I have the DVP-642 myself, and I love it.
It can play a fair amount of .avi files, so I use it to watch downloaded anime on the tv. I just burn a regular cd-r as a data disc with the .avi files on it, and I'm good to go. The only files I've had problems with are ones that were QPEL encoded.
It can be had at Wal-Mart as well for ~70 bucks.