Can someone please tell me the BEST standalone dvd player that plays :

DVD + R , DVD -R, DVD +/-RW, Video CD, SVCD, AND

DivX, and can play PAL DVD's (and obviously NTSC). I live in N America and want to watch PAL DVD formats on my TV.

Please direct me to one if you know of any.

Best DVD Player (middle range) on the market at the moment: Pioneer DV-575A.

Formats that it can play: http://www.divxtest.com/resultats.php3

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...sterid=2944670

Philips DVP-642 gets my vote. Plays absolutely everything, region-free. Takes about 10 seconds to load a DivX disc tho..

Philips players are cheap and have a lot of useful functions, but: they are not reliable and are known to have a lot of issues.

I have two Philips dvp642's and both have worked flawlessly for me so far. Read the owner's reviews in the dvd player section here www.videohelp.com

My words are based on personal experience and on the intensive exchange of views in Philips related communities. I appreciate your advice, but it came a bit late and it is irrelevant as I have been frequenting the site most probably longer than you.

Personally I like my LG ada 530. Reads divx, just is a pain in arse if there is a bad frame in the divx file, you gotta unplug the player to get it to reset, heh.

I also vote Philips DVP642, there is 6 of them circulating in the family w/o any problem.

I need a new standalone player too. I just bought a dvd burner, but our player won't play burnt dvd's.

It should play Divx (and Xvid if possible), H.264 as well as standart formats (SVCD,... but i guess every burner nowadays can play that).
And it should be region free. I usually watch german DVD's, but also have some american ones.

A nice feature would be an upgradeable player (firmware). I heared of the KISS player being good ones. Anyone any experience with them?

A modded XBOX beats any of these players hands down. Like the Kiss DVD Player it will play all of the various file extensions. You can pick up a brand new one for $150USD, the remote kit for $30USD or you can pick up some used ones in great shape for significantly less. The deal is that the XBOX has a program for it called XBMC (Xbox Media Center) that essentially lets the XBOX function like a media center PC. Check out www.xboxmediacenter.com and take a look at all it supports. You can also get a program for it called DVD Region X, which will make it completely region free and play PAL and NTSC original discs all without a problem.

What I forgot. A xbox ins't able to "produce" 5.1 sound, is it? Cuz i have such a system and it wouldn't make sense to not use it.

Well, I don't know about the XBox being able to play 5.1 sound or not yet. But if it is not, I prolly buy the KiSS DP-1500. Or do you have an other option or any reason against that player?

I have one too, but I'd not recommend it. THere are far better alternatives out now. The Philips won't play NeroDigital .MP4 files with AAC sound, it can't handle packed bitstream, or QPel. Also it has issues with high video bitrates. The ESS Maestro II chipset is pretty old now, I'd probably get an RJtech 1500 (about 100 bucks Canadian) or wait until Sept. and the new DivX 6.0-certified players are available.

The Xbox has shitty controls for playing DVD, it doesn't do surround sound. Unless you like that kind of older technology it's prob. better to go with a proper Divx player.

Can't a firmware update add support for DivX 6.0?

is the KISS DP1500 better manufactured player than a cyberhome ch 300? I have one it plays everything just about, but is very cheaply made and it appears that it cant last long before it breaks, if the Kiss player is like a cyberhome but better built, I'll be getting one very soon.

You can not compare a KISS to Cyberhome.
KISS DP-1500 is a middle class player with a very high price.
Here is a review of the player by Hi-Jack: http://www.mpeg-playcenter.com/modul...500-series.pdf

Conclusion: for the price of the KISS you can buy a decent, reliable player.

Dunno I still have mines after 3 years and used like 10 hours a day.They don't seem cheap to me