Video Asylum

Posted by RichardH on March 31, 2000 at 07:13:56:

In Reply to: entry level DVD player? posted by zaphod on March 31, 2000 at 06:11:05:

I have the 525, and it has worked flawlessly for dozens of movies. The Toshiba has just been replaced by a new model number, 1200 I think. In addition to those, people also seem to like the Panasonic A120. I would stay away from the entry level Sony players; apparently lots of problems.

Of all the budget players, I think the Pioneer 525 is the best. It will pass full 24bit/96kHz from the _digital_ outputs, and has excellent video quality. The only bad part is that the remote buttons are really small, but most people with DVD players have a system that would benefit from a universal remote, and those are really cheap nowadays.

Some people even use the Pioneer 525 as a transport for the Bel Canto DAC-1, as recommended by Bel Canto. I think that's recommendation enough. I've seen the 525 for $250 most everywhere now, and there's a five-free-movie deal going, which I got when I got mine, 6 months ago.

Cheers,
RichardH