What DVD palyer is right 4 me? :-?

[appleguru]

What would you guys reccommend for me to buy for a DVD player? I just purchased a Progressive Scan Samsung DVD-P721M that produces excellent video from DVDs, and even from shodilly encoded VCDs (I could barely tell the difference between a 2CD VCD and a DVD...) However, I was dissapointed to find taht my new DVD player doesn't play SVCDs, so back to Best Buy it goes. I don't need a memory Stick Slot anyways...

So now my question is what DVD player should I buy? I want high quality Video output, and Optical Audio out is a must. Also, the player needs to play DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, MP3s, DVD-Rs, and preferably DVD-RWs, DVD+Rs, DVD+RWs and Kodak Picture CDs/Jpeg images. Hackability to disable Macrovision/Regions is likeable as well, but not nessecsary.

I will be using this player in a home theatre setup, where the output could either go to an HDTV tv, an old 36" CRT, or, in the near future to a HDTV high rez Projector. The audio will be piped through a Sony Receiver to 5 speakers and a subwoofer...

Basically, Im looking for the Best DVD player I can buy for the money. I also read about Kiss's new DP-450 which sells for $400, and has all of the features I want, plus DivX support, which could come in handy. But thats really a lot of cash for a DVD player...

Oh, and does anyone have any experiance with Apex players? From what I've read, their quality (Audio/Video/Constuction) sucks, but are very hackable, and will play anything you throw at them... Can anyone vouch for either of these statments?

Thanks in advance for you help in my purchasing descision.

-Appleguru

[appleguru]

Any help really appreciated. I would also like to play (X)svcds...

[medievil]

Daewoo 5700, It has compnant out. Is very easy to hack to play ll regions and remove Macrovision. Will play just about anything you throw at it. Sells for about $89-100 depending on where you look.

[mp3superfreak]

So now my question is what DVD player should I buy? I want high quality Video output, and Optical Audio out is a must. Also, the player needs to play DVDs, VCDs, SVCDs, CDs, CD-Rs, CD-RWs, MP3s, DVD-Rs, and preferably DVD-RWs, DVD+Rs, DVD+RWs and Kodak Picture CDs/Jpeg images. Hackability to disable Macrovision/Regions is likeable as well, but not nessecsary.

Wow, don't want much, do you? I use an Apex 1100w as my 2nd DVD player on my main system, and it does everything above (although does not have component out or optical). It sells for $58 at WalMart.

Newer models of the 1100w do not support VCD's out of the box (there is a firmware hack for this). You also cannot disable Macro on the newest models as of yet. You can read more about these units at nerd out's forums:

Nerd Out Apex AD-1100w Forums

Be warned, there is much to be learned about serial numbers, Kodak logos, etc. You will hear "1mb" and "512k" units talked about....this is related to the units hackability.