Help me choose a new DIVX DIVD Player

[Jez2k]

My Yamada DVD 6800X died today and from what I can tell, Yamada no longer make DVD players. Obviously I'm looking for a replacement.

Features it MUST have:

DIVX (the more codecs it covers, the better)
Dual Layer DVD compatibility
MP3 compatibility
CD Audio compatibility
Pono/RCA left and right audio out sockets
SCART (yes I know its old, but I like to cut the wire that handles that annoying auto-switching)
Region Free

It would be handy if it included a Freeview tuner with the ability to record to DVD, so I could also replace my Panasonic Freeview DVD recorder at the same time. A hard drive is not a requirement (unless its to replace the existing Panasonic) and I certainly do not need BluRay.

So far, the only one I've been able to find that meets all of the MUST have requirements is the Panasonic DMR-EX75EB-S. But looking at the reviews on Amazon, the UK model does not play DIVX and it doesn't play half the formats it claims to. Any thoughts on this one?

I would be happy with anything thats at least as versatile as my Yamada was.

[FulciLives]

You might want to consider a Blu-Ray player. Some models have great DivX/XviD compatibility as well as being able to play x264 video (such as MP4 files or MKV files). In short you'll have better codec support.

Nobody says you have to buy into Blu-Ray discs. A Blu-Ray player can still play back regular DVD plus other formats like DivX/XviD and x264 etc.

Although it is very nearly impossible to find a region free Blu-Ray player

I guess my point is that stand alone DVD players ONLY support DivX/Xvid whereas a stand alone Blu-Ray player can support many more formats (but obviously not all so do your homework).

LG seems to be a popular model with good codec support of various file formats.

[yoda313]

Pono/RCA left and right audio out sockets
SCART (yes I know its old, but I like to cut the wire that handles that annoying auto-switching)

It is my understanding that with the analog hole being closed in the near future it might already be tough to get a hold of ones with analog outs. I haven't looked myself lately but just be warned it might not be that easy. If they are already disappearing you may have to look into used or discontinued/refurbed models.

And fulic is correct you can still look at a bluray player and you don't HAVE to use it for bluray. The added bonus being you would be able to play hd files you get off the net or make yourself (assuming of course the model you choose can play files at all - many of the main brands can now play the files off ntfs drives and can do high def h264 - of course read the specs before buying). Regular dvd players would only be able to play standard def video files.

[Ai Haibara]

I'd say that it's rather rare for a DVD player to support anything outside DivX/Xvid and MPEG, as well as MP3s, in terms of what it'll play from files. My Phillips 5990 will also play MP4s (mostly DivX/Xvid video stream and an MP3 audio stream, though), WMVs and WMAs - though they're still limited by the SD DVD resolution limit, of course. You're not likely going to find a DVD player that supports h.264 video, in any container.

...and that's another thing that should be mentioned - if you're interested in playing HD video, a Blu-Ray player is indeed what you probably should be looking for.
(Edit: The SD limitation wasn't my only point, but yoda beat me to it, by a few seconds. )

[yoda313]

(Edit: The SD limitation wasn't my only point, but yoda beat me to it, by a few seconds. )

I strike again!

Also another note about doing a bluray player is that you can do streaming video that way. I'm not sure if you can get a dvd player that can officially stream off netflix and what not. But almost every bluray player nowadays seems to. Wired would be best unless you have a wifi n network and a pretty close location to your router.

[Chopmeister]

Although it is very nearly impossible to find a region free Blu-Ray player

Not really. I have two. A Toshiba (model# 1200ky) and a Veon (model# VN2916BR). The Toshiba needs to have the Australian firmware (readily available) flashed onto it to be region free, whereas the Veon is region free out of the box.

For both units the DVDs region settings are changeable via the remote (including the ability to set to Region 0 for region free, or select a region if a DVD dislikes region free players), and the change "sticks" until you change it to something else. The blu ray zone is also changeable using the remote (A, B or C, no all region option), but they both revert to the correct local region every time you turn them off and on again.

The Veon is a fairly cheap and nasty unit I got on sale for around $US40 equivalent for the spare room, the Toshiba is a more robust and well designed unit. They both do both PAL and NTSC without issues. I *think* the Toshiba will also do SECAM, but don't have a disk to test this - certainly there is French firmware available.