Best DVD players: price & quality

[chengdude]

OK, a more pedestrian question you couldn't ask for, but of the dizzying choice of DVD players groaning on the shelves of retailers here in China, which ones carry the best reputations for performance vs. price? Most players seem to fall in the 500-800 RMB range, which is pretty much what you'd pay in the U.S. for a Made-in-China machine (like my beloved CyberHome). Here's a partial list...I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot:

Allike

Bu Bu Gao

WLS

Samos

Malata

Hualu

Oritron

Haier

Shinco

Amoisonic

Changhong

Skyworth

...or are they all about the same?

[chengdude]

and while I await your sage replies, I forgot:

Panda

QiSheng

Konka

Nintaus

SAST

...and my personal favorite so far:

Demon

...possible ad pitches: "Squint hard and it's a Denon" or "Demon: One helluva DVD player!"

[roddy]

I've yet to hear anything good about Shinco (and there's a large US electrical retailer will back me up on this). I had a Malata, which ran for a year before starting to rattle - cost 400Y. I then got a bottom of the range Sony for 800Y, still going strong a year later

Roddy

[sudasana]

My girlfriend had an SVA player, it played most discs but it had trouble with some of the daoban discs. Another student paid a little extra and bought a bubugao, never had any trouble with it, and bought hundreds of daobans. If you want to buy a Chinese brand, I'd say go with bubugao.

(Luckily we sold that SVA player to an American student for 250 yuan)

[chengdude]

Here's a partial list...I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot:

Umm, yes, it seems I am forgetting a lot as a bit of online reading revealed that there are approximately 600 manufacturers of DVD players in China...although I can't believe that that number hasn't shrunk through competitive attrition and consolidation.

Also, in 2003, China built 80% of the world's output...around 82 million players. Zaogao.

I've yet to hear anything good about Shinco (and there's a large US electrical retailer will back me up on this).

A bit more reading and I see that Shinco is the OEM manufacturer for love-'em-or-hate-'em Apex, the company that started the hackable, region-free player revolution in the U.S. They also build Mintek players, another dicey, hackable, low-cost brand sold by "large US electrical retailers."

If you want to buy a Chinese brand, I'd say go with bubugao.

BuBuGao's do seem to be pretty solidly built with a nice heft to them...so perhaps that will be the way to go...or Hualu, which is Panasonic's partner in China and builds both Panasonics and their own brand...presumably with Matsushita-based technology.

[chengdude]

...and Bu Bu Gao it is. Although a small factor in the final decision, I must admit I was rather charmed by the sales pitches Bu Bu Gao employed at a couple of the shops I visited: using the open disc drawer to lift the player on its end and then dropping it several times....tilting the player on its end and dropping it several times with a DVD playing (no skips)...removing the player cover and loading a DVD that had been sliced nearly in half, then watching the drive play as if nothing was wrong. Now that's stuff you won't see down at your local big-box retailer in the U.S..

Now, if any Chinese-savvy saint would like to have a look at BBK's website:

http://www.gdbbk.com

to see if they provide any kind of support (i.e. ISO downloads) to upgrade the firmware/BIOS of their machines, I'd be most grateful.

[Quest]

They have:

真诚关怀24小时

广东步步高电子工业有限公司

广东省东莞市长安镇乌沙步步高大道23号信箱

电话: 0769-5325432(24小时服务热线)

传真: 0769-5540007

服务信箱：service@gdbbk.com

Also, an FAQ. I don't see any downloadable software.

[niubi]

has anyone tried this brand/model. it's actually my friend's company...i wonder if anyone has tried it.

[TSkillet]

I used to have a Haier fridge. It kept things cold.

[skylee]

We are having the Rugby Seven World Cup in Hong Kong, and last night I saw many tourists who had come for this event buy many BBK DVD players (these machines are really cheap).

And a couple of months ago I bought a Shinco portable DVD player with LCD monitor. It was the cheapest model available.

[Ian_Lee]

Actually many old Japanese and American brands are now exclusively produced in China.

Sansui and Memorex are all Chinese products.

Of course, name brands like Sony and Panasonic are also produced in China.

But the difference is that Sony and Panasonic still have their own QC staff at the Chinese factories.

Hmmm......But in the days that price of DVDs drop faster than PCs, why buy the cheap stuff since the price difference is so neligible?

Panasonic's single disk DVD player is just sold for US$59 (RMB500) while Sony's just for US$69 (RMB570).

But it seems in the area of DVRs, Taiwan's are much more advanced than those of Mainland's. In fact, Taiwanese are the first to enter into the market of DVR.

[Natureboy]

thanks for all the great advice about players-I'll check when I get to Beijing in August. What I need to know is: will any of my DVDs from Canada/US be playable on any unit available in PR China? Or am I just wasting my time even packing my fav movies, including all my Once Upon A Time in China Jet Li gems, Crouching Tiger etc.? I could re-buy all of it there, I guess. I am told it is PAL system so...what do you say ladies and gentlemen? Leave it in Canada or haul it anyways cause i can find a unit that will play it? What do YOU folks use it for? Someone mentioned 'gaobans'...what on earth are they? I am truly ignorant of what i will find...please enlighten me, dear forum buddies!

[chengdude]

What I need to know is: will any of my DVDs from Canada/US be playable on any unit available in PR China? Or am I just wasting my time even packing my fav movies, including all my Once Upon A Time in China Jet Li gems, Crouching Tiger etc.?

Taking DVD's into China; now there's a bit of a novelty. I'd say wasting your time unless, a) you have nothing else to pack and still have plenty of room, B) you can't live without a daily dose of Andy Lau in Moon Warriors or some of the other HK fare that never gets released (or has long since disappeared), or c) you have to watch films with their original Cantonese soundtrack (finding those here is pretty problematic; even the more expensive, boxed DVD-9's are no guarantee of an original-language soundtrack).

I am told it is PAL system so...what do you say ladies and gentlemen?

New TV's and DVD players in China handle both PAL and NTSC.

Someone mentioned 'gaobans'...what on earth are they?

dao: rob, steal, misappropriate

ban: edition

daoban: pirated edition

This thread seems to be chugging along...well, maybe in fits and starts...so an update close to a year later: my BuBuGao (BBK) player has been great; no problems so far and just the occasional hiccup with badly mastered discs.