smooth wombat's Journal: DVD player info needed

I have recently acquired a small selection of DVDs, um, er, showing the human body in action. Yeah, that's the ticket. However, this has now forced me to (finally some would say) buy a DVD player to enjoy my newest acquisitions.

I have an older tv which has component and I believe S-video jacks on the back. It is NOT an HD/plasma/whatever. Just a standard 36" crt tv. Panasonic if it makes any difference. I'm not at home at the moment so I can't give you the model to be more specific.

I am looking for an inexpensive, plain-vanilla dvd player. I have been looking at various review sites so I have a general idea of what to look for but I am appealing to the power of Slashdot to provide me with more information (hence the Education section).

For whatever reason, I am leaning towards either Philips or Panasonic as my brands so anything within those two lines would be helpful. What specifically should I be looking for in a dvd player other than that it can play dvds? Any bugaboos I should look out for? I can't imagine me getting any dvds from other regions so that is not a priority.

For those that provide useful information, you will be invited over to test the performance of my final purchase.

hmmm

[Captain Splendid]

I can't imagine me getting any dvds from other regions so that is not a priority.

Maybe, but why get a crippled DVD player, when one with more functionality is just as cheap and easy to get? As for the rest, the only thing I'd look out for is progressive scan and lots of plugs/sockets on the back - you can never have too much of those.

Wal Mart

[w.p.richardson]

Just got to wal mart and get the cheapest one you can find. It makes zero difference.

Philips dvd player

[nizo]

Every one I have had can be made region free with a simple click of the magic codes on the remote, and if you get one that plays divx files you can easily play divx files downloaded from the internet on your tv. Plus they aren't that expensive ($50-$60 at WalMart). Note that really cheap generic players tend to break quickly and won't play some dvds; I have never had that problem with a Philips player.

My final choice

[smooth wombat]

I ended up with an LG DN788. It has both s-video and component output so it works on my current tv and when (if?) I upgrade to an HD tv, all I have to get are the cables to split to the picture. It also has plugs for sound goodness if I want to go wild.

My first opinion is that it is very slim (1 1/2" maybe) but wide (16.9"). Why it is so wide, I don't know as the tray is on the far left and the rest is just a giant platform. For a quick overview, see the Cnet review [cnet.com].

I ran through several dvds,