I love my Philips. I bought it because it was a deal one day on
Amazon.com and I found a good remote hack on vcdhelp.com, and I've since read a bunch of reviews that give it high marks for image quality on the non-region 1 discs. It handles layer changes nicely, too, which can be a problem with some decks. My Daewoo has an anti-Macrovision hack (I bought it that way) that makes it unable to play any home-burned discs, but other than that, I really, really like it for all regions.
Dan, I'd be interested in hearing about your experience with this company - my brother's been looking for a region-free JVC for years, and if they prove reliable, that JVC deck would make a great Chanukkah present this year.