It may sound outrageous but I've thought about it for a number of years.

I believe they should legislate the electronic companies to only make a higher-standard, quality product. There are too many shoddy-made DVD players(or any electronic device, for that matter), that are made in China and are only meant to last a year or two at best, before they become toxic landfill.

I understand there is some recycling of electronics, but most of them will wind up in the dump.

I don't think most people will balk if they have to pay $150.00 for a quality made player that will last them five or more years. Although when people are accustomed to paying $30, this can create a problem.

With technology evolving so quickly, do they have to last? That's another question.

I am still amazed at the VHS machine my parents bought back in 1984 for $500 at the time and it still works fine today! Okay, the cable for the remote control broke, but they were well built and are still working great today!

I think they should make them out of flesh so they are biodegradable.

I know plenty of people who have been very satisfied with their region-free, PAL + NTSC Philips DVD players for years -- and those can be had for $40 or less.

I'm a very happy customer.

Lets ban capitalism in general.

it already appears to be dying of it's own excesses

Hell, Democrats need something to watch movies on.

Wasnt' that sort of what happened in Videodrome?

I'm in the market for an All-Region player. What cheap model Philips players are there that are All-Region and PAL >> NTSC capable?

Heck yeah! Love mine, and it's still going strong.

Price ≠ Quality.

I need my $30 Sony DVD player for DVD-Rs, as my $1,300 Denon doesn't like 'em one bit, and I won't risk damaging her.

The Sony plays 'em fine, and if it croaks, oh well....next.

Have a look at what unregulated capitalism did for "cheap" dairy products in China. Just a thought...

Just don't put that 30 dollar player anywhere near your mouth and you're golden.

Same here.
Region free for $40.
Love it so much that I got a second one for the bedroom.

I got my Magnavox dvd player from Walmart for $40. Have had it 3+ years, and love it

Me three!

Just because a player costs more than $30 doesn't guarantee that it's a quality machine.

We've had a $30 no-name in our bedroom for a while now, and that thing is a rock. It will play anything we throw at it, even DVD-Rs. If I had the time and patience I'd look to see if it was region hack-able, but we've got plenty of unwatched R1 stuff to go through in the meantime.

Same here. Mine plays my old VHS too and I've never had a problem. This thing wil last me over 5 years, so yes, I'd balk if I paid $150 for something and it only lasted me 5 years. For 5 times the price of my player, it had better last me at least 25 years.

Exactly. I'd rather buy an inexpensive player because it's not worth spending big bucks on, IMO.

The $40 players play about anything you throw at them.
The expensive players are too picky. The more expensive they are, the pickier they are.
There's room for both..........

Maybe I just had a couple of oddball duds!

They were no-name machines where one would not power-up after about nine months and the other one kept skipping, even on pressed discs.

If you ban $29.95 players (which will never happen) why won't they just sell the same players for more?

Ridiculous question.

Try better media. My Denon is just fine.

Daytek, Diamond, Durabrand and the like?

Yeah, those WalMart/Best Buy/Future Shop cheapies aren't even worth the $30, although the fact that yours lasted nine months is impressive. You must have gotten a quality one compared to the one I got one time.