Hi i know this question has probably been asked before, but with the forum search feature down, i can't track a simialr question down very easily.

I am looking to purchase a budget DVD player price upto about £180 certainly no more than £200.
I would also like the machine to be hackable to be region free.

I really like the look of the Toshiba SD110E but after looking at the region hack sites it looks like it is not as easy to hack in comparison to some models.

Could someone recommend a good DVD player within these limitations?

Also i was thinking of purchasing a PS2, but have read that the DVD capabilites are not as good as a player. is there much difference between a DVD upto £200 and the PS2's capabilities? But to be honest i would just prefer a standalone DVD player.

Thanks in advance

The Yelo is meant to be quite good, I think that's £200 or less.

There are a couple of well featured models for just £100 or a little more - Got to WHSmith or Richer Sounds*


*Note to mods, I don't work for either (or Yelo for that matter).

my budget player recommendation is here - http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/...threadid=14140

To be totally honest with you I haven't spotted that much difference between a PS2 loaded with the latest DVD software and a budget DVD player.

Both hooked up via RGB SCART are inseperable on my 28" widescreen Sony TV. As for audio, again both have been hooked up via an optical lead to my Yamaha Dolby Digital amp and I've yet to spot the difference between the two.

The PS2 is generally a little more fiddly to use but purchasing a DVD remote should ease things a little.

If you're into the gaming side of the PS2, and want to save yourself some cash, go for that. DVD Region X can fulfil your region free needs without breaking your warranty.

it looks like http://www.premieravcentre.co.uk/ have got some good prices on region-modified Sony machines at the moment -under 200 quid they have both the 335 at 179 quid and the 300 for 169

if you could stretch to it then they also have the 725 (an absolutely excellent machine - i have one ) for 279

I have the Sony 336 same as 335 but in silver and have not been able to fault it. The price (£260 we paid) of this one has come down a lot since we bought it in April though I think it is discontinued now. It cannot handle home recorded cds and it has to be chipped to handle other regions which may be a problem to you.

With £180 - £200 to spend I'd be looking at the next Toshiba up: the fabulous Toshiba SD210E. Available multiregion at places like www.richersounds.com and plenty of places for about £180.

i have been looking at the toshiba sd110e. is the 210 much better, than the 110? i have heard they are excellent models thanx to everyone for their help. this thread has prompted me to make a suggestion to the board.

What about the Samsung M105? It looks very smart and seems good. It costs £180?

well i bought a ps2 for games and the dvd player. in the end. Quite impressed with the Ps2.

I bought the Pioneer DV444 With a full Mod for £209,then got it priced matched from Empire direct 169 quid !!! a bargain for such an amazing player.

Ooops, i meant £159

I got my Schiender DVD from asda for £100, and i have had no problems with anything really, i have also made it multiregion with a hack. Plays dvd/vcd/svcd/mp3
Very good player i reckon for about £100.
Oh yeah and a 3 year guarentee

I would like to know what differences there are between these type of players and my cheap one, are we yet again paying for the name of a product!

I work at Asda in Gateshead (as most of you know ) and we sell bucket loads of these things. You cant really go wrong can you coz you get a free three year gaurantee. The amount we get back against the amount we sell is extremelly low. I would have thought that coz of the price we would have seen a few back, how wrong i was. I got the Samsung M105 from Asda as well, purely coz of the 3 year gaurantee which id have had to pay through the nose for from the likes of Dixons! ...Also i got discount

Wharfedale M5 DVD player. Available through TESCO only for some reason. Check out www.wharfedale.co.uk for the specs. £150 only. Multi region hack through the remote (takes 30 seconds to do). Great reviews - it does everything (MP3, etc), however you need to be quick to get one as they sell fast.

The Cyberhome machines seem to be ok. Most of the reviews I've seen have been quite good.

Tried to buy one myself as a second player, but trying to find stock was a bit of a nightmare as they're so popular. Richer Sounds seem to be the main supplier, but I noticed that a local branch of WH Smith was also doing them before christmas.

I'm going to hold on for a while longer to see if Richer Sounds get some more in, as they seem to be amongst the better budget players. Checked their website last week and they're still out of stock though.

I got myself one just before Christmas and I'm happy with it and the pictures it produces on my 32" w/s TV. I did have to return a faulty one - which was a pain but the replacement works fine. Like with all things there's good and bad points, here they are:


Good: (in no particular order)

Very Cheap
Multiregion (very easy hack)
Plays DVDs (obviously!), CD's, VCD, SVCD, XVCD, MP3 CDs
Plays CD-Rs AND CD-RWs
DD 5.1 and DTS
Plenty of outputs for audio and video
SCART cable and phono leads INCLUDED!!
An excellent unofficial online support forum and news website


Bad: (in no particular order)

Only one SCART socket so no loopthrough
S-Video quality is mediocre (sp?)
Remote layout leaves a lot to be desired (though I've seen far worse)
MP3 playback is very basic (no ID3 tags etc)


It's also available on the WHSmith website - though it's a bugger to find! I had to buy mine online when our local store ran out of them!

I tried looking for these on the whsmith website a couple of months back, and it didn't reveal a thing or it said out of stock.

It's good to hear that you think the machine is pretty good, helps to back up what the reviewers say about it.

Still paying for xmas at the moment, so I'll have to wait 'til next month before I get one anyway.

Does the Schnider DVD player actually play a CD full of MP3 files? (stored as data, rather than MP3's burnt as audio)

As i work at Asda i can answer it for you if you like?

As far as im aware the player can play a cd with MP3s (data) burnt onto it as it said so in the hand book which we have in the store. As i dont own it though, it would be good if Jack Hammer could let us know for definate?

I cannot answer this 100% as i have not yet tried becasue i have not had time, though im sure it play mp3 data beacause on the osd it has a MP3 light (LIke the DVD and VCD light).
As soon as i try i will let you know

Sorry guys, had lots of trouble with my writer!
Anyway it does play mps burn onto a disc and it has like MP3 software which lets u select a song, and it works with re-writables,
so all in all pretty good value for £100!