I want a cheap, slutty DVD player
Here’s the thing: I don’t need anything fancy. I don’t use-slash-need many advanced features, like super slo-mo or bookmarking. I just want a DVD player to play whatever disc I put in it, no matter where it’s from, without complaining.
I don’t want a princess. I want a whore.
I’m not even talking about multi-region or unlocked players. I just want one that can consistently play a DVD-RW of dailies burned on some random PA’s computer without bitching. I don’t know if that means a more advanced player, or a lamer one, but I’m officially sick of trying a disc in three different players before finally getting it to work on my MacBook.
I suspect my ideal DVD player is a no-name made in Guangzhou which can play drink coasters. If anyone can point me towards it, thanks in advance.
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July 4th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
Hi John, The cyberhome DVD Player(Best Buy/Target/Amazon)is probably the one that should work well for your requirements. Its a no fuss player and plays NTSC and PAL as well. Most DVDs burned on random computers which do not play on the more sophisticated players have worked on this one. My boss actually uses it as test of whether a DVD is working or not! For 30-40 bucks its a good buy.
July 4th, 2006 at 3:14 pm
Amen to that.
July 4th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Hey John, try out a player from http://www.apexdigitalinc.com
Like you wanted, they seem to play damn near anything, whether it’s VCD’s or DVD’s or even Photo CD’s (I’ve never seen such things, but apparently iPhoto burns them).
Plus they’re dirt cheap, or at least the one’s I’ve gotten. Mine’s 5 years old now and it still works great. Cheers mate.
July 4th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
You can play them on a macbook – or do you need them for home viewing?
July 4th, 2006 at 3:55 pm
Yo-
You can get a region/pain free player at any DVD shop in one of the k-town shopping malls; like Western and Olympic. These anonymously branded things will play anything. Think cheap, $70.
JB
July 4th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
I own a Pioneer DV-585A-S (Code Free, I live in Europe) and it played everything and the GUI is really good. They don’t make this model anymore but the successor the DV-588A-S (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076310069745236572701,00.html) seems to have the same features…and more.
Cheers, Greg
PS: I’m not affiliated with Pioneer. ;-)
July 4th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
I’ve got a NEC 2510A in my computer and absolutely love it. I haven’t found a disc yet it wouldn’t play, but I must admit, the variety of discs burned on other computers isn’t anything like what you must go for. When I bought it though, I did want reliability in playback so maded sure to look into which was the most forgiving in accepting cheap media and at the time NEC’s were the best. Not sure if that still applies now or not though. Hope it helps.
July 4th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
Hi John
If you can find one (I think they’ve been discontinued), check out the Philips DVP-642. I’ve had one for a couple years now and it plays back almost everything – the exception being files encoded with QPEL. It plays back divx, xvid, loose VOB files, etc. You can read more about it at http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers?DVDname=dvp+642
July 4th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Not to focus on the wrong thing, but, MacBook? Which one did you end up getting? I had to get a non-Pro in black. Damn you Steve Jobs and your sleek-blackness-tax!
July 4th, 2006 at 5:00 pm
I got the basic white macbook and I couldn’t be happier – I leaned toward getting the macbook pro but in the end decided it was more power than I needed (I basically use it for word-processing, not cutting and making movies, so it would have been a couple grand more just for show) for what I do, at least at this time. But me loves the comic life and built in camera for video ichat and the garage band and it’s so damn fast – oh my, I just had a geek-gasm.
So I have hte non-pro, it’s true. But I haven’t ruled out getting a macbook pro in black NEXT year, not yet. Hee-hee.
July 4th, 2006 at 5:06 pm
John–
Not sure if you’ve tried this one, but my friend who works in dvd authoring swears by the Philips DVP642. I’ts about $60, available in LA at Target. It plays everything you can throw at it (DVD-R, DVD+R, etc) and often times discs work in it that don’t work in his expensive player. The only downside seems to be the build quality– you either get a good one or a lemon that’s not worth repairing.
July 4th, 2006 at 5:46 pm
I don’t quite understand the reason for tacking on another 100 or so bucks for a simple color change. Economies of scale notwithstanding, it still seems like price gouging. Regardless I love my MacBook Pro. There’s something about a metal case that appeals to me.
Back to the DVD issue. I’ve heard that the drives that Apple uses for the MacBook make watching out of region DVD’s nearly impossible.
July 4th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
And still on the MacBook subject, why cant you play it in there? As far as a standalone player – the cheapest walmart one SHOULD work. What you should focus on is your media, not the player. Make sure you are buying media that is compatible. Most new players should read most media… If I was the PA I’d make sure it worked the first try … cough cough hint hint
July 4th, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Word on the street is, the Panasonic DVD-S47 player got watcha need, if you can find one.
July 4th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
My go-to DVD player is named Davida and she’s a lady, damn you. Quite possibly the love of my life.
I found her where all great loves are found, at a mail order site on the internet.
According to her markings, she is from the factory of the good people at “Sampo.” I seem to recall her outer packaging bearing a logo suspiciously similar to the one employed by Sanyo.
I searched for her a few years ago when I was desperate to watch some Region 2 DVDs (in my defense, this was before BBC America brought us BAD GIRLS and FOOTBALLER’S WIVES right into the old Comcast box, back when one had to travel to the ends of the earth to view quality British melodrama–or at least to Amazon.co.uk). I entered “code-free dvd player” or “region-free dvd player” on Google and ordered from the first listing.
I would say this was about 3 years ago. She cost $99 plus shipping. I can’t say she’s played every single DVD I’ve thrown in her, but she has far and away played more family birthday parties, random PA rushes like the ones you mentioned, friends’ appearances on cable access and borrowed episodes of RESCUE ME transferred from a VCR than any of my other 3 players (including a PC DVD-RW and the one on my iBook).
Good luck!
July 4th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Did some more research;
http://www.compusa.com/products/productinfo.asp?ref=froogle&pfp=froogle&productcode=312093&cmven=froogle&cmcat=&cmpla=&cmite=feed
I have heard good things and it even plays raw avi files. Should do the trick. If you would rather just run down to walmart and get one now this should do what you need, and is cheap;
http://www.apexdigitalinc.com/proddetail.asp?category=DVD%20Players&subcat=&linenumber=125
July 4th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
I feel your pain. I had the same problem, I needed to watch dailies, rough cuts, reels, whatever, and they were all burned on this and that type of disk, on this and that drive and they would never work consistently, and then I had to drag out the laptop, ad nauseum.
Then I found it, for me anyway, the holy grail. The new Sony D-VE7000S Walkman. (Link below for your quick reference) This thing is rugged, but light, ultra-dependable. I haven’t found any funky home-burn it won’t play, though I’m sure the exception will surface. It’s less than two hundred bucks, and here’s the beauty of it:
It has optical and old school audio and video in and out, so with one switch you can use it as a monitor and send stuff to it, or plug it into any of the nicest theater setups or cheap motel televisions and you’re in business. It’s a flat, sexy little brick with a kickstand on the back, so you can take it on the plane and watch stuff and make notes with up to 3 hour battry life, and it plays every disk of every format, audio or video.
Even better, it comes with a smart leather satchel to carry it in, headphones for remote use, a sweet little remote control that rides along with it, and an awesome “home base” cradle with speakers so if you have a place you will be using it a lot (like home or a trailer office) you can just drop it on top of it and it charges and plays with audio through the base speakers.
It’s not one of those little laptop looking flip-up players just dying to be broken, it’s one solid piece.
It’s basically the only way to fly until they come out with it’s blue-ray HD replacement, which will be quite a while. With everything for under two hundred dollars, it will surely pay for itself in the first few days of any project in saved time alone.
It’s going to be regioned, but any burned stuff is 99% of the time going to be burned universal, so it doesn’t matter. You might get cranky when you buy or rent a film you want to watch on a flight or whatever on a foreign trip, but hey, whatchagonnado? (And porn is typically region-free, or so I’ve heard.)
Run down to Best Buy (send an assistant) with a problematic DVD and have them pop it in and play it…
http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SYDisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DVE7000S&Dept=tvvideo&CategoryName=havDVD_DVDPortables
July 4th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
If you want the queen of all whore DVD players you need an APEX. She will let you put anyting you want in her. The best part… you will never hear a complaint.
July 4th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
Thanks for all the suggestions. I knew my homies would come through.
I just Amazoned the Philips DVDP 642 ($54), which is apparently very loose (and easily de-regionable). So I’ll let you know how that works.
In terms of computers, I’m typing this on my MacBook Pro 15″, which is replacing a Titanium PowerBooke (the extra ‘e’ is because it’s so olde). So far, so great. It’s now my main home computer, because the G5 will be living at the editorial offices.
The sad thing is, this MacBook is probably faster than my G5, so the tower will be going away before too long.
And no, I don’t have the glossy screen. They’re great for DVDs, but I think the glare would drive me crazy for daily work.
July 5th, 2006 at 4:08 am
John,
Often the problem is not the player but the writer. I’ve been developing iDVD games recently and have hit the problems of machines. Generally only write DVD-R’s and at the slowest speed. That seems to make them compatable across the board. Also SIZE is an issue, make sure you have more than 1gb on the disk or that the writing software has the MAKE 1GB compatability button ticked!
Chris
July 5th, 2006 at 4:20 am
Hi John, Brazilian writer/filmmaker talking here (and a fan of your blog). My experience says: the cheaper, no-brand DVD player is always the best. I bought one that don’t even have the eject function and it reads everything.
July 5th, 2006 at 10:46 am
Hi John, I just bought the latest issue of Total Film here in the UK (with Pirates 2 on the cover); great interview on script doctoring! I didn’t know you did that scene in Minority Report; I thought it was brilliant when I saw it. As you say, it really cut out the nagging questions in the most efficient way. Great stuff. And I think your whole take on the issue comes across as the most mature and professional.
July 5th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Chris Wild:
Thanks for posting that bit of info. I knew that DVD-R’s are the most compatible but I didn’t know about the space issues.
Although that only helps if the people giving you the DVD’s know that too.
Generally speaking, the shittier the DVD player, the more types of DVD’s it will play. Annoying but true…
(I think about 10 people just wrote what I said but I’ll click “submit comment” anyway.)
July 5th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Agrree with the first comment from “anu”. Whenever I burn a DVD have have to show it somewhere where failing would be an embarrassment, I bring my Cyberhome DVD player with me just in case their equipment won’t play my disk.
July 5th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Make sure you get the Philips 642/ 37 Region Free. It is THE best DVD player I have ever had. It plays almost anything I give it. I think WMV files are not compatible.
ZAK
July 6th, 2006 at 12:53 am
David says:
I bought one that don’t even have the eject function and it reads everything.
If it doesn’t have the eject function, it’s not that strange that it does read “every” disc! ;)
Stephen, could you please tell us which scene in Minority Report are you referring to? Love that film and didn’t know John had anything to do with it
July 6th, 2006 at 2:15 am
Hi Daniel, the relevant bit in full:
‘Then there was Minority Report, a few weeks of work that August terms “almost editing”. “Scott Frank’s script answered a lot of questions. My job was to stop you from asking them, so that the movie could be two hours long, whereas the script was three hours long,” he says. “A lot of it was looking at scenes where a lot of questions were answered and then stepping back 10 pages and figuring out whether there was a thing that could keep you from asking that question. There’s a scene where Colin Farrell asks the question, the first question that occurred to me, ‘How do you know if the crime is going to happen if you stop it?’ So I wrote this scene where Tom Cruise rolls the ball down the table and Farrell catches it.” That, in essence, is the script doctor’s job: fixing particular problems. “To get this thing that doesn’t work to work,” says August. “It’s a chance to help people out of some situation and kind of feel a bit of a hero.”‘
Sorry for OT, John!
July 6th, 2006 at 7:02 am
Thanks, Stephen!
And sorry for Off Topic too, John.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:11 pm
It should be noted that you can buy a DVD player that plays non-Region 1 movies but unless you own a PAL TV, you’re not going to be able to watch the movie.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:14 pm
Apparently I am mistaken. But instead of going out and buying a new player, Google “DVD Region Hacks” and see if your DVD player is able to be hacked.
July 6th, 2006 at 1:57 pm
I bought a CyberHome for $40 thinking I was getting the same kind of no-frills, just-play-it player you’re looking for. I bought two, in fact–making one a gift. Four months into proud ownership, mine stopped working. I contacted the customer support and it was $25 (+ s/h) to have it fixed because I was beyond the 3 month warranty. As for the other one that was the gift, funny thing: it also stopped working around the same time. Maybe I happened to buy from a bad batch, but anyway I ended up replacing it with a $70 Sony that’s simple, great and has passed the 3 month test with no problems.
July 8th, 2006 at 2:42 am
The Philips DVDP 642 is middle of pack nominal, it’s quite darned fussy with the TYPES of DVD-R’s. Cheap tho, but it won’t play EVERYTHING you throw at it.
And it’s not always true the worse the player the better support it has, as without a doubt the best value player, be the OPPO OPDV971H, anything less, is well much less. But the Sigmatek XM-400 Pro with the Pioneer DV-470 and DV-575 are good choices too.
http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h.html
But here’s a handy guide: http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php
July 20th, 2006 at 4:07 am
Cyberhome DVD players suck. Mine broke as well. Looks like the same player is also sold under the name Coby and a few other no-name brands. Stick with a name brand.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:49 pm
Update:
The Philips DVDP 642 has been just what I needed. I’ve yet to find a round, shiny disc that it won’t play.