Panasonic DVD-RV32K DVD Player, Black
Best in it's class!
Suffice it it say, I did some reading (mostly reviews, both professional and by customers). I've been a fan of Toshiba players since the inception of DVD players so I was already leaning in that direction. I've also had my eye on Panasonic players every since they were one of the first BIG brands to incorporate MP3 decoding. If you are going to buy a CD player or [non-projection] TV, Sony's the way to go, but nothing impressed me about their DVD players (which I often heard developed problems down the road).<br />I was pretty much decided on Toshiba, when I discovered the Panasonic RP-62K. For the price, it's probably the best DVD player you can buy. In truth, there was really no reason not to get this player. It's a top quality, progressive scan player that sells in the price range of name brand non-progressive scan players. However, I found the RV-32K for nearly half the price which is almost the same machine, minus the progressive scan (which I don't yet need as it's worthless unless you have an HDTV).<br />Come to find out, in the world of non-progressive scan players, this model tops the lists of professional reviews more than any other player by far.<br />The machine isn't perfect, but do you really expect to get everything in a DVD player costing less than a grand? Some complaints include things such as the lack of a coaxial digital audio output, lack of Dolby 5.1 or DTS decoding, or it's lousy remote. First the biggest annoyance, the lack of the coax audio output, will only be a problem if for some reason you're home theatre can't take another optical input. Individuals that are concerned about this shouldn't have cheap theatre receivers to begin with. Second, the lack of a decoder is moot in this day and age. Show me a home theatre that has 5.1 inputs, but can't decode from an optical audio feed (such as this model offers). If you are concerned about Dolby 5.1 or DTS, you should already have a Dolby 5.1/DTS receiver. Why pay for features you'll never need? Last, the remote is a bit annoying; the buttons are pretty small. But again, I must ask, if you have a home theatre, you should be controlling everything with the home theatre's universal remote. If you are one of those people who are just going to plug it straight into a TV which is old enough not to have a universal remote of it's own, it's still only a minor complaint.<br />Even though the complaints I just mentioned really shouldn't be worthy of complaints at all, let's get to the good stuff. For most users, any name brand DVD player is going to get the job done. How many times do I have to read a review from a customer saying, \\"I put the DVD in my XXX brand DVD player and it plays great! The picture is clear and crisp.\\" Well duh. There's only one way to decode digital information. So a DVD player purchase comes down to two things: quality of parts and build for longevity and features. Panasonic players are appearantly noted for their quality in build and parts as are Toshiba, Zenith, and believe it or not JVC. The features is where this DVD player shines. I won't list them all here (you can find a comprehensive list on panasonic's website), but I will note a few that were key for me.<br />Most new DVD players read MP3 files off CD-R, but the Panasonic's on screen menu feature makes navigating your songs easier than most. It also reads subdirectories so you can categorize your music in separate folders. While it doesn't support ID3 tags, it does display the name of the file. So unless you named it something unrecognizable, you should have no problems.<br />Finally, I'm surprised to see no one mentions Panasonics dual laser and disc stabilization which compensates for unbalanced and/or warped discs. This model excels at reading damaged or poorly manufactured discs. This is rarely a problem for hollywood production DVDs that are well kept, but imports can be another matter. As the saying goes, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.<br />You can pay a lot more and not get much better than RV-32K.ve it.<br />You can pay a lot more and not get much better than RV-32K.