I have seen a few divx players on the market have a USB slot. Is this so as you can plug in an external HD and watch your films without burning them onto a disc?

If so, can anyone recommend a good unit.

The USB slot is for input only sorry.

I have an RCA DRC285 which can rip music from a CD/DVD to an MP3 device through its USB port.

To the original poster, I have been pleased with the DRC285. It is DivX Ultra certified, plays MPEG, WMV, AVI video files and high resolution output of JPG image files. It also has optical and coaxial digital audio outputs and upconverts to 1080p through the HDMI port. It displays a fairly long file name beyond the typical 8.3 DOS format. It doesn't pass through DTS audio or the USB port won't power a 2.5" hard drive. Most inexpensive players don't support DTS or power 2.5" hard drives through the USB port though.

The picture and sound quality is very good. I have seen no hesitation when playing files from a USB flash drive, even at data rates up to 3k. It also plays DivX files encoded with Dolby Digital sound tracks with the sound sent to the receiver in that format. This unit replaced a Sony DVD player and I was surprised to find it had much better picture quality. I guess the technology behind these cheap players have improved a lot over the last 2-3 years. I wish the player had some control for brightness, contrast, hue etc. but this is a minor complaint. A volume control would have been nice too. It is a budget player so I can't expect too much.

The DRC285 can be had for less than $60 from Sears or K-Mart so it is a very good bargain, IMO. I bought mine from Sears with a two year extended warranty for less than $70. Not bad for a player with all its capabilities. It has the same chipset as many players that are sold for a much higher price so it does have pretty good "guts".

Just thought I would mention that K-Mart has the RCA DRC285 on sale for $50 plus tax. Here's a link:
http://tinyurl.com/2ekme6

I have a Philips DVP5982 and it works good for playing most any file type with USB input. Sam's Club $59.12 usd.

This is HDMI complaince and do not have USB capability. Having said that the price is very good for DVD player with HDMI output.

I have not seen any DVD player as stand alone with USB output capability.

It does have USB capability. The ad states it is the DRC285 and if you enlarge the picture of the player you will see the the USB port at the far right side of the player. I have this player sitting in my bedroom and I assure you it has a USB port. Here's a link to RCA's info page:
http://www.rcaaudiovideo.com/en-US/m...oductID=DRC285

Why would you want a stand alone DVD player with USB output? I can see a need for USB input.

Here is an interesting player: http://www.inoi.com/English/HV670.asp You just supply the 3.5" hard drive. With it a USB port isn't really needed. I sells for around $115 plus shipping.

Nice it has s-video guess i needed to research this before i bought but my player is ok for what i need it for.

The RCA DRC285 and DRC290 has S-video connections too.

yes if my Philips had s-video i would consider using it with my HT.

HDMI or atleast DVI is the only out put I am concern with as for USB I don't see any use for it but nice to have it.