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I've gone through 5 DVD players looking for an inexpensive one that doesn't
have bunch of significant flaws. Every one of them has an inexcusable
design failure--usually more than one! As I rejected one after another, I
made up a list of what a decent player should do:

1. Cost less than $50
2. Have an informative front panel display that can be read in normal room
light.
3. Remote control that can be operated without actually reading the label.
i.e. one that isn't simply a rectangular array of identical buttons. If
properly designed, you should be able to find the function you're looking
for without reading the instruction manual, or using a flashlight.
4. Should play everything, including homemade DVDR's; and that includes
dual-layer ones!
5. It should play DivX, compressed audio formats such as mp3, mp4, wma,
etc.
6. It shouldn't be picky about the quality of the DVD; I don't like
frequent hangups or pixellization.
7. Can remember where you left off when interrupting a movie to play a
different one. 2 of my players would remember where it left off--IF you
didn't remove the DVD from the drawer. But that's not good enough.
8. FF and REV should have a full set of speeds differeng by a factor of 2,
such as X2,4,8,16,32. None of my existing players has all the speeds;
there are always a few left off.

I finally read a post from someone that had good results playing DVD+R
dual-layer discs on the Philips DVPS140, which sells for $50 at Target. I
bought one--and it's wonderful. It has all the features mentioned above,
and it will remember where you left off on the last 5 discs played. I have
yet to come across a disc it won't play. Best yet, my wife can operate it
with only one day of instruction. She never did manage to learn any of the
others.

Check it out!

Norm Strong

Can only find a Philips DVP5140, but NOT a DVPS140.

You sure about the model number??

"nick" <> wrote in message news:IGuNi.16$8F.7@trnddc05...
> Can only find a Philips DVP5140, but NOT a DVPS140.
>
> You sure about the model number?

Good catch. I made a typo. 5140 is indeed correct. That's what 76 year
old eyes will do to you.

Norm

On Oct 5, 11:49 pm, <normanstr...@comcast.net> wrote:
> "nick" <n...@NOSPAM.ORG> wrote in messagenews:IGuNi.16$8F.7@trnddc05...
> > Can only find a Philips DVP5140, but NOT a DVPS140.
>
> > You sure about the model number?
>
> Good catch. I made a typo. 5140 is indeed correct. That's what 76 year
> old eyes will do to you.
>
> Norm

Yeah, I know what you mean, Norm........and yer only 40, too

<> wrote in message

snip

Best yet, my wife can operate it
> with only one day of instruction.


This is probably its best feature. There's nothing worse than having to
retrain a woman every time she wants to watch a movie.

--- Uncle Dave

On Fri, 5 Oct 2007 10:07:12 -0700, <> wrote:

>I've gone through 5 DVD players looking for an inexpensive one that doesn't
>have bunch of significant flaws. Every one of them has an inexcusable
>design failure--usually more than one! As I rejected one after another, I
>made up a list of what a decent player should do:
>
>1. Cost less than $50
>2. Have an informative front panel display that can be read in normal room
>light.
>3. Remote control that can be operated without actually reading the label.
>i.e. one that isn't simply a rectangular array of identical buttons. If
>properly designed, you should be able to find the function you're looking
>for without reading the instruction manual, or using a flashlight.
>4. Should play everything, including homemade DVDR's; and that includes
>dual-layer ones!
>5. It should play DivX, compressed audio formats such as mp3, mp4, wma,
>etc.
>6. It shouldn't be picky about the quality of the DVD; I don't like
>frequent hangups or pixellization.
>7. Can remember where you left off when interrupting a movie to play a
>different one. 2 of my players would remember where it left off--IF you
>didn't remove the DVD from the drawer. But that's not good enough.
>8. FF and REV should have a full set of speeds differeng by a factor of 2,
>such as X2,4,8,16,32. None of my existing players has all the speeds;
>there are always a few left off.
>
>I finally read a post from someone that had good results playing DVD+R
>dual-layer discs on the Philips DVPS140, which sells for $50 at Target. I
>bought one--and it's wonderful. It has all the features mentioned above,
>and it will remember where you left off on the last 5 discs played. I have
>yet to come across a disc it won't play. Best yet, my wife can operate it
>with only one day of instruction. She never did manage to learn any of the
>others.
>
>Check it out!
>
>Norm Strong
>

They should have included APE, OGG and FLAC lossless audio formats.

**** MP3s!

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 06:34:24 -0700, sandy58 <> wrote:

>On Oct 5, 11:49 pm, <normanstr...@comcast.net> wrote:
>> "nick" <n...@NOSPAM.ORG> wrote in messagenews:IGuNi.16$8F.7@trnddc05...
>> > Can only find a Philips DVP5140, but NOT a DVPS140.
>>
>> > You sure about the model number?
>>
>> Good catch. I made a typo. 5140 is indeed correct. That's what 76 year
>> old eyes will do to you.
>>
>> Norm
>
>Yeah, I know what you mean, Norm........and yer only 40, too


It's all that jacking off he does to all those porn DVDs he has ripped.

ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:
> They should have included APE, OGG and FLAC lossless audio formats.
>
> **** MP3s!

If you're that discriminating, I'm pretty sure it will play audio CDs,
then you can listen to all the "lossless" music you want.

On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:54:16 -0700, Tarkus <>
wrote:

>ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:
>> They should have included APE, OGG and FLAC lossless audio formats.
>>
>> **** MP3s!
>
>If you're that discriminating, I'm pretty sure it will play audio CDs,
>then you can listen to all the "lossless" music you want.



The point was that these "modern" players should be codec rich.

They only cater to the crowd that cries the most, otherwise, you would
not even be seeing Divx support.

Whereas my suggestion makes a lot of sense, since these things are
supposed to be part of folks audio/video systems. They should have the
best possible playback features in them.

ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:
> On Sat, 06 Oct 2007 09:54:16 -0700, Tarkus <>
> wrote:
>
>> ChairmanOfTheBored wrote:
>>> They should have included APE, OGG and FLAC lossless audio formats.
>>>
>>> **** MP3s!
>> If you're that discriminating, I'm pretty sure it will play audio CDs,
>> then you can listen to all the "lossless" music you want.
>
> The point was that these "modern" players should be codec rich.
>
> They only cater to the crowd that cries the most, otherwise, you would
> not even be seeing Divx support.
>
> Whereas my suggestion makes a lot of sense, since these things are
> supposed to be part of folks audio/video systems. They should have the
> best possible playback features in them.

They should have what their target market wants. They're in business to
make money, not to cater to audiophiles. I'm guessing most audiophiles
spend more than $50 on their DVD player anyway, especially if they're
going to use it to play music.

It's not about who cries the most; it's about meeting demand. If there
was more demand (not cries) for lossless codecs, then I'm certain you'd
see more companies meeting that demand.

If you choose to belong to a niche group, you have to accept the
disadvantages that come along with that.