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Can anyone recommend good (affordable) DVD player?

jlee

jlee

Lifer
I'm thinking of getting one for my dad for father's day, but I can't afford to spend most of a paycheck on this...so something in the sub-$100 range would be cool. Basic requirements are 5.1 sound (preferably coax/optical) & decent quality..any ideas?
 
I believe MOST dvd players are in the sub-$100 market now.. Panasonic makes a great $100 player.. Sony does as well.. You can even get a sub $50 player if you look around.. Stick with the panasonic though.. Toshiba is good too.. RCA=bad.. so many options though.. Model numbers differ wildly (companies have an annoying practice of releasing the same product with different model numbers every product cycle)
 
There's a Toshiba on clearance for $69..online only, unfortunately..so it'll be late. Ah well..thanks guys 🙂
 
Do you want quality VCD and SVCD playback?? If so, Pioneer is generally the best bet for low cash, while still being quality hardware. They're tough to find locally, at least in my area, but Walmart sells a silver one for $88 that looks nice, is very slim, and plays VCD, SVCD, and DVD+-R/RW with no problems whatsoever. I've been very happy.
 
Digix DVD/CD/MP3/VCD Player from outpost.com

I paid $52 shipped 2nd day air and its played
all media I've thrown at it. I like the design and
it doesn't seem to be cheaply made like apex's.
 
If my Apex has 5.1 DTS digital coax, then I believe that virtually all of them do. Optical audio out? That's another story, but AFAIK, there's absolutely no benefit to that.

How good's the TV he'll be hooking up to. If it's "good," you'll want to shop for component video outputs. I think most of the latest models that aren't dirt-cheap have this feature. If it's really, really good (as in HDTV), you'll need to shop for a "progressive scan" model. If it's not an HDTV though, don't pay extra for progressive scan, as there will be no benefit what so ever.



EDIT: OOPS OOPS OOPS 🙂
 
The TV is craptacular (manufacture sticker -- Sept '86)...but I'd like to be slightly future-proof..then again, we definitely won't get HDTV for a while..so it probably doesn't matter. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Thegonagle
If my Apex has 5.1 DTS digital coax, then I believe that virtually all of them do. Optical audio out? That's another story, but AFAIK, there's absolutely no benefit to that.

How good's the TV he'll be hooking up to. If it's "good," you'll want to shop for component video outputs. I think most of the latest models that aren't dirt-cheap have this feature. If it's really, really good (as in HDTV), you'll need to shop for a "progressive scan" model. If it's not an HDTV though, don't pay extra for progressive scan, as there will be no benefit what so ever.



EDIT: OOPS OOPS OOPS 🙂
Click to expand...
Digital audio-out (whether S/P-DIF, TOSLink, or AT glass fiber, etc.) is certainly useful. You use it if you have a receiver or some separate component(s) that handle the audio playback. Not everybody runs analogue audio from the DVD player to the amplifier.
 
Originally posted by: CadetLee
The TV is craptacular (manufacture sticker -- Sept '86)...but I'd like to be slightly future-proof..then again, we definitely won't get HDTV for a while..so it probably doesn't matter. 🙂
Click to expand...

You're getting into another category here.. Progressive Scan players DO get better as price increases.. I had a panasonic that cost me $120 and it was only "decent".. I don't know the current market though.. For some reason, the progressive scan capable dvd players that I've had all have annjoying artifacts in standard def. mode (don't as me why).. Future proofing is not nec. or cost concious - by the time HDTV becomes the norm a new DVD standard should be out (1080p perhaps? Blu-rAY?)
 
My Apex has something called "COAXIAL" on it, and my Harman/Kardon has something called "COAX." I assume it's digital. It's one single RCA cord, and it makes all the speakers that are hooked up the the receiver make sound. I don't think it's analog. I think it's digital, and my Apex has it.

What are you trying to tell me?
 
If the TV's craptacular, you're probably going to need an RF modulator to even hook it up, unless it happens to have a video input. Most TVs that old do not.
 
Most DVD's players are gonna be the same for you. Not gonna see a difference in quality, just pick a price and buy one. Even the name brands you haven't heard of put out a decent product for cheap. I bought an APEX a long time ago and never had any problems with it, good picture as well.
 
i like my yamakawa 218 dvd player. it has a 5.1 decoder, region hackable, also an added bonus is that you don't have to convert an mpg to (s)vcd to view it (you can play mpgs straight off of a cd). also comes with 3 sets of RCA cables. all for under $70.

EDIT: forgot to mention it also plays the usual mp3 and jpgs.
 
I must be in a good mood.. Here's some availalbe at circuit city (best buy or other chains should have them too- *=highly recommended)

Zenith DVB312 Progressive scan, mp3 playback, cool slim casing, etc. for $79?? That's pretty cool! Zenith is a pretty decent company too

Panasonic DVDRV32K*** This is the current top (as far as sales goes) budget dvd player.. $99 and feature MP3 and WMA support (WMA support is pretty rare).. Your best bet..The audio quality on this is supposed to be superb (video should be similar across the board)

Sony DVPNS325l - Pretty good player.. I have the old model of this.. I don't know what the difference is but it's a good, affordable player.. i'd stick to the panasonic.. Same price ($99) but the panasonic has higher quality sound (better DACs) and WMA support

Apex 1200 - I don't really recommend this.. It's dirty cheap ($50) and does the job.. In fact, it's sitting in my parent's bedroom right now.. The build quality is pretty shoddy though and it just looks/feels cheap.. I would buy it for a 2nd tv but I wouldn't give it as a gift. It is pretty cool because it plays a wide range of media and formats (svcd/vcd/xvcd, etc) but I doubt your dad would care..

Lastly, the progressive scan panasonic that I had and returned is $99 now.. That's a great price but the low end progressive scans tend to have issues. My main problem wit it was a faint horizontal white line that went across the screen every now and then.. Even my techno-phobe family noticed it..
 
You can also go DIRT cheap... there's a few Cyberhome DVD players like the 400 and 300 that can pretty much play anything. Hackable and such... progressive scan as well. $48 after $10 MIR at your local Ratshack or other retailer. Since your TV is grab@$$tic yeah... prolly not worth it to spend too much on a DVD player. Heck, even RCA sell a progressive scan for under $100.

Personally I'd look at a nice Toshiba... my old SD has served me well. Just wish it could play SVCDs and CDRs.
 
The main reason I don't want to go too cheap is for sound -- I'll still have crappy image quality, but at least my sound won't be too bad..it's not the greatest HT setup on earth, but it's definitely a step above a typical TV speaker. 😛
 
I like Toshiba myself. Excellent picture quality, decent prices and lots of features, although some models can be very picky with burned discs.
 
Originally posted by: freedomsbeat212
I must be in a good mood.. Here's some availalbe at circuit city (best buy or other chains should have them too- *=highly recommended)

Zenith DVB312 Progressive scan, mp3 playback, cool slim casing, etc. for $79?? That's pretty cool! Zenith is a pretty decent company too

Panasonic DVDRV32K*** This is the current top (as far as sales goes) budget dvd player.. $99 and feature MP3 and WMA support (WMA support is pretty rare).. Your best bet..The audio quality on this is supposed to be superb (video should be similar across the board)

Sony DVPNS325l - Pretty good player.. I have the old model of this.. I don't know what the difference is but it's a good, affordable player.. i'd stick to the panasonic.. Same price ($99) but the panasonic has higher quality sound (better DACs) and WMA support

Apex 1200 - I don't really recommend this.. It's dirty cheap ($50) and does the job.. In fact, it's sitting in my parent's bedroom right now.. The build quality is pretty shoddy though and it just looks/feels cheap.. I would buy it for a 2nd tv but I wouldn't give it as a gift. It is pretty cool because it plays a wide range of media and formats (svcd/vcd/xvcd, etc) but I doubt your dad would care..

Lastly, the progressive scan panasonic that I had and returned is $99 now.. That's a great price but the low end progressive scans tend to have issues. My main problem wit it was a faint horizontal white line that went across the screen every now and then.. Even my techno-phobe family noticed it..
Click to expand...

Excellent DVD Player, I bought a similiar model for $100 - $20 MIR = $80 at CostCo B&M
 
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