Is it time for a Z500 plunge?

[goodnite]

Got an LCD TV with DVI (no HDMI/HDCP stuff). Was thinking of getting something like a Mediagate MG350-HD media player that has DVI and HiDef output. Z500 was buggy and I got a little put off after reading through some of the complaints in the forums a few months back. I was thinking of the Mediagate unit because I was happy with the old Mediagate MG-25 for a while. Mind you, I'm impressed with the support for the Z500 and the amount of work they seem to be putting into firmware updates/bug fixes.

So my question is... (looking at andw's direction), is the Z500 a lot more stable now? I gather if I want DVI, I'll have to find myself a HDMI->DVI convertor? Any idea what's that going to set me back? Last I heard those things are expensive (mainly due to anything HDMI = expensive).

Or should I continue to wait.....:) Get tickled fancy and very tempted to get one, but there's no pressing "need" as such... I could pretend the good'o LG is dying... and convince my missus that Z500 is the answer :dD

Goodie.

[jokiin]

The Z500 has come a long way just recently, I have an MG25 also and there was a time when I would have considered this a better unit than the Z500, not anymore, I still use the MG25 though as it is convenient when I'm travelling. The Z500 is getting better all the time:)

[andw]

The Z500 is A LOT more stable now than it was on release definitley.
I do all my watching on my HD projector via this now.

[goodnite]

Jokin,

Have you tried attaching the Z500 to the Pyrod 37" LCD TV? If so, what's the quality of the upscaling to 1080i/p like for playing standard type xvid material (e.g. tv episodes downloadable off the net)? I gather if connecting via component, one can only do 1080i? Wondering if I can attach the Zen to the Pyrod via HDMI->DVI to get 1080p?

Goodie

[andw]

It doesn't output 1080p.

[goodnite]

It doesn't output 1080p.

Ah.. ok.. wonder if the up-scaling to 1080i is any good then. Does the Z500 have any zoom out feature?... Not that I'll need to use it on the LCDs these days.. but I still use it on my mediagate portable MG-25 player to make things a little smaller because the upscaling done by the LCD TV made some stuff a little block-ier and blur-er... and reducing the zoom helped a little. But then, if the upscaler built into the Z500 is good, there's probably no need for zoom-out. :)

Thanks

Goodie.

[jokiin]

Jokin,

Have you tried attaching the Z500 to the Pyrod 37" LCD TV?

I haven't, a friend of mine has and tells me the result was good, the panel is 1080p native so although the input is 1080i it will be scaled to 1080p by the panel.

[goodnite]

I haven't, a friend of mine has and tells me the result was good, the panel is 1080p native so although the input is 1080i it will be scaled to 1080p by the panel.

That's sounds good. Did your friend do it via HDMI->DVI or just use component? Another notch closer to committing to one. May wait till the new firmware arrive (which shouldn't be longer now I heard/read) first.

Thanks for the feedback Andw/Jok11n

Goodie.

[jokiin]

That's sounds good. Did your friend do it via HDMI->DVI or just use component?

Component I think from memory