I don't know how much help this will be, but I usually buy a no-name DVD player. As in, a brand name I've never seen before, and probably never will again once this one has died. I find these usually play multiple regions of DVDs, and since that tends to be my main concern when trying to watch my mainly-South American DVD collection, well...yeah. Uh, I've also noticed that Panasonic tends to play at least 3 regions before freaking out on you. So, I guess, my answer is to buy the one that seems both pretty and cheap (and pretty cheap) at Best Buy, or Target, or whatever giant superstore with electronics is out your way.