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  1. Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Howdy,

    I an an old Sony DVP-S360 that's 4 years old or so. It plays most movies fine but doesn't play some of my homemade DVDs. I also have a cheap phillips or panasonic (something with a P) that I got from Sears a while ago that seems to be better at playing them.

    I'm looking to possibly replace the Sony one and am looking for ideas.

    I have $75 in gift cards to Best Buy I'd like to use up so I'm looking for something that's not much more than that and that Best Buy carries.

    Would have to have Optical audio out but other than that I'm open. If it can play Divx files, that'd be great. I'm not even sure how that works but I have some Divx movies I'd love to be able to watch.

    I do want it to be very compatible with homemade DVDs (I normally use Fujifilm ones).

    Any suggestions on which ones to look at? Or even just ones NOT to look at? Any info would be great.

    Thanks.
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  2. Philips DV-642 is in your price range & also can play Divx. Has optical output too.
    Take your home vids into the store & see if you can get them to let you play them in the player.
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  3. I'm looking for 2nd DVD player as well for homemade DVD's, but one thing I've found about the Philips DVP642 is that VCD and DVD playback isn't very clean. It has a tendancy to be pixelated or grainy. Overall the 642 isn't bad, being that there isn't other mainstream Divx player in the states.
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  4. You can proablay find more brands that handle divx by going on ebay & searching under dvd players for "divx"
    If nothing else , you can get more brands/models to go do some research on...
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  5. i guess i'm picky, but I rather get a player backed by a mainstream company. rjtech may be a nice player, but it's too fringe for me. i wish companies like apex, jvc, pioneer, and sony would make thier Divx players available in the states. some competition would be good. in all honesty, too many ppl fall in love w/ the philips 642 just b/c it plays divx files. but its playback quality and disc compatibility can be questionable at times. I also have a lite-on 2002 and its better than my philips in both categories. hopeful in the next year more mainstream divx players will be available.
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  6. The OP was looking for a <$100 player, which the Philips is. & you are right
    it is a decnt player, but far from perfect. I believe Yamaha makes one that also plays DivX, but it's far above $100. I thought JVC also has one available Stateside.
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  7. just did a search, jvc does sell a divx unit as well. although not from any retailers i've ever heard of. has a memory card feature as well. which is cool. there haven't been many reviews, and they've been mixed so far. but at $140 w/ s/h think i'll wait. I wonder how much of problems w/ the philips and jvc are related to the ess vibratto II chip?
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  8. I think with standard Divx encoded movies, they play prett ywell. It's more the non-divx mpeg4, different bitrates, etc that cause issues. I finally basically gave up on using the 642 for anything, & keep it as a backup player. I now just use SVCD2DVD & convert stuff to DVD compatible format & play them in my Zenith 318
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  9. For compatibility with homemade discs...Panasonic.
    I have a Panasonic DVD-S47, and it starts up fast and works great with all media. It even does +R media, even though it's not listed in the manual or on the box. JPG with music support too for showing your digital pictures without having to make low-quality MPEG2 slideshows. Long-Filename support (up to 32 characters). WMA/MP3 playback too.

    Panasonic DVD-S47
    CONS:
    1. weak signal on remote. You have to point the remote almost directly at player for it to work.
    2. No Divx.
    3. Stupid blue-light on front is very bright. I turn it off, but the whole display dims.
    4. Flimsy CD tray.
    5. Silver color only. Black not available anywhere in USA.
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  10. Have any of you tried a Ritech RJ-250, here is a link I have a phillips dvp-642 and I love it but the RJ-250 is nice and compact. Looks like you can pick one up for less than 90 bucks shipping and all but I have no idea about the quality and performance.

    Would love to hear from someone that has one or has tried one out.
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  11. Kinda cool for a portable, but only S-video & no mention of which chip it uses.
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