Was wondering if anyone here has the S54K and can answer a couple of questions for me. I am thinking of getting this player but im having a hard time getting much feedback from owners.

If anyone has this player on this board I would appreciate it if you can chime in with any impressions you might have, thanks.

No responses huh? Glad to know I can rely on this site for my electronics questions.

Hmm, perhaps in the four hours you waited, some people were out to dinner... give it a few days.
BTW, I am also interested in feedback on the Panny.

Well the title of the thread says it all and 38 people still chose to view it and not comment, why look if either you dont have this particular model or have no interest in it.

Based on what I've been able to find out the S54 doesn't seem to be anything much different than the S53, for which there's a thread about. Probably just more cost-cutting measures to cheapen it. Its hard to get excited about any of the current crop of cheap DVD players.
To the OP: Lighten up! Being insulting isn't going to get you far.

My intention was not to be insulting and if I was then I apologize. Its just a bit frustrating when I saw all these silly thread's about devices that are "popular" but as soon as one asks a legitimate question about something that doesnt generate the same level of popularity then goodluck getting any responses.

I belong to at least half a dozen different forums ranging from electronics to cars and I can tell you most work this way. Usually threads about popular items generate the most posts. Thats all fine and good but I didnt think this item was that scarce or that unpopular for it not to have any responses. I figured since it is relatively new to the market, under 6 months that is why not many people had it.

I am just looking for a 1080p upconverting player to match up to a Sony KDL-52XBR4. It is well known that the Oppo players seem to the best ones on the market but they are also pull Blu-ray like prices which is not what I wanna spend. The whole purpose for me wanting a player under $100 is to hold me off till Blu-ray prices come down as im sure alot of you are doing in this same situation.

Some of you mentioned that this player feel's like a toy or that its cheaply built, all I have to say about that is 99% of these $50-$100 upconverting players are built like toys, not sure what you expect to get for that amount of money. All I care about is as long as they dont break, the hardware holds up to at least 2 yrs of use, has good picture quality for a upconverting player, sound capability is not a big priority nor is the capability to read files through USB devices (wouldn't hurt but not a big deal if it doesn't have it).

It seems like the Philips 5990 is a good player from what ive been reading on here. Since no one carries the 5992 and there is no concrete info that it is indeed even released (talked to Philips myself with no good info to show for it), the 5990 is looking more and more like what works for me.

But I am open to other suggestions for players under $100 that are relatively new to the market, no older then 2007. Another reason why I was leaning towards the Panasonic since it is pretty new to the market utilizing some newer hardware then others that have been out for over a year.

Like I said though I am completely open to suggestions, thanks.

My intention was not to be insulting and if I was then I apologize. Its just a bit frustrating when I saw all these silly thread's about devices that are "popular" but as soon as one asks a legitimate question about something that doesnt generate the same level of popularity then goodluck getting any responses.

I belong to at least half a dozen different forums ranging from electronics to cars and I can tell you most work this way. Usually threads about popular items generate the most posts. Thats all fine and good but I didnt think this item was that scarce or that unpopular for it not to have any responses. I figured since it is relatively new to the market, under 6 months that is why not many people had it.

I am just looking for a 1080p upconverting player to match up to a Sony KDL-52XBR4. It is well known that the Oppo players seem to the best ones on the market but they are also pull Blu-ray like prices which is not what I wanna spend. The whole purpose for me wanting a player under $100 is to hold me off till Blu-ray prices come down as im sure alot of you are doing in this same situation.

Some of you mentioned that this player feel's like a toy or that its cheaply built, all I have to say about that is 99% of these $50-$100 upconverting players are built like toys, not sure what you expect to get for that amount of money. All I care about is as long as they dont break, the hardware holds up to at least 2 yrs of use, has good picture quality for a upconverting player, sound capability is not a big priority nor is the capability to read files through USB devices (wouldn't hurt but not a big deal if it doesn't have it).

It seems like the Philips 5990 is a good player from what ive been reading on here. Since no one carries the 5992 and there is no concrete info that it is indeed even released (talked to Philips myself with no good info to show for it), the 5990 is looking more and more like what works for me.

But I am open to other suggestions for players under $100 that are relatively new to the market, no older then 2007. Another reason why I was leaning towards the Panasonic since it is pretty new to the market utilizing some newer hardware then others that have been out for over a year.

Like I said though I am completely open to suggestions, thanks.
I use to have the DVD-S53 last year, but I returned back to the store because it a very grainy image. I also tried out the Sony DVP-NS700H and I returned it, it was decent, but it has a lot of edge enchancemet that I couldn't remove it fully. Now I'm considering getting the Philips 5990 for my tv in my bedroom. The 5990 seems to be a good dvd player based on my needs, but I'm unsure how reliable Philips dvd players are.

From what I have been reading they seem relatively reliable for what it is (basically a $60 player). Even if it was to be problem free for a year I wouldn't be too upset since by that time there should be a few more options when it comes to Blu-ray players with costs coming down with each new one introduced.

I am surprised that Samsung isnt too highly regarded with these under $100 players since they were one of the first ones to enter the upconverting DVD player market.

I use to have the DVD-S53 last year, but I returned back to the store because it a very grainy image. I also tried out the Sony DVP-NS700H and I returned it, it was decent, but it has a lot of edge enchancemet that I couldn't remove it fully. Now I'm considering getting the Philips 5990 for my tv in my bedroom. The 5990 seems to be a good dvd player based on my needs, but I'm unsure how reliable Philips dvd players are.

From what I have been reading they seem relatively reliable for what it is (basically a $60 player). Even if it was to be problem free for a year I wouldn't be too upset since by that time there should be a few more options when it comes to Blu-ray players with costs coming down with each new one introduced.

I bought the Philips DVP5990 a few hours ago and its very good. I prefer the DVP5990 pq over the Sony DVP-NS700H before I returned it and the DVD-S53before I returned it. The 5990 produces a natural pq without the edge enchancement from the DVP-NS700H and without the grain from the DVD-S53.

I was at Best Buy earlier today. Did see the DV-410V-K for $99, Amazon has it for $69.99 which is pretty good. Comparing it with the newest Sony, the 700 something (dont remember the model #) and the newest Samsung, the DV-410V-K's build quality seems to be better and I am reading for the most part good reviews on Amazon.

What I was just thinking though even though it is probably not the most practical solution for upconverting DVD's is using a HD-DVD player. With HD-DVD out of the US market, Toshiba HD-DVD player's should be cheaper then ever before at least you would think that would be the case. And if I remember correctly the highest model of the Toshiba HD-DVD player's upconverted DVD's much better then any upconverting player. This is what I read from every review for the HD-DVD players.

...............

And if I remember correctly the highest model of the Toshiba HD-DVD player's upconverted DVD's much better then any upconverting player. This is what I read from every review for the HD-DVD players.

And you are not going to find a Toshiba XA2 for $100.

And you are not going to find a Toshiba XA2 for $100.

No but if I am going to go all out on a upconverting player, I would much rather pay $250 to $300 on a XA2 then the best Oppo.

My recommendation? Try what interests you as B&M stores have a return poicy for whatever reason if it doesn't work out for you.

SD DVD has come a pretty long way. In my case, just trying some discs on my new Panny plasma in 480p has shocked me to the point of not even concerning myself with upconversion all that much. My BD player suffices just using that resolution! :)

Been very pleased so fAr with the dvd654k - great PQ @720p (hooked up to my panny 32lx85)

I am using this player and i am very happy with this. The quality of this player is too good.

Check some of my more recent posts on this player. It and the pio 410 seem to be the only 2 in the sub $100 range that are capable of passing BTB and WTW.

jeff