Cheap DVD players for Xmas (1 Viewer)

[Dave Dugan]

Quick, dumb question...

I have a couple of friends who still haven't adopted DVD. My plan is to swoop down and be the DVD fairy, hero of Xmas 2001 by giving them good, basic players.

A DVD player, however, is not the smallest of gifts (I'm not dating and/or having sex with the above friends). The cheaper the players are, the more "Xmas cheer" I can spread around. I have a lot of people to shop for.

I've seen a lot of under-$100 players advertised, but am not confident in the brands. I've only owned Pioneer and Toshiba. So are any of the cheap-as-hell players (Apex, GE, Daewoo, Zenith, Mintek, etc.) any good?

Frugality is a big factor, but I also refuse to give them utter junk. I want to give robust, basic, decent players.

Thanks for any advice.

-Dave

 

[Johnny Lerner]

With technology moving so quickly on all these formats and prices coming down (ex-factory not much above $60), a possible strategy is to find a $100 retail player that works.

And use it while the market 'shakes out.' And then in a year or so - put in $150-200 and get a 'good' one - and use this 'bridge' player in another room or as a CD and/or mp3 player - or sell or give it away appropriately to a friend, neighbor or relative.

I would not think - unless you got the bucks - it would make any sense to pay anything more than about the $100. Use the difference to build up a good film library at this point.

 

[BryanZ]

I'd look into getting a used Sony, Panasonic, or Toshiba dvd player. A new $100 dvd player from those you mentioned becomes crap shoot.

 

[Brian Mansure]

Do some shopping online for last year's Panasonic DVD-RV30 model.

You should be able to pick them up at a reasonable price and it's a very solid all-around player.

If you don't want to get them junk, then I'd stay away from brands like: Apex, Oritron, GE, GPX, etc.

Just my opinion.

 

[Dave Dugan]

Thanks for the replies.

I was thinking I'd get about this response. I was just checking to see if some cheap safe buy was lurking out there.

May not be the DVD fairy to everyone this Xmas...

-Dave

 

[Wes]

I picked up a Phillips/Mag for $110. for the Inlaws! I think it should be a nice player.

Wes

 

[Philip Hamm]

Philips/Magnavox makes good stuff, I'd buy one of their bottom of the line models without hesitation. Also, RCA DVD players are good budget pieces as well. The "no-names" I'd avoid.
I think if you look around online at places like www.overstock.com or something like that you may be able to find some previous year models from the major manufacturers for a similar price.
Or you could always take a chance on a super cheap piece of junk. I've got a first generation "cheayer menu" Apex that's still going strong. (knock on wood).

 

[Jerome Grate]

When I was in South Carolina, my sister in law picked up an Apex AD1500 for 65.00 before Thanksgiving. Now I saw this player, it's small yet the picture is not bad. Hell we're talking about DVD here. I think the will be impressed by it since they haven't stepped into DVD yet. It has zoom, (good for the triple letter pictures ) it plays I believe upto 30 hours of MP3s, and I saw in the menu the ability to select Multi video capability like NSTC, PAL. I was thinking about it myself and wife would love it but it's me that saying I'll wait for another Pioneer but she want's it for the baby to watch those kid shows on DVD and play it as much as he wants. So I would get the cheaper players for that gift.

 

[Kendal Kirk]

I saw at Kroger of all places, JVC's 40/45 players for $129. This has received respectable reviews and is very sleek, and feature laden. It may be more than you want to spend/per, but it is a great player that is retailing elsewhere for $189.

 

[Martin Rendall]

How is the downconversion on the JVC 40?

Martin

 

[Gregory S]

I bought the Apex AD-1500 from Circuit City this last weekend for $79.99. This is my first DVD player and on my 32" Hitachi TV I think it looks pretty darn good. Of course I can't speak for reliability, but it didn't break down in the first 5 days. I can't say how it looks compared to higher end units, but I saw no artifacts or combing, even when trying to look for them at 3' away - I generally sit about 12' away.

Now, I have no experience really looking for the artifacts. If your not a hard core videophile and you've been using VHS tapes you will probably be happy. If you are using a large screen TV or a projector, the outcome may be different. If the AD-1500 uses verical filtering similar to the AD-800A, that might make for a soft picture when blown up to enormous sizes, however I don't think it's an issue with a smaller TV. The vertical filtering will tend to hide artifacts as well as detail (it's basically high frequency filtering).

I purchased the AD-1500 on the advice from a friend at work who has 2 of them.

Good luck,

Greg

 

[Dave Dugan]

Well, Best Buy has the Pioneer DV-341 for $139 right now. If I get two of those, it'll come to about $300 with tax... I'm still torn, but will be passing by there today anyway.

I just wish I didn't have so many people I wanted to be nice to this Xmas... Bah! Humbug!

One more paycheck until Xmas...

-Dave