Denon DVD-557 DVD Player

I'd purchased a 22" HDTV monitor nearly a year ago to replace a seven year old 15" CRT monitor. So, since I don't watch TV programs, I decided to get a second DVD player to watch my growing collection of classic movies. I did a bit of reseach, and decided on the Denon brand since I'd read so many good things about it.

Set up was easy, and I'd gotten a good deal on an HDMI cable, so that's what I went with. Doesn't matter really, though, since the majority of my movies are pre1970 or so. Same goes for the 480, 720, and 1080 scan capability. I mean, "Fort Apache" looks the same at 480 as it does at 1080.

It's larger than the six year old $59 DVD player in the living room, too, and takes up considerable desktop space. So, I stack the satellite box and my left speaker on top of it. Even the remote is big, with more buttons than I'll ever use. And, yeah, no volume control. It would be nice if Denon had stuck a headphone jack in the front face plate, too.

I'd paid something like $125 at Circuit City last December, a little higher than I would normally pay for something like this, but I thought it would go nice with the fancy monitor. Meh. As little as I use it, it should last my lifetime. And since I get my old movies for ten bucks or less, I've got no real complaints as far as performance goes.