k00k1503559827 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 I'm thinking a Pioneer DV-490V. Is that a good choice? I just need component, and HDMI for future proofing (just in case). Its just for a friend, who isn't chasing all the bells and whistles. If anyone else has a better recommendation, please feel free to inform me...
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 No, no, no, the Pio 490 again, stay away, well away! It's funny i had this question come up earlier in the week when he was able to pick up a 490 for $100. This is what i told him: quote\ Stay away from the Pioneer 490 it is bad news. It is really only an NTSC player, it handles PAL material very poorly to say the least. It has no film-mode for PAL DVDs which results in really bad jaggies, which isn't what you want in a progressive scan player. I have a Sony DVPNS76H which will cost you between $160 - $200. It's performance is excellent for the price, i used it to replace my Panasonic S97 which contained the Faroudja chip and cost me $500. That's how good the Sony is. Highly recommended. If you want a DVD player for $200 the DVPNS76H is a good choice. Here is the Secrets Benchmarks review: http:\\www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=133
Gino Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 Although this is a little more expensive (US$149), you also can't look past the Oppo 970HD. Can handle both NTSC and PAL well, and is multiregion. Has the Faroudja chip, and Mediatek MPEG decoder. HDMI also (there is a hacked firmware which allows you to upscale over HDMI without a HDCP compliant display, and also allows 480i/576i output over HDMI for those with external video processors), and supports SACD. I could have bought any DVD player for any price, and this is what I ended up with. Secrets Benchmarks also reviewed it here: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/sho...manufacturer=68 http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd.html
k00k1503559827 Posted April 1, 2007 Author Posted April 1, 2007 The Oppo does look great from the reviews, but at the Aussie shop that distributes it, its over $300 delivered. I know they only want to spend around the $200 mark. I guess I'll recommend the Sony at this stage. Thanks for the warning on the DV-490V. I really had no idea it was so poor. I've got a Pio DV-383, which seems fine to me. Maybe I just I have no idea. Could well be the case. Actually, thinking about it, am I totally wasting my Pana 50" HD panel by using this DVD player with it???
glennb Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 The next Pioneer model (DV-696) is a very good player, but goes for $250. I'd go with the Sony as suggested or the Pioneer if they wanted to stretch the budget a bit.
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 The Oppo does look great from the reviews, but at the Aussie shop that distributes it, its over $300 delivered. I know they only want to spend around the $200 mark. I guess I'll recommend the Sony at this stage.Thanks for the warning on the DV-490V. I really had no idea it was so poor. I've got a Pio DV-383 as a second player, which seems fine to me. Maybe I just I have no idea. Could well be the case... I think it was only the 490 with those problems. I think your OK with the 383 so not to worry.
wedge001 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 No, no, no, the Pio 490 again, stay away, well away!It's funny i had this question come up earlier in the week when he was able to pick up a 490 for $100. This is what i told him: quote\ Stay away from the Pioneer 490 it is bad news. It is really only an NTSC player, it handles PAL material very poorly to say the least. It has no film-mode for PAL DVDs which results in really bad jaggies, which isn't what you want in a progressive scan player. I have a Sony DVPNS76H which will cost you between $160 - $200. It's performance is excellent for the price, i used it to replace my Panasonic S97 which contained the Faroudja chip and cost me $500. That's how good the Sony is. Highly recommended. If you want a DVD player for $200 the DVPNS76H is a good choice. Here is the Secrets Benchmarks review: http:\\www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=133 Just to back up Jimbo's post. I had exactly the same probs with the Pioneer - its awful. Got a Sony DVPNS76H and its great. Avoid the 490V like the plague.
???? Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 Just to back up Jimbo's post. I had exactly the same probs with the Pioneer - its awful. Got a Sony DVPNS76H and its great. Avoid the 490V like the plague. Agree
k00k1503559827 Posted April 1, 2007 Author Posted April 1, 2007 I've got a Pio DV 383 and a Tosh SD-5200. I use the Pio more as the Tosh plays up a bit, has trouble loading. Should I ditch both of these and get the Sony as well until I can decide on what HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player to get? That could be a few more months until I decide there. All hooked up to a Pana 50" HD plasma.
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 I've got a Pio DV 383 and a Tosh SD-5200. I use the Pio more as the Tosh plays up a bit, has trouble loading. Should I ditch both of these and get the Sony as well until I can decide on what HD-DVD/Blu-Ray player to get? That could be a few more months until I decide there. All hooked up to a Pana 50" HD plasma. If your going to get a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player in a couple of months, then i'd just wait for that as they'll upscale your DVDs also, but if your going to wait for one or the other format to prevail over the other which will be years away, then a good upscaling player like the Sony for only $200 could be well worth it. But if you want to upscale to HD res then you will need to use the HDMI output. Component will only give you up to 576p. But you will enjoy better colour and clarity and the de-interlacing will be better than your current players. I have mine hooked up to a 42" HD Panasonic plasma.
shai Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 Guys, Would the Sony DVPNS76H be able to play burnt 4gb DVDs? I ask because my wife is a BIG bollywood fan and those releases are basically the only ones we get in Oz. If not, whats a player that you would recommend that could do this? Thanks Shai
Wing Nut Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 The Oppo does look great from the reviews, but at the Aussie shop that distributes it, its over $300 delivered. I know they only want to spend around the $200 mark.I ordered mine direct from the USA and it arrived within 4 days and cost me about A$200 at the time. At our current rate the OPPO costs A$184. Check the delivery costs because mine wasn't that expensive in total, but it was damn quick and the after-sales service (email enquiries re firmware, remote codes, etc - no faults!) and firmware upgrades (usually updating format compatibilities) are exceptional. They personally replied to emails within minutes and I've heard of a couple of Australian owners getting units swapped via the USA at little to no expense (initial freight costs refunded) - and very quickly. I'm thinking of buying another OPPO for the shack.
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 1, 2007 Posted April 1, 2007 Guys,Would the Sony DVPNS76H be able to play burnt 4gb DVDs? I ask because my wife is a BIG bollywood fan and those releases are basically the only ones we get in Oz. If not, whats a player that you would recommend that could do this? Thanks Shai If you are talking about DVD-R/-RW or DVD+R/+RW then i have had no trouble playing them, it also has support for Divx and has played everything i have thrown at it to date.
alfalfa Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Although this is a little more expensive (US$149), you also can't look past the Oppo 970HD. Can handle both NTSC and PAL well, and is multiregion. Has the Faroudja chip, and Mediatek MPEG decoder. HDMI also (there is a hacked firmware which allows you to upscale over HDMI without a HDCP compliant display, and also allows 480i/576i output over HDMI for those with external video processors), and supports SACD. I could have bought any DVD player for any price, and this is what I ended up with. Gino are you aware the 970hd does not have a PAL film deinterlacing mode (2:2 cadence)? I emailed oppo regarding this issue and the engineer replied telling me not to buy the 970hd if i wanted to watch pal movies using the progressive outputs. Apparently this is a flaw with the mediatek chipset used. Obviously this is not an issue if you are outputing 576i to an external video processor for deinterlacing. However for most people this is a serious flaw and hence I would not recommend the 970hd. It definitely stopped me from purchasing it.
Ptechnix Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 I just bought this one a couple of months ago and I think its great http://www.kingwelltechnology.com/product/...00i/feature.asp Ordered it over ebay. Its an upscaling player and works a treat for my setup. Unfortunately its having problem outputting 1080p to my Bravia X, but the engineers there said it will be fixed soon with a firmware upgrade. Its to do with the Sony Bravias themselves which work a bit differently from other 1080p displays. Has every output under the sun and I think its a great buy. Very happy with it. It was about $200AU on ebay. The PQ of the upscaled DVDs are terrific compared to SD. Same as if would look if you playing a DVD from your PC.
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Gino are you aware the 970hd does not have a PAL film deinterlacing mode (2:2 cadence)? I emailed oppo regarding this issue and the engineer replied telling me not to buy the 970hd if i wanted to watch pal movies using the progressive outputs. Apparently this is a flaw with the mediatek chipset used. Obviously this is not an issue if you are outputing 576i to an external video processor for deinterlacing. However for most people this is a serious flaw and hence I would not recommend the 970hd. It definitely stopped me from purchasing it. If your going for an Oppo the OPDV971H with Faroudja is a better choice. It does not have the same problems with PAL material, and only costs a little more.
Wing Nut Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 I emailed oppo regarding this issue and the engineer replied telling me not to buy the 970hd if i wanted to watch pal movies using the progressive outputs. Apparently this is a flaw with the mediatek chipset used.I hadn't noticed/realised this, but that flaw aside; try getting that sort of knowledgeable help and advice from most other manufacturers/dealers. It confirms my opinion of OPPO and I'll surely check their product list, and even query them for an honest answer, before browsing any others.
Gino Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Gino are you aware the 970hd does not have a PAL film deinterlacing mode (2:2 cadence)? I emailed oppo regarding this issue and the engineer replied telling me not to buy the 970hd if i wanted to watch pal movies using the progressive outputs. Apparently this is a flaw with the mediatek chipset used. Obviously this is not an issue if you are outputing 576i to an external video processor for deinterlacing. However for most people this is a serious flaw and hence I would not recommend the 970hd. It definitely stopped me from purchasing it. Sorry, my bad. Forgot about this, I looked at the review site I mentioned and it looked like the 970 passed 2:2 testing. But I do recall reading elsewhere at the time that it had problems deinterlacing PAL. This was a non-issue for me as I use external scalers and bought it primarily for its ability to output 480i/576i over HDMI without encryption. Yes, in this regard, the 971 is a better buy, albeit more expensive.
Mr Ploppy Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 hmmm....this explains why my Xbox 360 plays movies a lot better than my Pioneer DV-490V. Oh well I might be able to sell it on ebay.
Raaf_ Hornet Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 So out of the Pio DV-696AV-S and the Sony DVPNS76H has either machine got the edge over the other ? cheers
glennb Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Sony website only lists it's progressive playback as NTSC, Pio is both. 696 is a SACD player, as well as DivX Ultra & WMA compatible. Sony isn't. Video quality over the 696 HDMI is excellent (720p to 720p native PJ). I haven't seen the Sony though to compare.
Raaf_ Hornet Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Thanks Wacko, I'm looking for a player to go with my Benq 8720 PJ via HDMI, as my current player is the older Pio DV 466, Jeff
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 So out of the Pio DV-696AV-S and the Sony DVPNS76H has either machine got the edge over the other ? cheers I'd say the Sony. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/sho...mp;articles=133
Guest JimboTHX1138 Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 Sony website only lists it's progressive playback as NTSC, Pio is both.696 is a SACD player, as well as DivX Ultra & WMA compatible. Sony isn't. Video quality over the 696 HDMI is excellent (720p to 720p native PJ). I haven't seen the Sony though to compare. The Sony does both PAL and NTSC de-interlacing too, and Divx.
glennb Posted April 2, 2007 Posted April 2, 2007 The Sony does both PAL and NTSC de-interlacing too, and Divx. I thought it might, but it doesn't say so on their website. Not sure what the difference is between normal DivX and DivX Ultra either.
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