Please help recommend a DVD (or BD) player!

[Beavis]

Hi- I'm looking to get a new DVD player. It doesn't really have to be Blu-Ray, and I'd like to keep the cost down as much as possible- but I'd consider one if I thought the cost was worth it.

In the list below, I'm assuming that any analog audio outputs will still be active when the HDMI is connected. Can anyone confirm that this is the case for the typical player? If not, then I will have to switch to a non-HDMI player for now.

Essential Features:

1. No problem reading commercial or homemade (DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW) discs.
2. HDMI output w/ good quality upscaling for regular DVDs.
3. Additional RCA-type analog audio output (The sound will currently need to be played through an older non-HDMI amplifier).

Other Ideal Features:

4. Additional analog video out(s) (composite, component, or SVideo).
5. USB port for playing ripped DVD content directly from a thumb drive or external HD.
6. MPEG-4 / DivX, etc. file playback.

It looks like the few typical non-BD players in retail stores by Sony, Samsung, Philips, etc. have options 1-4, but are lacking the USB and / or MPEG-4 playback. I really don't know much about BD players and haven't researched them extensively.

Would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations! Thanks.

[jman98]

You can't expect a DVD player to support H.264 video, so since that's usually what's meant by MPEG-4 or MP4 support, that may be a deal breaker for you. I bought a Philips DVD player a few years ago that can play Divx from a USB port and do 1-4. Note that DVD players typically do not play files with resolutions above 720x576 even if they support the video and audio format such files use.

You'll get better results from homemade discs if you use the best ones, which means either Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim (anything EXCEPT their cheap low quality "Life" series). You'll have more problems if you are looking for players that can successfully handle crap discs like Ritek made ones.

Whether you can send video only over HDMI and audio over some kind of analog output depends on what the player supports in its setup. If I remember correctly I think that in a few more years Hollywood has actually mandated that newly made players not support analog output at all as a way to stop "evil pirates" from destroying Hollywood. So sooner rather than later you need to reduce your dependance on analog connections.

[usually_quiet]

No analog connections will be allowed on Blu-Ray players released after this year, and component video out was disallowed a couple of years ago. Many new Blu-Ray players are already HDMI only. I bought an LG BP220 for my parents late last year, and it was one of the few Blu-Ray players left with any analog connections (composite and stereo audio). The LG BP320 and LG BP620 also had composite video and stereo audio connections. All can play video from USB drives. As Blu-ray players go, all seemed to have decent media players, but don't expect them to fully replace a PC or a good dedicated media player. Look at the restrictions spelled out in the manual before buying. These models are all recently discontinued, but can still be found.

Nothing I have seen will play DVD rips from a USB drive if they are in standard DVD format with menus. They must be converted to .mkv, .mpg, .ts, etc.

[Beavis]

Thanks for the comments and info on the LG Blu-Ray players. It's almost impossible to find any of those rare ones left with analog audio by looking online because the descriptions on the retail sites are wrong (including for the LG players you mentioned). It's a shame, actually-- because there's plenty of good and high-end audio equipment still around and running well from the pre-HDMI days.

As for the regular DVD players- unfortunately the companies (including Philips) aren't making the play everything (including .AVI DivX, etc.) versions with USB and HDMI together anymore. When they add the HDMI with internal upscaling, you seem to lose the USB and playing of extra formats....

[jman98]

Well, DVD players have never been "play everything" players unless your definition of "play everything" really just means Divx/Xvid. I've got a Philips DVD player that if I remember correctly is the DVP3560. It plays Divx/Xvid fine and has HDMI upscaling, although really this emphasis on "the ... player.... MUST... upscale" is kind of pointless as the TV will just upscale if it has to and may actually do a better job than a cheap DVD player. It has a USB connector but as I never use it for file playing that way I cannot personally give you a 100% ironclad guarantee that this works for Dvix/Xvid, but you can investigate if you wish. This player can still be made region free, or at least it could on the shipped firmware last year when I bought it.

We do get why you are unhappy with not being able to use perfectly good older audio equipment. Maybe 5 years ago I bought a Pioneer receiver and at the time NOBODY made receivers at any price with HDMI inputs. I checked. Even the rich boy plaything receivers didn't have them. Of course, within a year of purchase the market exploded with receivers with HDMI inputs. Talk about being pissed off... Eventually I joined Woot.com and got their daily deal emails. About every 3-4 months they offer a Denon receiver on sale for about $150 with HDMI inputs so I bought one last year. I ended up giving away my still perfectly functional but essentially useless with modern devices Pioneer receiver.

[sanlyn]

I'd like to keep the cost down as much as possible- but I'd consider one if I thought the cost was worth it.

AFAIK the OPPO BDP-103 plays just about (almost) anything, has USB in, HDMI in, dual HDMI, analog outputs, etc., etc., etc.. The '103' is their least expensive product, but none of theirs are cheap. If you're accustomed to the $100-$200 crap at BestBuy or Walmart, OPPO would be a different planet.

What you're looking for won't be cheap. Ever.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/oppo-bdp-103-blu-ray-3d-player