that would let me make use of them. <br />This is the first home stereo MP3 player I've found that actually displays the entire album and track name on the video monitor, not just the first few characters. You can easily step through album names and then step through song titles on that album to find the song you want in seconds, unlike many players that make you click sequentially through 70-80 songs before finding the one you want. At 10 hours of music per MP3 CD-R, I can load up 50 hours of music in this machine, hit &quot;play&quot; and not have to change discs for a week!<br />This player is loaded with features. I cannot yet take advantage of the 5.1 sound outputs or progressive scan features, but that is all waiting for me when I choose to upgrade my receiver and monitor. I'm also excited that I can now explore DVD-audio titles. This deck will read just about any kind of disc: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-Audio, Video CD, MP3 and WMA files.<br />The user interface is intuitive and the unit itself is handsome and compact (only 3 inches tall). I'm looking forward to wading into the more advanced features, but for now I'm having great fun just skimming the surface.<br />Panasonic has packed a ton of features into a sharp looking, easy to use deck at a great price. I know the DVD is an evolving platform (current estimates have the next generation &quot;blue laser&quot; DVDs hitting the market by 2005), but I expect this unit will keep me more than happy for the next few years.