Philips DVP642 Prog. Scan, Region Free, PAL/NTSC, DivX - $49.99
 

This is quite a steal. I'm just ripping it off Fatwallet, but for anyone who ever wanted to go region-free this is a great player.
Amazon also has a decent price on this, and you don't have to deal with rebate through them (or get charged sales tax) but you pay a bit more overall. I'm probably gonna buy one of these for my parents for Xmas.

I must say this is quite the buy, I paid about $20 more when I purchased this from Wal-Mart. I am pleased with it.

how's the quality of the player?

good player was going to get it when i saw it in the ad but then i noticed the rebate =/

I just got one from Amazon, and I really like it. The Black Levels aren't top notch, but it is a passable Region Free, Macrovision Free player for the buck.

Is there a better player around for a relatively inexpensive amount (same ballpark as this $50+)?

This item is no longer available at goodguys.com

I had this player for about 2 months and was very disappointed. Skipped new movies and color was bad on it. No more Philips for me. I bought a 6-disc Onkyo from CC instead.

i have a quick question. how is the pal---> ntsc conversion? i have a couple of pal dvds

I tried the Philips DVP642 player a couple of months back, and I thought the PAL->NTSC conversion was terrible. Jaggies all over the place. I have the now discontinued Cyberhome CH-500, and it does a much better job of conversion.

I wasn't impressed with the rest of the player's features and functions either, so I returned it.