Solid Performer -- up to Denon standards

I bought this DVD player to replace my Denon 3910. Now that the DVD format wars appear over, I wanted to start my Blu-ray collection.

Unit performs well. For regular (non blu-ray) DVD's, the picture is about the same as the Denon 3910. Blu-ray disks are comparable to HD television. Uses the same remote codes as the older 3910, so I did not need to get my Philips Pronto universal remote re-programmed -- a real advantage and time/money saver. Also the 2500 has some features I have not tried yet, such as markers.

My TV is a 50" Hitachi Plasma, with 1080i resolution, so I can't see the full 1080p that this unit puts out. Also, I have this connected to a Denon 4306 amp I bought last year, just before Denon made it obsolete and put out the 4308 amp. The 4308 has the new HDMI 1.3a standard while the 4306 is the old HDMI 1.1. Features on the DVD player such as support of the deep color are not compatible with the HDMI 1.1 standard. I doubt it would be worth spending another $2,499 to swap out the receiver but keep this in mind if you are also upgrading your receiver.

Remote is OK, reasonably well laid out.

Negatives:
I have not found any negatives on the features I used, but here are a few to keep in mind. The only method of connecting the device is via the HDMI. This is fine for me, but not if you plan to hook this to an older AMP.

Playback will only play DVD-R not R. I have not tested this.

In both cases, one would expect that a unit listing for $999.00 would have features sold by other for much less. As with most Denon products, they tend to be overpriced, and you must move up the the $1,999 Denon 3800 to get all the ports. Not a problem for most people, but keep this in mind should you plan to connect this to an older home theater system.

In all, I am happy with this product.