If the TV set you're planning to connect the DVD player to has at least one set of AV receptacles, hooking up the DVD player should be a piece of cake. In fact, when you buy your DVD player, you should test it as soon as possible, and it seems to me that a good way of doing this is to use the cables that come in the box to hook it up to your TV. Later, you might want to buy better cables or hook up the DVD player a different way to improve performance, but I see little harm in deferring these decisions.

But once you've established that it'll probably be easy to connect a DVD player to your TV, which one should you buy? There's unfortunately no one right answer to this question. It depends on how much you're willing to pay, how much risk you're willing to assume, and what features you're going to require.

If your main concern is to pay the lowest possible price, you might consider DVD players like Apex and Mintek, which I saw for about $65. They offer a full set of basic features, and most people are satisfied with the picture quality they produce. While the overwhelming majority of the DVD players sold under these brand names work just fine, quite a few consumers have reported problems (for example, the DVD tray won't open). Still, the prices are so low that many buyers are willing to tolerate the fact that while they're saving money, they're increasing their exposure to possible hassles.