A DVD Player Workhorse For Family Use

[synchro505]

Can you guys recommend a good family workhorse of a DVD player that can handle worn DVDs and play lots of rentals? DIVX would be cool too. I've seen many posts about the Philips DVP5960. Many of the top rated players in the DVD players list section are no longer sold. It seems they keep changing model numbers before someone can even do a review! Anyway, your suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Mike

[oldandinthe way]

My recommendation is find a $30 commodity player and run it till it dies.

They are more tolerant of out of spec DVDs than some name-brand players.

In 12 -18 months the caps in the power supply will dry out and you will throw it away. Spending $80 on a name brand will not guarantee a longer lifespan.

[MJA]

Toshiba SD-6980 DVD Player


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[Seeker47]

My recommendation is find a $30 commodity player and run it till it dies.

They are more tolerant of out of spec DVDs than some name-brand players.

In 12 -18 months the caps in the power supply will dry out and you will throw it away. Spending $80 on a name brand will not guarantee a longer lifespan.

So I guess you'd say spending something like 2 bills for a topline Oppo would be even more of a waste ?

My Malata cost more like 3 bills when I bought it about 3 or 4 years ago. Definitely a workhorse, good pq, Pal --> NTSC conversion for any tv and MV-defeat built-in, and it's still going strong. (This model was "chipped" by the dealer, to add the all-region etc. features. Malata got out of this market, and then just made pricier portables.) About the only negatives I can cite are that It does have playing limitations re certain DVDs, depending on how and where they were made. No commercial release (pressed disc) has ever been a problem, except maybe for a couple of bargain bin cheapies, but some others won't FF beyond 2x speed, for example, and if you try to it will lock up. LordSmurf replied to me once on this -- something about disc reflectivity -- but I think I have since ruled that out. It's just quirks of this player, I think, and what it regards as being a compliant DVD.

[synchro505]

Thanks for the tips. Forgive my ignorance but what is a commodity DVD player?

Does the Toshiba you mentioned play DIVX or AVI? I guess I can just convert files to DVD friendly format beforehand. Now that my 7 year old daughter knows more how to handle discs and keep them relatively clean, I think almost any model will be better than our old pre progressive scan Sony DVD player. Funny little thing. It skips and gives errors when it gets too hot! Such a klunker!

Thanks again for any more input you may have. You guys are the DVD gurus!