[limacharliewhiskey]

You should be able to get a non-upconvert DVD player for $60 or less. Upconverters range from $60-100, and then DVD recorders are $100+. Unless your parents are getting you a new widescreen TV (I'm assuming it's a hand-me-down analog TV), you don't need upconverting capabilities.

I just picked up a Samsung upconverter this week, partly because it was what was on sale at Best Buy this week, and I own a Samsung HDTV.

When I was doing reserach over the past week, Coby seemed to be a cheap and unreliable manufacturer, from reviews I read. I would recommend sticking with one of the big names, like Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Toshiba. My previous player is a Panasonic that has run reliably for the last 6 years. Still runs fine. My brother has my old RCA player that is now running strong for 10 years, but I think RCA stopped making players awhile ago.