Last time I had to pick out a media player, my options included recognizable brand names and much cheaper devices from brands I didn’t recognize.

For modern shoppers, allow me to provide a cost/benefit breakdown:

The brand name players:

• Are about triple the price.
• Are engineered with the cheapest possible parts to ensure I need to upgrade before too many years.
• Prevent skipping ads on purchased media
• Prevent skipping the FBI reminder that I could have saved money through piracy.
• Faithfully refuse to play media purchased from any “wrong location”, as defined by everyone’s “friends” at the MPAA.

The no-name players:

• Faithfully responds to the remote control at all times.
• Plays any and all expected compatible media from anywhere in the world.
• Are probably still engineered with the cheapest possible parts to ensure I need to upgrade before too many years.
• Claims to also play various file formats I have never even heard of.
• Even allows skipping the nice FBI reminder that piracy saves time, money and effort.

I’m shocked that Panasonic isn’t seeing DVD player sales! Shocked, I say! (This is sarcasm.)