Need help getting a DVD player

[Comp625]

Hello AT forumers,

Tommorow starts the Post-Christmas shopping extravaganza. I am planning on getting a DVD player for my 21" TV tommorow. I need help though.

First of all, I'd like to know what to look for in a player. I am looking for a player that is between the price range of $150-$250. I read through the Sunday Ads every week and I see a plethora of features such as "ABCD Technology" and "Progressive Scan." Below is a list of terms that I know little about.

ABCD Technology
Progressive Scan
Cinema Mode (seen in a Panasonic player)
Dialog Enhanced Mode (seen in a Panasonic player)
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital decoding
Precision Drive 2
Block Noise Reduction
Colorstream
DTS output

Just incase if your curious, I want a DVD player for my 21" Stereo Sharp television. The tv is about 10 years old...but hey I like it. Obviously the TV won't churn out the best video quality so I obviously don't need a state of the art DVD player

Here are some questions that I have regarding a player.
Alot of players that I see, list "Supports CD-R, CD-RW playback". Why would you want to play CD-R and CD-RW discs in your DVD drive? Perhaps for VCDs? I dunno...
Are there any manufacturers that I should favor? Are there any that I should try to avoid?

Last but not least, I want to know which specific drive would you recommend to me (remember...$150-$250 price range for an aging 21" stereo tv)? I put this last because I really want to learn about all those features listed in ads just so that I can choose a DVD player for myself. I just want your recommendations so that I can compare your suggestions to mine and hopefully choose a good player.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Pabster]

Progressive Scan won't do you any good on that TV...

 

[Pariah]

ABCD Technology - never heard of it, actually found a link on Panasonic's page http://www.panasonic.com/consumer_electronics/dvd_video/homeplayers.asp#abc

Progressive Scan - In the DVD world, this is a fancy word for line doubler. In essence, instead of drawing the odd lines and then the even lines like an interlaced picture, progressive scan draws all the lines at once every time, like a computer monitor. You need a TV capable of the feature, which aren't cheap.

Cinema Mode (seen in a Panasonic player) - basically one button setting for color and luminance that are supposedly better for movie watching. Not really a feature, not really useful for most people either.

Dialog Enhanced Mode (seen in a Panasonic player) - alters the dialogue channel to make i more audible

Dolby Digital - method for encoding audio. Most common is 5.1. Not something you need to worry about with your setup.

Dolby Digital decoding - Means you won't need a 5.1 capable receiver. Not really a useful feature.

Precision Drive 2 - no idea, sounds like some company's marketing term

Block Noise Reduction - just what it sounds like, removes unwanted non black elements from black areas

Colorstream - don't know, not important

DTS output - competing audio standard to dolby digital, once again not something you need to worry about with your setup

Sony and Pioneer are good brands, not sure about their model lineup in your price range though.

 

[sanz]

Progressive Scan won't do you any good on that TV...

Amen to that..

Anyway, here's a generally good place to read up on your questions

For your 21" 10 year old TV, well.... really cheap player won't make any difference. It all depends what you want out of your DVD setup. If you plan to rent and watch it alternate to VHS on your TV without any DD5.1, then by all means, get a really cheap one.

But if you think you're going to get into DVD collecting, you'll have to replace that TV of yours to minimum of 34" Widescreen direct TV and get some reasonable 5.1 speaker setup. Once that happens, cheap player wont' do.

 

[Comp625]

I plan on collecting DVDs. I really wanna get DVDs for its cutscenes and enhanced effects, etc. The DVDs themselves are mucho expensive so I might just decide not to buy a player after all.

Would it benefitical to me if I were to buy a DVD-Rom Drive for my PC? To think of it, my 48x Memorex CD-Rom drive is one loud beast and I really don't use my CD-Rom drive alot so I definitely can take out my CD-Rom drive and have an extra bay in my case. Lets say theoretically if I were to buy a DVD-Rom drive for the PC, what would I look for now? I am totally clueless about PC DVDs so please help!

Here are my computer specifications.

AMD Thunderbird 850mhz (not o/ced, may upgrade to a 1.xghz soon)
ASUS A7V (may upgrade motherboard because of the CPU upgrade)
Win98SE (may upgrade to XP Pro if I change mobo/cpu)
512mb PC133 SDram
Creative Labs GeForce2 GTS 32mb AGP
Soundblaster Live Value
3 piece Altec Lansing Speakers (2 satelite, 1 subwoofer)
40gb Western Digital 7200rpm ATA100
17" CompUSA monitor (sounds crappy, but the quality is actually quite good)
Crappy $10 Walmart chair with flower-patterened seat padding (I originally wanted a DVD-Rom drive for my PC because the monitor can produce much better visual quality than the TV but my chair becomes uncomfortable after a while -- wish I could get those $100+ office leather chairs hehe )

What kind of DVD-Rom speed should I get? I do believe the speed of the DVD-Rom drive affects the speed at which it reads regular CDs? (DVD 8x = CD 32x?).

I'm willing to spend up to $250 for a DVD-Rom drive but I'd prefer to save money and get something that gives the most bang for the buck.

 

[Pariah]

"But if you think you're going to get into DVD collecting, you'll have to replace that TV of yours to minimum of 34" Widescreen direct TV"

That really isn't true. All you really need is a good 27" TV. Sure we'd all like to have a 60" widescreen HDTV, but that really isn't necessary. One feature that really is recommended if you plan on watcing a lot of DVD's is a progressive scan capable TV.

"Would it benefitical to me if I were to buy a DVD-Rom Drive for my PC?"

The only benefit is that it would be cheaper.

"what would I look for now?"

Nothing, they're all the same. What do you look for in a CDROM drive? Same concept.

"I do believe the speed of the DVD-Rom drive affects the speed at which it reads regular CDs? (DVD 8x = CD 32x?)."

1x DVD is equal to about 9x CDROM speed, but the 2 are unrelated when listed as drive stats. A 16x DVD drive does not read CD's at 144x. Typical CDROM read speed is 32x or 40x regardless of DVD read speed. 16x is the fastest dvd speed, so you might as well get that, there really isn't any benefit to the extra speed since all movies play at 1x, but 16x is basically all anyone makes any more, and they are cheap, so why not.

"I'm willing to spend up to $250 for a DVD-Rom drive but I'd prefer to save money and get something that gives the most bang for the buck."

16x drives from all the major manufactures will cost around $70-$80. Even with the TV you have, I think you are better off with a standalone player.

 

[neuralfx]

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html .. the DVD Faq ..
-neural

 

[Lalakai]

here are a couple places to look for good info and reviews.
DVD talk
Audio Review

I think it's the the Panasonic 31 which is a solid midlevel unit with good history of playback and performance. Considering your current tv, don't go for anything with progressive scan or color streaming.

I picked up a Toshiba 2715 and use it for dvd's and cd's, and the music is great (kind'a picky about that); out the door from ABC was $215 with monster cables included (caught 'em on a generous day).

good luck

 

[Viper GTS]

Colorstream - don't know, not important

Wrong, Colorstream = component output. It's just their name for it, but it is component output.

That's pretty damned important if you ask me.

Viper GTS

 

[NotoriousJTC]

<< I'm willing to spend up to $250 for a DVD-Rom drive but I'd prefer to save money and get something that gives the most bang for the buck. >>


no DVD-rom drive that i know of costs $250 bux. Infact, most dvd-rom's are pretty damn cheap. The 2 most popular brands in dvd-rom are Pioneer and Toshiba. Pioneer make a slot loading and tray loading version, whereas Tosh only as 2 tray models (if memory serves me correctly, and it rarely does ) Most DVD-rom's can be had for less than $100.

 

[Pariah]

"It's just their name for it, but it is component output."

Who is they? I would not consider component out important for a 10 year 21" TV. I don't consider marketing terms important either, regardless of whether they refer to an industry standard component or not.

 

[billyjak]

I have a Toshiba DVD, not for computer and it's awesome.
It has the zoom feature, highly recomended, so you get the whole picture not just the 16:9 format with the black lines above and below the picture as in your case on the 21" TV
It has all the other bells and whistles also.
Can pick them up cheap now.

 

[Viper GTS]

<< "It's just their name for it, but it is component output."

Who is they? I would not consider component out important for a 10 year 21" TV. I don't consider marketing terms important either, regardless of whether they refer to an industry standard component or not. >>



Colorstream is Toshiba's name for component video.

While you're right, a 10 year old 21" TV is NOT going to have component inputs, ignoring them & calling them unimportant is a little naive. Who knows when a Wega might show up in his living room and - Oh wait, he doesn't have component outputs. So he'll be stuck with s-video.

Viper GTS

 

[Comp625]

Thanks for all your help so far.

What if I buy a DVD-Rom drive...Will the quality of the image/audio differ from buying a cheap Hi-val drive compared to buying (for example) a Pioneer DVD-Rom drive? I know you guys said speed doesn't matter and I don't particularly see DVD games coming out anytime soon. Or does the image/audio quality depend on the Software Decoder?

 

[Comp625]

A reply would be most appriciated. I went computer shopping and saw:

A Creative Labs PC DVD Drive (16x) for $100
A Digital Research 16x (aka "IOMagic") DVD Drive for $80
A Universal Buslink (never heard of company) 16x DVD Drive for $80
A "Pine Technology" 16x DVD Drive for $80

So is there any difference between a brand name drive (a la Creative Labs) or a no name like Universal Buslink? I would think it would depend on the Decoding Software but I don't know.

 

[sanz]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend a DVD-ROM on your computer especially with a 17" (effective 16") monitor. I can understand using computer for DVD if you're planning to put it through a projector, but for a monitor? No way.

I think you can buy Panasonic RV31 for something like $170 in states. Get that and watch DVD on your TV.

 

[Atlantean]

toshiba makes good dvd players.

 

[abaez]

My Lite On dvd rom from newegg it was refurbished works like a dream, but I have had the toshiba
3109 at my house for awhile and its been great, got it almost two years ago and it still has things you use
today like component and optical output and stuff. It costs about $250 if you look around
audioreview link is here.
I gave it to my dad and I am gonna get the Toshiba 2700 which is getting
very good reviews at audioreview.com here.
and for $150 you can't beat it.

 

[OneOfTheseDays]

get urself one of those cheapo Apex ones that plays mp3s as well. Whatever you do dont get a PROGRESSIVE scan DVD player. I have a friend who has a sony XBR 400 and he went out and bought a progressive scan player. he bragged to me how it was the tightest ish and how the pq was so great. I go over to his house and guess what, he has the DVD hooked up through the COMPOSITE inputs. what a moron!!!!

 

[mdXtreme3d]

Hey Comp625,

if you decide to go the set top route, don't waste your time with an Apex or other el-cheapo player. While they may work fine for some people, the build quality on them is not terribly good and you'll most likely be much happier in the long run with something from Sony/Toshiba/Pioneer/Panasonic. I happen to have a brand new Panasonic DVD-RA60 DVD player for sale if you are interested. Plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD-Audio, VCD/SVCD, MP3 CD and just about everything else (see specs here). Drop me a PM or email if you are interested.

good luck whichever way you go.