I'm looking to replace my 8 year old Sony DVD player. My plasma is a Panasonic 42" EDTV (as opposed to HDTV). So the resolution is 853x480. At the time I bought it, HD was too much out of my budget but I've been very happy with the EDTV unit. What I'm looking for is a player that can handle media of varying quality. My Sony seems to have problems with some rentals that look to have been a bit abused because it will skip and hang.

I'm sure I don't necessarily have to go as high as the $150 range but I'm using that as my limit.

This is going to have to hold me until I make the move to Blu-Ray and HDTV. Any suggestions on a player? I've looked around here and keep reading good things about the Pioneer DV-410V-K but I'd like to get other options in the event the Pioneer is too difficult to find.

Thanks

30+ views and no one has an answer???

Get a PS3. You'll be ready when you get your first HDTV and in the mean time your EDTV will look fantastic when you play BDs or DVDs. I know it's over your budget but you will be getting so much more than an ordinary DVD player.

if your a gamer go with a ps3.
else, check out secondact.com for inexpensive refurbed samsung bdp1400 (under $233 shipped-i know, i ordered one yesterday) /1500 bd players which also play dvds.

if your a gamer go with a ps3.
else, check out secondact.com for inexpensive refurbed samsung bdp1400 (under $233 shipped-i know, i ordered one yesterday) /1500 bd players which also play dvds.

Thanks, but I'm going to hold off on Blu-ray for now. Apparently since this Samsung is an older model it may not be able to do some of the things the newer Blu-ray players can according to this Cnet review. It's a bit outdated

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/samsung-bd-p1400/4505-6463_7-32514521.html?tag=prod.txt.1


********Clip from review**********

A more detailed look, however, does reveal some shortcomings. The BD-P1400 only supports Blu-ray Profile 1.0, which means it won't play some special features on discs coming out next year. And we did experience a few significant operational flaws, including a quirk with the pause function on some discs that makes you start the movie over. But overall, the BD-P1400 represents something buyers have been longing for: an affordable, standalone Blu-ray player without a deal-breaking flaw. Yes, the Sony PlayStation 3 is still a better deal overall, and no, we still don't think either HD DVD or Blu-ray is ready for prime time with the average consumer, but for enthusiasts dead-set on a standalone player--who don't care about special features--the Samsung BD-P1400 fits the bill. That being said, we wouldn't be surprised to see an even cheaper Samsung Blu-ray player early next year with full Blu-ray profile 1.1 compatibility, so those who can stand to wait a few more months probably should.

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I don't want to turn this into some Blu-ray debate. Since I'm not familiar with Blu-ray players, I don't know if this is something that has been resolved. There were other performance problems like the player locking up when playing DVDs that had Java menus and there were slow load times. So I guess for the money it's a good value but I'd prefer to wait and get something that's not a hassle to use.

I'd like to stick to the original question and see if there are any suggestions other than the Pioneer. I can get it for $99 online with no tax or shipping or $114 out the door at BestBuy. So it's available. But I've seen that a lot of people buy and return players until they get one they like.

- Have any of those been the Pioneer model in question and if you didn't stop with that one why not?

- What was it about the one you did settle on that you felt was superior to the Pioneer?