DVD Player Question / Dilemma

[Mikey]

Hey,

My nephew asked me for my opinion on this, so I thought i'd ask you all because yous are better at electronic stuff than me

Right now he has a Philips DVD player he bought a few years ago at Walmart.

He totally is in love with it because it playes EVERYTHING (not counting different regions) --- everything meaning homeburned DVDr's made by a lot of his friends from many burners.

It's finally wearing out and he wants to buy another one .....

They don't sell it anymore at the local Walmart.

Walmart online has it BUT it's listed as "factory refurbished"

They also have another model made by Philips which is newer and not refurbished.

His dilemma is, should he buy the factory refurbished and know he's getting a great player that should play anything ?

Or, should he get the newer model and be uncertain how good it will read his many different burns ?

BTW,
The refurbished one is about $28.00 and the newer model is about $39.00

Also, the model he's looking for is listed as refurbished on many sites including Walmart and Amazon ... (not sure if it can be even bought new anymore)

So, .. which would you choose ?

Thanks

[EMCE Hammer]

I have one refurbished one that I've never had a problem with. On the other hand, if they're showing up refurbished everywhere they might have buggy lasers in general. I have found that the el cheapo players are the most forgiving on homeburns. I'd try the new one first, and if it's finicky return it and try the refurb

[mazinz]

Their is usually nothing wrong with getting a refurbished player (then again you never know if a cheaper/worse laser was used in place of what should have been an original factory version).

About the newer model. If you can supply a model number for it I can go look on one particular site and see if any reviews are up for it as well as listings for what it will and will not play

[The Bat]

The Panasonic rates very highly on "Digital Bits.Com"....and I own one, and have had no trouble playing burnt or Bootleg Discs on it.

[MegoSteve]

He should get the new one. It should play the burned stuff just like his old one does... and if not, he can return it. Plus, the new one should upconvert, should he decide to get an HDTV.

[LadyZod]

Quite honestly, I'd search ebay first for a "new old stock" of the same make and model player he's happy with. Then move on and buy a new player. I've found the secret to good dvd players is if they'll play Divx files, they'll handle almost any type of burned media.

[Megotu]

Yeah I pay extra just to get the Divx compatible dvd player. Mine even has the USB slot I can hook the hard drive up to and play from there.

[cjefferys]

Yeah I pay extra just to get the Divx compatible dvd player. Mine even has the USB slot I can hook the hard drive up to and play from there.

Yeah, I got a Pioneer player that has a USB slot. I never tried hooking up a hard drive to it, but I play AVI files using a USB flash drive all the time, it's very convenient.

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about buying a refurbished one (especially for that price). They usually carry the same warranty as a new one too.

[alex]

As above, a USB slot is a must, and they are mostly the cheap ones, or depending what tv he has, he may not need a dvd what so ever, just slot the pentdrive, directly into the tv, uploading and downloading the film, from a computer.

[Megotu]

Just to clarify...I have a 500 gig external my book hard drive that I use as a video library. Probably upgrade to a terabyte just like it now that they are getting cheap.

[wolfie]

I just read this thread and did not understand one word of it.

[Mikey]

I just read this thread and did not understand one word of it.

Me too --- and I started it

[Megotu]

And to answer the question...buy the new one. If it don't work the way he needs it to, take it back

[Mikey]

I told him about this thread last night ....

He bought the new one this morning

I have a question on the subject .......

Sometimes new DVD players are quite tiny -- like maybe 8" x 8" x 1"

Other are still bigger (like the older players but thinner)

Generally, are the bigger ones better ? ... they're certainly a bit more expensive

[The Batman Professor]

Oppo plays EVERYTHING.