6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Good Alternative to more expensive Blu Ray/HD Players
Date of Review: Jan 1, 2007
The Bottom Line: Beautiful rendition of your existing DVD library on a 1080p TV. Necessary to get the most out of your new HDTV investment.
Just got this and it plays ordinary DVDs amazingly well on our new 56" Samsung 1080p DLP TV. At under $200 - and including the HDMI cable - it's a great bargain considering that there are only a couple hundred titles currently available for the $700 blueray/HD players, and this will play the ordinary DVDs just as well as the more expensive players.
The difference between this and our 480p progressive scan DVD is worth the investment. Of course it also depends upon the quality of the DVD source. Older DVDs ("Blade Runner," unfortunately) just don't have the detail to perform well in large screen. Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Chicago, etc. all look amazing - nearly as good as the HDTV broadcasts (don't expect broadcast quality from the ordinary DVDs. But with a 1080p TV and the HDMI connection, it's close enough not to make a difference for the average viewer.)
If you have a 1080p TV, definitely get the HD960 and not older models like the HD860 which only go up to 1080i. Don't know how this model would perform on a 1080i TV but the player lets you set the output (480p, 780p, 1080i, 1080p) and the difference between the 1080i and 1080p gives that last 50% benefit that makes the investment worth it. I went to several stores in NJ that had this model out of stock and they all tried to sell me the older model as if it were this one - you need to know exactly what you are asking for or order it online.
Another benefit is that its sleek design allows it to fit nicely on top of our other component on the same rack, and it looks great from the front.
Hard to say how well this unit will perform over time other than upconverting: We did notice a couple of temporarily stuck frames on our rented LOTR title, but it could have been the DVD. Not expecting it to last forever since eventually the HD/Blue Ray players will be more affordable. Considering that we'll still have the $90 cable, an overall $80 investment to play our CD library in top quality for another nine months until the format wars come to an end is really worth it.
