We were going to buy a DVD player to bring to Jay's house when we go to Sri Lanka next month. Then I remembered, we have a couple of spares hanging around the house. The cheap, Chinese one we got for free when we bought the widescreen TV can up-convert. It worked okay with the HDMI output but its remote would affect the TV set which became too much of a hassle very quickly. That isn't what makes it the better of the two for a gift. It's the fact it'll play PAL natively and has a 110-220 power supply. Those are the characteristics that make it the one of choice. I am not exactly sure if the TV in the Minuwangoda house has an s-video connector, so I'd better bring a spare as well as the standard old RCA types. Also, if the TV doesn't have stereo inputs then I'll need a Y-splitter. Luckily, this was one of the only times I can recall when I don't need to run to an electronics shop to pick up some part or another. I have a box about three times the size of a shoebox that holds all sorts of connectors, adapters, and wires; unfortunately, although overflowing, it seldom has exactly what I need. I love plugging things in and figuring out the necessary connections. In the perfect world manufacturers would be able to create components which are smart enough to set themselves up. Although I generally detest Apple for how proprietary their products are, I do feel jealousness when I look at the umpteen dozen wires all collecting dust behind my PC desk and under my TV. Really, is this the best engineers can do?