About two years ago I bought my Toshiba DVD player after two years of service from my Panasonic 5 disc rotary player. The Toshiba gave up the ghost last month so I bought one of those $40 no name (well... Kosch was the brand name... close enough) and plugged it in so I wouldn't miss out on my DVD viewing pleasure.
The Kosch worked well enough to start with. It even played .avi files which I thought was a pretty cool bonus. After about one month of use however, it started overheating and locking up part way through movies and music discs.
Even though it looks like you're saving money, stay away from those cheap @ss DVD players out there. Stick with name brands that have better warranties if you don't want to go through the hassle of replacing your player too often.
Future Shop was kind enough to give me a full refund on my defective DVD player towards a brand new LG player (I'm still getting used to the idea that LG is a good brand now) that also has the .avi feature. So far things seem to be working quite well. The only thing that seems cheap about it is the loading tray seems rather flimsy. At least it loads quickly and is very quiet when playing.
I do miss having the controls on the front of the DVD player like my Toshiba had. That was a nice feature that saved me from hunting for the remote on those times when my daughter feels like hiding it.
I've had one of those cheap ones for the bedroom and it broke after 6 months of hardly using it. I have bought another cheap one that also plays .avi files and it broke after 3 days, got it replaced for the same model and that's been working for 1,5 years now mainly playing .avi and xvid's. So its hit and miss for me. They can work but not always. Its hooked up to a small tv so I don't feel like buying an expensive player for quality since I won't notice it.
But my main player is starting to act weird (philips model). Plays cd's just fine but it doesn't recognise alot of dvd movies anymore. I have to try it with a drive cleaner to clean it or else I'm going to have to hunt for a new one.
The most common part to die in a DVD player is the motor. Playing DVDs is hard on them because they spin at variable speeds unlike a record player which spins at a constant speed. Cheaper players use cheaper motors which burn out faster. As far as I've been able to tell from my research though, nobody is using good motors these days... they're all using single bearing motors which is what burns out the fastest... it would be nice to see three or more bearings in the motors but that would cut into that profit margin that companies like to make.
You get what you pay for when it comes to dvd players. Just spend the money on a REALLY nice one. It'll last you much longer. But i'll let you know now, if you're a hardcore dvd watcher, even the nice players die down after a few years of use.
My brother has went through about 2 different players, both being top notch players. Each lasting him about 2-3 years a piece. He's a hardcore movie watcher, so i see that happening.
Yet my parents have owned a sony dvd player for about 4 years total now, and it hasn't had a single problem. But they only watch movies a few times a month (if even)
I'm pretty happy with my philips. (can't find the model but it's about $70-90 on that plays many file types) Considering I watch movies pretty much every day it's lasting well. Only real odd thing thats happened is sometimes when I go through the subtitles and go back to no subtitles it will still show words for things onscreen in french or spanish if there are those options. The really odd thing about it is there usually isn't an option for displaying only on screen stuff. That and when there are multiple angles theres an annoying 1/2 with a camera symbol in the corner I can't remove. So that's bs.
I must be a lucky one I been using a cheap 30 buck KLH DVD Player on one of my TV's for a year and ah half or so and it's still working great.
Cidien Wrote:I'm pretty happy with my philips. (can't find the model but it's about $70-90 on that plays many file types) Considering I watch movies pretty much every day it's lasting well. Only real odd thing thats happened is sometimes when I go through the subtitles and go back to no subtitles it will still show words for things onscreen in french or spanish if there are those options. The really odd thing about it is there usually isn't an option for displaying only on screen stuff. That and when there are multiple angles theres an annoying 1/2 with a camera symbol in the corner I can't remove. So that's bs.
Are you sure? I had exactly what you mentioned with my player. It's a pioneer but I found out how to stop it only recently. There is usually an advanced menu hidden somewhere.
The only advanced menu I know of is the manufacturers one where you can set the region coding.
Much like Gubi-Gubi I had a similar problem with my Magnavox but I already forgot how I got rid of it. Only thing I can suggest is trying to find the answer in the instructions it should be there somewhere.
I cant get rid of the multiangle either on my cheapo.Ill prob get an oppo in the next month or 2.Waiting on new models.
http://www.oppodigital.com/
I'm more then happy now with my Xbox Media Center install. Not only does it allow me to play dvds on my xbox without the dongle thing, it also let's me play every video file format known to man (being read of a dvd-r or cd-r).
I know people who've bought xboxes just for this killer app.
desfunk Wrote:I'm more then happy now with my Xbox Media Center install. Not only does it allow me to play dvds on my xbox without the dongle thing, it also let's me play every video file format known to man (being read of a dvd-r or cd-r).
I know people who've bought xboxes just for this killer app.
I love it. It's my dashboard and is pretty much all I use my xbox for.
I still can't get over the fact that it plays EVERYTHING. mov, mpg, rm, avi, ogm, etc. So all these old discs i had with anime and whatnot, can all be watched on my tv.
desfunk Wrote:I still can't get over the fact that it plays EVERYTHING. mov, mpg, rm, avi, ogm, etc. So all these old discs i had with anime and whatnot, can all be watched on my tv.
And soft subs (which I think is the best feature). Also you can resize the screen so subs don't get cropped off like I have heard some players do. The only thing it needs is more graphical subs like karaoke and nice fonts and stuff.