Many moons ago, when DVD players were just starting to come down in price and we were just starting to get interested in them, I was able to convince my wife that $150.00 was a reasonable amount of money for a DVD player. It was, at the time. Most were still over $200, and the super-low-end ones were around $100.
I remember one of the compelling features was “progressive scan” which would future-proof the things a bit. Sure.
Last week at Target, my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I spotted a DVD player for $26. Sure, it was an El Cheapo brand (TruTech). Sure, it was basically a DVD drive in an external drive enclosure. But still: $26? That’s cheaper than a lot of DVDs nowadays.
Interestingly this Target was selling a turntable ($100), but no VCRs.
Posted in Technology
COD April 30, 2007, 6:49 pm
I bought a DVD Burner a few weeks ago for $50. All these cheap electronics are bad for the environment though. When I was a kid my dad kept the same stereo for 20+ years. When it broke he fixed it. The one hour charge just to look at something today is more than the replacement cost on a lot of electronic gear. It breaks, we just pitch it and buy a new one.
Merle May 1, 2007, 1:02 am
Actually, some of the el-cheapo ones are amazing. I own a Cybertech ($23), which I believe looks just like the TruTech. It does a better job of playing, and has a better remote control, than the expensive Samsung ($90 at the time, $60 now) that all my friends recommended to me.
The Samsung just sits there feeling lonely, as I pretty much only use the Cybertech unless I need to be in the middle of two discs at once.