Durable and forgiving DVD player?

[Thad E Ginathom]

My house feels like an equipment battlefield. Almost everything has stopped working this year. Now my never-much-used Philips DVD player has decided to cough and roll over.

What shall I buy?

There is nothing HT or Hifi about the requirements: its connected to a Sony CRT TV.

It has to be forgiving as my wife uses it for rented movies, and they often seem far from perfect. It would be nice to know that it has all formats covered, although I don't think we have any forseeable need of Blu-ray.

We just need it to work, and to go on working.

Budget 5,000 to 10,000? There seem to be many available for less, but will they be durable?

 

[sandeepmohan]

Stick with a Philips and their cheapest DVP3608. It is not worth spending a penny more when the unit is going to be thrashed with average quality discs. Do not spend over Rs. 3000 on a DVD Player The cheapo ones are the most robust machines out there. The next best bet would be from LG.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Under 2,000 on Flipkart!

Amazing. Especially as this is going to be largely my wife's toy, and she gets as much thrill out of things being cheap as I do out of them being expensive!

Thanks!

 

[venkatcr]

I would go with Pioneer. I have two of them and they have worked for over 4-5 years without issues. I recently purchased a Panasonic from Dubai, and I find that good also.

Cheers

 

[trittya]

My house feels like an equipment battlefield. Almost everything has stopped working this year. Now my never-much-used Philips DVD player has decided to cough and roll over.

What shall I buy?

There is nothing HT or Hifi about the requirements: its connected to a Sony CRT TV.

It has to be forgiving as my wife uses it for rented movies, and they often seem far from perfect. It would be nice to know that it has all formats covered, although I don't think we have any forseeable need of Blu-ray.

We just need it to work, and to go on working.

Budget 5,000 to 10,000? There seem to be many available for less, but will they be durable?

Philips sucks!!
(Indian Philips ie, I cant comment on Dutch and others)

Pioneer delights.

Oppo thrills.

(get A USED 980H while u still can,
I wouldn't sell mine, no way
No Oppo BDP stuff for me, though)

However, should you want to splurge,
albeit only slightly so,
(and with a 5.1 / 7.1 analogue-out thrown in for good measure,
amongst many other goodies)
I doubt if anything can beat the
Dune HD Base 3.0
especially at the given price point
(again the BDP version is no good, VFM-wise ie).

In that respect, its better to go in for a
USED sony PS3 Phat 80 GB

(One sans that infamous update that
so very unscrupulously took away that OTHER OS/LINUX capability)

The Panasonics (Yummy!), LGs, Samsungs, Moserbaers etc of this world
aren't a worse option than PHILIPS
[BTW, these Philips' ones perform well while they do, LOL]
as long as you can get one with a built-in DAC (unlikely).

Just my usual 2 PKs (phooti kaudies)

My two PKs may be worth
more than a whole lot of USDs/INRs, I daresay, though.

Regards, ALL

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Well, the Philips is cheap. I don't mind paying that much a year, and I'd guess I'd be unlucky not to have it last twice that!

My Philips came from UK. Seldom used until recently, but still absorbing the dust and the corrosive atmosphere. It lasted about seven years, maybe five of those in use.

Pioneer and Panasonic: both brands I'm very happy to own. Available in the usual electrical shops that tend to have big red signs over the door? Much more expensive? Perhaps I'd better not stop at Flipkart after all, but screw on the old legs and wander around Vivek, Shah, etc.

Dune looks like too much solution for too little requirement. This is only going to play DVDs to a small TV. Even if we throw out the CRT and by an LCD, it is still going to be small ... in fact, small is the reason we would do that, as TV is a minority interest here and banished to a corner of the bedroom, where it takes up far too much space. (But should I get hdmi out for that day? Would I need it? As soon as I move away from audio cables I'm pretty lost...)

Oppo looks like the sort of thing I'd be looking for if this was my minority interest (heck: I just spent over 40K on an amplifier ) but it isn't, and, as mentioned, Mrs G is genuinely going to regard cheap as an advantage --- even though I'm happy to spend that original budget.

We'll be in Singapore in a few weeks ... but I have a new CD player earmarked for that trip, and, more to the point, Mrs G wants to watch her movies now!

 

[ajay124]

Recently I bought a Sony DVDP (DVP SR 230) from Croma for 1999. Paid 150 rupees more for an extended 3 year warranty. It is an excellent DVD player. I experimented with using it as a source in my hifi system. I was quite happy with the sound. Made me smile at the irony of audiophiles and videophiles spending tons of $ on hyped up audiophile brands, many of which essentially do the same job in a more exotic package

 

[mpw]

Pioneer - DVDP's are good VFM. Using one since 3 yrs now. No issues at all.

rgds

 

[deba]

Dont go for Philips - pure junk.....Go for Pioneer they seems to be much better......
or go for a Sony Blu ray player as a future investment.......

 

[gopib]

I have an el-cheapo Philips, I think it is the same model that FM Sandeep has posted about. It is doing duty for the last few years - about 5 + with no issues and its staple diet is the rented DVD'd...less said about the quality of those the better. Philips digest them all commendably.....More than 3000 for the kind of requirements that you mentioned is an overkill...

My take....

 

[hydra]

I too have an ancient (about 8 years old) Philips DVD Player at home. It was the cheapest one they had at the time I bought it (for my Mom). I think it was 2.8K or something then.

My Mom used it for about 6 months and then it lay idle for about 3 years, before she started using it for a bit again. After a couple of months, it lay idle again, till about 2010, when I used it for 3-4 months as a transport for a DAC. It had been lying unused till about a month back when my Mom wanted to watch DVDs again. It still works.

I must say this is the only Philips product that has worked like this in my family. Every other Philips product was short lived.

@Thad, I'd suggest getting a player with a HDMI-out. You are not likely to be able to get a CRT TV in another couple of years and then the best way of interface would be HDMI.

 

[jaudere]

I have an AIWA DVD player that is working nicely since almost 10 years. Very nice sound. Has problems with scratched discs though. I don't know how, but el cheapos like Beston (my rental DVD shopkeeper has one) works on all sorts of DVDs without problem. How long? God knows.

 

[ajay124]

Anecdote times! (caused by the mention of HDMI in hydra's post)

We are currently having a European film festival in the excellent auditorium of Chandigarh's biggest public hospital. For most films we have been using an LG DVDP. Day before yesterday we screened a wonderful Estonian film called "A Friend Of Mine". It was a heart warming story about the importance of hope when one is old and down in the dumps. For this film we had a blue ray disc and some good souls kindly lent us their Sony BRD player for the screening. The video was connected by an HDMI cable to a Dell projector. The audio was connected to the auditorium's amplification system using a cable provided by them. I really enjoyed the experience of watching a blue ray disc on a big screen. The snowy and slushy landscape of the Estonian city was rendered in very lifelike whites and greys. The soundtrack had a palpable presence. I was sitting in the first row (My preferred row since childhood. Fortunately it is also the cheapest ticket in a movie hall ) and I was impressed with the live and vivid quality of the audio.

In a short while we will be moving out for today's screening. My daughter will be left with an accommodating aunt for the evening. My wife and I will be watching a Greek film called " A Touch Of Spice". Viva la World Cinema!

A touch of Spice (Bir tutam baharat/ Un toque de canela/ Politiki Kouzina) - YouTube

 

[arnprasad]

The philips not only are cheap and durable, they are the easiest to render region free just in case you wanted to play a dvd from outside india. I think the cheapest does nto upscale, but then for a CRT who cares

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I have an el-cheapo Philips, I think it is the same model that FM Sandeep has posted about. It is doing duty for the last few years - about 5 + with no issues and its staple diet is the rented DVD'd...less said about the quality of those the better. Philips digest them all commendably.....More than 3000 for the kind of requirements that you mentioned is an overkill...

My take....

I think, in the end, it will be my take too, although all the other inputs are very much appreciated. I think we'll specify an hdmi output though. The only reason I don't splash out on a 30-something inch LCD is that the prices here just depress me, and make me wish I could get to a branch of Richer Sounds in less than a ten-hour flight

 

[arnprasad]

I think, in the end, it will be my take too, although all the other inputs are very much appreciated. I think we'll specify an hdmi output though. The only reason I don't splash out on a 30-something inch LCD is that the prices here just depress me, and make me wish I could get to a branch of Richer Sounds in less than a ten-hour flight

Richer sound prices start looking expensive when you see how much they are sold for in US!!!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Whoa! Making me more depressed!


:lol:

 

[Vinod.R]

I have used Pioneer DVD players for the last 10 years and I have run quite a few models in the past one 575, two 370s, three 373s and now a 686.

None of them have given up on me. I had bought all of them in the grey market except for 686 which I got from abroad.

None of them had ever given up,my friends have literally whacked my previous players and saying to me you get a new one and give us yours and they used to give me cash upfront!!!

I had opened up quite a few pioneer players to see what made them tick. They are built to a price but built well.

So pioneer is my choice for you. You will easily get a new model with an HDMI and all bells and whistles you need.

Hope this helps.

 

[sandeepmohan]

I believe you can have a hit or miss with just about anything electronic. To justify the Philips is the most robust machine out there, I have a Philips DVD570M that still works. A little cranky at times but I can live with that after 10 years of service.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Oh!!!

Thanks for reminding me. Embarrassed to say that I haven't done anything about this yet!

I've always had a certain liking for Philips as a company. They may not have had the same design flair and marketing skills that Sony has, or used to have, but they they are certainly innovators, and without them, as well as Sony, I guess we would not have optical disks as we know them today.