Decisions, decisions....

[selenay]

Thanks to the joys of a bad back, I'm spending a lot of time lying on my bed watching crappy TV while I wait for my back to unkink itself. I have a lot of DVDs that I could be watching, but no DVD player except for the one in my computer, which isn't really practical for watching from my bed. And the main DVD player with fancy features is downstairs, where I can't lie down and rest my back.

Hmmm.

Bearing in mind that I'm spending an hour or two a day resting my back presently, would £20 on a cheap, multi-region DVD player be silly? It's small (important given the lack of space), it plays MP3 CDs as well, it has good reviews on Amazon and I have a spare SCART socket on my TV.

Crazy thought or good investment?

Comments

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Good investment, I'd say. As much as I'd love it to be different, your back isn't going to heal in a hurry and you may have to spend a reasonable amount of time on your back (and not in a good way). Anything that makes this time more bearable is a very good idea IMO Take care honey.

[selenay]

Thanks, honey. That's kind of what I'm thinking. I keep having to think how to phrase this because I'm really not lying on my back for good reasons ;-) But I'm stuck like this and it doesn't seem to be a quick fix deal right now. So it does seem like a good investment because I'm getting very bored each time I have to lie down. I can't even read! Holding a book up when you're literally lying flat on your back (with pillows under your knees for an even more attractive picture) just aint' comfortable. The only reason I can watch TV is because of where my TV is :-( So this is starting to sound really tempting.

[gmul.livejournal.com]

Good investment under the circumstances I'd say.

[selenay]

Yeah, that's what I'm figuring. I've seen a couple of models for around £40 that are from familiar brands and might last a little longer, so I'm leaning towards those. I've got the choice between multi-region (bearing in mind that I currently only own region 2 DVDs) or a Panasonic that will play DVD-RAMs, bearing mind that the fancy thing downstairs records on DVD-RAMs so it would be compatible. Hmmm.

[paranoidangel]

I'd say good investment. It's not as if £20 is a lot of money. My multi-region DVD player was £120 - you can get recordable ones for that price now, which is kind of depressing.

[selenay]

Or I could pay closer to £40 and get something that will last a decent length of time...

Yup, DVD player prices have come down a lot :-)

I'm trying to decide between multi-region (bearing in mind that I currently have no multi-region discs) and a Panasonic that plays DVD-RAM and would be compatible with anything that I record downstairs. Leaning towards the £44 Panasonic player right now...

[paranoidangel]

I'm trying to decide between multi-region (bearing in mind that I currently have no multi-region discs) and a Panasonic that plays DVD-RAM and would be compatible with anything that I record downstairs.

I'd say go for the Panasonic. If you end up with something that you can't watch DVDs recorded downstairs on you'll only get annoyed with yourself. If you ever get a non-region 2 DVD you can always change the region on the DVD on your computer and watch on that.

[selenay]

That's what I've done. Because, yeah, it would be annoying to not be able to watch stuff that I've recorded downstairs. And the odds of me buying non-region 2 DVDs is pretty remote. So Panasonic it is and I found one for £45, which is about £50 cheaper than I found it anywhere else. Hopefully it will be arriving Thursday so I have time to get things moved around and set up over Easter. Hooray!

[paranoidangel]

Ooh, that's very exciting. I'd be jealous but I already have 3 DVD players :)

[selenay]

*pfft* That's a daft number of DVD players for one person! *g*

[paranoidangel]

It might be daft, but does have a logical reason. I bought the multi-region DVD player a few years ago, and that was the only one I had for while. Then I bought a new computer, which came with a DVD player. At the time DVD writers were still quite slow, so I didn't bother with one of those, until recently. Hence the three.

I do have 5 CD players though :)

And my parents have 6 DVD players between them :) (and 4 computers - one for each eye :))

[paranoidangel]

Or what your parents need to get is a sofa you can lie on. When my parents bought a three piece suite that was one of the main points. Our sofa is therefore really comfortable, and I can lie on it with my head at one end and my feet don't reach the other.

[selenay]

*g* The technical hitch with the sofa plan is that it's currently the only place Da is comfortable with his broken ankle and he is likely to stay resident there for another couple of months. Grrr.

And because Da is there, I still wouldn't be able to watch DVDs - he wouldn't necessarily be interested in Press Gang, Robin of Sherwood or Starsky and Hutch (the DVDs currently waiting for me to watch).

[paranoidangel]

That wasn't entirely a serious suggestion :)

he wouldn't necessarily be interested in Press Gang, Robin of Sherwood or Starsky and Hutch

You never know, you might find he likes them once he gets to watch them :)

[selenay]

That wasn't entirely a serious suggestion :)

*g*

You never know, you might find he likes them once he gets to watch them :)

I somehow doubt it :-) Robin, possibly, but I think S&H would be too violent for his tastes. Mom has admitted that she's rather enjoying some of the Press Gang stuff and Da has tolerated a few episodes, but I don't like to bombard him with this stuff when I know it's not really his thing.

[feather-autant.livejournal.com]

OMG, go for it! You work. If there is some small little thing that'll make your life better, why not? You deserve the occasional treat. :)

[selenay]

*g* Good points!

I feel a little guilty about spending money on something rather frivolous when there are probably other things that I should be saving towards, but...

And this whole flat on my back concept is starting to get real old and boring. It gets me a couple of extra hours of life in the evening (and that's handy so that I can eat...), but needing to spend an hour or more lying down when I get home from work ain't precisely fun and the TV is the only thing I can actually see from where I'm lying. Usually I'd read, but it's not a comfortable position to read in :-(