JVC XV-M567GD 3-Disc Triple Tray DVD Player , Gold
A Reliable, High-Performance DVD Player with Few Drawbacks
Ok, I've been reading the reviews on this one and I figured I put my 2 cents in.  First of all, this is NOT the player for you if you want CD-R, CD-RW or MP3 capability.  I'm sure there are others out there that will appeal to your needs so stop reading now.  That said, I'll touch on the positive first, then the drawbacks.  This was my first DVD player.  I wanted a brand known for high quality and made room in my budget accordingly.  I had a basic, 27&quot; Panasonic TV with S-Video inputs and NO receiver.  I got this home, hooked it up via the S-video cable and used my basic component cables for the sound.  I popped in a dvd and, all I can say is WOW!  The picture itself was incredible....  it rivaled the digital TV demos I'd seen in various stores.  I'm sure alot of you out there are saying &quot;whatever&quot; but it was that good!  I was so pleased.  Then, after reading up on the additional features this player had, I began to play around with some of them.  It was a heck of a lot of fun!!  I don't think I'll use them much anymore, but they are good to show off to your buddies...  :)  Anyway, all went well for months and months...  I had no problems whatsoever with this unit and it plays ALL kinds of dvd's...  (either region free or 1).  I would aggressively use the multiple trays and watch my favorites scenes from my discs in random order...  no performance problems whatsoever!  I've noticed a lot of griping here about the remote... I didn't really have any problems.  I don't mind the shift button...  I mean, how often are you going to be zooming in or changing the angle...  furthermore, how many dvd's offer an angle option...  (I can only think of a handful right now, and it's only in their special features...)  Anyway, all went great and then I realized I wanted surround sound, being that I'd amassed quite a collection of dvd's; most with 5:1 capability.  At the time I was a bit dvd/digitally illiterate and I noticed a strange little logo on the front; DTS.&quot;Hmmm...&quot; I wondered, and I began to research this.  What I found out is that some dvd players have a DTS decoder in them and others (like this unit) just have DTS OUT capability.  Therefore, to take advantage of this feature I would have to buy a receiver with a DTS decoder in it.  No big deal, being that I was planning on this anyway and wasn't even sure what DTS was in the first place.  I ended up getting an Aiwa receiver with a DTS decoder and, while hooking it up to the unit, I noticed it had a digital out jack.  I went out and bought a digital Fiber-Optic Cable (Toslink-to-Toslink), hooked it up to my amp...  left the S-Video cable hooked up directly to my tv and fired er' up!  All I can say is WOW!  This unit combined with my amp delivers KILLER sound.. in 5.1 or DTS... the DTS is audibly better!  I've had this unit for almost a year and have had NO problems.  Ok, on the downside, the wait when you put a dvd in is a bit long...  I do wish it had CD-R capability since I do have a CD burner but I have stereos that play them...  ironically, it DOES play the VCD format.. but I do not own any.  Also, when switching from disk to disk, it takes a bit longer than is preferable...  no biggie.  It also seems that it's really taxing the hardware from the sound of it... but again, it hasn't broken yet.  Another drawback is it's high price...  especially since you don't get a lot of compatibility choices.  There are lots of bells and whistles to choose from, but I doubt you'll find yourself using all of them; all of the time.  I really don't have many negative things to say about it... my experience has been nothing but positive and it's given me many, many hours of entertainment!  Thanks JVC!