my old DVD/VHS player is on the out.
im looking for something that plays DVD's (dont need blueray or other fancy stuff as i dont have any of those disc's nor do i care to re by movies i already own.)
what i would like is something with a hard drive i can upload movies in MP4 format to. or have it pull the data from a PC/laptop with said movies on them.
does such a device exist? if so who makes the best one?
the connection i have to my TV is analogue however im considering upgrading to HDMI if i can run a 40' cable or so. as the dvd player is in my pantry and the TV is on the other side of the room. i have open drop tiles in my basement so pulling the new wire would be a cinch

thanks

What is this DVD thing you speak of?

You can pick up a LG DVD player at Walmart for less than $30.

It's going to be as "good" as any DVD only player is going to be because nobody cares about DVD players any more.

25' is considered the max distance for an affordable HDMI cable. Figure out how to get your player closer to your TV.

It doesn't really matter, HDMI isn't going to get you a noticeably better picture from a 480p or 480i source.

When was the last time anyone even mentioned VHS?  

Combo Player (DVD/VHS) - $280



Buy a small Bluray player (well under $100, closer to $50).  Place it next to or on top of your TV.  They are really quite small these days, not much bigger than the disk.  Look around and get one that upscales DVD to Bluray (480 to 1080).  Use HDMI connections.  This will really help with picture quality (a lot).

DVD Player (upscaling) - $80

The links are only provided to show examples of what's out there.

As you probably know, this will take a bit of effort on your part. Ripping and encoding DVDs is very fast on any reasonably modern machine. 

Since you're on DVDs, you could use DVD Decrypter or DVDFab (free version). 

I use Vidcoder to encode them (it uses Handbrake's code). Once they're all ripped, it's easy to queue up a bunch of files and encode them. Push go and go to bed. 

I'm not aware of a device that automates all this. 

Of course, I know some people are of the philosophy that if they've legitimately purchased a movie, it's much faster to download it from certain sites. Much easier too. 

Just get a blu ray player. It'll pay your DVDs, make them look better, and you can get Blu Rays.

Since you want to cling to DVD, the player doesn't matter much. For you, I recommend the cheapest one at Walmart. 

How many of them are multi region players?

You want a multi region player, check out Oppo? They make the best.