DVD Players

Buying a new DVD player should be pretty straightforward deal.  You techheads are free to obsess over the specs, but here’s what the rest of us need to know to make a good buy:

 Thing No. 1   Don't buy more than you need.
You can spend a lot of money on a high-end DVD player, but that only makes sense if it’s going to be part a high-end home theater system.  You won’t see or hear any of the differences you paid for in an expensive unit if you’re just going to plug it into your 27” TV.  If so, go with a standard model, you can get a stripped down model for as little as 40 bucks.  Make sure to check with our friends at Price Grabber or my Simon and save your money for more utilitarian pursuits, like online poker or ballpark food. Or, a subscription to netflix.

 Thing No. 2   Consider compatibility.
You probably have a friend or relative who likes to give you homemade discs with movies of their kids playing t-ball or eating soup.  That’s nice.  But not all DVD players can handle all media formats (DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD-R, CD-RW, etc.).  Be sure that the player you choose is compatible with the formats you’ll likely to want to view.  Again, if you’re just watching store-bought movies, a base model will do just fine.

 Thing No. 3   The bells and whistles.
Consider the various available options in a DVD player and stick with the ones you think you’re going to use.  A multi-disc player is nice if you plan to use your player to play music CDs as well.  Digital zoom enables you to, well, zoom in on part of the picture.  And you can probably guess what frame-by-frame fast-forward does.  (Calm down, you porn addicts.)  Some more expensive models can record onto a DVD, the way you used to do with your old VHS recorder.

 Thing No. 4   You can't really screw this up.
Bottom line – if you don’t have a home theater system, you don’t need to over-think this purchase.  If it makes you feel better, go online to sites like Consumer Reports and epinions to read reviews and get feedback from people that have bought the models you’re interested in.  In the end, it’s a good bet to go with a name-brand player, as you’ll get reliability and a warrantee that is more likely to be honored than one from Somy, Sumsing or Mangavex.  It’s even safe to save some money and buy a recently discontinued model, as the differences in the new ones are likely cosmetic.
Thing No. 5  High end considerations
You have a few more things to consider if you do have a high-end home theater system, as better DVD players will deliver better video and audio quality.  For instance, make sure your DVD player has progressive scan to deliver the best possible picture, and spend for better cables to get optimal connections.  You videophiles will want to check out hometheaterhifi.com for detailed results of video quality testing of many different players.  Also consider issues of surround sound and Dolby, as audio quality can also vary among DVD players.  For more detailed information on issues relating to home theaters, see hometheatertalk.com, hometheaterforum.com, hometheaterspot.com and others.