Sony makes a nice DVD player. No specific model recommendations but I would plan on spending at least $100 the players below this price point dont seem to be very high quality.

The age of the TV could have relevance as you need to have at a minimum RCA composite inputs, Svideo connections are better, Component better yet, and a digital connector such as DVI, HDMCI are the best. Older TV's tend to have fewer if any connections on them.

My Dad got a DVD player recently.
His TV only had the coax input on it.
So we had to get a RF modulator to use his DVD player with that TV.
RF modulator is about $18 at walmart.
Just look at the inputs for your TV and you will know if you need one or not.

Pooh Bear

If you have an HDTV--esepecially if it is a large one (>40" or so), then you should be getting a Progressive Scan DVD player, and these are more expensive than your garden variety of DVD player. If you do not now have, nor plan in the near future to get a big screen HDTV, then it does not matter. Progressive scans give you higher quality and resolution (I'll leave it to the technical experts on this site to explain why). When we bought our two--about 4 years ago--I think they were $650+ each. I am sure that prices are way down now.

If you are just beginning your migration from the VHS to the DVD world and do not watch a ton of movies nor have a large HDTV, then I agree on getting a basic one. As an aside, most of our equipment is Sony, but our DVD players are Mitsubishi and Toshiba (recommended at the time by a friend in the business). Our movie collection is now over 400 DVD's - with about half being B&W remastered classics.

Lynne

There's really no need not to get a progressive scan DVD player. A brief look around pricescan.com and I found a Toshiba single disc progressive scan with digital audio out, and component and composite outputs (a progressive scan player without component video out makes pro scan useless, by the way) for prices that range from $60 to $85 delivered. It's available all over for way less than $100! If you're a bit of a risk taker there are brand names like Coby(?) out there for $29.95....with progressive scan.

It's actually getting sorta difficult to find players without pro-scan!

Here is a link that might be useful: PriceScan search bot

I just bought a Sony DVPNS50P DVD Player. It cost me $70 at BJ's Warehouse. Also bought an S-Video cable for $10, which is supposed to give you a better picture. I watched "The Aviator" on it, and was amazed with the quality of the picture. Now I'm trying to figure out how to cut back on the number of remote controls I need. I have one for the cable TV, one for the TV set and one for the CD player.

Get a universal remote! I highly recommend Logitech Harmony remotes they are much easier to setup and use than your average remote. If you dont mind searching for codes and programming time Sony universal remotes are very competant and can be less expensive.

Depending on the cable you have, the remote for it might be able to control the other devices. My mom has Comcast digital cable and that remote can control the TV and a couple of other devices.

One thing I've found on "universal" remotes, though, is that many of the less-expensive ones do not fully duplicate even some basic options of a dedicated remote. My Sony universal remote, for instance, does a fine job with my Sony TV and Sony receiver, but a mediocre job on my Pioneer DVD player. A Philips universal remote I had didn't handle the TV well and was almost useless on the DVD player. Make sure you can return a universal remote if you buy one and it does not work to your satisfaction.