pioneer 444 or panasonic ra61

[Vik]

i am just about to purchase my first DVD player and am a bit stuck on which player to buy.

i have narrowed my choice down to two that is the pioneer 444 or the panasonic ra61. the two are in totally different leagues but i am only concerned about dvd video quality and sound.

i will be hooking it up to a

panasonic 32" tau
panasonic 710 video
bose acoustimass 7 front setup
bose model 100 surround

considering panasonic sa he9 dd receiver to complete the set if i go for the panny or yamaha ax620 dd receiver

it is a bit of an awkward comparison but i can get the pannasonic for £280 multi region, rce, and auto region select, (not macrovision). the pioneer i will be getting for £180, with multi region, rce, macro enabled, and maual/auto select.

what are the pros and cons on either.

any info would be useful

cheers

[Vik]

someone must surely know something

[Panavision]

Pioneer, mate. I got one, a nice picture. Haven't hooked it up to my dd/dts amp, though.

No idea about the Panny. Pioneer gets terrific reviews.

[kcxdev]

The pioneer 545 would be in more of the same league as the Panny. Digital sound from the 444 is fine.

[kaneda]

I'd narrow the search to

Toshiba 210e £190
Pioneer 545 £250
Panasonic RA61 £280

Tosh and Pioneer offer more or less the same while the Panasonic has the added benifit of DVD Audio. The older panasonic RV60 series was a very good player various great reviews, i'm not sure about the newer model.
If it's the same innards with DVD Audio then the Pana would probably the best pick.
Otherwise go for the cheaper Toshiba option as the lower end players all seem to be comparable.

I've a Tosh 210 and Pioneer 535 myself.