[Pearsonweb]

I will pick up my TH42PD25UP tomorrow. Very excited.


I went into high end a/v store to look for a new DVD player. Salesperson inquired what kind of TV I had, what was I looking for in a player, etc.


He then suggested I wait about 10-15 days when he will be selling Panny HDMI input DVD players and said that PQ would be better, less wires, controlled by Panny remote, etc.


Sounds great but heres my issues:

1. They are single disc players

2. Start at $300+


This is for a main TV in the living room and I was hoping to double my DVD player as a carousel for playing music CD's too. I don't really have lots of room for dedicated multiple components in my AV rack nor am I a true high end audio/videophile.


I can get a good brand name carousel DVD/CD player to serve double duty for my home entertainment system for less than $150..(I need a black unit for WAF; was considering Onkyo)


My question: is/will the PQ difference with HDMI interface worth the wait and price increase over a name brand component/SVideo unit? Will the picture quality be that much better or even noticeably so?


I have done research on DVD forum and the consensus seems to be "get dedicated components for best quality" (i.e., single disc DVD player for DVD's; separate carousel CD player for CD's).


Anyone with input?

Thanks!

EP

 

[Franchot]

"Usually" HDMI will give you a better picture over using component connections. (There are always exceptions to everything it seems, however.) Certainly, HDMI will be better than SVideo. In my opinion there is a noticeable difference between HDMI and Component. The best way to determine if there is a difference for you is to give both types of connections a try on a player which has both types of connections.


If you can be patient, it would be best to wait until the Panasonic is released and see what it can do. As you probably read in the DVD forum, many, many people have high hopes that the new Pansonic will return Panasonic to its glory days of offering the best bang for the buck in DVD players.


As far as multi-changers, it's been my experience that almost all of them are not as good as a single player. It's the rare exception that can equal a single player.

 

[jcpzero]

I would wait for the panasonic DVD player with HDMI and see what it offers. My CD changer recently broke and I would like to replace it with a DVD changer. I have decided to wait until a changer with HDMI is available, hopefully available sometime in 2005. I plan to change all my components to ones with HDMI connects to fix my tangled wire mess, reduce total number of components and simplify operations for my wife and other family members.


JCPZero