buying a dvd player

[EmperorNero]

disclaimer: I tried searching for dvd but they were mostly dvd drives and not dvd players so it was hard to sort it out. and some posts about players were somewhat irrelevant.

anyway, my parents are going to buy a dvd player (although I would prefer a dvd drive).

- is $150 or less a good price range?
- what models do you guys recommend (and what brand is considered a quality brand)?
- what do I need to know about buying a dvd player (ex. regions, etc)?

thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Locutus of Board]

Bought my APEX based on this site.

 

[konichiwa]

I have a Pioneer DV-333...you should be able to find it pretty cheap. Great player, plays VCDs and SVCDs, even CDRWs. Yum.

 

[N8Magic]

$150.00 may be a bit on the "frugal" side.

If you can go as high as $200.00, I would recommend either the Sony DVP-S360 (around $190-210) or the Toshiba SD2109. If you must stay around $150.00, I would get the Toshiba SD1600 (About $160).

The problem with the real cheepie DVD players (Apex, etc.) is that they use cheap components, and sub-standard MPEG decompressors that leave artifacts and other anomalies (sp).

I have a Yamaha myself, and couldn't be more happy with it. They tend to be more expensive, but not at the ridiculous level of the best dvd player out there, the Pioneer Elite DV-09.

 

[Pyxis]

I second N8Magic for the Sony DVP-S360, that's the one I have. If you can't go that high in price then I would suggest the Pioneer DV-333, which I'm pretty sure you can find in your price range; I really haven't checked the prices lately.

 

[EmperorNero]

what's a vcd and svcd?

also, can I play divx on a dvd player?

 

[Locutus of Board]

Answers to your questions:

1. Peruse the site I linked U 2. Answers are there.

2. I wish.

 

[konichiwa]

If I was you I'd stay away from the Sony's. Not that they're bad players, they're excellent, but IMO you'll pay a lot more for not a whole lot of extra features. Plus, they won't play CDRs (audio or video) or VCD. That may not be an issue for you, however.

VCD and SVCD are two video formats. Look on vcdhelp.com for info on the two. If you don't know what they are you probably don't need a DVD player that's capable of playing them.

 

[N8Magic]

VCD= Video CD
SVCD= Super Video CD

As for DivX, if you mean the compressed movies that you can grab on the internet, unfortunately no. If you mean the old format started by Circuit City, the answer is still no.