PlayStation2 as budget DVD source: why/why not?

I have had a PS2 for almost a year now and I have had quite a few problems with it freezing up on the second layer of DVDs...if you get one ...get it from Best Buy or from somewhere that offers a no questions warrenty...where you can bring it back and exchange it for a new one after 30 days...sony was going to charge 130 bucks to fix my problem ....but the guys at Best buy gave me an even up trade for a new one after 4 months...and before you buy one ....the PS2 cannot read VCDs...video cds....I bought Star Wars on VCD for the kids to watch on the PS2....It won't accept VCDs...which is kinda wierd since about 95 % of dvd players can read VCDs....But it is a great gaming system...so good luck..look at the new X-box also.....Chris

I've read on some electronic magazine, I forgot which, it compared some $500 dvd players and one $1000 dvd player to the PS2.

The reviewer states their is hardly any visual difference between PS2 and other dvd players. But there was noticeable differences between PS2 and the $1000 dvd player.

This was published before PS2 was released. Maybe it was commissioned by Sony to hype up PS2, as if there wasn't enough hysteria for this console.

I've also read, newer releases of PS2 has added a chip cure a "bug" inherent only in the first batch released in US. The "bug" was, the RGB output can be used to make perfect duplicates of dvds. I heard this chip has certain side effects. DRE? Lower video quality?

I used my PS/2 as my main DVD player for a few months, and it did a good job. As another respondent stated, the new Sony remote is a MUST if you go this way. But by no means is the PS/2 the equivalent of a dedicated DVD player...

I have a PS2 and have watched some DVD movies on it. The picture quality is just not as good as my (cheap) Pioneer 626 DVD player. If you can spend another $200 or so, go for the dedicated DVD player. A friend of mine just bought a Panasonic RP56 for $220 and the picture is fantastic (better than my Pioneer).

DVD players can be had for real cheap at Circuit City. I wouldn't rely on a Playstation to play movies, it wasn't designed to be pressed into active HT duty. PS2 as part of a quality HT set-up? Unlikely

I think You will want to buy the PS2 remote control to use the PS2 as your DVD. The PS2 joysticks & ladder menus are too cluncky in my opinion, unless you are going to start every DVD, and watch until it ends. Other than that, I haven't really noticed any difference between PS2 and my 3yr old Sony DVD player. Kthomas is correct that there are rumors of Data Read Errors (DRE) on some PS2. I have not experienced this yet.. but my hardware was a Xmas present. There are several DRE posts out on PS2 Users groups. The only other issue I have is with component video connections only, it appears that my TV screen is not centered only when playing video games - DVDs are fine. So for me, I run the Monster SVHS cable set. As for why to use -- why not spend ~$20 to have a DVD / CD / Game Console and use the machine for its capabilities and then decide if you don't like it -- just buy the remote from Best Buy and take it back if you don't like it. You might also want to scour Funco, Babbages, GameStop, etc. - They might have used RCs.

Only one first-person account, so take it with a grain of salt - a friend of mine used a PS2 as his DVD source for a while and had a lot of trouble with skipping DVD's. I finally convinced him to buy a decent Sony and all the same DVDs played flawlessly. Could easily be unit-specific, but may be noteworthy. -Kirk