Low End Video Card w/ adapter vs. Low End DVD player

[enter8]

Present Config:

Philips DVP642 > Composite > Old Sharp VCR > Coaxial > Ancient Sharp TV

Proposed Config:

Leadtek GeForce 7300GS 256MB PCIe > $3 s video to composite adapter > Composite > Old Sharp VCR > Coaxial > Ancient Sharp TV

Will I see a drop in quality? My present config, from what I've read, is the one of the worst setups you can have, but with the age of my TV and my present needs, I'm okay with it. I'm crossing my fingers that a video card config will be just as bad, but not worse. 99% of the media I view is AVI, btw.

My reason for asking is that my DVP642 just crapped out on me and I'm considering being done with DVD players for good. I want DivX playback through my TV but don't want to go through replacing my DVP642 every 6 months (my current rate of failure) or gambling on another DivX player.

[jkleslie]

Considering you can play with post-processing using a computer, you might be able to tweak the picture quality a little and come out ahead.

However, you're right about either setup...you just can't polish a turd.

[jman98]

I have had my DVP-642 for THREE Years now. Read that again. Your player really should not be dying every 6 months. Often when a DVD player dies after a few months, it overheated. You absolutely must have this player in an open, well ventilated area. If you don't, you will continue to have problems in the future with any DVD player you buy. My TV stand is mostly glass and very open to the air, so my player never overheats, even with hours of usage. My brother had an old DVD player that died because he piled all kinds of stuff around it - DVDs, VHS tapes, etc. He removed all the junk and bought a new player and it has enough ventilation now that the player works OK. If you have any way to improve air circulation around where your player is, you may be OK with buying a new player. By the way, the DVP-642 is a pretty old model and Philips has some better, similar players in the same price range, including one model that has a USB port to read files from.

[dun4cheap]

I just recently bought a Buffalo Link Theater DVD player for $89. It is DVD player and a media player. It hooks right up to your LAN and plays my AVIs', WMV, DIVX and XVID files from the LAN, DVD or USB2 Port. I also have a Phillips 642 which has been great and is still running. Then I have my media center, which I love for playing games, but watching a DVD or AVI/Divx was not always so great. Where some of the problems came in were with the audio. AC3, DTS etc. With the Linktheater I am getting great video (It upscales to 1080i or 720P) plus I get great audio and video all the time.

[neomaine]

Wow, I'd love to find something like this LinkTheatre here in the states...

[edDV]

I just recently bought a Buffalo Link Theater DVD player for $89.

I was about to ask where you found it for $89 but Google shows me these are on fire sale right now. Must be a new model coming out soon.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=90144011&SearchEngine=Shopper&SearchTerm=901...=0&dcaid=15889

[dun4cheap]

They also have a model without a DVD player. Anyhow, I have 3 now, one in each room. Two are hooked up wirelessly and 1 is right on the lan.