Need new DVD player; suggestions?

[Arden]

This isn't a Mac-related question, but I thought I'd ask it here anyway.

Our DVD player (as in the one that hooks up to the TV and the 5.1 surround sound system) finally decided to kick the can. (It choked on a horse, and the horse's name was Seabiscuit. ) This old Sony was showing signs of going stale, like randomly pausing and skipping back to an earlier scene, but now it won't even recognize any discs in any format at all.

What kind of DVD player would you guys recommend? I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive that can support CD-R(W)'s and SACD's, and dual DVD/VCR functionality isn't a necessity.

 

[Jamesrdorn]

Two brands to avoid. Yamakowa and Apex (or at least the low-end ones) Both of them have the same decoder-chip that almost always fails within a few months of purchase. By fail, I mean they will show random blocks all over the screen, pause for seconds at a time.

I did a temprary fix to mine by installing a 80mm fan in the case, it worked for about 3 weeks or so. It seems as if the chip has some sort of heat problem.

 

[Randman]

I doubt you can get one in Cali, but I love Shinco. Low-priced, and durable. I own two. The one in my bedroom is about half the size, at most, of an XBox. And I've not had any problems playing DVDs from a number of regions.

http://shincodvd.emuunlim.com/range.html

 

[Giaguara]

get a world player.

we have a daewoo dvp-480 or something like that. i like it

 

[Arden]

Hmm... some of those Shincos look really nice. Region codes aren't really a problem because we don't get foreign movies often, if ever. It would be nice to have a player that doesn't have a problem with region codes, but it's not a necessity.

I'm not sure that we'll be getting a new player... my mom's thinking we should try to get our current player fixed, which I thought about. But I'm thinking, what happens if we get it fixed, and the problems recur due to some sort of design flaw? And the current player doesn't support SACD's or CD-R(W)'s anyway, so I'd prefer one that has all of that (and more! ).

 

[Randman]

The 160, which looks much bigger in the picture than real life cost about US$80 and it works great. Even the remote is solid, and it's the type that absorbs light to see in the dark with. Haven't had any problems and usually watch about 3 dvds a week.

 

[thinktk]

You did try to clean the laser, right? I mean, before you go and get a new player go buy a CD/DVD lens cleaning disc and give it a shot. Those things get dirty and won't play anything, especially if you rent a lot.