17 Budget DVD players shoot-out.

[Smokey]

DVD players ratings are from their overall score in term of how they handle film and video materials, with minimum distortion and artifacts (full link at bottom).

1. Toshiba - SD-3960 $69
2. Daewoo - DVN-8100N $69
3. Coby - DVD-515 $59
4. CyberHome - CH-DVD300S $39
5. Terapin - TT-2600DVD $69
6. Vivo Vision - DVDP-1500 $46
7. Sanyo - DWM-400 $59
8. Philips - DVP-642 $79
9. Magnavox - MDV458 $59

10. Sony - DVP-NS575P $89
11. JVC - XV-N44SL $79
12. Panasonic - DVD-S27 $79
13. RCA - DRC232N $89
14. Kenwood - DVF-3080-S $119
15. Zenith - DVB-412 $59
16. KLH - SVP500 $54
17. Liteon - LVW-5001 $206

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=119

[Norm Strong]

One thing should be immediately obvious. There is no relation between price and quality.

[Smokey]

There is no relation between price and quality.

That really can be said about alot of electronic components out there, as it is evident by ConsumerReport's Face-off couple of times a year. For example, $100 Sony speakers beat out much more expensive Klipsch speakers [in term of linearity] that cost almost around $500 :)

[Wolfgang]

I sorry, I never heard a Sony speaker that I liked. I heard that had premo stuff back in the day, I was a little kid then and not into hight end stuff.

[Lord_Magnepan]

I would add the Marantz DV4300 to the list.

[Aw_dee_o]

these test results are based on their specific tests and apply ONLY to the video results. This does not mean that their top rated DVD players will provide the same ranking in terms of audio reproduction.

[kexodusc]

Aw_dee_o makes a good point, but, at the same time if it's being used for Dolby Digital and DTS movies only, transmitting the digital signal of 0's and 1's isn't incredibly complicated and there's no reason any of these couldn't sound as good as a DVD player costing 3 times as much...unless you're using it as an audio player for DVD-A/SACD, you can capture quite a bit of the performance of more expensive players (perhaps even all) by purchasing one of these.

I'd also add a player to the list...I recently tried out the Toshiba 4960 - a DVD-A/SACD combo unit... one helluva player for cheap!!! Limited in bass management and all, but not bad for $110-$130. Deserves more than the 2-star rating it has here...the video was as good as anything under $400 when I tested it.

[Smokey]

Aw_dee_o makes a good point, but, at the same time if it's being used for Dolby Digital and DTS movies only, transmitting the digital signal of 0's and 1's isn't incredibly complicated and there's no reason any of these couldn't sound as good as a DVD player costing 3 times as much.

That is a good point. Also, since most of rated DVD players don't have internal DD/DTS decoder (with 5 RCA audio outputs), then we can not evaluate its audio capability-unless for two channels music/sources :)

[johnnyk8]

Good link thanks Smokey.

[Tunaoue]

The $69 may be ther MSRP, but the Target store in my town has them for $44.
Wow a DVD player that can be dedicated as an audio player? So what if the specs listed do not reflect audio quality, Dirt cheap = Low risk