Plain-old DVD player, just to play movies and CDs?

[PRW]

I've been searching this forum, and the DVD players section, for information since my wife and I have backed off getting ourselves a DVD recorder for Christmas (I posted some inquiries in that forum; we've decided to wait and see if the hard drive recorders come down any in the coming months, because if we get a recorder we'd prefer to go with a hard drive model) and have decided instead to get a DVD player and VCR to replace our current DVD/VCR combo whose VCR is inoperable and I'm not inclined to spend any money to get that repaired.

VCRs are a dime a dozen so that's no problem, I'm just having trouble both looking online ... I've checked the DVD players section here so much that it's made my eyes spin ... and scouring the stores, as far as picking out a DVD player.

It seems like most folks are interested in as many bells and whistles as they can get, for as little money as possible.

We, on the other hand, just want to watch movies that we've bought at the store. We're not interested in DivX, PAL to NTSC or vice versa, or any firmware hacks. We will not be playing any DVDs from any regions outside North America. We will not be, at least at this time since we're not recorder enabled, playing any homemade DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD-R+s or DVD-RW+s. We do not have a high definition TV and don't plan on getting one in the immediate future. The player will be hooked up to a plain old TV powered by plain old cable (we don't have digital either), not to a home theatre, a computer or anything else.

Basically, as I said, we're just looking for the best player we can get to primarily, above all, do the basic function of playing purchased DVDs in the best possible fashion, although secondarily we'd like it to be able to play CD and CDR audio and MP3 files, specifically lower bit-rate MP3 files since most of my MP3 files are old radio shows that have been encoded at low bit-rates (like 32) because that's how that stuff circulates for space considerations.

I'd also like one that isn't going to fry after a month or disintegrate if you tap on it (I've picked up some models at the stores, name brand units that have gotten high ratings from various sources, that seem so flimsy that they feel like they'd fall apart if you breathed on them).

Because even though basic players are so cheap now that they're pretty much disposable, I'm rather old-fashioned in that I expect electronic equipment with proper care to last a little while (FYI, I have a Magnavox boom box, made in Austria, that I purchased in 1986 with the advent of CDs, for $350 ... it has the features of CD players you can get for $19.99 today, only plays one CD that you put into the front and it spins around and around, but I've nursed that thing over the years, have had the cassette mechanism and power supply both replaced at much more expense than the thing is worth today, because sonically it puts most anything in its size range available today to shame and because it's a well-built, quality piece of electronic equipment).

Price-wise, I'm not necessarily looking for cheap. I'd be willing to spend $100-$150 if necessary, I'd also have no problem spending $50 if that's all it took.

So, are there any basic models, models that would be what we're looking for, that stand above the others, or are we to the point where the basic models are pretty much a dime a dozen like VCRs to the point where it really doesn't matter what you buy?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[trhouse]

I only mention this because you plan to get a hdd recorder in the future. Hdd recorders seem to allow off loading material from the hdd in dvd-rw ( VR format ) or to dvd-ram; these formats allow reloading the material to the hdd without re-encoding. I do this occasionally to make room on the hdd for new material but want to put old material back on later for editing or combining to create a compilation. Dvd-video is re-encoded. For this reason, it is sometimes convenient to have a dvd player that plays dvd-ram or dvd-rw VR format.

[redwudz]

Mostly, it probably doesn't matter. Sad to say, many DVD players are of the 'disposable' type.

But look to some of the bigger companies. Pioneer, JVC, Sony or others and you should be happy enough. Find maybe three or four that interest you and do a Google search for reviews of that player. Check the warranties and the user comments. Buy locally if possible to be able to quickly exchange the unit if it does fail.

Even though you have a plain TV, you might want a DVD player with some high definition outputs, component or HDMI for the future. When they change the broadcast system to HD a TV will be high definition or it won't work without a converter. They've put the changeover to HD off a year or two, but it's coming.

[yoda313]

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers

Thats a good place to start. You can search by many criteria - including price and features. Plus it has many user reviews on it too.

Good luck.

[PRW]

Good point, so I'd add that to the very meager list of requirements that I put in my way too lengthy (sorry! ) initial post,

[PRW]

Yoda: I've checked the listings, there's just so many choices, options, etc., out there that as I said it's making my eyes spin, which is why I asked for recommendations here, hoping I could narrow it down a bit. Plus looking here and at other places like Amazon ratings, E-Opinions, BizRate, etc., it seems like I can't find any unit that gets pretty much consistently good to excellent ratings, which would be what would catch my eye. It's like everything is either rated 10 or zero, people seem to either love stuff or hate it, there's not a lot of in-between.

What's the feeling on Toshiba players? Again, I did check the ratings, and again, the reviews seemed to be mixed and on the extremes. That brand caught my eye because I've had good luck with their products in the past. A local vendor has some in stock that at least from looking at them, checking out the features, picking them up (I know that has nothing to do with how well an electronic item functions, but in the past I've always found that if something "feels" solid and well-made in my hands, more often than not it is), seemed to be rather attractive units. Plus this retailer is offering until the end of the month a two-year extended warranty, labor and parts, on all electronic items for $9.95 an item.

[trhouse]

I have two Toshiba writers in my computer but they seem more particular about the brand of disk I put in than other writers. If the players behave like this it might be of greater concern since you never know what brand of disk someone might give you.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I can vouge for Toshiba DVD players,I've owned two and they both have worked perfectly.
May I suggest a player that upconverts and has HDMI outputs...that way it's "future-proof" if you decide to get an HDTV.