would buying a dvd player (nothing expensive) and using the S-video or getting some good cables (i don't know anything about them....yet..) be worth getting instead of using my ps2? Would the sound be that much improved? My main problem is the PS2 is so noisy... but i can live with it. Thanks.

It will increase the lifespan of the PS2. I would get a nice dvd player since many good players are below $100 now.

Dvd player.................
The PS2 is first and foremost, meant to be a gaming machine, not a dvd movie machine. I think you'll get much better service from a dvd player................

Another vote for a DVD player. Yeah, I've got a PS2 also, and I read the game magazines where they've defended the PS2's ability to play a DVD over and over again. They're not bad players, but they aren't as good as many inexpensive stand alones. Plus, you'll add life to the PS2 by getting a seperate one.

I will vote for the DVD player. I work for a company that sells a lot of video games ... and i get at least 4 - 5 calls a week about using the ps2 as a dvd player. I just tell them to go out and get another dvd player just for dvds and use the ps2 just for games.

But i get about 20 calls a week for customers wanting a new system because their ps2 does not read their discs anymore..... so get a standalone and you will be happy.

Would it make a difference if i said i don't use the ps2 much for DVD or games. I play games occasionally and use it for a DVD about once every week/other week. Although i've been watching tons since it's march break... thanks for the replys

if it works fine for you and money is an issue then keep using it as a dvd player.

I would not use it all the time although i have watched a dvd in mine from time to time.

I also had a ps2 which I hardly played games on, and I mostly played dvd movies on. i bought a ps2 2 years ago. This year it started skipping all the movies I played on it, and when I put the Alice in Wonderland DVD in my ps2 it wouldnt play it, and when it did play it, it would play only certain sections of the movie, it wouldn't play the end of the movie etc. I had to buy a Toshiba player, *70 bucks" it has zoom, picture enhancement, sound enhancement, and it plays everything on it! My suggestion is to get a separate player. Its the best advice I can give you. I believed the malarchy that the ps2 can play movies, but it lacks features such as zoom etc, and after a while it stops playing the movies properly, I even used a dvd lens cleaner on it to no avail. I couldnt even play the LOTR two towers movie on it, it kept skipping or kept saying unable to read disc, which frustrated me to no end. My problem is over now since I got a standalone player.

It's unfortunate that you had bad luck with your PS2. I bought my PS2 midnight the first day they were available for sale and have used it 99% for watching DVDs, including both LOTR EEs, and it has performed admirably for me. I wouldn't suggest to anyone that a PS2 is better than a standalone player, but if someone already has a PS2 and is reluctant to spend the extra money, the PS2 will likely work out just fine. After all, folks have also have standalone players all of the sudden fail on them...this isn't something exclusive to the PS2.

Regarding the lack of zoom. As a fan of watching movies in OAR (as I believe most on this board are,) I do not miss the zoom feature.