First half of 2000, I don't remember exactly which month, but I think it was April or May. A Sony 550, for $450. First DVD I bought was the Army Of Darkness Limited Edition, from some guy on eBay. Before I even had a player. In fact, I bought a DVD player mostly because of that DVD set. First DVD I bought in a store was Suicide Kings at Wal*Mart for 7 bucks. When everything else was 20+, that seemed like a great deal.