buying dvd-player, need advice!

[avalancher]

Alrighty folks, I now need some serious advice. I've saved up for a dvd-player for 8 months, my budget can't reach beyond models of Panasonic S75 and the likes cause they're much more expensive in Sweden. So, what's the best buy?

Chatting with a salesman yesterday this problem is now discovered: My 7 year old Nokia (100 hz, good sound and picture quality tv!) does not run NTSC. Devastated I realised I can't play American discs then (which is a total drag of course, since I've joined an online trading group of whom most are american). But then, while reading user comments of some players, it seems some dvd-players can by themselves convert NTSC to PAL, and it doesn't matter if you have an old tv then. Is this true? What players can do this?

As I said, my tv is 100hz, on some intense red colors for instance it can get blurry. Can a bad dv-player enhance this, is it a problem? Oh btw, my tv has 2 scart contacts, and one s-video.

I have these requests of a player:

Must play VCD, SVCD, DVD-r, DVD+r. I have no demands of jpeg's, mp3's etc. I simply don't use it. I want it to play burnt films without no problems, I've read here some Pioneer players got problems with vcd?

I'm not too concerned with design, though I would like it to be black. A silent player is always nice. I'm concerned about overheating, as it will be placed on top, or below, my vcr, inside a wooden shelf.

I can live with difficult menus etc, I'm usually pretty good at sorting out such stuff anyway.

So my main wants is really: play all film formats, sound and image quality, no overheating, quality that does last longer then the warranty period. I can sacrifice the rest happily.

What I can tell from both reviews, tests, and user comments here my choices are:

Panasonic S75 (or S35, doesn't hurt if it's cheaper!)
Pioneer 464 or 454 (or 306)
Sony NS405 (though needs firmware upgrading apparently, if it exists)
Philips 728

Are there any more to choose from? Which once of the above is most suitable? In Sweden, everyone says Panasonic s74 is the best buy, and is amazingly cheap for what it delivers. But here, it doesn't even make top 20 rating...

Please help advice!
Regards,
Linda Mankefors

[MOVIEGEEK]

I have a Panasonic F65 and it plays everything including DVD-AUDIO except DVD+R/RW without the DVD-ROM booktype,I've never tried PAL discs though.I paid $125 USD/895 SEK.
AFAIK all PAL DVD players support NTSC but your tv may have a problem.