How good are those cheap DVD players?

[daveman]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with those around $100 DVD players. I've never bought a DVD player so I don't know. I've got a $60.00 GC at Bestbuy so I thought about getting one.

Thanks,
David

 

[stultus]

You get what you pay for. My relatives got a "free" DVD player with their 60" TV, and it's really quite ugly. If you want something you don't want to curse at, try the Toshiba one at BB ($100 after your GC). Main benfits are image quality, better electronics, more/better connections, etc.

 

[daveman]

<< You get what you pay for. My relatives got a &quot;free&quot; DVD player with their 60&quot; TV, and it's really quite ugly. If you want something you don't want to curse at, try the Toshiba one at BB ($100 after your GC). Main benfits are image quality, better electronics, more/better connections, etc. >>



I was looking at the Toshiba also. I just have to talk my wife into it. I've never really looked at the difference between DVD and VCR's are they really alot of video and audio quality difference.
Thanks for the advice

 

[RabidMongoose]

I got an Oritron DVD player about a year ago. It's a horrible DVD player. The quality on mine is horrible (when compared to my other DVD player), it's slower, and half the time the volume is messed up for some reason.

 

[samgau]

I just got a panasonic (199.99 at BB) and it seems to be a purty good one...

 

[StageLeft]

If you have a good home theater DVD is a must so that you can make use of all the audio channels.

Video is significantly better as well; this will not be very noticeable on a crappy TV and hopefully your tv will have s-video in or component to minimize quality loss normally experienced with coaxial (standard cable wiring).

Also you can see cut scenes and all that I have not personally compared different DVD players - perhaps BB can demo them?

 

[GasX]

DVD players are like CD players. The difference in video/sound quality is not noticable by the average Joe. More expensive players give you better features and hopefully better reliability. Beyond that, there is no difference no matter what people tell you.

Enjoying digital quality home theater for $100 is a great thing!!

 

[daveman]

<< TV and hopefully your tv will have s-video in or component to minimize quality loss normally experienced with coaxial (standard cable wiring). >>



I know its got some RCA jacks or something. Thats where I have my stereo pluged in. I'll have to check on the s-video thing tonite.
thanks

 

[Thump553]

A year ago or so I got a $100 Raite from CompUSA. Only lasted a couple of months before it died (just after warranty) and was a piece of cr*p when it did work-wouldn't run a lot of DVDs, visible pauses at chapter's end, etc.

Replaced it with a Panasonic from Amazon that cost about $150. This one is great, its only problem is that it doesn't recognize CDRs or CDRWs.

 

[AaronP]

I've got a Toshiba 2109 and a Konka player.

the Konka is the cheap one, it has never not played a single disc that I used in it, however the menus go really slow, my Toshiba and my PC fly through DVD menus, always gotta wait for the Konka to navigate. But for 99 bucks, it wasn't bad.

I would definitly go with Toshiba now though, since the price on them has come down substantially.

 

[ZeroBurn]

i have an apex and i love it, plays everything. awesome to make vcds of my movies and put them onscreen. although i'm in college and it's not really a part of a huge home theater setup, so i guess it just depends on your needs.

 

[Oyeve]

My buddy bought an Apex model about a year ago for 129. Other than feeling like cheap plastic it is actually a somewhat decent machine. I paid 1200 for my Pioneer DVL-909 when it first came out and wish I waited a year or so so I could get cheaper players.

 

[kami]

<< DVD players are like CD players. The difference in video/sound quality is not noticable by the average Joe. More expensive players give you better features and hopefully better reliability. Beyond that, there is no difference no matter what people tell you. >>


Eh, not really. In my experience, most cheap models have crap ass image quality...and I think anyone could tell the difference if you put it side by side with a player that has a good MPEG decoder. I've even seen some cheap players that have LESS resolution than DVD spec....gah :disgust:

Pioneer and Panasonic are two brands that have outstanding low-priced players.

 

[ShizNitz]

I agree with Mwilding. I bought an open-box Zenith DVD player for $100.00 about a year ago. Since I have a 5.1 receiver, I didn't need my DVD player to have the 5.1 encoding. Anyways, I have never had even one problem with the player (and I watch about 8 movies a week). The picture and sound quality are great (I'll argue this point with anybody).

I bought a second DVD player three months ago (a Sony w/5.1 decoding for about $250.00). I don't notice a damn bit of difference between the two. I really regret my purchase.

 

[kami]

<< I bought a second DVD player three months ago (a Sony w/5.1 decoding for about $250.00). I don't notice a damn bit of difference between the two. I really regret my purchase.
>>


Should've done your research then.

 

[Viper GTS]

Panasonic DVD RV31K or RV31S (same model, available in black or silver)

Readily available for under $200, includes component outputs.

If I work the OT I'm planning this month I'll likely buy one to reward myself for eliminating 75%+ of my debt in one month.

Viper GTS

 

[kami]

Good choice Viper!! Couldn't be happier with mine...the damn thing has NO glitches to speak of...handles everything flawlessly.

 

[daveman]

<< Panasonic DVD RV31K or RV31S (same model, available in black or silver)

Readily available for under $200, includes component outputs.

If I work the OT I'm planning this month I'll likely buy one to reward myself for eliminating 75%+ of my debt in one month.

Viper GTS >>



Thanks, looks like its $199.99 at Bestbuy. Not sure if the wife will go for it. Might have to do some suckin up. lol

 

[LintBalll]

In some ways the cheap Asian imports are the best DVD players. I have a Sampo player that has no macrovision, is region-free, and will play ANYTHING you put in it...almost. I do alot of video capture and make VCDs/SVCDs/MiniDVDs (MiniDVDs are MPG2 caps...DVD quality...burned on CDRs). The Sampo is one of the only players on the market that will play any MiniDVDs. Very flexible for &quot;burn your own&quot; types.

And it has never even stuttered on normal DVDs. Great player!!

 

[MrBond]

<< I've never really looked at the difference between DVD and VCR's are they really alot of video and audio quality difference? >>

Well, I was impressed with the picture the night I hooked ours up. I rented &quot;Tomorrow Never Dies&quot; and within the first 5 minutes, my dad commented about how good the picture looked. If HE can notice it, I think you'd have to be blind to not notice the difference.

If your TV supports it, when you buy the player pick up an Svideo cable too. The bestbuy guy will try and force a Monster cable on you, don't buy it. Get whatever they have (skip over the phillips, I think armless monkeys designed them) that's not too expensive. I had a RCA svideo cable for the DVD player, and when we got the TiVo, I sent my dad out to pick up another one. He bought a monster cable at Circuit City, paid $25 (I paid $9 for the phillips one I bought), and you can't tell the difference, no matter what anyone tells you.

Your best bet? Check out epinions.com and read reviews. Go into the store, when the BestBuy guy asks if you need help, tell him no, pick out the DVD player you decided on (decide BEFORE you go into the store), get an svideo cable if you need one, and head to the checkout. As long as you stick to a quality, name brand model, the extended service plan is useless. They make CRAZY profit on those (a former BB employee said here once they make $76 on a $80 plan), and a good model won't fail you after three years or whatever. If a DVD player will fail, it will fail within the manufactures warrenty time.

 

[Viper GTS]

Only get s-video if your TV doesn't have component inputs. My 27&quot; Wega does, so I'll be using component video. S-video is a drastic improvement over composite, but the step from s-video to component is not nearly as big.

I used an Acoustic Research s-video cable with a DVD player I borrowed from iam67mustangman, it was a lot cheaper than the Monster cables &amp; not much more than the cheap Recoton or whatever the hell they were brand. When I get my DVD player I'll be using a set of Monster cables, but I got them dirt cheap from the guy I bought the TV from. $20 for a set of cables that runs $60 in the store.



Viper GTS

 

[daveman]

Thanks for the help. Now I kinda know what to look out for.
David