Well, maybe I could be doing a better job of supporting that phrase, which is often uttered by Mrs. Saxguy. On the other hand, she is retired due to disability and so I try to provide things that she enjoys and/or make her life easier.
Last spring, she and her sister arranged to take all of the 35mm home movies they had from their childhood and get them put on DVDs. They had been seeing the movies regularly. So, when our old and rather aggravating Apex DVD player played everything at half speed under every circumstance, it was time for an upgrade.
Time was of the essence, as my sister in law is headed back to Italy tomorrow. So, I did what I usually do when I need an electronic item in a hurry. I perused the bestBuy.com web site to see what they had and whether an acceptable item was in stock as the local store.
I was looking for a unit that was easy to use, a good brand, a modest price and at least decent online reviews. This unit, the Sony DVP-SR200P DVD Player popped out at a price of $46.99, with basic feathures and nice reviews. I liked the fact that it was small and light. This really is a basic unit - no USB or Firewire connection, no media card, single disk capacity. However, it could be connected to our bedroom TV, a 26" Toshiba, non-HD The key features for me were: • Plays all major standard DVD formats, along with CDs and MP3and JPG files • Easily used remote (which came with 2 AA batteries) • Small size (approx 8.5" x 12.5" x 2") and weight (less than ounds) • Progressive Scan • Dolby Digital decoder
So, I bought it for $46.99 plus 10% sales tax. It's available online from a number of vendors for $39.99 and B&H Photo video has it for 32.99.
Out of the box, it worked fine. My son, the tech whiz, had it set up and working in less than 5 minutes. The picture clarity was more than acceptable, considering the price of this unit and the age of the movies.
I enjoyed seeing my wife and her brother and sister as small children. My wife enjoyed the ease of use with the remote and being able to see a very good menu for each DVD. Navigation between movies and within movies was very smooth using the remote, which is light but still has easy to press buttons.
I ended up putting a DVD I had with music to compare to the external dvd player I have on my PC. The sound quality on the Sony DVP-SR200P DVD Player was quite good on the TV, although not as good as with my PC with the Klipsch sound system, but that is because of the TV, not the DVD player. There were no issues with navigation or playback.
So, my wife got to see her movies within a day of when the other unit failed. She is happy because the unit works well and is easy to use. I am happy that I got to implement "Happy Wife, Happy Life" for just over $50.
Progressive Output (480p) Precision Drive 3 System For Flaws in DVD Discs Fast/Slow Playback with Sound Multi Brand TV Remote Control 12-Bit Video DAC...More at Amazon
A perfect complement to your TV, the DVP-SR200P/B DVD player delivers excellent picture and sound quality in a streamlined design. It features Precisi...More at Dell
The Sony DVP-SR200P/B Progressive Scan DVD Player can also be used as your CD or MP3 player and is available at an affordable price.More at TigerDirect.com
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