Seeking a genuinely superior DVD player

[Sanglier]

We're fed up with problems playing DVDs. We have a couple of standalone players, plus a small external one to plug into a laptop. We are not clumsy oafs and take great care in handling DVDs - but still experience hangups, jumps that miss a few seconds or minutes - or sometimes, a total failure to play an apparently spotless DVD. I know this technology is on its way out (in the 70s I had an in-car 8-track cartridge player, later a Sony minidisc player...) but we have a collection of DVDs, including a few boxed sets, which cannot be replaced by streaming services. And charity shops have a great many s/h DVDs at low prices...
Is there such a thing as a technically superior, reliable, solidly built DVD player?
Thanks

 

[abacus]

We're fed up with problems playing DVDs. We have a couple of standalone players, plus a small external one to plug into a laptop. We are not clumsy oafs and take great care in handling DVDs - but still experience hangups, jumps that miss a few seconds or minutes - or sometimes, a total failure to play an apparently spotless DVD. I know this technology is on its way out (in the 70s I had an in-car 8-track cartridge player, later a Sony minidisc player...) but we have a collection of DVDs, including a few boxed sets, which cannot be replaced by streaming services. And charity shops have a great many s/h DVDs at low prices...
Is there such a thing as a technically superior, reliable, solidly built DVD player?
Thanks

Just get a good Blur-ray player as they also play DVDs and with better processing can make your DVDs look even better than some upscalers built into TVs can.

Bill

 

[Sanglier]

Just get a good Blur-ray player as they also play DVDs and with better processing can make your DVDs look even better than some upscalers built into TVs can.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I didn't know Blu-Ray devices could play DVDs - are you sure about this? And I'm after suggestions for a really good player, a superior machine as opposed to the common £20-£50 jobs by Samsung, Phillips, Soney etc etc.
rgds

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I didn't know Blu-Ray devices could play DVDs - are you sure about this?

He most certainly is, as am I!

 

[Al ears]

Thanks Bill. I didn't know Blu-Ray devices could play DVDs - are you sure about this? And I'm after suggestions for a really good player, a superior machine as opposed to the common £20-£50 jobs by Samsung, Phillips, Soney etc etc.
rgds

Your maximum budget might help here

 

[jjbomber]

Start with Magnetar and work your way backwards from there until you find the right compromise. Panasonic might be the answer. Otherwise the second hand market will have a few bomb-proof Oppo players on there.

 

[Sanglier]

Your maximum budget might help here

Thanks. Primarily I needed to know if there was such a thing as a far better DVD player than the usual consumer products. I wouldn't spend thousands, and if it was more than a couple of hundred I'd hesitate; but the frustration with poor/erratic playback has been building for a long time and I'd like to get something that works.
rgds S

 

[Sanglier]

Start with Magnetar and work your way backwards from there until you find the right compromise. Panasonic might be the answer. Otherwise the second hand market will have a few bomb-proof Oppo players on there.

I'd never heard of Magnetar but I looked it up - too expensive for our relatively modest needs. We don't do home cinema, just need a reliable machine to play DVDs. I also searched for Oppo, another brand unknown to me - interesting, not out of the question, will look into this brand further. I see there's a Panasonic that's well thought of at under £100.
Thanks - S

 

[Holt]

Amazon.co.uk

This or the 820 Panasonic is the most you need to spend. These are quality 4K Blu-ray players.

 

[Sanglier]

He most certainly is, as am I!

I looked around and it seems not entirely straightforward: the types of DVD a BluRay player will play vary, it's not consistent or 100% reliable, so I'd avoid this route.
Thanks - S

 

[Holt]

I looked around and it seems not entirely straightforward: the types of DVD a BluRay player will play vary, it's not consistent or 100% reliable, so I'd avoid this route.
Thanks - S

What type of DVDs do you want to play? I think a Sony Blu-ray player will play most DVDs.

 

[Sanglier]

Amazon.co.uk

This or the 820 Panasonic is the most you need to spend. These are quality 4K Blu-ray players.

This or the 820 Panasonic is the most you need to spend. These are quality 4K Blu-ray players.

Thanks - the one linked to and the 820 appear to be BluRay players. I know there's a crossover capability with good BluRay players but I'd want to be reassured that one of these would be 100% compatible with DVDs. We have no BluRay discs.
rgds - S

 

[Sanglier]

What type of DVDs do you want to play? I think a Sony Blu-ray player will play most DVDs.

Er, not sure what you mean! Bog standard DVDs that one buys, or the very wide selection we can borrow from the library in France where we spend much time. In particular I have problems with some discs in a large boxed set I bought maybe 15 years ago, not much played and in excellent condition, but some just won't play at all any more - maddening!
Thanks - S

 

[Holt]

Er, not sure what you mean! Bog standard DVDs that one buys, or the very wide selection we can borrow from the library in France where we spend much time. In particular I have problems with some discs in a large boxed set I bought maybe 15 years ago, not much played and in excellent condition, but some just won't play at all any more - maddening!
Thanks - S

That happens with some DVDs they pause, skip or won’t play anymore. Are they dirty, scratched or marked?

 

[Holt]

Thanks - the one linked to and the 820 appear to be BluRay players. I know there's a crossover capability with good BluRay players but I'd want to be reassured that one of these would be 100% compatible with DVDs. We have no BluRay discs.
rgds - S

Yes, they are 100 per cent compatible with DVDs.

 

[Holt]

John Lewis stopped selling DVD players some time ago, so it’s quite rare if you even can buy a DVD player anymore. 4K Blu-ray players are the most common sold now in the AV world I think. And they play DVDs great, they will probably upscale DVDs to 4K depending if your TV does that.

 

[Sanglier]

That happens with some DVDs they pause, skip or won’t play anymore. Are they dirty, scratched or marked?

Absolutely not! We handle such things with care.
S

 

[Jasonovich]

Thanks - the one linked to and the 820 appear to be BluRay players. I know there's a crossover capability with good BluRay players but I'd want to be reassured that one of these would be 100% compatible with DVDs. We have no BluRay discs.
rgds - S

The DP-UB820EB 4K Blu-Ray DVD Player, really upscales well with standard Blu-ray disks, I can't vouch for DVDs as I have none, given them all to the local old peoples care home.
It is a premium player at an affordable price.

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

I looked around and it seems not entirely straightforward: the types of DVD a BluRay player will play vary, it's not consistent or 100% reliable, so I'd avoid this route.
Thanks - S

Not sure where you've got that from. Assuming there are no region-coding issues, every blu ray player I have ever owned has played everything I've asked of it. There's not much point seeking advice from people who have experience with these things if you are going to ignore it, but that's up to you.

Have you tried to establish whether your existing jumps etc occur in the same places when played on different players? If so, you would be having problems with discs rather than machines. Does sometimes happen.

 

[Holt]

The DP-UB820EB 4K Blu-Ray DVD Player, really upscales well with standard Blu-ray disks, I can't vouch for DVDs as I have none, given them all to the local old peoples care home.
It is a premium player at an affordable price.

I have played lots of DVDs on the Panasonic 820 and they work great, not sure if it’s a bit of an overkill for just DVDs though but that or the 450 would be great and both definitely work with DVDs and really well.

 

[Holt]

This should be suffice:

Amazon.co.uk

You don’t need to spend anymore to be honest.

 

[Sanglier]

Not sure where you've got that from. Assuming there are no region-coding issues, every blu ray player I have ever owned has played everything I've asked of it. There's not much point seeking advice from people who have experience with these things if you are going to ignore it, but that's up to you.

Have you tried to establish whether your existing jumps etc occur in the same places when played on different players? If so, you would be having problems with discs rather than machines. Does sometimes happen.

I'm not ignoring advice. Don't be touchy! I haven't the facility to test DVDs on a variety of players: we have two fairly ordinary players plus a small Samsung external - which I just tried yet again, plugging it into my still rather new high-spec PC, dodgy disc still refused to play. To repeat, I take great care of DVDs and other tech, no disc problems from scratches, dirt etc.
S

 

[Sanglier]

The DP-UB820EB 4K Blu-Ray DVD Player, really upscales well with standard Blu-ray disks, I can't vouch for DVDs as I have none, given them all to the local old peoples care home.
It is a premium player at an affordable price.

I see it's priced at £349 on Amazon, acceptable if it's as excellent as you and others say. Are DVDs that dated now? We spend much time at our 2nd home in France and the super, high-tech "mediatheque" in town has a huge collection of DVDs for loan - with a far, far smaller selection of BluRay discs. The French are very keen on technology.​

rgds S

 

[Holt]

What DVD player do you have? It might be a problem with that player with certain discs.