Which DVD player to buy? Apex 1200?

[djcontra]

I am seriously disappointed with my KOSS KD230-2 player. I recieved it as a christmas gift, and it's been working great except recently it has started to degrade. It can't play half the dvd's I put in it now, whether they're original or copies, and makes funny noises from the motors inside too. So all in all, i'm going to return it, or get it replaced and then sell the replacement.

I heard somewhere on here that Apex makes a good inexpensive player. In canada I can pick up an Apex 1200 for $65 CDN, but down south I can get the apex 1500 or hgiher end models for almost the same price (but duties will kill me!)

will the apex 1200 play dvd-r or do they have problems? Can they play ritek g03 discs?

any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel like making a purchase tonight when I finish work.

[cypher_soundz]

apex are a very hackable make , try apex.phormation.com , you should find many firmware flashes etc , i got my hands on a pacific 1002 its a good player and region change by remote is always good for those RCE disks ;) it says that some apex models are RCE immune which kinda rules :D

[wedge]

The Apex will play ritek discs.But be aware with the apex 1200 (as far as I know)that it will NOT play vcd or svcd movies.
Go to Walmart & they have a Norcent unit that looks exactly like the Apex ( made in the same factory) that will play everything for $90.00 Canadian.
I personally own an older Apex(forgot the model #) & it plays everything but noticed when Apex fell below the $130.00 mark they started leaving out the ability to play vcd,svcd.Don't know why.
Maybe had something to do with Sony sueing them for the DVD licensing issue.

[Richard Iredale]

Over the past few months I have bought 3 Apex 1500's. I love them because they can be easily modified to work with TV/VCR combo sets, and they will play anything I put on them. They were about $55 each on sale. Regular price is arount $100.

Originally I had purchased an Apex 1201, but hated the remote control--the arrow buttons for moving around a menu had to be enabled every time by pushing another button first. Dumb.

[Flyer9]

I have a JVC XV S302SL. It will take anything that you throw its way. The only thing that it misses is a "shuffle" MP3 play. But for that you probably would prefer a boom-box anyway.
Recently I decided to buy another stand alone - for the kids.
I tried Sony-DVPNS315B and Panasonic-RV32K. BEWARE: The Sony won't play VCDs, and the Panasonic can't recognize DVD-Rs.
I'm going back to JVC - this time XVS300B because it is black (the one above is silver colored), and enough experimenting. Besides, JVC (Japan Victor Company) are the ones that invented VHS, so I guess they know something about video;)

[Neo Neko]

The APEX 1500 is worth the extra duties. It will handle most everything you thrown at it and more. Though APEX does not use top of the line parts. I have heard many an APEX with a squeaky tray and motor.

[DDogg]

I recently picked up a Cyberhome 500 at BestBuy for the silly price of 49.95 USD after rebates. Progressive scan. Component output,optical out,co-axial out, and 5.1 direct. This unit has the very unique ability to turn off digital copy protection as well as Macrovision. This allows me to directly record to my Sony DVcam. That is a very nice feature indeed. I only use the video and analog audio out in the bedroon so I don't know if the quality of the component out and progressive scan are any good, but it was one hell of a buy and plays everything I have.


DD

[Nic]

If you havent already try www.vcdhelp.com? Goto there DVD Player section and do a search on the model your considering. The reviews there are plentiful and very useful :)

-Nic

[bb]

I like my Cyberhome CH-402. It's cheap (around €100,-) and plays almost anything that's round. A friend of mine told me, his CH played a "Porky" episode when he put a slice of salami in it :D

bb

[Lord Sandwich]

We bought a 1200 last Christmas for my grandfolks and had to return it. For some reason it kept applying an anamorphic squash to SVCD's that played fine on our older 1500. Menu options wouldn't fix it.

However, I can recommend the 1100W, which should still be easy to find at Wal-Mart. Barring an annoying remote design (you have to press a "Shift" key before using directional keys) I've had no complaints. MiniDVD's are the only thing I haven't gotten to work, which isn't a big deal considering it'll play XSVCD's at > 4,500 kbps. :D

Firmware hacks are plentiful, too. Just be on the lookout for the 512KB BIOS model that's less hackable and won't play VCD's.

[markrb]

I picked up a Mintek 1600 for a bud at Christmas and it plays everything he throws at it. It is not hackable though.

Be careful about APEX now if VCD and SVCD's are important to you. Apex lost a lawsuite that was brought by Philips and had to remove VCD support from many players. However I have found that although now they don't have it listed in it's manual they tend to still play them, but check it before your return period is up.

The Newer Apex units are not as easily hackable as part of that same lawsuite they promised to make it harder. Check www.nerd-out.com for more info on this type of stuff.

Mark

[djcontra]

thanks for all the replies.
I saw those $80 players at walmart the other day, and maybe i'll pick one up to try it out (they do full refunds there anyway just in case), i dont mind if the player is isn't very high quality because the tv it'll be on isn't anything highend anyway. I have a nice progressive scan one on my good tv anyway hehe, i just want a second cheap player that plays dvd-r.

thanks for all the input, if anything maybe i'll pickup an apex 1500 if the walmart one doesn't work out or has a shitty picture

[markrb]

If you have a Best Buy near you they currently have a Cyberhome DVD player (not progressive scan) for $45 after $10 rebate. The rebate ends Saturday I think. If you don't have one near you they also have free shipping on the website.

Or

They also have the Mintek 1600 for $57 with no rebate.

Both are Ok players.

Mark

[djcontra]

I ended up buying the Norcent one from walmart friday, and it works great so far.
I also love how it can play noncompliant cds/dvds. I had a few dvds i used to backup my hard drive, and I was able to stick them into the Norcent, and view all the jpg, and mpg files that were on the disc. Makes for some easy testing for my video editing =)

thanks for all the help