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Full user review
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18 out of 18 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Excellent overall DVD-Play packed with features"
Pros: DivX, upconverting, GREAT PRICE!
Cons: No DTS, slow response, remote control
Summary: After reading all of the reviews here on this unit, I decided that it had everything that I needed in a cheap affordable DVD-Player. Now, it was a tough call for me to go with this unit since I had worked in the audio video industry for the past 9 years and would have initially gone with a higher-end unit; but my change in career did not give me the deep discounts that I was use too and had to settle for a more financially saving unit.
The upconverting picture quality is excellent, the 1080i setting looks wonderful on my 50" Samsung DLP. The player gave superior picture quality when watching DVDs over my PS2, Sanyo DVD-player, and my Xbox 360. Don't expect miracles thought, we are still talking about DVD's; but the upconverting to 720p or 1080i is better then the 480p that DVDs normally gives you
DivX Ultra is a hugh plus for the unit and I was surprise to see that the picture quality on the DivX movies were pretty good on my big screen. I would say that it was just slightly worse then regular cable. I wouldn't sugguest watching Star Wars or the the Matrix in DivX, but it was suitible for watching recorded tv shows.
Now to address some of the critism that people have about the unit.
REMOTE CONTROL:
I agree with everyone's accessment that the remote is cheap and pretty crappy. No backlight, and as CNET stated, not the most intuative of remotes. My suggestion; get a universal learning remote and program it and use it instead of the DVD-player's remote.
NO LAST SCENE PLAYBACK:
For everybody who posted that this unit does not have last scene playback, READ THE MANUAL! Specifically page 26 under Resuming playback from the last stopped point . Heres what you do if you dont want to read the manual:
Press the play/pause button when you want to stop the movie and then turn off the DVD-player. When you turn the DVD-player back on, the display on the DVD-player will show "Loading"; you now press the play/pause button, and it will go to the last scene that you were on. The player will support up to 5 discs this way, so yes, you can even start back up if someone else watches another movie before you can get back to yours. Please verify your information before you post.
NO DTS:
Unfortunately, it does not support DTS. But look at all the other things that you are getting, and also consider that you are only paying about $80 for the unit.
NO 5.1 when using HDMI:
Yep, this was almost a deal breaker for me. I was only able to get 2.0 when I was using HDMI and digital coaxial. 5.1 only worked with the digital coaxial when I unhooked the HDMI. I called and talked to the people at Philips for 45 minutes and no luck; they didnt know why it was not working and I almost returned the unit. In a last attempt, I called them again and asked if there was a firmware upgrade for the unit and they directed me http://www.p4c.philips.com.
BINGO, there was an update there for this unit which solves the 5.1 surround sound bug. There are instructions there that will walk you through the update. This update will fix the DVD-player so that you will be able to play Dolby Digital 5.1 with either HDMI and digital coaxial; just HDMI; or just digital coaxial . It works, I have done it to my player.
Overall great unit, I only paid about $60 after rebate for my unit, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. It's hard to find a unit at this price with all of these features.
Yeah, I know this is a long review, but I wanted to settle the 2 biggest complaints that people had with the 5.1 surround sound and the last scene playback. Hope this answers everyone's question, now go buy this unit if you were on the fence about it!
- 3 replies to this review
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thank you for a comprehensive review. could you kindly tell me if this unit has OPTICAL DIGITAL out?
thank you. -
dveight-
I definitely was experiencing the audio dilemma before I read your review. Thanks for the post. The website answered all questions I had and the upgrade was a breeze - which I recommend to all customers who own this product as there are other thigns besides the audio patch that are covered.
This is what the cnet forum was designed for (not the garbage posts that unfortunately fill up posting boards nowaays). Very useful information, and helps me get the most out of some of my higher end components... -
Very useful comment - my system is working now!
Philips DVP5960/37:
