Most Bang for the Buck/No HDMI/Quality/Playback ability player available

[hgh]

I live in the US. I am looking for a dvd player to play pal dvds on my ntsc system. I've looked online at several code free players but am unable to determine which player at the best price provides the best quality output. I don't need HDMI. Ideally I would like dvd/vcd/svcd/divx/wma capatibility. Which player would you recommend and where is the best place to buy it?

[jagabo]

Philips DVP 5960. $70 at Circuit City:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Philips-DVD-Player-with-HDMI-DVP5960/sem/rpsm/oid/14718...oductDetail.do

It doesn't have an s-video output though.

[hgh]

Thanks for the recommendation Jagabo. Does it play pal dvds on ntsc system out of the box or does it need a hack?

[jagabo]

The region free hack is just a few button presses on the remote:

http://www.phunkyfish.com/article/4/philips-dvp-596012

It can also convert PAL to NTSC or NTSC to PAL.

From what I hear the Oppo players are even better but they start around $150:

http://www.oppodigital.com/

[ozymango]

It doesn't do WMA but otherwise any of the Oppo DVD players are quite excellent, and they'll play PAL on your NTSC set straight out of the box. Check 'em out at www.oppodigital.com

EDIT: Actually it appears the Oppo OPDV971H does do WMA. It's a bit more expensive, at $199, but it also does a heck of a lot more and the image quality is amazing.

[jagabo]

Do the Oppo players support long filenames? Over the ethernet connection as well as on DVD?

[hgh]

I've looked at Oppo before but was looking for something less expensive. But interms of value for the dollar do you think that the Oppo players are far better than anything else in regards of price?

[jagabo]

But interms of value for the dollar do you think that the Oppo players are far better than anything else in regards of price?

It depends on how much you value the additional features the Oppo supports. If you have an HD TV and like to view high definition Divx files the Oppo is the better value. If you have a standard definition TV and only watch SD material then the Oppo is probably overkill.

<edit> see this post:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1641296#1641296

</edit>

[max2]

But interms of value for the dollar do you think that the Oppo players are far better than anything else in regards of price?

It depends on how much you value the additional features the Oppo supports. If you have an HD TV and like to view high definition Divx files the Oppo is the better value. If you have a standard definition TV and only watch SD material then the Oppo is probably overkill.

jagabo when you say high definition Divx files what kind are you talking about? Guessing not H264 of course but what kind then?

What does SD mean please?

[Bodyslide]

SD= Standard Definition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SDTV

[jagabo]

when you say high definition Divx files what kind are you talking about?

I mean Divx files over 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). The 5960 can't play divx files much over that size whereas the Oppo can.

<edit> see this post:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1641296#1641296

</edit>

Guessing not H264 of course but what kind then?

The 5960 definitely can't play h.264. I'm pretty sure the Oppo can't either.

And yes, by SD I meant standard definition, as opposed to a high definition TV.

[hgh]

Yes I have a Standard definition NTSC Tube TV and am looking for a player that plays multi region and multiple media formats. So it sounds like the Philips DVP 5960 is the best solution.

[Trident5]

I got a DVP 5960 for xmas excellent player ...One of the key features about this player no one has mentioned is that is has a USB port on it. You can hook up your usb hd and play movies ..mp3s ...pics.. usb works great dam thing has played everything ive thrown at it so far.. Well good luck

[grokus]

It doesn't do WMA but otherwise any of the Oppo DVD players are quite excellent, and they'll play PAL on your NTSC set straight out of the box. Check 'em out at www.oppodigital.com

EDIT: Actually it appears the Oppo OPDV971H does do WMA. It's a bit more expensive, at $199, but it also does a heck of a lot more and the image quality is amazing.

I own a DVP5960 and am looking into to buy the Oppo 970 for its excellent picture quality.

Can anyone list features that the DVP5960 has but the Oppo DV-970HD doesn't have?

The DVP5960 can play PAL, or hard disk and flash drive off the USB port, and the Oppo can do these too, right?

[hgh]

Trident 5, USB connection, that is a cool feature I hadn't thought about, that does make it a more versatile and updated player to its peers. I've seen elsewhere on the net that people have picked this player up for $54...it would be a definite buy at that price.

[nickerous]

The Phillips has HDMI and does Pal to NTSC conversion? So, I would have to hook a dvd recorder to this player and manually transfer a PAL dvd to a dvd-r for NTSC conversion?

[max2]

when you say high definition Divx files what kind are you talking about?

I mean Divx files over 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). The 5960 can't play divx files much over that size whereas the Oppo can.

Guessing not H264 of course but what kind then?

The 5960 definitely can't play h.264. I'm pretty sure the Oppo can't either.

And yes, by SD I meant standard definition, as opposed to a high definition TV.

Why can't the Philps dvd player play files much over that size please?

Does the Oppo give better image quality for just dvds or divx files as well? How high of divx files can the Oppo play up to and why would you need this please?

[jagabo]

The Phillips has HDMI and does Pal to NTSC conversion? So, I would have to hook a dvd recorder to this player and manually transfer a PAL dvd to a dvd-r for NTSC conversion?

You can play PAL DVDs on the 5960 and watch them on an NTSC TV. I suppose you could hook up an NTSC DVD recorder and record it too (copy protection mechanisms aside).

[jagabo]

when you say high definition Divx files what kind are you talking about?

I mean Divx files over 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). The 5960 can't play divx files much over that size whereas the Oppo can.

Guessing not H264 of course but what kind then?

The 5960 definitely can't play h.264. I'm pretty sure the Oppo can't either.

And yes, by SD I meant standard definition, as opposed to a high definition TV.

Why can't the Philps dvd player play files much over that size please?

Because it's not a high definition player. It's only designed to play standard definition sources. It doesn't have the horsepower to do more. The Oppo players are the only players I know of that will play HD Divx.

<edit> see this post:

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1641296#1641296

</edit>

Does the Oppo give better image quality for just dvds or divx files as well? How high of divx files can the Oppo play up to and why would you need this please?

I don't have either but I'm pretty sure both have the same quality on SD televisions. The Oppo has an edge with HD sources, and it has a better resizing chip for SD sources viewed on HD TVs.

[max2]

jagabo thanks but whats the difference between HD Divx and SD Divx and how can you determine which it is?

[edDV]

jagabo thanks but whats the difference between HD Divx and SD Divx and how can you determine which it is?

Didn't he say

jagabo wrote

"I mean Divx files over 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL). "

Are you asking what is resolution?

[jagabo]

Sorry all, I made a mistake about the Oppo players and HD Divx. I'm pretty sure they don't play HD Divx. I was thinking of IO Data's Linkplayer2 which definitely does play HD Divx and HD MPEG2. It costs even more...

[Wyntre]

I have the 5960 as well and for the $$ it really seems to be the best for the buck. Here is why in my opinion:

1) Plays most Divx/xvid files (no player can gaurantee it plays all of them)

2) USB connections for playing off Hard Drive or Flash Drive

3) Very decent picture quailty - better than most under $100US

4) HDMI to upconvert for HDTV. This means there is additional picture processing when using this connection and better picture quality.

5) NTSC/PAL playback and conversion. This means you can play PAL discs on your NTSC TV and vice versa.

6) There is a region code hack so you can play disks from other regions (this is not the same as NTSC/PAL, but usually you need to cover both).

7) Most important, this player is one of the most supported as far as active communities and forums. There are a few custom firmwares to tweak it if you need to.

#7 is really, really important. While most players have active folks talking about pros and cons, and even a few covering tweaks, the 5960 is by far the most common these days. It is the new DVP642 as far a popularity. (BTW - STAY AWAY FROM THE NEW DVP642's!!!)

The only real bummer about this machine is the lack of support for long file names. Out of the box it uses the old 8.3 filenaming convetnion. (8 leters in the name and 3 for the extension). I believe there is a custom firmware available to fix this for disks, but there is and probably never will be a fix for this for videos via USB. All this means is that if you use a hard drive for your videos that you just need to rename them to fit. Not really a big deal.

My point is that while some other player might do one or two things better than this unit, I don't know of one that does all as well. Especially for the price.

Since your question originally asked for the best value for YOU, then go with this player. If/when you upgrade to HDTV, then at least you have a player with HDMI to get started and have a decent player. From there you can decide if you need to invest more money and go for even better picture quality.


As to your other question concerning HD Divx/Xvid's (High Definition) this player will not handle them. The maximum resolution that this supports (as jagabo wrote) is 720X480 or 720X526.

HD Divx/Xvid is only starting to become somewhat common, but not widely adopted - yet. You can usually tell if the file is in HD two ways:

1) Usually it will be clearly labeled in the file name itself. However, since many files are produced from HDTV sources, many HD Divx files will has HR in the name. HR = High Resolution.

2) It is also usually easy to spot HD Divx by its file size. Typically it twice as big as normal. So a typical one hour TV show (~42 minutes with commercials cut out) will be right around 350MB. That same show in HD or HR (High Def of High Resolution) will be about 700MB.

I hope this helps answer some of your questions!

[insync44]

Good post.

I have a Phillips 5960 (69.99 CDN), before Christmas. Tried many other brands, except OPPO, but all the rest were "finicky" about DIVX files.
I have a decent HD TV, with two HDMI connections.
Still want to purchase an OPPO 981 but the price is $260 CDN plus tax(14%) plus Shipping ($35).
Also am not sure about Oppo's capability to play all Divx files, since no one has ever commented on that.
I'm very satisfied with the 5960 but have a niggling urge to purchase an Oppo.

[hgh]

Wyntre

Thanks for your in depth reply.