CD player / mod question

[lurkist]

Does anyone know of a kit you can buy which is like a Hi-Fi seperate CD / DVD player, but with no drive included?  Allow me to explain.

It would look like any standalone CD / DVD player, but with a gaping hole in the front to which the user would add his / her own computer CD-Rom / CD-RW / DVD etc.  It could have full set of ins and outs, all the usual playback controls, and a small menu driven screen which would change according to the unit inserted.  Of course it would need a small OS of it's own on ROMs to achieve these things.

The advantages should be obvious but I've noticed that computer drives are far more capable than any I've come across in a CD or DVD player (and I've owned a few!).  Imagine a player that plays virtually anything you insert.  Multiple formats, unusual sizes (99min audio CDs etc.), overburned disks, DVDs, VCDs, MP3s, DIVx, etc. etc. etc.  Plus the ability to upgrade any time a nice drive comes along.

Does this exist?  Am I the only one who wants it to?

Cheers!

[motorollin]

A computer connected to an amplifier?

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moto

[Anthomatic]

As Motorollin said, I think what you are looking for is just a PC with a modern DVD/CD drive. They seem to handle almost anything. Any strange formats could probably be sorted with downloadable codecs? As long as the disc information can be read and understood, then the software will play it.

Your idea of a stand-alone unit would only come in useful when the disc format itself changes and the drive has to be changed i.e. BluRay, HDDVD or the next generation of disc but then we are back at the PC and a brand new DVD/CD/BluRay/HDDVD drive.

[lurkist]

Nah.  Too much fuss, too many bits and pieces, software for this and that, booting up and down, etc.  I have a PC, it's not what I had in mind.

[motorollin]

Well the only other thing anything like what you have described is a modded X-Box. Once it's hacked you can run X-Box Media Center which is, frankly, awesome. It's the best Media Center I have ever used. You can swap the DVD drive out if you want for a more compatible one. It plays most audio and video formats, including DivX and xVid. You can upgrade the hard disk, network it, play stuff off discs, use a remote with it and lots of other cool stuff.

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moto

[lurkist]

Hmm, I'll look into this.  Cheers, Moto.

[leirbag28]

@Lurkist

Try getting a CyberHome DVD player............thes play anything including WIndowsMedia, and DivX and I think AVI. the players are real cheap and they are easily damaged. but if you clean the lens and keep it unharmed, they are cool...they run for about $36 and the firmware can be updated.  There are certain models you have to look for.

Now as for what you are proposing...........I am looking for the Opposite of what your looking for................I am trying to find a Stand Alone DVD player thatuses a PC DVD drive but the the MPEG2 decoder in it and still using an IDE interface.  Reason being is that you can stick it in your Amiga and have hardwae DVD decoder :-)

[lurkist]

I am looking along these lines as well!  I thought of this a couple of years ago, but could never source an IDE DVD drive with A/V outs (don't exist?).

Now I am after an IDE player with play / ff buttons (these days, manufacturers tend to just have the eject on there), headphone socket and volume control (also on the way out) so that I can stick it in an external case and use it as a CD player.

I'm going on the assumption that it will work to play audio CDs without being connected via IDE...