Now more than 4 years old, the DVD format has become firmly entrenched as an alternative to the videocassette. And for those not among the more than 20 million homes with a DVD player, this holiday season is a great time to discover the advantages of watching movies on discs.
For starters, the price is right. When DVD arrived in stores in 1997, players ran more than $1,000. Today, some are priced lower than $80. Shoppers also can get what were once exclusive features -- surround sound and higher quality video connections, for example -- for $200 or so.
And since all DVD players also play music CDs, they can serve as replacements for your old CD player. Newer DVD players will even play recordable and rewritable CDs burned on your PC.
Finding a DVD player is easy these days; they're on sale almost everywhere, from high-end electronics dealers to grocery stores. ''You can find one for basically the price of a VCR,'' says Eddie Feng, an editor with DVDTown.com.
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