My DVD player just gave up! And well i need a new one...At least until a good combi hddvd/bluray player arrives..

So what do i choose that is decent priced, good looking (preferably black), good performance and hdmi ?

My DVD player just gave up! And well i need a new one...At least until a good combi hddvd/bluray player arrives..

So what do i choose that is decent priced, good looking (preferably black), good performance and hdmi ?

You might look at some of the test reports here: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi

Oppo is popular here, and I've been pleased with mine. The HD-DVD players are becoming much cheaper and have gotten good reviews for SD-DVD playback, although they don't play all the audio/video formats that the SD-DVD players do.

-Bill

...So what do i choose that is decent priced, good looking (preferably black), good performance and hdmi ?

I would recommend look at Philips DVP-5982 or Pioneer DV-400V(K/S). Both are in the range of relatively cheap prices + you can find both everywhere in the electronics store around the corner + both support MPEG-4 formats (DivX, XviD and so on) + both have USB port + decent up-conversion via HDMI. For their price both output very nice DVD-Video and DivX picture quality. Pioneer can also playback WMV video format.

I would recommend the Sony DVP-NS77H.

I would recommend the Sony DVP-NS77H.
^ What he said! :)

Could you guys give me at leas 3 reasons why you recommend NS77H over motioned above players? I'm seriously asking. Just curious. What you found or, let me ask differently, what things you considered better in Sony NS77H than in Philps or Pioneer? I've got NS77H for a test-drive for week and I, honestly and with all my respect, did not find anything in Sony NS77H that can outbid Pioneer. They both in the same price and Pioneer has more options/feature within the same picture quality and upscaling quality. IMHO

i went with a denon dvd 1740 which matches my 2807 :)

The Pioneers use too many shadows and makes the picture look overly dark even when you turn up the brightness and contrast. The Sony 77H looks perfect on my CRT.

The Pioneers use too many shadows and makes the picture look overly dark even when you turn up the brightness and contrast. The Sony 77H looks perfect on my CRT.

Both Pioneer DV-400V and Sony 77H looked absolutely identical to me on my 42" plasma Panasonic. Both showed good picture quality with balanced colors and contrast. I could not notice differences. I went with Pioneer because I need DivX, WMV and USB features. Both player are on the same level from picture quality perspective. IMO

Highend, what do you think of the 1740 now that you've had it for a while?