A digital versatile disc machine from Panasonic has been voted as best buy in the Consumer Council's first published report on the increasingly popular technology.
The Panasonic DVD-A560EN, priced at $5,250, earned high marks for picture quality, sound, error correction and eco and user-friendliness.
The report is based on a study by International Consumer Research and Testing, an international consortium of consumer organisations, in which the Consumer Council took part.
It compared eight models from key brand names: Akai, JVC, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba. With the exception of the Philips model, made in Singapore, the rest were Japanese products.
Prices ranged from $2,750 for a Philips DVD 725 to $8,933 for a Sony DVP-S 7700.
All eight models received the highest rating for normal-play picture quality as well as audio performance.
