DVD Player Selections?

[ab21]

Hi guys I have an old Panasonic DVD Player and it's dying. I also have a DELL laptop and a xbox that allow me to watch my DVDs. My only question is, do the different DVD players (stand alone) have an effect on the protection or damage to the discs? I mean, will a *better DVD player keep the DVDs in better shape than the other ones? Will the discs get less scratches and damage and last longer? If so, I'm willing to purchase one for myself around Thanksgiving time. I've heard good things about Pioneer and SONY, I'm not really sure so any suggestions and recommendations would be appreciated.

[CWR03]

I don't believe any DVD player is harmful to DVD disks in any way. There is the possibility of a shorter life of a burned DVD due to heat from the drive, but production DVD's aren't affected. Scratches are caused by handling, not by the player (unless it's a slot load).

[ab21]

so from what i understand, any dvd player or dvd rom will not damage the orginal DVDs in anyway. if so, i'll probably stick w/ my laptop and xbox for now.

[o770]

I've had a player once of a brand called Bluesky that actually burned small holes in the media of the CD. The player was brand new and operated very badly.
So just because of that I beleive a malfunctioning player can harm CD or DVD.

Found this through a google search:
link (http://www.cdrom-guide.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1533650&postcount=6)

[ab21]

the above link said only portable players and slot-loading players might damage the CDs/DVDs, my question is what kind of dvd-rom does DELL and Xbox have? will they harm the discs in any way?