Need suggestion. I have yamaha R-V 902 dolby digital ready reciver. Planning to buy a DVD player. Should I buy a DVD player with built in DD decoder or should I go for a separate dolby digital processor ? My concern is if I plan to go for digital cable later then again I would have to buy a seperate decoder. Is that digital cable do not yet provide 5.1 channel programs or movies ?

Typically, the models that include built-in decoders also are higher-line with more features. You can plug a DVD player with built-in decoder into an external decoder; you'll have to do this for DTS anyways.

Do the rest of the features included justify the added expense of the higher model for you? Then get one with a built-in decoder.

If you don't need the rest of the "bonus" features then just get a basic player without decoder.

While I agree with Daniel somewhat, the higher end units that include built in decoders are not as good a quality as a separate decoder would be. Also with a separate unit you will get multiple inputs so you have future flexibilty for other components.

True, the built-in decoders (which may add $100 to the total price) aren't as good as a $300-400 seperate. But, I'm using the built-in decoder on the Sony S500D and have no qualms over quality. And, as of yet, it's the only DD source I have. Should I need more inputs I would upgrade my receiver to a more current model.

Yamaha has quite a few new AC-3/DTS receivers at various prices. If you're thinking of even buying a separate DD decoder, you might as well think of trading in your V902 and buy a new receiver, which would have AC-3/DTS built-in, plus 6 input sockets for any future standards.

I'd read that many players with built-in decoder don't implement the full-spec AC-3, while Yamaha's receivers do.

In Australia, players with AC-3 decoder built-in cost about $500 more than players without. So, I personally wouldn't buy a player with a decoder built-in because from my habit of changing VCRs more often than not, I'll probably be changing DVD players just as often.