[Closed] DVD players; all the same?

Just bought a Samsung BD J4500 from Argos for £36, basic but with good reviews and seems OK. If you want 3D the next model up does this for an extra £20 but personally not fussed by 3D

If its just DVDs you want to play then you can pick up a decent, compact, branded (Sony / Panasonic etc) player for £25-35.

Look for HDMI output and 1080p upscaling. It makes the picture slightly sharper and its easier to connect to your TV.

To be fair though there's very little difference in price between DVD and Blu Ray players now so if Blu Ray might be something you'd be interested in then that might be a way to go. They are HDMI / DVD upscaling by default so you'd get the best of both worlds.

You can get Blue Ray players for sub £100. Mine cost me £60. It's a Panasonic with full SMART features and 3D capability (though never use that). If you want 3D then you can only get that via Blue Ray. Also DVD's are not HD and neither is 1080 upscaling, so if you've got an HD TV then why not go BR? Depends on the size of your screen, but there is a night and day difference between DVD and BR quality and the sound is much better on BR too - assuming you have a sound bar or AV system. Also as far as i'm aware you can't get HDMI with a DVD player. It's a completely different format so if you did would require conversion of the signal, so just better off plugging into your TV/system via the proper native outputs via a SCART. In fact the best way to get a DVD player with HDMI output is to probably get a BR player.

Appreciate that not everyone is after THE BEST AV experience they can get, but your system is only as good as the weakest link in the chain, so do you want your weakest link to be a cheap DVD player or your several hundred pound HD TV?

And as far as Blue Ray players go, because the output is digital then there is no benefit in going for more expensive models. You'll be just getting more features that you may or may not use. Like I said, my BR player cost £60 and has full SMART functionality and 3D playback and I bought it about 2 years ago, so the equivalent model will be even cheaper now.

Should have said the BD J4500 is Blu Ray player as well

DVDs? How very 20th Century of you. (-: I'd be getting a BD player, especially with a posh telly.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a luddite when it comes to TV tech! What's a BD player, tell me it's the same as Blu-ray?!

Yes

Many thanks. I'll shut up now and just go and buy one! Blu-ray 3D that is!!

Also as far as i'm aware you can't get HDMI with a DVD player.

Modern DVD players typically have HDMI sockets and will upscale to 1080.

But a BR player will do DVDs as well and upscale them. Note that not all upscalers are equal.

3D BR needs a 3D BR player and the correct spec cable.

I've always found Richer Sounds very helpful, if you have a store nearby that's probably worth a visit. Their website is pretty good with plenty of customer reviews.

I have both 3d TV and Sony blue ray. Never use the 3d element nowadays just the smart features.

Sorry, BD = Blu-Ray Disc, yes.

3D BR needs a 3D BR player and the correct spec cable.

Specifically, HDMI 1.4 or higher. Don't be suckered into buying stupidly expensive cables, the Amazon Basics ones are fine and they're a fiver.

Looking for a cheapish (sub £100) DVD player and have a Samsung Smart 3D TV. Are they mostly the same at this price bracket and can anyone recommend one? Also is it worth buying a 3D Blu-ray version to go with the TV? Thoughts appreciated, as there seems to be very few useful reviews on the net. Currently not interested in 4K TV. Thanks.

Buy a Blu-Ray player. Sub-£100, there won't be a huge amount between them. Somewhere like What-HiFi will send you in the right direction for a good buy. Unless you have a collection of 3D material (or are looking to build one), I wouldn't bother. It's a dying tech, with many manufacturers new high end TV's no longer supporting it.