I have a theory I'd like to run past you guys.

I want to buy my girlfriend a DVD player for Christmas, but I'm going to have VERY little cash to do so. Her TV has component video inputs.

My theory is that if I buy the cheapest DVD player I can find that has component outs, it will be of good enough quality so as not to be a piece of crap. Do you agree?

She doesn't need a top of the line box. She's got a pretty nice 27" TV that I helped her shop around for at Best Buy, but she just wants something. Hell, anything would be better than my own Samsung player.

Any recommendations?

It would be hard to beat this deal. Of course you could get an Apex DVD player with component out for around $75, but this is 5 disc!

I really don't understand the need for a DVD changer. Even if I owned 1,000 DVDs, I doubt I would do anything other than pick a movie and sit down to watch it, in its entirety.

There are a few DVDs whose feature exists on more than one disc. The recent Fellowship of the Ring release springs to mind. Of course, I don't know how or even if it'd do the right thing in such a case.

Oh, you mean a multidisc set in which the discs are numbered, it would supposedly automatically skip to the appropriate disc in a changer if you selected something that's on that disc from disc 1's menu?

[sarcasm] Yeah, that seems like such an important feature to have. [/sarcasm]

Get her a $25 cd player and tell her it's a dvd player. When it won't work, blame it on "those idiots at the store".

Nah, just get her an Xbox. Think of it as a gift for both of you.

I have a DVD changer because I use my DVD player as a CD player. Having a single disc CD player is... like... so 80s.

no, no features that are cross-disc.
say youve got x-files season 1. six discs i think. load up disc 1 in slot 1, disc2 in slot 2, etc. then, on the day you choose to do an x-files marathon you load up 3, 5 or in some cases up to 200 discs and never leave your chair when one disc is over. trust me, it comes in handy at times.

I got the cheapo apex model last year. I don't think I would send someone i like out to get the same thing. it's rather bad with low light level backgrounds. noisy too. I paid well under us100 about a year ago. 'fraid you get what ya pay for.

because I use my DVD player as a CD player.

Playing CDs is, like, so....90s!

(FWIW, I had a cheap Apex 3-disc DVD player and found that having a changer was more trouble than it was worth. Plus, the mechanism *was* cheap and jerky -- it tried to eat LoTR Disc Two!! Then, 1 day after going off warranty, it started jerking on playback. I don't consider it worth the flat-rate $39 + shipping to get it fixed. I got a cheap 1-disc Panasonic DV-RV32. Much happier now. Anyone want to buy a defunct Apex 5131?)

If you're going to consult people on what DVD player to buy, I highly recommend the people over at the www.hometheaterspot.com forums. Tons of useful information can be gained by participating there.

...found that having a changer was more trouble than it was worth.

I agree with you there. I just recently purchased a Panasonic DVD-RP62K, and I'm very happy with it. Now if only I could change the power-on and power-off messages.

X-Files season 1 was 7 discs. Later seasons are 6.

For next year's Scully Marathon I think I'm going to prime a TiVo with episodes in advance.

Thanks, guys. I just thought of something, though. Do you think that the component video input has an audio input associated with it? I'm hoping that it's not intended to solely be a monitor if you're using those inputs, because she doesn't have a speaker system. I also realized the other reason I need to find a player with component inputs: there aren't any free composite ones on the TV.

So that Apex player is the cheapest one with component inputs that's of good quality?

Alternatively, is there such a thing as one of those receiver/DVD player/home theater kits for $100 or less?

Do you think that the component video input has an audio input associated with it?

Sometimes. Depends on the TV. Do you have a model number?

No, I can't even quite remember what manufacturer made it. I'll check when I get back from Thanksgiving break.

shucks.. im trying to dump my dvd player (jvc 501-vk) before christmas. It has component outs. DVD players dont cost anything these days however and you can get component out on anything for at least $100

Yeah, I'm finding you can get it on stuff for at least $100, but I'm looking for something that is at most $100

The cheapest Sony looks like the only real contender at the moment, but it's $130. The only Apex model with component out in the price range got very bad reviews on cnet. They said there were visible lines in the video.

Why are you so interested in the component outs? Is that the only input left on your girlfriend's TV? Because I understood your initial query to mean that you assumed that a component-out DVD player would not be crap, but you've just disproved that.

Yeah, I did I suppose. Yeah, I later posted that I remembered the initial reason was that it was the last input available. She's not about to spend a good amount of cash on a receiver and speakers, so we've got to work with what she's got. I suppose a simple input selector would be fine, but I'd like to simplify it as much as possible.

Besides, if you added an input selector to the list, it would cost about as much as a decent component video DVD player, and you'd have better quality.

Fair enough. However, if you do decide that you might like to go the selector route, I would like to suggest the Sima SVS-4. It switches 4 to 1 and can convert composite to SVideo (but not the other way, unfortunately). It also has an audio compression and expansion circuit and an IR remote. But, best of all, it can detect when a signal becomes available on one of the non-selected inputs and automatically switch over to it. It will also switch back when that signal goes away. That way, all you have to is turn on your DVD player and it'll switch over to it. And when you turn it off, it'll switch back. I don't think I've ever had to use the remote. And I got mine for only about $100.