I am thinking about picking up a CLD-59 as a spare player in case something was to happen to my current fragile CLD-925. I love everything about it as far as design and features go and I could get it from anywhere between $150 to $250, but I have read that apparently the DNR switch can not be turned off on this player and I have experienced first hand just how bad the DNR switch is with my CLD-925. Thankfully its adjustable on my CLD-925 so I always leave it off, but with the CLD-59 there isn't a choice to turn it off from what I've heard..

So anyway I just wanted to know with this piece of information in mind what is the picture quality performance like with the CLD-59? I'm not overly picky and I wouldn't even mind if it doesn't reach the heights of my CLD-925 (as far as PQ is concerned), but I don't want to buy something that is horribly smothered and soft either.

Help would be appreciated..

The CLD-59 is a CLD-D604 with a Picture Quality button to switch between soft/normal/sharp. I do not know of a DNR switchable function with this unit.

I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this player. I have a 604 and its...OK, I guess, but not "Elite" by any means, and no amount of sharpness adjustment is going to make it less noisy or reduce the moire or aliasing.

If it was $100 and local I'd probably snag it though.

I've never seen a 925 in action. Looking up some info on it, it seems like, aside from PAL compatibility, its kind on par with the 59 so I guess it is a good back-up or maybe even replacement for what you have. I know since you are in Australia you don't have the luxery of tons of cheap players within driving distance like in the US and Japan so that has to be taken into consideration.