DVD player recommendation for under 100 beans?

rlightfoot

Can anyone recommend a decent lower end DVD player for under $100? I've seen mixed reviews of the Wallymart/CC Apex as well as the BB version - the "Mintek".

Toshiba is sporting a lower end sleek DVD for around $89.

Oh yea, it has to play CD-R.

fireshoes

While you may see an occassional person in support of the Apex dvd player, I would probably shoot myself in the head before I bought one. If I got it as a gift I would return it. I would say they have about a 50% return rate at the store I work at. Most common complaints are: door won't open, door fell off, freezes, takes 5 seconds to change scenes, or won't turn on.

shack

Stay away from the Apex or Mintek like the plague. Very poor quality control, build quality and dependability. My daughters each got an Apex for their room and both had to go back for replacement out of the box. They were cheap and served their purpose for 19" bedroom tvs but I would not put one in a quality system.

This apears to be a very good bargain.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000659UN/qid=1030336913/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1_etk-electronics/104-7933539-4892737

It plays DVD-Video, DVD-R, Video CD, CD, CD-R/RW, MP3, and WMA formatted media. Toshiba makes a very good DVD player but I bet this one is much better than their entry level player. Plus free shipping and no tax.


HERE is a Sound and Vision review. They though highly of this player.

burdette

After a top-notch review in Consumer Reports, we bought a Panasonic VCR.. never again. It has **** tracking, especially when playing anything recorded on another machine. I had to replace the $40 remote after barely a year old.

I'll admit it... bought an Apex DVD playing in January off of Amazon.
http://www.apexdigitalinc.com/html/AD_800.html

It has worked flawlessly since I took it out of the box. Remote is full-featured, on-screen displays are easy to understand and navigate.. scene change is a fast as I can press the button. Nary a glitch in operation, never a problem reading or playing any sort of disc, including MP3. On-board decoder, although I don't use it, has all the possible settings (bass management, etc). The build looks and feels much more solid than either the Panasonic or the new Toshiba VCR. It is progressive scan (if I ever need it), etc etc etc. In short, although it is the first and only DVD player I've owned, I can't imagine it working better for us.

Obviously I can't attest to anyone else's firsthand knowledge, but our Apex has and continues to do a wonderful job.

TroyD

I know a couple guys with Apex DVD players and haven't had a problem with them......

Personally, I've owned two Tosh's without any real problems.

BDT

rlightfoot

thanks for the advice. Guess I was right on with "mixed reviews".

The DVD is for my son's room. My old CD player won't play his CD-Rs.

gidrah

I own a different, but inexpensive Panasonic that works great. I got an Oritron for a gift that didn't make it throught the first disc.

kanicker

I too have an Apex 1500. The absolute cheapest component I own. It worked flawlessly, hasnt had a problem with a disc yet. Its quiet. Its ugly. It has a bright LCD (too bright).

It was $69. And I'd continue to use it, except that its begin retired and replaced by a Home Theater PC.

liv4fam

Dude you should check out last year or 2 year old dvd players. You can probably find a killer deal on a clearence rack or demo piece that is in real good shape. I know at tweeter we had a Panasonic DVD-A7 in almost every store that we were blowing out on clearance for 128.00 and that piece was 999.99 when it came out. It plays DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, VCD. Really investigate every place you can like specialty A/V stores and ask about demos and also look on Ebay. You can get a really good quality player for cheap instead of buying a really cheap DVD player new that is not of good quality.

mantis

I will second that ,
DVD player price points don't hold for long.When the new model comes out ,you can save a ton on the older model.