New to surround as I've stated previously, so I'll value opnions. I want the best bang for buck and I've noted outlaw users with Denon 2910, 3910, and some others. Considering that I have a 990 and have played with 7.1 and Mrs. nfaguys allows 7.1 setup in liv room....and considering that I've not upgraded my old rear projection TV, so I don't care about the switching, yet, I ask the following:

(1) Is DENON the one to go with if I don't care about changers (like Sony has a 400 disc changer).

(2) If DENON is, in anyone's opinion preferable, is the 3910 that much better for the buck? I know it's somewhat subjective, but then, I'm new at surround....and I care more for the sound than the pic. And yes I've read forums and been on Denon's site.

(3) What do you think about DENON refurbs on ebay? Quality a problem? Waranty?

(4) Your other choices.

(5) Any comments.

..........I thank you and really appreciate this forum. It helps this (old) newbie.

I have always had fairly good luck with ebay quality . Reguarly buy CD recorders for resale in the store from ebay and so far no problems .

I don't know if the warranty is transferable or not . You may want to check their web page or just call customer service and ask them .

The Pioneer Elite Dv59AVi is similar to the 3910 . It plays both SACD and DVD Audio as well as the usual format suspects . It does incorporate a 4 pin I-link ( IEEE1394 )for SACD and DVD Audio playback . I know this is probably no use to you with the 990 but down the road it maybe useful . I will say that they don't gurantee compatibilty with other brands though . It will up convert to an HD standard regular 480 i signals like the two Denon models . I actually borrowed one of these babys for a few days from the store . Big mistake I must say as I did not want to take it back . The Pioneer has an incredibly sharp picture . Lots of flexibility in the setup menu for audio and pic both .
pioneer link http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/product/album/compare/0,,2076_15020671,00.html

The only real advantage I know of with the 3910 over the 2910 is with the analog processors . The 3910 uses dual Melody hammer head chips while the 2910 has the Melody chip . This gives the 3910 a little more flexibilty in setup, processing power and a wider range of crossover points . The video chips are identical . Both are universal players and have similar inputs and output capabilites .

I can't see spending almost twice the money for the 3910 . I will admit my experience with the Denon models is limited to playing with them in the store . Maybe someone who owns one could give a little better insight . However if you do decide to go with the 3910 you may want to consider the Pioneer which retails for $1599 .

Thanks for response.Will consider Pioneer, and I noted that they have a less expensive model which does SACS,DVDA and DVD. Probably analogous to the 3910-2910 difference.

Do you or does anyone know if there is a conversion unit for i-linkers to hook up to a USB port. Would be great for us 990'ers. Maybe that's why outlaw didn't include ilink. I'll ask them. Would be interesting to see if it exists and how well it works.

Happy mem day

Nope, I'm afraid that there is no way to go from firewire to USB.

Well.. There is but I am not sure it would work in this instance.. It would be kinky if it did anyway..

http://www.pixela-1.com/capycable.htm

Thanks to both for answers.
Looking for Universal DVDA/SACD and found this website
http://www.regioncodefreedvd.com/pioneer59.html

Very interesting. They seem to have been able to do away with UOP (I guess that's the obnoxious FBI and other junk where you have to let it play thru. Also done away with copy protection, though that isn't important.

Questions: (1) Anybody have any experience with this (2) Would it void the Pioneer warranty? I think so. (3) Is it important to have more than one region. I think I read USA/Canada = region 1.

I wrote a seller on ebay who had a 3910 and asked the following, though i doubt the answer will be yes.

1. Is this multi-region?
2. Is it UOP-disabled?
3. Copy protection disabled?
4. Rack-mount ears available for 19” rackmount?

I really do need rackmount.
If not UOP disabled is there a programmable way to disable it on Denon 3910/2910 on Pioneer DV- 45AVi or 59AVi

....again thanks in advance. Trying to learn and play "catch-up" or is it ketchup

I don't have any experience with region free mods, but I would think it would have to void the warranty (since it violates the DVD standard). Region 1 is US and Canada - I haven't ever bought any discs from other regions, so I've never needed a region-free player.

Gonk perhaps you or someone can point me toward a universal that bypasses the FBI warning and the other junk prior to the movie, itself.

I, too, thought region 1 should be sufficient.

As for anti-copy protection. Not an issue. The bypass sounds good. Hopefully it's available on the Denon or Pioneer without mods. Where I live there is no place to go and check it out, so any help is appreciated. We're 200 miles from any big city. Thanks

I've not heard of any player that bypasses the FBI warnings. I haven't paid much attention to the mod market, so I hadn't heard of the UOP feature until the link you posted - you're only going to find that on players that have been modded, which particularly with the major brands (Denon, Pioneer, Panasonic, Toshiba, Sony, ...) will involve a warranty-voiding hardware change - allowing a software "cheat" like that to be factory standard would bring way too much grief down on them from the studios.

sounds like another Napster case..

For what it's worth, a significant number of the discs in my collection either put the FBI warnings at the end or allow the chapter skip button to jump past each warning screen. It seems like only a few discs that force me to sit through the warnings.

The ability to skip past the FBI/Interpol warnings or trailers is NOT a function of the player. It is something that is set into the disc when it is authored.

Yeah, it is definitely disc related, not player. But if you get a disc that puts the warning between pressing play and the start of the flick, instead of when the disc loads, there is an easy way to skip it. Go to scene selection and pick scene 1 instead of pressing play on the main menu. It'll bypass all of the non-movie related stuff and skip right to the start of the show.