DivX/Xvid/DVD/SACD Player... what's the best choice?

[alexb75]

In market for a new DVD player that supports DivX... currently have Philips 642 and although quite happy with DivX compatibility I have the following issues:

1. Picture quality is not as good as my 5 year old Sony player
2. Menus are horrible, very hard to navigate mp3s
3. DVD options on remote is extremely few (older Sony has many more)
4. It has problems playing mpeg4 videos with Variable rate mp3 audio
5. Can only do upto 4X fast forward
6. Terrible remote
7. Progressive Scan not that good, component output issues

So, I basically use my Sony for DVD playing and this one for DivX... love to use only one device and wanna know which player in the market currently has good picture quality, enough features, and makes the upgrade wothwhile. I currently bought a new Plasma TV and definately want to make the best out of it with a good DVD player.

The ones I am looking at are Yamaha DVD-S550 and Pioneer DVD-588... which is better? Is there any other player I should consider?

Thanks a lot of any help

PS. BTW, I am in Canada... so dont have access to European models or a lot of internet sites!

[SeeMoreDigital]

Both the players you mention are fitted with MediaTek's MT1389EE chip-set. Both are capable of playing SACD.... and DVD-A media.

With regard to the Yamaha DVD S550, I have read that some owner/users have had problems at spinning DVD-A discs.

Personally, I have a Pioneer DV-575A and (touch wood) it's played everything I've thrown at it so far. That said, I gather the DV-588 offers improved disc media support.


Cheers

[alexb75]

so, there are compromised with both, right? A few more Qs:

Does any offer better PQ?

Also, I dont know if Yamaha does SACD out of the box and needs firmware hack, right?

Is it possible to change Pioneer region? Not possible it seems!

[SeeMoreDigital]

I'm unable to say which player offers the better picture quality, as I only have the Pioneer.

But in all honesty, it's impossible to answer such questions, subjectively, because our brains react to the same images in different ways!

I was able to buy my Pioneer player as a "region free" unit ;)