[OT] - DVD Player

[John Wendel]

Michael A. Peters wrote:
> I'm going to be in the market for a new DVD player - for my TV soon.
> My current cheapie is near the end of warranty, not failing - but
> pixelating on good discs more and more often.
> 
> In the past when mom has missed Survivor, I've been able to grab the
> episode in DivX or xvid via bt, and use dvdauthor to make her a DVD.
> 
> The DVD would play in totem (with appropriate gstreamer plugins), but
> would not play in my DVD player - but when I mailed it to mom, it would
> play in her DVD player just fine.
> 
> So obviously my current sub $40.00 DVD player is pretty limited ...
> 
> Anyway - I'd like one that can play DivX or xvid w/o having to transcode
> to mpeg2 if possible. I'd like to rip all my Stargate SG1 dvd's for
> example (I've got every season) and compress them as divx to save space
> - and put as many as I can onto a single DVD.
> 
> Are there DVD players that will decode and play divx?
> I could hook up a computer to my TV and use something like mythtv - but
> I really don't want the fan noise etc. - and I'm also not sure I can add
> another device to that circuit without occasionally tripping the circuit
> breaker (it trips sometimes if I plug the vacuum cleaner into that
> circuit - apparently I can't put a bigger breaker in because of code and
> existing wiring, probably for good reason).
> 
> Thanks for suggestions.
> I guess it *might* be wise to wait for the new format DVD players, but
> who knows when they will hit the market, let alone at an affordable
> price (I don't like paying the new device tax).
> 

I have a Phillips 642 ( US $65.00 ) that plays many but not all DIVX 
files. If won't play Qpel encoded files (whatever that is). It also 
won't play HDTV resolution encodes. I still like it a lot.

I just saw new Toshiba that not only plays DIVX but also upconverts to 
HDTV resolution ( US $79.00 ). This will probably be my next purchase.

There are lots of choices, Google is your friend.

Regards,

John



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