Eating-up cheap dvd players

My advice: Keep buying crap.

I have gone through two really high end dvd players (One, an $800 mitsubishi and the other a $1,500 Sony) and both started out fine, but after a year or two, each one started having problems. And yes, I too have a little one that loves to watch movies. (After she goes to bed for the night, then we watch our dvds too!)

I learned my lesson and started buying cheap dvd players. They seem to last just about as long and the picture quality is decent, but maybe not quite as good.

(But for me, that is fine, as I am ambivelent about video.
Music and my 2 channel is my passion.)

My two cents worth.

It's not the worst strategy in the world to buy a new $60 dvd player every year. As your kids get older, maybe they will be 'gentler' on the player and you can think of higher quality.

Can you replace the kids?

If not, the only thing I can suggest is that Consumer Reports lists Panasonic as the most reliable maker of DVD players. That doesn't mean they can withstand the rigors of your little darlings, but it's worth a shot.

Other than that, buy the cheapest you can find, because you'll be replacing them frequently.

i think you are on the right track using the cheapo units..

around here, the kids always win....

I have used the $29 ones you find at local Best Buys or drug store specials...can't beat a $29 casualty

Just keep buying cheap and used....thats what I would do.

Keep using the el cheapo's. That way you won't be so bummed when they destroy the expensive ones. I was a television technician in the Air Force for 17 years so my family always wants to ask me "what's the best TV?" My answer is always, "what's on sale?" The mass produced stuff isn't designed or built to last forever.

Just hoping to spend $99 instead of buying a new one every year???
Thanks.

Instead of buying a $29 every year, buy 3 $29 units at once so they are always readily available.

If you're only playing commercial DVDs (not burning your own), then look for an old first or second generation Toshiba player on eBay. Like most things, the early models were built like tanks back when they cost $500+ for a basic model.

Early players cannot read DVD-R in most cases. You can probably get them for $5 to $10 since they're technically obsolete for most folks. See Link

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOSHIBA-SD-2109-DVD-CD-PLAYER-WITH-COMPONENT-VIDEO-OUT_W0QQitemZ5854058229QQcategoryZ61250QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
.

elivick,i have 5 kids running in the house,and we have had the same problem,my wife went to walmart and bought a magnavozdvd player small grey player not any functions but play open and off ,remote has the rest,well the first one was so good we bought another to go in babys room,they set me back 30 .00 or so and they hold up..they even play good ,i was having trouble on day with my dvd and hooked the maggi in system and was suprised how good it sounded in redbook so get it and hook it up and forget it,you can always hook a good one up and a cheap one in same system and dare them to touch the good one,here is the link to the player http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3639074 good luck

Philips DVP642 ... They are about $55 but they play ANYTHING and well; kids will be kids. I put my 4 year old's Apex up on a shelf about 5 feet off the ground thinking I was safe. She figured out how to push her plastic desk over to the shelf and place a chair on it to get at the player. I have tried reasoning ... spankings ... and now the "great pink shelf debockle".

I did manage to teach her to stay away from my system.

At least as far as I know ...


It's God's way of paying me back for taking my Dad's TV apart when I was 7.

Solution. I just signed up for an amazon visa card, got $30 off my next purchase! I bought a philips progressive scan on sale for $59 (down from $82.50). They took off $30 and gave free shipping!
I call that disposable, cheap and wayyyyy better than the apex my kids wore out.
Thanks for all of the advice!