there's a meat market down the street
I need help, o wise flist! *bats eyelashes*
Short version: I am thinking of replacing/supplementing my existing DVD player, and want to get one that is highly recommended and plays all sorts of formats/codecs and works well with my other equipment, etc. If you have experience with a good DVD player/Blu-Ray player/home theater system or other similar equipment, please tell me about it? (Or if your player sucks and you want to UN-recommend it, that is useful too!)
I actually really like my current setup. However, I've discovered that I can't play the VividCon 2010 discs on either of the DVD players I own; one outputs jerky/scratchy audio, and the other outputs jerky video. I think it's just the way the discs are encoded, although it doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone else, so it might just be that I have older model DVD players that aren't compatible with newer methods of encoding. (It's not just my copy of the discs, either; the karaoke DVD from this year was also tested in both my players, with the same crappy result, and worked just fine at the con itself.)
My immediate goal is to get something that will play the VVC discs, so if you have successfully played them on your own DVD player, I would love to hear about it! I'm also thinking, however, about upgrading to a Blu-Ray player. Since I have a nice big HD TV (though it's not 1080p), it might make sense to upgrade the rest of my setup as well, to get the most out of my TV. I'm considering both options, and it will probably come down to deciding how much I want to spend now (get a cheap but workable player just for the VVC discs, or go ahead and get something much nicer that I can continue to use for everything).
Specific questions for anyone reading this:
Here's my current entertainment configuration, in case compatibility is relevant:
Any advice, tips, general knowledge, etc. about any aspect of this setup (not just the DVD player part) would be GREATLY appreciated! Did I mention how sexy and debonair you look today? BECAUSE IT'S TRUE. :)
Also posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comment wherever you like.
Short version: I am thinking of replacing/supplementing my existing DVD player, and want to get one that is highly recommended and plays all sorts of formats/codecs and works well with my other equipment, etc. If you have experience with a good DVD player/Blu-Ray player/home theater system or other similar equipment, please tell me about it? (Or if your player sucks and you want to UN-recommend it, that is useful too!)
I actually really like my current setup. However, I've discovered that I can't play the VividCon 2010 discs on either of the DVD players I own; one outputs jerky/scratchy audio, and the other outputs jerky video. I think it's just the way the discs are encoded, although it doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone else, so it might just be that I have older model DVD players that aren't compatible with newer methods of encoding. (It's not just my copy of the discs, either; the karaoke DVD from this year was also tested in both my players, with the same crappy result, and worked just fine at the con itself.)
My immediate goal is to get something that will play the VVC discs, so if you have successfully played them on your own DVD player, I would love to hear about it! I'm also thinking, however, about upgrading to a Blu-Ray player. Since I have a nice big HD TV (though it's not 1080p), it might make sense to upgrade the rest of my setup as well, to get the most out of my TV. I'm considering both options, and it will probably come down to deciding how much I want to spend now (get a cheap but workable player just for the VVC discs, or go ahead and get something much nicer that I can continue to use for everything).
Specific questions for anyone reading this:
- What DVD players do you own? Do they work well for you? Any significant problems or benefits you've encountered?
- Do you own a copy of the 2010 VVC DVDs? Can you play them successfully on your DVD player(s)?
- Do you own a Blu-Ray DVD player? What model? Would you recommend Blu-Ray over standard DVD players? Why/why not?
- Do you own a home theater system (DVD player + speakers/subwoofer)? What model? Have you found any benefits to using a home theater system vs. a regular DVD player and built-in TV speakers?
- Anything else I'm forgetting?
Here's my current entertainment configuration, in case compatibility is relevant:
- TV: Panasonic TH-50PX60U
- 50" plasma
- 2 HDMI, 3 composite, 3 S-Video, 2 component inputs
- Supports 720p and 1080i (no 1080p) (... I don't really know what this means)
- Home theater system (DVD + speakers/subwoofer): Samsung HT-X40
- USB input, really comes in handy
- HDMI output
- Plays DivX
- I like having a separate speaker & subwoofer system, although the speakers aren't optimally placed in the living room (yet)
- Won't play anything above 800x600 resolution. Sometimes annoying when trying to watch downloaded files
- Second DVD player: Philips DVP3040
- Plays DivX! Plays a wide variety of things, actually (until now)
- Simple, light & portable, cheap. Originally bought for around $40
- Composite and component outputs
- Supports progressive scan
- Supposedly plays DVDs from any region? I've never actually tested this
- DVR: TiVo Premiere XL
- Just ordered this today, so I don't have it in my possession yet
- Universal remote: Logitech Harmony 670
- Definitely needs to be replaced; pieces have broken off and the screen only halfway works
- Very easy to set up
- Can control every device I own, so far
- Doesn't work as well as I thought it would. Not sure if this is a failing of the remote itself, the devices I'm controlling with it, or just a standard problem with any universal remote: the input settings on both my TV and DVD player will change depending on what is plugged in/turned on/inserted. For example, if a DVD is in the DVD player when it starts up, it will (usually) automatically switch to DVD input regardless of what it was set on before. And if the TV is on, and I turn the DVD player on (which is plugged into the TV through HDMI), the TV will automatically switch to HDMI input. You would think this would be helpful, but it's really not. The remote changes inputs on the devices by cycling through all inputs til it reaches the correct one. So if it's expecting the TV to be on, say, component input and it's not, it won't set the TV input correctly when you press "Watch TV" or "Watch a DVD" or anything else. So instead of just pressing one button and having everything magically work, I often have to press the button and then reset the inputs on both the TV and DVD player. I'm used to it by now, but other people aren't. (My parents are visiting at the moment and are so overwhelmed and confused and frustrated by the TV setup. They had to call me at work this morning and have me walk them through how to switch the DVD player input so the sound would come on.)
Any advice, tips, general knowledge, etc. about any aspect of this setup (not just the DVD player part) would be GREATLY appreciated! Did I mention how sexy and debonair you look today? BECAUSE IT'S TRUE. :)
Also posted to Dreamwidth (
comments). Comment wherever you like.