Last December, I decided to buy a CLD-959, which has the same parts as the CLD-97 in US, except that it cannot turn DNR off.
I was literally chocked by the quality of the player. The image is better than every player I've ever owned.
I got it for $150. The player had a loud motor. And I decided this month to have it repaired by Pioneer Japan. It costed me an other $150. Then, in total, I spent $300 to get a fully working machine.
They changed the motor to get rid of the noise, so it is no longer a problem now. On face B, there is still a little noise. The pick up is sometimes vibrating. Pioneer told me they couldn't fix it, as they didn't have new pick up. But it is a minor problem. It is OK for me. I will write a review of the player in the LD player category!