I'm most likely going to buy a DVD player soon. (As in possibly tomorrow.) Main problem is I don't know the first thing about what I should want in a DVD player
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One feature I like but which is pretty rare is to be able to force the DVD to display with a different aspect ratio to the original. In other words, if you have a DVD that's widescreen but your TV isn't, you can force it to appear on your TV zoomed in and cropped to take up the full screen - this is useful if you have a small TV.
Most of the stuff you mentioned is pretty standard. It's good if the remote has power standby and eject. Sometimes you can get volume controls on the remote as well - that's pretty handy, because you only need the one remote close at hand instead of the TV one as well.
Try to get one that supports MP3s and VCDs if you can, as well as CD-R. (About 75% of them do). That leaves your options open to make video CDs from things you've downloaded off the net.
One feature I like but which is pretty rare is to be able to force the DVD to display with a different aspect ratio to the original. In other words, if you have a DVD that's widescreen but your TV isn't, you can force it to appear on your TV zoomed in and cropped to take up the full screen - this is useful if you have a small TV.
Hmmm... I do have a small TV, but I've always preferred the letterbox to the cropped screen - I don't want to miss something, or see just people's noses sticking out from the sides. :-)
Try to get one that supports MP3s and VCDs if you can, as well as CD-R. (About 75% of them do). That leaves your options open to make video CDs from things you've downloaded off the net. Starbright said that too. I have absolutely no idea how that would work. Suspect that it wouldn't - or at the very least that they would be of crappy quality, considering how crappy the quality is when I download videos from the net and watch them on my *computer*. And in any case, wouldn't this mean having to get a recordable, which I don't
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Starbright said that too. I have absolutely no idea how that would work. Suspect that it wouldn't - or at the very least that they would be of crappy quality, considering how crappy the quality is when I download videos from the net and watch them on my *computer*. And in any case, wouldn't this mean having to get a recordable, which I don't want?
No. You can use a video editing program to convert a downloaded AVI to MPG, and then VideoEasy and your CD burner to burn video CDs which will play on a VCD-equipped DVD player. The quality certainly isn't up there with DVD, but it's not bad, depending on your source quality. I compile music videos off the web into video CDs to watch on the TV. I even did it with Firefly episodes, and I downloaded the relatively low-quality (120MB) ones of those. They're not great, but they're quite watchable. The standard is VHS from high quality source, and a bit less from lower quality source.
ITA. The VCD and mp3 thing comes in very handy since you can burn your own CDs to play on the DVD. All your downloaded avis can be transfered to VCD and watched on Tv. Doesn't that get you all giddy? ;) I would definitely get one that plays more formats than the usual mpegs. Last I checked they weren't costly either - if you don't shop by brand, that is.
Wait a minute - if I download avis they'll be on my computer. So in order to burn CDs, wouldn't I have to move the DVD player from the TV to the computer and then back again? Or something?
And even if I did that, I'm not very sure of the quality. My computer is *old*.
So no, am not feeling giddy. I don't automatically get giddy from the idea of doing things I couldn't do before. There's a lot of "how" and "why" and other questions that need to be answered first. :-P
i can only repeat what others have said so I won't :) Didn't realize you don't have a CD-burner, you are one of the few I know! Your computer can't be old, it's probably ancient. *grin*
Yes you need a CD burner but if you invest in a DVD now keep it in mind that the day you have a CD-burner you can make CVDs of your favorite eps. And the quality is awesome, I swear.
I bought my computer in late -99, so no, not ancient. My parents' computer is ancient, but then, it starts itself if you don't pull the cord when you're finished.
And I got everything you and Deslea said anyway. :-) At least I think I did.
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Most of the stuff you mentioned is pretty standard. It's good if the remote has power standby and eject. Sometimes you can get volume controls on the remote as well - that's pretty handy, because you only need the one remote close at hand instead of the TV one as well.
Try to get one that supports MP3s and VCDs if you can, as well as CD-R. (About 75% of them do). That leaves your options open to make video CDs from things you've downloaded off the net.
That's about all I can think of. Good luck!
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Hmmm... I do have a small TV, but I've always preferred the letterbox to the cropped screen - I don't want to miss something, or see just people's noses sticking out from the sides. :-)
Try to get one that supports MP3s and VCDs if you can, as well as CD-R. (About 75% of them do). That leaves your options open to make video CDs from things you've downloaded off the net.
Starbright said that too. I have absolutely no idea how that would work. Suspect that it wouldn't - or at the very least that they would be of crappy quality, considering how crappy the quality is when I download videos from the net and watch them on my *computer*. And in any case, wouldn't this mean having to get a recordable, which I don't ( ... )
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No. You can use a video editing program to convert a downloaded AVI to MPG, and then VideoEasy and your CD burner to burn video CDs which will play on a VCD-equipped DVD player. The quality certainly isn't up there with DVD, but it's not bad, depending on your source quality. I compile music videos off the web into video CDs to watch on the TV. I even did it with Firefly episodes, and I downloaded the relatively low-quality (120MB) ones of those. They're not great, but they're quite watchable. The standard is VHS from high quality source, and a bit less from lower quality source.
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See, this is why I need help. I don't know *anything*.
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I would definitely get one that plays more formats than the usual mpegs. Last I checked they weren't costly either - if you don't shop by brand, that is.
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And even if I did that, I'm not very sure of the quality. My computer is *old*.
So no, am not feeling giddy. I don't automatically get giddy from the idea of doing things I couldn't do before. There's a lot of "how" and "why" and other questions that need to be answered first. :-P
But I'll keep it in mind, honestly.
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Yes you need a CD burner but if you invest in a DVD now keep it in mind that the day you have a CD-burner you can make CVDs of your favorite eps. And the quality is awesome, I swear.
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And I got everything you and Deslea said anyway. :-) At least I think I did.
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