I was wondering what the best multi-disc SD DVD player is or what some good ones are.

I actually only need one that supports S-video as I only watch SD titles on a big old CRT of mine that makes SD look the absolute best.

So I don't even need HDMI or upconversion or anything. I am sort of on a low-budget for this but then again, if someone can convince me of buying a more pricey one - that is fine with me too.

Let me know.

(By the way, saw a Sony 5-disc changer with HDMI in Target for about $130 - don't know why I am mentioning that but I am.)

I don't think there really is a "best" changer.

The Sony is about the cheapest new and will probably work fine. Onkyo's DV-CP704 is a six disc unit. I have it and love it, but it retails new for about $200 (refurb through Shoponkyo is $140.) Both are HDMI, but they also have S-video and other legacy outputs.

Yamaha also has one without HDMI, but it's about as pricey as the Onkyo. I think Denon has a model or two as well. I can't think of any others still being made, although there have been quite a few models in the past that might turn up on eBay.

Personally, I'd just get the Sony (or the Onkyo refurb if I wanted an extra disc slot.)

I have the 5 disc sony in my closet now, when we used that it worked pretty darn good and the upconversion worked well too. Never had a problem with it. It has HDMI and cost me $80 on Ebay

Just an update - bought the Sony one for a little under $120 from Target. Have had it for about 10 days. I love it, its great.

I opted for the Onkyo DV-CP704B (black version) from Vanns.com for $159 shipped. Unfortunately, I have to WAIT about 10 days before they'll be in stock and shipping.

The silver is readily available, but I kinda need/want the black chassis. I'll post back once I receive it, but I'll only be able to provide a side-by-side comparison of how it visually performs alongside my Sharp BD-HP20U (blu-ray) when playing SD disks to my current display. I have other SD players attached to older TV's, but nothing else worth comparing this to.

I'm mainly looking for family-friendly convenience, not upconversion, but if it's decent enough in that department, I'll certainly take it! One thing for certain, even sight unseen, it can't be any SLOWER to mount a DVD than a blu-ray player is. Explain to me again why BD won 'the war'? (oh, wait.. I know that answer: $$$)

First Impressions of Onkyo DV-CP704: Finally, the DVD Changer is here! (and they all rejoiced) I did a quick install, eager to see how it looks and to see if I should bother putting the box away, or keep it at the ready for a possible return. I popped a $4.49 HDMI 1.3a Cable from Monoprice onto the back of the player alongside a similarly priced metal-mesh jacketed Optical audio cable, also from Monoprice (I love monoprice.com!), connecting them to my Sharp LC46D64U TV and Onkyo 505 AV Receiver, respectively. I crammed a pair of AA batteries (provided) into the Onkyo remote, powered up the DVD Changer and entered the Setup. I did a quick run thru the settings, changing the output from 480p to 1080i (with a brief stop at 720p, just out of curiousity), and verifying all other available settings (ie. leaving them at defaults, for now). Slapped in a couple of Standard Def DVD's within arms reach (Matrix, Cars, and Transformers), hit Play, and Bob's your Uncle.

First note, a slight negative: The setup menu of the player is a big 'sluggish'. However, after living with the Sharp DB-HP20U Blu-Ray player, the Onkyo menu is only sluggish by some other SD DVD player setup menus... it's by no means a step backwards from the sluggish BP's setup/config menu, which is similarly sluggish. I see this as a very minor issue... I just don't see myself jumping in and out of the player's setup menu very often, once I get it set the way I'd prefer, so I can live with the half second or so pauses between button click and menu item selection changes in the Setup screens. 'nuff of that.

I have to confess to having put a reserve on my expectations, so I didn't exactly set myself up for disappointment. All 3 DVD's loaded up without issue. Once a disc was being played back, I hit 'disc skip' and it took a consistent sub-20 seconds from the time I hit 'disc skip' during the playback of one disc until the next disc was displaying on my screen. I can live with that, without question.

The tray mechanism isn't overly noisy, in my book, only exhibiting a slight 'clunk' sound during the initial disc change movements. The player itself, spinning up a disc, is audible, not unlike a relatively quiet CD/DVD drive in a computer (NOT a noisy one.. a relatively quiet one -- of which I have both, in my home computer. One is a 'whirring' sound, while the other sounds like a jet turbine. The Onkyo changer is of the whirring variety). True, this is noiser than my Sharp Blu-Ray player... but that thing is very, very quiet. And, this whirring sound is made only during initial spin-up. After that, the player is fairly quiet during playback. If I place my ear at the level of the player and move towards the unit, I can begin to hear the spinning sound of the disc once I get within maybe a foot and a half of the front of the unit. This isn't something one should expect to hear from several feet away during viewing. Again, not as quiet as my Sharp BD, but again that player is super quiet anyways, so it's hardly a fair comparison.

Ok, not that I've seen and heard it change discs, I took a brief viewing of each of the 3 discs I had loaded into the tray. I have to say that I'm favorably impressed. While I haven't yet done the 'back and forth' comparison directly to the Sharp BD player, at first glance it would seem that nobody in this house will be missing anything by player Std Def DVD's in the Onkyo vs. the Sharp. It looks really good. I am pleasantly surprised by the visual quality of all 3 discs. I can't wait to run some more thru it, but that will have to wait for later this week. At first, I was cautious about getting too close to the screen, half expecting to be disappointed by poor upscaling performance. Not to worry. It looks very good (using my 'visual memory' of my Sharp's performance as a guide). I'm curious to see how they do side-by-side... but I'll have to grab the 2nd copies of the few movies we have duplicate originals of (thanks to gifts, or my kid's strong desire to have their own originals of certain movies -- to cut down on the infighting that can sometimes erupt!). I expect to do just that this weekend and right now I find myself wondering if this player just might be the superior performer at SD playback. Hard to tell based on memory alone and my exceeded expectations at this point in time. I'll reserve that judgement until I get them both playing back the same content and flip back and forth between them on identically configured HDMI inputs on my TV set. In the meantime, this looks like a clear keeper for me, in terms of visual performance.

Playback experience on all 3 movies has appeared perfectly smooth. I had dreaded the possibility this player might exhibit the alledged stutter (or whatever a couple of people had described they'd experienced) during Chapter transitions. I have witnessed nothing of the sort. I've skipped back and forth thru to random chapters, then hit REW to get to the point just before the chapter markers and each time it simply plays thru the transition without a hint of hesitation, hiccups, or any kind of playback issue at all. So, that's a welcome relief (that kind of performance would be a fatal flaw and a clear cause for instant return for a refund).

I'm not sure what else to say, at this stage. It works perfectly and "as advertised" THUS FAR, anyways. I will make an effort to perform the side-by-side visual quality test against my Sharp blu-ray player this weekend. In the meantime, the box and packing material will go to the basement for storage and this DVD Changer will find it's way to a shelf on the TV stand, ready for use as the default DVD player for my family to use for SD DVD playback and Audio CD playback.

Unless something changes dramatically over the next week or so, I believe I will remain thoroughly satisfied with this purchase. Two thumbs up for first impressions.

mark