What's the best value DVD player?

Hello all.
I will be purchasing my first DVD player soon (yes I have been holding out on VHS for too long). I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions as to what the best value player would be for me.
My wants/needs are:

1) Simply to play regular DVDs (I don't really care about all the different formats)
2) I'll need to be able to program it to be multiregion (I'm addicted to British TV shows)
3) Hopefully something very thin and unobtrusive.
4) Player that is easily tranportable (mom's house to apt., etc.)
5) Will use on just regular TV's

I'm looking for all this in a player for around or under $100. I know thats pretty feasible.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Gordon

I believe you can find mulit-region APEX's for less than $100.

just a warning: i had an apex protable dvd player for a while and it skipped all the time, froze, and eventually just wouldnt play the discs. so personally, i wouldnt go with an APEX myself...

yeah, the cheaper a dvd player is, the more plastic instead of metal there is. plastic is more susceptible to warping from the heat of the laser lens than metal is, which means that cheap dvd players will "wear out" fairly quickly.

walmart has "Cyberhome" DVD players for only $59 Canadian in your choice of trendy silver and gothic black that are roughly the size of a PS 1, the new ones they made, very compact and suits my bedroom needs just fine. I dont know about multi-regional, but it has basic S-Video and those 3-connector cables. Even has progressive scan! Seriously, this thing fits in your oversized pocket. It's very tiny. If you're interested I can measure the full specs for you. Thats "Cyberhome", at Walmart, pick one up, or just wait for HDDVD to roll along (if you can wait 5 years or so for the price to drop substantially).

I've had an Apex for two years and it's fine. Of course, I don't use it THAT much. But if you want something that will last over time and lots of use, you might just pick up all the players, and buy the heaviest one? It should last until the HD-DVD's get hers? Or pick the one with the best warranty?

Hondito
Sorry for the late response:
I am looking for a DVD player myself and from my research, i think cyberhome dvd would fit your life style and needs. It is fairly cheap and compact (easily portable). Sine you are looking for a simple dvd player, without any HDCP or HDMI features, with average viewing on your regular tv, this would be perfect. You can crack it to have it region free. The crack operation is fairly easy and many users online have done it without any problem.

HOW to CRACK: (cut and paste from other site)
1. First make sure there is no disc in the player, and there is no obstruction in front of tray. (Glass door, etc...) Close the tray.
2. Press MENU on the remote (Ignore the 'NO' symbol that appears)
3. With the remote, press 1, then press 9 (Ignore the 'NO' symbol that appears)
4. A menu should appear.
5. REGION CODE should already be hilighted. If you want to change this, press ENTER on the remote. Then type a region code you want the player to have. (0 is all region) Then press ENTER on the remote after changing the setting.
6. To exit the menu and save your settings, make sure nothing is in front of your player (Glass door, etc...) and push OPEN/CLOSE with the remote.

I hope this explains it better. If it does not work in your player, you may have a version that cannot be hacked. There are two versions of this player, one with a power switch on the back and one without. The one with a power switch is an different version and may or may not accept this hack. The model without the switch does accept it.
This hack works in my CH-DVD 300 and I hope it works in yours, too.
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