Know what you want, experts advise.
As digital versatile disk or DVD players becoming increasingly popular, taking over from video recorders, many people are paying thousands of rands for state-of-the-art equipment as sales people talk them into buying the "best".
But is the extra outlay worth it? The answer seems to be that a simple DVD player that costs hundreds instead of thousands will suffice for most South Africans who are content to watch movies on TV sets without surround-sound home theatre systems.
With winter coming and the prospect of cosy movie-watching evenings at home, consumers are flocking to appliance stores to get their hands on DVD players. But all too often they buy a player without checking if it is best suited to their needs.
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DVD players ranging from R600 to as much as R9 000 With prices for DVD players ranging from R600 to as much as R9 000, buying the wrong one could be a very costly mistake. Experts warn consumers against going for the most expensive player and assuming it will be of the best quality.
Hanri Joubert, a Cape Town appliance salesperson, said consumers were often confused about what they are purchasing.
"Customers come in and they ask for a DVD player but in their mind they are thinking home theatre. A DVD player is just like a VCR and if you just want to play it through your television, most of them are fine."
She explained that if consumers wanted to experience the full digital surround sound effect that comes with watching a DVD movie they would have to get an amplifier and six speakers and ensure that their DVD player had a 5.1 output, which not all of them have.
The output is for the five speakers around the room and a sub-woofer attached to the system to provide a surround sound effect similar to that in cinemas, by splitting the sound into different channels.
'Real difference will be in the sound'
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