Reliable Player for PAL/NTSC and DVD-R Playback

[Rafael]

Greetings,

I do a lot of sports video trading with people all over the world and need a decent player that will play (a) PAL/NTSC discs from several regions on an NTSC TV, and (b) DVD-R's burned using Panasonic recorders. Because of the attractive price tag, and despite mixed reviews, I went ahead and bought the cheapo CyberHome 300 last weekend, but found out the hard way that you get what you pay for. This player does an OK job playing back PAL discs on NTSC TV, but it chokes/stutters big time -and consistently- when playing back DVD-R's burned using Panny recorders (both E80 and E30). I did a search and this problem has been documented by others as well. So, despite being pretty inexpensive, I think I'll return it and get something better. I would appreciate any advice on players that would fit my needs and are more reliable than the 300. I would like to stay under $100, but I'm prepared to go higher if need be. Thanks in advance for your help.

[DTSL06]

Norcent players are usally very good at supporting most media recording types and standards. They are cheap, get them at WalMart for less the $80US. But they are cheaply made also, major probm with them is that they get hot after long playbacks (4+hrs). I have 3 Citizen 3830, clones of the older/discontinued "Golden" Norcent DP300 and they play everything (even better with hacked FW). U can still find them on e-bay and I think the Citizen is still available. They can also be mod'd to use a HD also instead of the DVD drive. Check this link for more info on the Norcent.

http://www.nerd-out.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=35

[Gregg]

Hi,

Stay away from the cheap /$35-40/ Cyberhome as it has compatibility issues with different media or at least find out which media is OK for it.

Enjoy!