guzziguy Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I often play a movie to help me fall asleep. Of course, this means that a DVD can run overnight or even for days at a time if I forget to remove the DVD. I've gone through a series of inexpensive (<$100) DVD players. They run fine for a couple of months and then I'll find the image frozen on the screen and the player will no longer initialize a DVD. I thought that maybe the laser lens was dirty so I took the most recent failure apart to see what was going on. It turns out that the drive will no longer spin the disk. The machine is a Toshiba SD-K840 (a Costco special) and the drive seems to be direct (i.e. no belt). I considered getting a new drive, but decided instead to buy a more robust player instead. I'm looking for a reliable DVD player that is < $200 (it would be better if < $150). It doesn't need to have great picture and sound quality. It just has to provide a decent picture and decent sound. What it needs to be able to do is last a while. Can anybody recommend such a beast? Thanks in advance for your suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeggy Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 I like my Oppo, can't say how long it'd last running for days on end though. That really is brutal for any player though I do frequently run it for many hours at a time watching tv seasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minivan Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 what about this dvd player from this thread http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f7/goldmund-v-s-pioneer-285743/ i saw it selling for $100 usd, if i am looking for a dvd player, i will definitely get this one i love the fact i can boast to my guest that i pay $100 usd instead of 6000 pound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 My Pioneer automatically stops spinning the disk after some ridiculous amount of time (10 minutes, I think). When it's in resume mode, you hit play, and it picks up right where you left off. You definitely need something like that. It'll continue playing a movie if you are playing a movie, but I don't know what'll happen if you put it in infinite repeat mode, I've never done that. I don't know if that's an issue with you or not. I don't think it's spinning the disk if it's just the menu loaded. You should listen to it with a stethoscope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n_maher Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Why not just get one of those devices to provide timed-lights and have your DVD player hooked up to it? That way you could have the outlet automatically shut off at 2am (or whatever) to shut off the DVD player. I don't think it'd come back on when the outlet got power again and shouldn't be all that hard on the unit itself. I'm thinking something like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smeggy Posted January 28, 2008 Report Share Posted January 28, 2008 Wow, haven't seen one of those timers in years. I used to use those all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzziguy Posted January 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks for the recommendations guys. I was looking through my boxes of dead players and found a new Toshiba combo DVD/VHS player. I seem to remember having one of them die so this is probably a replacement from Costco. I'll try to go easier on this one. Nate's idea of an on/off timer is a good one and I'll probably try that. If and when this fails, I'll either go with the Pioneer or an Oppo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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