Toshiba SD-3960 DVD Player
The Ford Escort of DVD players; fine transportation no style
I have a much better player in my TV room but wanted a basic, inexpensive player for my bedroom.  My only requirement was that it would play DVD's and not cost a fortune and, in that respect, my needs were completely met.  The SD 3960 is cheap and it provides adequate picture and sound. <br /> <br />I seem to encounter a new side-effect every day, though.  First of all: it's loud.  It sounds like it's grinding pepper in there when it's got a disk in its mouth.   <br /> <br />It also has a pretty good on-screen display function (it counts up and down, and also provides a little four-quarter bar graph to illustrate how much of the movie has been watched -- this may be standard but I'd never seen it).  It does not, however, display a counter on its face which is kind of a drag when you want to check the chapter without interrupting the program. <br /> <br />When you push \\"OPEN\\" the drawer literally takes 10 seconds to eject the disc.  I know, I know, I would never consider that a major inconvenience but when you want to change discs and you hit the eject and you count \\"1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... c'mon, open up already!!!\\" It displays the word \\"OPEN\\" on its face the whole time so it's not like it's confused.  Just slow.   <br /> <br />Also, the player doesn't save your place when you stop in the middle of a program and it automatically shuts off after a mere five minutes.  Sure, it saves electricity which is great but if I need to run downstairs for a second or grab the phone... I either have to make it quit, or rely on \\"STILL\\" or I end up searching through the scene selection trying to get back to where I was.  Again, not a tragedy but after a while.... <br /> <br />Like I said, though, I didn't expect much given the price.  As a second player, it fills the bill.  But if you're shopping for a primary player and you're lured by the price... you might consider dropping a few more bucks on one with a little more ability.