Panasonic RP-56 versus Pioneer DV-444 ?

[black-ws6]

I'm considering purchasing one of these two DVD players, but have the following issues to resolve before choosing:

1) The Pioneer appears to have a wide range of format support yet apparently the progressive scan performance is pretty poor (according to some reviews).
2) The Panasonic appears to have a great well rounded set of features and good (great?) playback but seems to have a problem with some formats.

For the next 2 years or so, I don't foresee using a HDTV television set but do intend on viewing mostly homemade VCDs (and enhanced derivatives thereof) and POSSIBLY moving up to a DVD burner (the current Pioneer model) within 6 months,
to burn my own DVDs.

So what's my best option? The features of the Panasonic are enticing, but the format support of the Pioneer is really attractive. The only variable is whether the Panasonic will play DVDs burned in a home-PC environment.

Can someone shed some light on this?
Thanks,
/Steve

[kwag]

Hi:

I don't know about the Pioneer 444, but I have the Panasonic DVD-RP56 and it is great.

It plays regular VCD's and my custom XVCD's at 720X480 MPEG-1 VBR perfectly.

It's a great equipment.

[black-ws6]

Thanks for the feedback. If you can confirm the RP56 plays DVDs burned at home, it'll be a sure sale then.

/Steve

[kwag]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-12-26 11:26:27, black-ws6 wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. If you can confirm the RP56 plays DVDs burned at home, it'll be a sure sale then.

/Steve
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Hey Steve!. I said VCD's and XVCD's. You said "DVDs burned at home" and that I haven't tried!. If you meant "VCD's burned at home", then it's ok. Also regular DVD's play perfectly.

Cheers!.

[black-ws6]

Yeah, I did mean burned DVDs. That's my next step, probably next month. I gotta master the VCD/SVCD/XVCD thing first.

I burned 5 CDs with varying formats/rates. A couple won't play on either machine, but the Panasonic just plain refused to puke out one of the CDs it couldn't read. Bad sign... the salesman was quite embarrassed. The nearby Pioneer DV-444 behaved nicely (couldn't play that CD either, but at least it kept its composure). So I bought that one. Now I have to figure out how to maximize image quality and performance on the CDs I'll be burning.

I've got a lot of reading ahead of me, that's for sure. Thanks for all the suggestions and info thus far.
(At the risk of drifting off topic, please feel free to email me any hints, tips, or words of encouragement as I delve into this VCD adventure).

/Steve