mother wants one of those thingumys.

[EggyAllenPoe]

you know the ones you can play from disc or USB keys...with lots of attachy things. connectivity.

can you recommend a good one? she is quite techy and will want a good one with lots of features. she uses it for divx file playing, etc.

Do you mean a DVD player? I have a great one from John Lewis, a Toshiba that was only 30 quid.

a dvd player... but the one she wan seems to be mainly a 'media' player, which also plays dvds.

do all dvd players do those extra things thse days?

I think so. I don't know half the stuff mine can do. But I know dp can put movies on the USb and we watch them that way. I can also hook up my camera to it should I wish to lose lots of friends regale people with my holiday snaps

you might want to search for 'media players' and view the page from Maplin electronics.

I would usually say maplin are overpriced, but it may give you some ideas and if you print out things in your budget (I am assuming this is to be a gift) then you could cover the prices and see if your Mum is interested in any of them, or complains they don't do what she wants...

If you aren't 100% sure it would meet her needs, then a cash amount towards one she does want might be the best option. I've had my eye on the Sumvision Cyclone but the low end models have no CD/DVD player and go up to about 65 quid, while you could be looking at things going to several times that, perhaps...

Sorry, know that's not much help, but there are quite a few "unknowns" for what is wanted.

if i give mother cash, she jsut spends it on dog food.

this might do.

but no DVD player...

*> this may too

FWIW, I've not seen any with built in DVD player, though there may be some in a much higher price bracket than I'd look at, and I've looked at models in the 15 to 50 pound range, usually, but still don't have one.

The one from DABS may be because it is effectively a standalone PC (the face it can sit running peer-to-peer downloads independent of any other items on your home network is the giveaway), so I suspect that's part of the extra cost.

ahh..well i just chose that one because it took USB input as well as playing files..

mother would probably appreciate the ability to do P2P outside the MotherChip.

i thnk the thing she has now is a sumvision one with DVD, but wants more the Buddhist set up, IYSWIM. the one she has currently has some very annoying features, such as not being able to go forwards or backwards in files without startingfrom the beginning.

and yes i was thinking around the £50 mark...and also must be black.

I can see a flaw in your plan, NetworkGuy...

indeed, i thik i have found the right thing though...