teach me, electronics know it alls

So, before I get into the meat of this post, let me just say that yesterday I felt like Moses on my way to school. I pull into the parking log: a car pulls out four spaces away from the "front" of the lot. I walk to the bus stop, a bus pulls up immediately. I go to the elevator in my building, it arrives in seconds (it's usually very slow). It was exciting. Around 10:00 when I went to my class, that all stopped, though, and I became the anti-Moses. I went to the bookstore, half my books weren't in. I walked back to the office and had to wait for a while to turn in my purchasing card. I get ready to go home, and realize that I left my umbrella in the classroom, which means I have to trudge back across campus in the middle of some killer humidity, now with a sack of books in my hand. In the end, I guess it all evens out. I feel like Jerry on Seinfeld--I always come out even.

So, lately my DVD player has been giving me fits. We've had it and use it on a very frequent basis (several times a week--not quite daily, but not too far from it, either) for just over 3 years, and lately it seems to be having real trouble. I do have a lens cleaner, which I use whenever necessary, and usually it clears up the problem. But these days it seems like I have to use it for nearly every disc I play. My question is, what should I do about this? Do I take it into a repair shop and see if they can fix it? Do I toss it and buy a new one? Do I buy some sort of better cleaning kit for it? If I'm going to buy a new one, what do you recommend? I'd like to get something with progressive scan, and region free would be great, but I'm not too picky. DVD players are cheap these days (I can pick up a Magnavox at Sam's Club for $30) but I'm not sure that's the way to go, since it is something we use so frequently. I know the Doc has a multi-disc player, but I'm not sure how useful that would be to me. Also, how about DVD/VCR combos? Or should I just use my computer DVD burner and get rid of all my VHS tapes? What to do, what to do? I know there are smart electronics folks out there, so give me your thoughts.

By the way, I should also point out that it will be at least a month or so before I actually buy. What with Katrina and all, I figure I can spend my money better places than on myself this month. Two ways to help: LDS Humanitarian Services and the Red Cross.