This is topic Buying Cheap DVD Players in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 12-13-2003, 01:30 PM:
 
After some comments about the unreliablity of the cheaper DVD players in this thread (before it turned into a three word game): Woman Trampled over DVD player

Has anyone really had any problems with a cheapie DVD player??

I bought a Mintek (basically the same thing as an apex) about two years ago for $80 (when an average name brand was about $120+) and have never had a problem with it. The only discs that havent played on it are stupid trashed netflix DVDs. It plays VCDs/CDRs/CDRWs/Picture CDs with no problems. My brother's $250 sony wouldn't play all that stuff and some DVDs wouldnt play on it.

I would have to assume that the technology is getting better so a $40 DVD player would be as good as a higher priced unit from a year ago or so.

So, has anyone actually had any problems or just assuming that it would not be worth it?
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 12-13-2003, 01:46 PM:
 
Normally I have an aversion to cheap entry-level electronics products. Several people I know have bought APEX DVD players for as little as $39 and have not had any complaints. For general movie watching they seem to do well. And then they have some features the more expensive DVD players lack (such as the MP3 capability or viewing JPEG images from properly formatted CDs).

I have a Pioneer 5-disc changer (that I paid around $250 online to purchase) and I have been completely happy with it. It's certainly a much more reliable unit than the Sony S530D player I bought for $400 early in 1999. If I were going to get a new DVD player for the living room I would probably buy another Pioneer unit with SACD and DVD-A capability. New features I expect to see incorporated into DVD players soon: flash memory input slots. People can take some digital camera photos and then show them on their TV. Panasonic already has a DVD recorder model featuring SD card inputs.

As for cheapie DVD players, they're priced well enough for users to buy as a 2nd player for the bedroom, kid's room or something to use at the office. Since I'm going to buy an external Firewire based DVD-/+RW drive very soon, I may get a cheapie DVD player for up at the office to show customers electric sign videos to rack up more $$$.
 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 12-13-2003, 02:06 PM:
 
My $29 Mintek has a flaw, where the video "jumps" whenever there is a single frame flash of something. It also shows digital artifacts on occasion if a lot is going on in the scene.
 

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Posted by Michael Brown (Member # 890) on 12-13-2003, 06:22 PM:
 
I'm looking at buying what is probably the cheapest DVD player avalible in the UK.

£25 'Image DVD' from Richer Sounds.

Although I may splash out an extra tenner and get the multi-region version.
 

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Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-14-2003, 12:27 AM:
 
When it comes to DVD players, you usually get what you pay for.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 12-14-2003, 01:25 AM:
 
Both my roommate and I had Apex AD-600A's. And both machines let all their magic smoke out after a couple of years (the early Apex's became infamous for heat issues). Replaced mine with a CyberHome CH-DVD 500 in January 2003. Cost me all of $69 at Best Buy. It has run without problems, save for very occasional difficulty with badly authored DVDs (Manga's anime DVDs in particular). CyberHome has been real good about updating their BIOS for the machine (available for download and CD-R burn from their site). The 500 plays all regions, PAL or NTSC. I'm quite happy with it--it will more than likely hold me over until I can afford to build my first HTPC.
 

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Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 12-22-2003, 08:36 AM:
 
Has anybody ever seen anything semi-authoritative about which brands have the best luck handling both + and - R discs?
 

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Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 12-22-2003, 09:19 AM:
 
Pioneer dvd players are very good with handling SVCD burns and the DVD+ and -. - seems to be more supported than +.
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 12-22-2003, 09:32 AM:
 
I'll second the good words for the Cyberhome 500. No problems yet
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-24-2003, 08:44 AM:
 
Since the EXPENSIVE player I had for less than a year was acting up... again, I decided to buy a "cheapie" and throw the Mitsubishi over the hillside and take great pleasure watching it smash into 1000's of pieces on the street 100 feet below my balcony. (Yes, I know that’s a run-on sentence, but I wanted to make clear my feelings for that POS!)

Anyway, Crutchfield had $200 JVC (XV-SA600BK) for $100. It plays everything including SCVD, CD-R/W, Video CD, MP3, etc. It has 480p playback, RGB (Y, Pb, Pr) outputs, 3:2 pull-down, built-in 5.1 DD & DTS and MLP decoders, etc.

I bought it and I’m very pleased with it! We’ll see how it holds up in the long run, but for now, I’m happy!

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Jim Leko (Member # 1287) on 12-27-2003, 07:49 AM:
 
If you have a standard-def, 4:3 TV (without a 16x9 squeeze mode), I recommend getting a Sony for their excellent Anamorphic Downconversion.
 

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 12-28-2003, 09:10 AM:
 
Without my knowledge, my sister bought my parents a 5-disc DVD player for Christmas. Apex. It replaces the Panasonic single-disc DVD that I gave them earlier this year. Never mind the fact that they don't OWN a single DVD other than the ones that I have brought to them.

The Apex burned when she plugged it in. Smoke! The replacement works, but makes a ticking sound when the loading tray is moving. Bomb?

The folks just got their first stereo TV a few days before Christmas. Mom naturally assumed that the TV caused the DVD player to croak.

I rather like single player machines. I watch one at a time anyway.
 

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Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 12-29-2003, 11:57 AM:
 
Yeah, I just know that mine would decide to break down and die with a full load of discs if I had a 5-Disc changer.

I watch them one at a time, too.

I picked up four Apex AD-500s about 2 years ago and only one of them is still working...but it *has* started "acting up" in the last week or so.

I replaced the others with Apex AD-2500s -- about $75 on Amazon earlier this year -- and they're behaving nicely.

Yesterday was my brother's birthday and I gave him an Apex AD-2600 which cost me about $50 at Amazon. That machine was actually about $39 when I first added it to my shopping cart but I didn't actually purchase it until a few weeks later.

One of the AD-2500s has an occasional problem where the edits suffer from an apparent interlace issue on-screen. You can even freeze frame and see it. I thought it was maybe a disc issue but it plays fine on the other machines and the same disc will sometimes play just fine on the defective player.
 

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Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 12-29-2003, 07:16 PM:
 
I think the 5 disk DVD units are sort of dumb. Who could sit for 10 hours without getting up once? Also, it's another thing to break down.
Now disc changers on a cd player, yes. I use that feature all the time.

Wait
Maybe you could have a James Bond marathon or a Farscape marathon. Ok maybe they're not so dumb
 

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Posted by Nick Engstrom (Member # 2100) on 12-29-2003, 08:43 PM:
 
Don't forget about those lazy bums like myself that leave 2 dvds in there permenately because you play them too much. Also note that the LOTR series are broke up into 2 disks and I can almost guaratee you that Return of the King will be on 3. I will fully admit, you don't really need a 5 disc changer, but then again, you don't need a remote control for your tv either
 

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Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 12-29-2003, 09:30 PM:
 
Good point, Nick!

I got my first remote controlled TV in 1993. Then my stomach grew.

Can you guys imagine a turn-knob TV tuner in the modern design of TV?

I gave my parents the stereo TV that they got, too. The Apex replacement runs OK now. Plus, I got my Panasonic back! Now, I have 3...
 

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Posted by William Leland III (Member # 1400) on 12-30-2003, 11:26 AM:
 
i got an Apex DVD 300 i think, for christmas from a friend, i took out of the box and haven't messed with yet, after hearing the tales of Burning Apex, not sure if i want to get to excited.
 

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Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 12-30-2003, 11:52 AM:
 

quote:

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I think the 5 disk DVD units are sort of dumb. Who could sit for 10 hours without getting up once? Also, it's another thing to break down.
Now disc changers on a cd player, yes. I use that feature all the time.

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