My Sony DVP-S7700 kicked the bucket this week, and I’m in the market for a new DVD player. However, I don’t know whether to buy something today, or wait until the new Hi Def players come out.
I know I want a unit that will play SACD and DVD-Audio as well as standard DVD’s and CD’s. I also want a progressive scan unit with HDMI outputs. I’m not sure whether I really need video upscaling, though that sounds appealing.
Here’s my real conundrum: If Blue-ray and HD-DVD weren’t coming out in just a few months I’d probably go with the Denon DVD-2910. Given that software will likely be slow in being released, and that there may be another format war, do I really need to worry about the Hi Def DVD formats right now? It’s also likely that it will be some time before a true universal player that will handle CD, DVD, DVD-A, SACD, Blue Ray, and HD-DVD will be available.
In my mind I have three options:
1) Purchase a cheap universal player such as the Samsung DVD-HD950 or Toshiba SD-5980 ($150 to $175); get a year to eighteen months of use out of it and then dump it for what’s available then.
2) Purchase a somewhat better universal player such as the Denon DVD-1920, Philips DVP9000S, or Oppo OPDV971H ($250 to $350); and try to get several years use out of it. Then replace it when things are more settled out.
3) Purchase a nice universal player such as the Denon DVD-2910 or Marantz DVD-7600 ($600 to $700); and just not worry about the Hi Def formats. Side Question: does a player at this level really help, given that other than SACD and DVD-A I’d be using the DAC’s/processor in my preamp anyway?
What would you do in my place?
