Best $30-$50 dvd player...I got the Coby 218 and its bad (1 Viewer)

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

Hi@!
I just bought the Coby 218 with CVI for $32 but its really bad. It hiccups and also seems to be to slow to process the images so its always filled with artifacts. Is Cyberhome any better? I dont want to spend to much since this will be only for basic 4:3 stuff like Southpark and some old EL CHAVO DEL 8 comedies, Three's company, etc. I will buy a player with DVI for my projector later on.
Any recommendations in the $30-$50 with CVI?
REgards

 

[Don_Berg]

All of the el-cheapo models are low quality and unreliable - you get what you pay for. It would be wise to spend a little more for a good brand like JVC or Panasonic with their rebates its not much more than $50 anyway.

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

mmm I guess a cheap Toshiba is better than a cheap Cyberhome, COby or any of those right? Still I was looking for real cheap and no bells and whistles only nice image which the Coby doesnt have. Maybe Apex is better...
anynoe else?

 

[Bill Will]

I 2nd Don & I would go with the JVC & it can be had with a rebate for around $59.99 & the $10.00 more than you want to spend is really money well spent compared to the EL Cheapo Brands.

 

[Iver]

Here's a review of a $30 DVD player which actually has more features than many players costing ten times as much.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=170852

 

[Steve Griswold]

I bought a $30 Mintek DVD player from Fry's a few months ago. It plays just about anything you can throw at it (within reason) -- CDR, MP3, MPEG, JPG, DVD-R, etc..

Of course, no advanced audio support (SACD/DVD-A) or progressive scan, but it IS $30.

Also, sound and picture quality don't hold a candle against my Denon DVD-1600, but to be honest on a SD TV you wouldn't be missing nearly as much.

 

[Ernest Yee]

YEah - I wouldn't trust a Coby w/ anything. Cyberhome is garbage too. I owned an Apex actually and that just had a horrible pickup.

I just purchased an $85 JVC so I'll see how that goes. Just looking for use w/ SD TV so I'm just looking for build quality after the video dac, I guess.

 

[Jim Rakowiecki]

You get what you pay for. If you scan this forum it is littered with stories of cheap DVD players having a horrible image and poor reliabilty. If you plan on using this player on even a semi regular basis you should really consider upping your your budget. Even in the $60-$80.00 range you will be able to find solid brand name players that will give you decent performance and reliablity.
Maybe you could find a refurb at the $50.00 mark somewhere or even a used player may offer you more than the Coby

 

[Gary Wolfe]

We just got a $68 Hitachi from Sam's. It is a lot better than I expected! It even has component output, but I'm only using the old composite signal, and the picture is great. It also has some "extras" such as the ability to play MP3s. It's amazing just how good and cheap players can be these days. If money were no object, I would have spent more and gotten some more obscure features, but it just doesn't make sense to spend any more than this!

 

[Iver]

That might be true, or the cheap Tosh might be made at the same Chinese factory as any of the others.

One of the best video stores (selection Tower customers can only dream of) in the city sells Cyberhome DVD players because they have features you don't find on the big name brands until you get way up into the $200+ price range such as all-region-disc playback.

COBY is funny because they use the same typeface as another very well known CE manufacturer which also has _O_Y in its name. But I bought a Coby AM/FM cassette stereo mini-boombox about a year and a half ago and it's been performing fine and going strong. Impressive for an item which retails for $20 (meaning Coby's grossing $10 per unit). I hate to think of what they have to pay people to make a profit with those kind of numbers.

If you're worried about PQ, just buy a player from a store with money-back guarantee. If you have an NTSC-TV, especially with a smaller screen, it's not that easy to tell apart one player's quality from another. And all the audio you can output via digital, which most people agree (with some vocal exceptions) will give you the same bitstream in a $30 player or a $300 player.

Anyway, I hope it's not always true that you get what you pay for. That wouldn't say much for the valuable information available on the forums.

 

[Shane Martin]

You should probably look at some local pawn shops. You'd be surprised what you will find for $50. Most if not all of these in this range I've seen lately are from the Major manufacturers and have remotes.

Personally I'd go that route.

 

[Jonty Rees]

I can second the satisfactory performance of the Mintek player. I got one for $35 a few months back, because my old DVD crapped out, and I couldn't decide what to get as a replacement. This place holder is still in place and working just fine. It has a lot of features, (that I don't use), great FF RW performance, zoom in, etc, etc. No LCD on the front panel, just a couple, maybe only one, LED to let you it's alive. Not even a clock. Another player probably provides a better picture, but it's not horrible. The remote, on the other hand, is pretty horrible, if functional, and the codes are not in the One-for-All remote I use.

As for the "You get what you pay for" brigade - retailers LOVE you guys

 

[Luis Gabriel Gerena]

You know what I saw a movie yesterday with that MR. Bean guy (Johnny something) and was surprised at how nice the image was. I think the material i used with the Coby dvd player at first was badly transfer and thus my dissapointment. My new review is that is a great deal for $32 and having component output. Not bad at all.
Regards

 

[ChuckSolo]

My brother has an el cheapo Mintek DVD player and my nephew has an el cheapo Apex DVD player. Both of these units are over a year and a half old and going strong. I would return the Coby and go with one of those two brands if you really want to stay in the sub 50 clam market.