I can second the site Spiffnme provided you as a good starting point. Select the features you want, your price range and start reading.
When I was in the market for a DVD player, I was looking for something cheap (but "as good as I could get" cheap, as an interim measure till universal, high definition players come down in price (perhaps 2 yrs.). I wanted a player that has a half decent de-interlacer (cause I have a xga projector) so can produce a fairly good image, can play CD's and MP3's and responds to the remote commands fairly quickly. Based on the reviews from the site, I narrowed my choice down to 3 playersin a $80-250 price range. I then went to Best Buy, bought all 3, demo'd them for a couple weeks and returned the two I decided against.
I ended up selecting the cheapest one, the Toshiba 3960 (actually the 3860 in Canada) for a mere $80. I'm quite happy with it as it does all of the above. But it is definitely a cheap unit. It weighs what seems like about half a pound and when I push in the component cables the back plate pushes in a bit. I just wonder how long it will last (3 months so far).
In hindsight, this doesn't really address your question.
Sorry - Paul
