[tluxon]

I'm split between the Toshiba SD-4800 and Panasonic CP72($30 rebate)/RP82 and I have a few last questions.


First off, I'm not concerned about the chroma bug in the Toshiba and I don't need non-anamorphic scaling. I'm pretty sure I'd be happy with the PQ of each one and I need the onboard DD/DTS decoder.


How is the build quality of each unit?

Which one is going to be more tolerant of VCDs?

Does one of them have an easier interface for playback of MP3 CDs?


Also, I have a touch of an inclination to want to be able to play non-NTSC discs since I have two (even tho' it would be easy to get NTSC versions of them).


Does anybody have experience playing non-NTSC discs with either of these players? I understand some players allow bypassing the non-NTSC (PAL?) error screen, while others can be "chipped" to allow playing "region free" (or whatever you call them) DVDs.


Thanks,


Tim

 

[tluxon]

I've seen a lot people talk about both the CP72 and the SD-4800. Surely someone can comment on these questions.


How is the build quality of each unit?


For the price, I've been impressed with the build quality of other Toshiba components I have. I've never had Panasonic, but going back a few years, it was known as a "low end" Technics.



Which one is going to be more tolerant of VCDs?



Does one of them have an easier interface for playback of MP3 CDs?


I think I've seen that the CP72 shows the full filename, while the SD-4800 truncates the name down to 8 characters. Is this accurate?

 

[zeitgeistsfo]

I can comment only on the RP82.


> How is the build quality of each unit?


Very light, but no problems so far. This is a $200 player with the picture quality of much higher-end models, but it looks and feels like a $200 player.


> Which one is going to be more tolerant of VCDs?


VCDs & SVCDs both play back fine in my limited tests.


> Does one of them have an easier interface for playback of MP3 CDs?


Couldn't get much easier than the RP82's on-screen menus. Seems to play everything I've thrown at it too, unlike the previous Panasonic I owned. The RP82 shows the full filename.


> Does anybody have experience playing non-NTSC discs with either of these players? I understand some players allow bypassing the non-NTSC (PAL?) error screen, while others can be "chipped" to allow playing "region free" (or whatever you call them) DVDs.


I own a "chipped" region-free RP82. It will play PAL discs, but only in interlaced mode and only to a TV capable of displaying PAL signals (i.e. it does not convert PAL to NTSC). The main reason I bought it this way however was to remove Macrovision, which was causing problems on my Philips widescreen HDTV.


I also have a second DVD player connected to another TV which DOES convert PAL (including anamorphic PAL) to NTSC. It's a Chinese player called the Coby DVD-507 that I picked it up for $39 from Macys.com during a recent sale. It only outputs composite & s-video (fine for my older TV), not progressive component video like the RP82. You can region modify it using "secret" codes on the remote as opposed to getting it chipped. Build quality is poor and there are occasional glitches, but as a 2nd player it more than does the job.


Hope this helps.