hime

Please don't berate me too hard, but I'm not rich (or even doing great financially), but I need to get a player already. I've started buying DVDs, but have to borrow a friend's place to watch them.

What's the best route in sub-$150 players? No, seriously. I live in a small apartment, so I'm not gonna go DolbyTHX5.1DTSurroundanamorphicexpialidocius. I'm on a "budget", so to speak. Mmmkay?

DangerMouse

A lot of brands, Panasonic, RCA, Toshiba, Apex, etc. make DVDs $150 and below. You can find a decent Apex for around $90. If you don't really care about video quality then this is the way to go. Especially if you won't be using a nice TV or a 5.1 sound system... there is no reason to spend any more money.

kian69

For the price you're looking for I would go for APEX. In canada
APEX players could go as cheap as 114.99 CND (approx $70 US) and they are pretty good DVD players on top of it!

Blade

Questions about DVD hardware belong in the DVD and Home Theater Hardware forum.

I'm moving this there, but also suggest taking a look through some of the other threads as this is a fairly common topic. They also have a good FAQ at the top of that forum that goes into some of the terminology of the format and different things to look for.

Good luck.

Moving thread.

hime

Oh, I care about video quality, but I'll end up having to run it through an RF adapter on a 25 or 27 inch TV. So, you take what you get, I guess.

I just don't wanna worry about not having a disc work or something. I've seen a Panasonic and maybe a Samsung at that price point, and of course Apex... they used to make one that was real loose with regions, and I think it still plays MP3s? Is there any serious disadvantage with Apex?

nekobus

This would be a disadvantage of an Apex. They have trouble playing problem discs. I would recommend a different brand if you want trouble-free playback.

raseruz

For low end models, it would seem that the Panasonic DVD-RV31K is the way to go. You can go here for a review of this model.

http://audioreview.com/reviews/DVD/product_83670.shtml

You should also check the rv30 because a lot of people posted their reviews of the rv31 in there. Mainly because reviewing of the rv31 wasn't available yet. While you are there you can check out all the other dvd players that are within your range and what others say about it.

Regards,
RaS

0ne

I really like the Panasonic the above poster mentioned, but I LOVE the pioneer 440,

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/Pi...2,2390,00.html

Can't really go wrong with either and both can be found in retail stores for ~ 150 (dont pay any attention to MSRP)

I've demoed quality of the non progressive scan players when hooked up through standard RCA inputs or an RF modulator for people w/ basic Tv's and the Pioneeer seems to give the best performance.

Running S video most of the other players at a similar cost will catch up a bit in quality ( Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, Panasonic ) but i still fnd the pioneer to be the best.

If your TV set uses Component Video the Toshiba players tend to look a bit better, but the pioneer is still great.

The only quasi negative thing i can say is that the player( and the Panasonic) does not have zooming, which you can find on Toshiba,Samsung,Phillips and Apex models. However zoom is overrated because the whole point of buying a DVD is the better quality of picture as well as in most cases getting the OAR ( original aspect ratio ) of the film you are watching, zoom takes away from both of those.


All of this information comes from me demoing these players for hours on end when we are slow w/ nothing to do @ BBY, no personal biases or corporate affiliations.

nekobus

Sorry, but I beg to differ. The Pioneer 440's component output is one of the best out there for an interlaced player and is better than the Toshiba's.

The ability to play mp3s, VCD, CD-R, CD-RW and DVD-R, plus the addition of Burr-Brown DACs makes the DV-440 one of the best players on the market in it's price range.

In the sub $150 class, I would stay away from the Apex and the other cheap Chinese players. They often have trouble playing some discs and have lower picture and build quality. It's worth it to spend an extra $25-30 and get a better quality machine. Also, you can get component outputs for when you upgrade your TV someday.

If you guys at BB are really that bored, try calibrating some of those TVs.

0ne

come into my best buy and you will find every big screen perfectly calibrated with video essentials : ), but i can agree lots of other stores look horrible.