Moving from Blu Ray Player to Regular DVD Player?

Buying a DVD player today doesn't make much sense unless you plan to never watch Blu-ray and/or really want to save a few $. If necessary consider a Blu-ray player to be an upscaling DVD player that also plays Blu-ray disks.

You don't have to update firmware on blu-ray players ... although the fact you can is really a "plus" since it allows manufacturers to address issues and/or provide additional features after market. I have two Blu-ray players, a high end version 1.0 player (Pioneer) I have updated about half a dozen times in 5 years and a basic version 2.0 player (LG) I've updated twice in two years. Neither have given me any problems. None of the firmware updates were essential since the players worked fine, but I chose to do them because they improved performance (i.e. faster loading time, new audio capability, additional on-line service).

Your problem isn't with Blu-ray it's with the poor quality of the player you bought. While any brand/model can fail, buying the cheapest or an off-brand is asking for trouble. DVD players are now a rapidly dying device class, and given that Blu-ray prices are falling fast it's increasingly difficult for manufacturers to make quality DVD players cheap enough to compete, so there is no guarantee a new DVD player won't fail prematurely.

My advice: Buy a new Blu-ray player from a) a name brand manufacturer (e.g. Pioneer, Sony, LG, Panasonic, Samsung) and b) select a model slightly above the bottom in their line-up (unless you want/can use features only provided by higher end models).

I don't see this happening quickly for several reasons. First off, look on the many variations in VHS and DVD technological know-how. With DVD you can soar to almost any scene, play the entire DVD or just part of it with the rush of a button, watch just the bloopers, get voice over commentary, among other things very quite simply. There are only relatively cosmetic differences in DVD versus Blu Ray. So which you can percent extra info on the disc. If it appears just love it does on DVD, why should I pay the additional money?

Your problem is that you went out and bought the cheapest Blueray player you could find. Whenever buying anything I never go for the cheapest and never go for the most expensive. Buy something in the middle where you are more likely to get quality at a fair price.

DVD players do not require firmware updates