GE GE1101P DVD Player
Was this really only $100??
This product is great. Although it is a very cheaply made player, and actually built by a company called Shinco out of China (as are the majority of Apex DVD players), I could not have asked for something better in a DVD player.  Contrary to what everyone else has said, I have not EVER had ONE single problem with my 1101p, and I have had it for approximately 2 years. I am worried it will have a problem soon though, because since I am an electronics geek and all, I noticed one problem... there's no ventilation for the heat generated by internal parts! This however can simply be solved by drilling a few holes in the cover above the main processing unit, and if you wanna go all the way with cooling, then install a small heat sink and CPU fan.  Other than that I have very few qualms about it. EVERY single disc I've ever thrown into this thing that was burned correctly has played, without any problems. It plays everything from VCDs to SVCDs to MP3 discs to burned CDRs, as well of course industrial discs. And believe it or not, this even plays the dreaded DVD+R and DVD+RW discs without preference to certain dyes on the disc or anything. I have not tested DVD-R or DVD-RWs however. And it does not play DVD-RAMS, but pretty much nothing but Panasonic players do anyway. The video quality is exceptional out of the box, and now it's even better for me since I upgraded the firmware. It made a difference, and also loads discs faster. (If you're thinking about doing this, be sure to know what you're doing, otherwise you will literally not be able to use your DVD player again, and it's irreversible if you mess up. Stick with the original if you don't even know what to do, I'm just a geek). It also has DTS streaming output in addition to Dolby, which is very rare for a player in this price range, as well as a digital optical output, which is also rare for a low-end player. I have it hooked up through the oaxial out to my Sony HT receiver, and it plays 5.1 surround pretty well. It even has an adjustable DRC (Dynamic Range Compressor, a feature also known as Midnight Theater) built in. The player, really, all in all, is close to perfect.  However, nothing is perfect. I DO have a few issues with this: one is the remote control. This is because it is very poorly laid out and I still search for buttons after having it for 2 years. The power switch also works purely on voltage interruption rather than software standby, so you have to go to the unit to turn it off manually. Secondly, the MP3 file on-screen identification is close to a joke. It does not display more than the first 6 characters of a file name, when burned in the Joliet data disc format. Thirdly is another reference to the remote: the function of menu selection is not on the front panel of the player, so if you lose or break the remote, you lose menu control. My last qualm is the uselessness of both the karaoke interface and the built-in volume, mute, pitch, and echo controls. First off, this is a DVD player, if you want karaoke go buy a karaoke machine. If you really are into karaoke, you'd happen to figure out that you should burn karaoke CDs as VCDs or SVCDs, not CD-Gs, for this model. Secondly, why would you need a volume and mute control if they are so far from being refined? It does not have memory for any of the settings and does not effectively adjust the sound levels in equal increments. Useless feature. I hate useless features.  Oh, I also don't like how the mainboards inside were mounted with the screws going through the bottom of the case, thus the player sits up from the surface relatively high. The size is large too. But this is being picky. The unit is generally attractive.  ALl in all, this player rules. If you want a player that plays everything well, is easily upgradeable for you tech geeks like me, and all for a killer price, look no further than this player right here.    to the people who had problems, here's the solutions:  To the person who had the picture with the rolling black and white bars, that's probably because your TV works on one standard such as NTSC or PAL and the player's output is set to the opposite. To correct this, while a movie is playing, hit the \\"clear\\" button on the remote.  For the person who could not get their MP3s to play (29 out of 129 files on the cd)... a few things you might have run into: one is maybe just your burner did not burn the CD correctly. Second is because you exceeded the maximum directory depth/number of files in one directory. Third is because the bitrate may be incompatible with the player (I elieve this supports from 64 KBPS - 320 KBPS CBR, and some VBR files). Last, is because you authored the files in MPEG II encoding format where the samplerate is 48000 HZ - I believe this player will only play MP3 files authored at 44100 HZ (I tried to play a file once at 22000 HZ and it was garbled).  Last, to the people who have movies lock up on them: it's most likely not the player, it's likely the DVD, believe it or not, there are such things as \\"bad DVDs\\". Sometimes the layer transitions are not correctly set or it just plain wasn't recorded correctly... even though these things ARE rare.    Hope this review helps.