Second hand DVD player - should I and which models?

PoisonJam · 29-04-2008, 4:30 PM

I currently have a budget Tosh SD360E deck feeding my Tosh 32WLT66 LCD but I'm thinking of upgrading to a 37"/42" Panasonic PX80 plasma and I think it deserves a better source!

While I was considering getting the Panasonic BD30/BD50 Blu-Ray player, the BD30's SD images looked pretty bad to me in the Panasonic shop when I demo'ed it with the PX80, below that of the images from my budget Tosh player on my ageing LCD. I'm not ready for the prices of Blu-Ray discs yet as I'm a bargain DVD hunter used to paying £3-£6 for discs and I've never bought the latest releases. I have a decent library built up so the BD30 would primarily be used as a DVD player, which seems a waste especially considering I wasn't impressed with the SD images.

I'm looking to spend up to £150 on a good second hand DVD player from the forums, though I may stretch this a little. Will I see big performance gains over my SD360E and the BD-30 showing SD?

What models should I look for? I'm happy to go with Denon, Pioneer, Marantz or anyone really. I've seen a Marantz DV7600 for £160. Good buy?

aniki · 29-04-2008, 8:14 PM

Hi,

Its been some time since I dabbled in the second hand market but in my experience buying anything with an optical drive second hand is always a gamble.
You just never really know how its been treated. Plus the fact that theres always a chance it could fail really soon after your purchase leaving you back at square one.
I'd assume a two year life span for any optical drive with regular use. Anything beyond that is fortunate IMO.
The PX80 should scale any input very well. With that in mind, I would say wait until you can try your SD360 through it. If you feel you need an upgrade then, you wont go far wrong with any of the brands youve mentioned.
I found the Pio DV-600 to be a good performer for DVD playback in its price bracket. If SD is your primary source and you can stretch to a bit more, you may want to consider one of the later Oppo models too

PoisonJam · 14-05-2008, 8:05 AM

Thanks aniki.

I have my 42PX80 now and using the Toshiba SD360E to upscale rather than the TV's internal upscaler produces far better results. I was quite surprised that this budget DVD player seems to do a better job of upscaling than the TV. I currently have it on 1080i and I'm keen to see what a better DVD player on 1080p can do!