[Abbylovi]

When I put DVDs in it, the player says 'dead' and the TV says 'incorrect disc.' I've tried washing the disc,etc and it happens with every disc I put in so it's definitely the player.

Googling around the only possible cause seemed to be a dirty laser, should I bother getting a cleaner or should I just get a new player?

TIA.

[TheMatt]

When I put DVDs in it, the player says 'dead' and the TV says 'incorrect disc.' I've tried washing the disc,etc and it happens with every disc I put in so it's definitely the player.

Googling around the only possible cause seemed to be a dirty laser, should I bother getting a cleaner or should I just get a new player?

TIA.

How old is the DVD player and/or how *good* is it? That is, if you spent $500 for a recently-made, reference-level DVD player, it might be worth trying to clean it (if those things work!). But, DVD players are now like ink jet printers: so cheap and cheaply made that once you need to fix something or add ink, you buy a new one. Wasteful, yes, but fact.

Perhaps you might think about getting a cheap Blu-ray player? Best Buy sells an Insignia (house brand) BD player for $130. For that you'll get a good DVD player (as good as any on the market, I bet), a decent Blu-ray player, and Netflix streaming if you subscribe to Netflix. But, if you just need a DVD player, I'm sure you can get one for $40, easy, probably less.

(Of course, the more you spend, the better the remote, the menus, the options, &c. you'll get.)

[Abbylovi]

My current one is a few years old, maybe 5 years old at most and I think I paid under $100. Until I get an internet connection at home, I think should hold off on the Blu-ray.

[Jaymes]

Planning on getting a DVD player for my kids for Christmas. Keeping in mind that my "kids" are in their mid-30's, with kids of their own, I'm trying to decide upon the best option. I don't have an unlimited budget, and am hoping to stay in the $150 range.

I'm not too techie, so don't even know exactly what's out there. I'd like to get something that could be portable, but would also hook up to the big screen TV and be operated easily with a remote. Is that not feasible? The TV is the first priority, so if I should just get a regular DVD player, with remote, for the TV, and then get a separate portable DVD player at another time, I'll do that.

So, video fans, what's your advice? If I start with just a regular DVD player that we hook up to the TV, what brands, features, etc., should I look for?

And, thanks.

[TheMatt]

(I don't know much about portables, so I'll leave that to others.)

For a regular DVD player, I recommend looking for one that has an HDMI output. While it probably won't be used with their current setup (it's the hookup used for current connections to HDTVs, etc), having an HDMI output usually guarantees that the player has nearly everything that DVD player needs to have nowadays. HDMI also means it'll probably have HD upconversion which allows DVDs to look...okay on an HDTV. Not Blu-ray quality, but a skosh better than without. Even with all that fancy terminology, you won't (and shouldn't) spend more than $50.

At that price level you'll find many a brand, but, in truth, most of the innards of these brands might be the same. Often it can be nice to match brands with the TV since the remotes are usually similarly laid out, but not essential. Even the off-brand players will have just as good a picture, but I usually find their remotes to be nigh-unusable...but if all they need is play, pause, etc., might not matter.

(Oh, and if you go to a Best Buy, say, and get a DVD player with HDMI out, the salespeople might try and get you to buy an HDMI cable. It sounds from you that they don't have an HDTV, so you don't need one. Even if they have an HDTV, don't do it. HDMI cables at electronic stores are hideously overpriced. As in 10x more than they should be (say $3 for a 2-meter cable).)

[Jaymes]

TheMatt, on 16 October 2010 - 12:59 PM, said:

(I don't know much about portables, so I'll leave that to others.)

For a regular DVD player, I recommend looking for one that has an HDMI output. While it probably won't be used with their current setup (it's the hookup used for current connections to HDTVs, etc), having an HDMI output usually guarantees that the player has nearly everything that DVD player needs to have nowadays. HDMI also means it'll probably have HD upconversion which allows DVDs to look...okay on an HDTV. Not Blu-ray quality, but a skosh better than without. Even with all that fancy terminology, you won't (and shouldn't) spend more than $50.

At that price level you'll find many a brand, but, in truth, most of the innards of these brands might be the same. Often it can be nice to match brands with the TV since the remotes are usually similarly laid out, but not essential. Even the off-brand players will have just as good a picture, but I usually find their remotes to be nigh-unusable...but if all they need is play, pause, etc., might not matter.

(Oh, and if you go to a Best Buy, say, and get a DVD player with HDMI out, the salespeople might try and get you to buy an HDMI cable. It sounds from you that they don't have an HDTV, so you don't need one. Even if they have an HDTV, don't do it. HDMI cables at electronic stores are hideously overpriced. As in 10x more than they should be (say $3 for a 2-meter cable).)

Thanks for the good info. They do have HDTV, and are on Direct TV satellite system. The TV is Samsung.

So I think I'll follow your suggestions and look for a Samsung HD player, and let them worry about any additional cables they'll need since I don't really understand much of the other things you mentioned, like HDMI out.

But now I've got a great place to start!

Thanks again for taking the time.

[g.johnson]

Jaymes, on 16 October 2010 - 04:53 PM, said:

TheMatt, on 16 October 2010 - 12:59 PM, said:

(I don't know much about portables, so I'll leave that to others.)

For a regular DVD player, I recommend looking for one that has an HDMI output. While it probably won't be used with their current setup (it's the hookup used for current connections to HDTVs, etc), having an HDMI output usually guarantees that the player has nearly everything that DVD player needs to have nowadays. HDMI also means it'll probably have HD upconversion which allows DVDs to look...okay on an HDTV. Not Blu-ray quality, but a skosh better than without. Even with all that fancy terminology, you won't (and shouldn't) spend more than $50.

At that price level you'll find many a brand, but, in truth, most of the innards of these brands might be the same. Often it can be nice to match brands with the TV since the remotes are usually similarly laid out, but not essential. Even the off-brand players will have just as good a picture, but I usually find their remotes to be nigh-unusable...but if all they need is play, pause, etc., might not matter.

(Oh, and if you go to a Best Buy, say, and get a DVD player with HDMI out, the salespeople might try and get you to buy an HDMI cable. It sounds from you that they don't have an HDTV, so you don't need one. Even if they have an HDTV, don't do it. HDMI cables at electronic stores are hideously overpriced. As in 10x more than they should be (say $3 for a 2-meter cable).)

Thanks for the good info. They do have HDTV, and are on Direct TV satellite system. The TV is Samsung.

So I think I'll follow your suggestions and look for a Samsung HD player, and let them worry about any additional cables they'll need since I don't really understand much of the other things you mentioned, like HDMI out.

But now I've got a great place to start!

Thanks again for taking the time.

This Samsung Blu-ray player is $131. It also has wireless built in so that you can stream movies from the internet. We have the 6500 and are very pleased with it. I'm not sure what the difference is other than $60 (I'm not sure this one was available when we bought ours).