Best Player for Low Cost DVD Media ? ?

[lugesm]

My (admittedly limited) experience indicates that DVD players which work well with original DVDs may not work as well with some of the low cost media.

For example:
My Panasonic (about 3 years old) player works just fine with with original DVD movies and with copies made with DVD X Copy on Sony media and Maxell media. However, the Ritek discs do not work properly.

Symptom:
As the player warms up, after about 40 minutes into the movie, random pixels start to appear. As time goes on the picture begins to tear and blur and the audio is distorted. Finally the DVD player freezes. If I stop the player and reinsert the disk immediately, the player will not even recognize the disc. However, inserting an original disk still works at this time.

Conclusion:
Something in the player changes with temperature, not enough to prevent Sony or Maxell or Original discs from working, but enough to defeat Ritek discs.

Question:
I am ready to buy a new player, as this Panasonic is about 3-4 years old. Can anyone recommend a player which is more forgiving of inexpensive media?

Appreciate any help you can provide.

Regards,
LGS

[bighap]

You might want to look into an Apex dvd player. They are dirt cheap and play pretty much everything. I have a Toshiba SD1700 and love it. It plays my Ritek dvd-r, Verbatim dvd-r, and Pioneer dvd-rw perfectly. You can get one for about $70 on the web.

[lugesm]

bighap -

Thanks for the advice.

LGS