Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I love my dvd player...I got it as a gift Christmas '99...absolutely no problems, going on 4 years now...yes, it skips on rentals, but that is because people don't know how to handle the dvd without damaging it. This is a great product.

Strengths:
sturdy, does on break when dropped (oops)

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
We received the unit as a Christmas gift in 1999. Its served us well over the years, but I agree that the potential for "any" (new or rental) DVD skipping is a problem with this model.

Strengths:
Sturdy, built well....easy enough remote and DVD tray has never let us down. At the time this unit was affordable and had many good features.

Weaknesses:
Had a problem playing VCD, DVD movies shot on camera. Would reject with a disk error message...video production technology advanced further than its playing capacity would allow. It is now OBSOLETE compared to other technology out there........

Similar Products Used:
We purchased a new Philips 724 from Walmart for $50 (SRP $108.00, but on sale) and it runs rings around our GE. Plays any recordable DVD under the sun and was a good investment. (Basically you couldn'

Price Paid:  $130.00 from Wal-Mart

Summary:
DVD player skips a lot- every time I've ever watched a rental. I used to attribute this to scratches since most of the movies I've rented have been scratched, even though were mostly very light scratches that should have still played. But, when I tried to watch my brand new copy of Lord Of The rings it would frequently skip, and that disc is flawless. But, my biggest problem is that IT ATE A MOVIE! It will still play the movie just fine, but when I try to eject it the tray comes out empty. I've been trying to get it out since yesterday (movie is due today) but with no luck. Went online to search for problems with this player (which is how I ended up here) and it seems that most of the people who bought this unit are dissatisfied (lots of problems with skipping and over-heating), though my problem seems to be unique. Still, this unit is NOT RECCOMMENDED.

Strengths:
Cheap. It will probably be fun to smash.

Weaknesses:
Skips a lot when the disc has even the tiniest of scratches, and now my (rented) movie is stuck inside the damned thing, even though the tray works- it just comes out empty. Movie stil plays though, so I basically have a Lolita playing machine. (And the movie wasn't even that good.) I would give it 0 stars if I could.

Price Paid:  $125.00 from Wal-Mart

Summary:
I don't understand all the complaints. I've owned mine for more than three years and it has never frozen, overheated, or anything. It has been reliable so far and for the price, I got a good deal. For anyone who realy doesn't want to spend a fortune on a DVD player, this is a great choice. It is solid, as far as build quality goes, and has played every movie I've ever rented or bought.

Strengths:
Great picture and sound, easy to use, and has universal remote. The S-video option is good for people who want better screen resolution. Great for people on a budget, or just don't want to spend a lot of money.

Weaknesses:
Lacks some extra features of more expensive models, like zoom and pregressive scan. A little too large.

Similar Products Used:
Battered old VCR.

Price Paid:  $99.00 from Frys - Dallas

Summary:
This is my first DVD player. What a mistake. I've had this thing for almost 13 months, and am just now figuring out the player has major problems. See, I bought this unit to mainly rent dvd's versus buying them. So here's my take on how this player has behaved. Nearly every rented DVD, either skips or freezes in this player. If a dvd has even the tiny-est, most microscopic of superficial scratches, this player either freezes completely, or skips forward 10-15 minutes. For the longest time I always blamed this on the dvd's i rented, until recently, when I would take these rented dvd's, that skipped and/or froze to friends houses, who had other brands of dvd players. Well guess what? They don't freeze or skip on my friends players! Explain that? I have 3 movies I've bought on DVD since owning this player. All 3 movies have "0" scratches. This player will play those dvd's flawlessly, with no skipping or freezing. But let's face reality. How many DVD's will a person have to rent, till they find one with absolutely no scratches? And keep in mind, these same rented/scratched dvd's will play fine on several of my friends other brands, but not on mine! And of course the GE warranty sucks, as mentioned in other reviews here. Here I am 13 months later, have called explained to GE/Thomson that I've just now figured all this out, and they don't care, it's out-of-warranty, and they want $89 to replace/fix it. To me, this player is useless. It's only good for DVD's a person buys, and is willing to throw away, should they get the slightest scratch. Also, as mentioned in other reviews here, it has a major heat/ventilation issue. You could fry eggs on the top of this thing. The case literally has no vents for air circulation, or heat to escape. I'm in the process of designing a vent pattern, adding heat sinks to the DSP/Microprocessor (C-Cube Ziva 3?), other hot chips, the EPROM, etc. Heck, I might even add either an intake or exhaust fan, once I figure out how to wire a 12V or 5V, to the weird board, power supply in it. If anyone has tried any of this with any success, please share some details with me.

Strengths:
None

Weaknesses:
No Vents. Case/unit, and any dvd's are extremely hot, after 40 minutes of playing. Unless DVD is completely scratch free, unit will 99% of the time skip scenes or freeze.

Similar Products Used:
None