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Philips DVP3120 - DVD Player

• 12-bit/108MHz video processing for sharp, natural images
• 192kHz/24 bit audio DAC enhances analogue sound input
• High quality output for analog and digital audio
• Plays CD,(S)VCD,DVD,DVD+R/RW,DVD-R/RW
• Plays MP3, WMA and JPEG digital camera photos

plays them all, 2008-11-27
Having got fed up of my cheapo £20 dvd player refusing to play some dvd-rw,I decided to buy a new one,namely the phillips DVP3120.On the box it clearly says"SIMPLY PLAYS IT ALL".I got it all EASILY set up and put in a problem RW-DVD and hey presto!it worked perfectly,but above all the picture was much better,which I didn't expect.So if you're after a cheap DVD that plays all,then look no further.It does exactly what it says on the box,and looks nice too.

Samsung DVD-V6800/XEU - VCR/DVD Player Combi

• Contents: Region - Zone 2 / Standard - B/G, L/L' / DivX/MPEG4 compatible - Yes / Compatible Media - DVD±RW, DivX, CD, CD-R(W), MP3, WMA, JPEG / Removable recording supports - No / Internal hard drive - No / Internal hard drive capacity (in GB) - - / Integrated Audio Decoder - Compatible with DTS, Dolby Digital / Video Out - S-Video output Component video output 2 scart sockets / Audio Out - Digital optical audio output Digital coaxial audio output / Scart Adapter - 2
• Included Accessories - AV cable, remote control, batteries, coaxial cable, scart lead
• Manual - Information will soon be available
• Dimensions (mm) - 430 x 84 x 240
• Weight (kg) - 3.4

Great Bang for the Buck, 2008-08-11
The DVD and VCR that this replaced (from 6-10 years old) cost four times as much and yet this is superior to them both. I can't beleive that some expected a DVD Recorder was included at this price...give it a few more years at least, however the descriptions for the v6800 do vary depending which site is visited. The VCR definately has 6 heads and not 4. The DVD can become multi-region with the hack descibed by others on Amazon. If like me your TV only accepts Progressive Scan in NTSC format the DVD player won't output a PAL disc in NTSC format. NTSC encoded disks work fine. I didn't have any issue with the remote either although the dubious unbranded batteries could have caused that issue.

Panasonic DMP-BD35EB-K Profile 2 Blu-ray Disc Player with BD Live Includes 'National Treasure' Blu-ray Disc

wow, 2008-11-22
I've just got the new panasonic BD-35 and being someone who also has a PS3 i have compared the two, this tops the ps3's performance though not as much as some say. The pic on the panasonic is less noisy than the ps3 which is excellent, but the image, though highly detailed is a tadge smoother and softer in places..watching Indiana jones the performance looked better on the ps3 but when watching iron man and the dark knight blu rays, they were superior on the panasonic..there are picture tweaks which you can adjust which is good if you are unhappy with the default picture. I havent watched many blu rays on yet but i'm impressed with the pic overall. I would give the blu ray performance a good mark above the ps3 overall but i didnt think it was a revelation over it like some had said.

The audio is very impressive too and this easily beats both my PS3 and old upscale dvd player..i pump this through a denon 5.1 system and the audio is amazing!

Standard dvd upscale is reasonable if not outstanding. I was surprised that someone here said that dvd playback was as good as their £900 player? This doesnt even come close to my old denon 1730 and that was only £200! still it gives a pretty good account of itself but i've seen better. Mine is multiregion too which is cool. Look around on the net for this machine as some offer it as multiregion and some don't. Although some sell this with multiregion dvd playback thrown in..you can also get it chipped to play Region A blu rays in some shops and will set you back an extra £100 or so!..though this isnt worth doing in my opinion as most blu rays from america are region free anyway.

You can't fault this machines blu ray performance for this price..it surpases the PS3 and most other blu ray decks out there..some even topping this players price by several hundred pounds!

This should be a no brainer for anyone wanting to get into blu ray..and with greeat audio,pretty good dvd playback and multiregion this you should be buying this now!

Toshiba SDP71S- 7" Portable DVD Player with Carry Case

Good it is, a player for the car it isn't, 2008-09-27
I bought this DVD player to use by my daughter in the car and for myself while working away. The quality is first class with a rubber like covering on the outside of the top. The sound is excellent and combined with a screen that displays the colours in great depth, this was well worth the money. The only downside is that the bag is not designed to be used to hold the player in a car. when the top of the bag is open to watch the screen, the only thing which holds the player in place is a velcro strap which fastens across the loading lid. This means you cannot swap DVD's without removing the player from the bag. If you want a quality DVD player, this stills makes an excellent purchase.

Philips DVP5990/05 - HDMI 1080p DivX Ultra DVD Player

• Contents: Standard - PAL, NTSC / Compatible Media - DVD+R/+RW, DVD-R/RW, CD-R/RW Picture CD, Kodak Picture CD / Removable recording supports - No / Internal hard drive - No / Integrated Audio Decoder - MP3, Dolby Digital, PCM, WMA / Video Out - Progressive component video output Digital coaxial output HDMI socket USB port / Audio Out - G/D analogue audio output / Scart Adapter - Yes / Included Accessories - Remote control / Dimensions (mm) - 435 x 38 x 210
• Weight (kg) - 1.4
• Other - Parental control Child lock 1080p video oversampling Progressive scan

Everything i needed, 2008-11-22
I wrote this review to justify this item's overall rating, as its 1 star right now due to the guy below (or above me) whining about the place he ordered it from (Pixmania), and not getting a UK plug and ultimatley putting off prospective buyers.

Right, i'll make it quick.

The DVD player just works, as any should now days straight out of the box. Simple scart lead (not provided so get a spare) into your TV and power cord into wall. If you want a little extra quality through the HDMI connection, and you have a HDTV then use a HDMI cable (also not provided).

I havent used the upscaling feature yet so i cant comment but as with most, it wont be a big step up from DVD, for the true high def experience you need HD content. But for £63 i dont mind my DVDs being upscaled.

The DivX is great, i have a few films i have on my PC and i can now watch them on my TV anytime. Just copy the file onto a USB stick if its above 700mb and plug it into the players front port (usb 2.0 as well), and it plays smoothly off that (my usb stick is good quality, 1gb about £15 so i didnt notice any skipping, but could happen with cheaper drives). Or you can also just copy the file onto a blank CD using Windows copy to disc and it plays no prob on the player. You just navigate to the file using a folder tree system.

Overall 5 stars, did everything i wanted it too. Looks good, very slim. Simple to use interface menus, good price - recommended.

Sony DVPNS708 DVD Player with 1080 Up-scaling - Silver

Sony DVPFX720W - 7" Portable DVD Player

• Screen - 7" (18 cm)
• Region - Zone 2
• DivX/MPEG4 compatible - DivX
• Compatible media - Video DVD, audio CD, video CD, DVD-R/RW/R LD (video format), DVD-R/RW (VR format), DVD+R/RW/R DL, CD-R/CD-RW, JPEG, MP3, DVD-Text
• Video outputs - S-video output Composite video output Analogue stereo output Headphones socket USB port

It's a Sony...it does what it should do and does it well., 2008-10-24
I originally bought the Toshiba SDP71S from Amazon, but quickly returned it upon learning that it jumped/skipped with a great many home authored DVD's. The Shinco models looked good, but reading reviews it became apparent that they too struggled with various writeable media. So that left me with one choice as far as I was concerned - Sony - the brand you turn to if you want something to do the job well, and do it for many years without breaking.

The DVPFX720W (W for white) looked a class act the moment I took it from the box. Upon loading a disc I was surprised to notice that despite having the same 480x234 resolution as the Toshiba I had returned, it's display was 1000x better, and also better than the previous portable I had owned, a Bush model. The Sony's clarity, colour and contrast were all FAR superior to any 7inch player I had seen in action - perhaps because of the 12bit video DAC this player uses. The sound from the internal speakers was also better than the models I have used in the past as it utilizes a 96 kHz/24bit audio DAC, but like with any portable player, the small speakers pack relatively little bass...and the sound only ever comes into its own on these machines via the use of headphones - and with headphones, especially good quality ones, the sound is very powerful and bassy. DivX and Xvid playback was a dream - I loaded a DVD-RW with 3 DivX films and 3 Xvid films and the machine quickly loaded all six to allow me to choose which I watched first, and all played through without incident. The unit limits the name of DivX/Xvid files to 14 characters in length, but the Toshiba I returned limited them to only 8 characters...so that was also an improvement on what I'm used to. I then tried the full range of DVD+/-R/RW and all played back without incident...happy days! The battery EASILY makes its 5 hours advertised usage when you turn the backlight down and use headphones. The battery is also better than those with my previous players as it doesn't stick out of the back like a sore thumb, but rather attaches perfectly flat to the bottom of the unit...so as not to increase the overall footprint. Note that a five hour capacity takes a five hour charge.

As regards accessories, the Sony DVPFX720 comes with: A 5 hour Li-Poly battery, AC mains cable, 12v car cable charger, AV in/out cable and the obligatory remote control. No carry case/mounting straps or headphones like you get with some brands, but then again other brands don't put all the expense into the actual main device like Sony has here. [Note that Amazon sell portable DVD carry cases with car mounting straps if you really need one]. The outside white sections of the player are made of metal, and the gloss finish is utterly beautiful...quite what you'd expect from Sony. The embossed silver Sony logo on the top completes a very elegant look. On the side there are 2x headphone inputs, an optical audio out socket (optical mini jack adapter needed) and a switchable AV input/output socket. This will allow you to connect the player to a larger screen TV, or monitor output from your other AV devices on the player's small screen, depending on the player's input/output switch position. On the other side of the unit there is a USB input - sadly the manual only states that this is for MP3 and JPEG use....not for DivX files, which is a great shame, as that would have been incredibly handy. I will not be deducting points from the overall score for that, though, as the player's pluses far outweigh this one niggle - and I never even knew it had a USB input until I got it. Overall I think the player fully deserves its five shiny stars. Just buy it.....I can assure you, you will not regret it.

Philips DVP3980/05 - DVD Player with True High-Def HDMI 1080p

• Contents: Region - Zone 2 / Standard - PAL / DivX/MPEG4 compatible - Yes / Compatible Media - CD, CD-R/CD-RW, CD video/SVCD, DVD R/ RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD video, DivX MPEG-1, MPEG-2, JPEG Picture CD, Picture CD Kodak / Removable recording supports - No / Internal hard drive - No / Internal hard drive capacity (in GB) - - / Integrated Audio Decoder - MP3, Dolby Digital, PCM, WMA / Video Out - Progressive component video output Digital coaxial output HDMI output
• Video Out - Progressive component video output Digital coaxial output HDMI output
• Audio Out - Analogue G/D audio output
• Included Accessories - Remote control
• Dimensions (mm) - 360 x 37 x 210 mm

Total bargain!, 2008-11-07
I know this player lacks a couple of bells and whistles, such as USB or memory card inputs, but let us look at what it does have. Picture quality is amazing from the HDMI port on a HD ready TV. Video is handled by a 12bit video DAC and it is truly very nice. Audio is handled by a 24bit Audio DAC and the sound is wonderful too. 1080p and 720p scaled DVD's honestly look very clean, clear and flow well...which is the sign of a very capable scaling chip.

At first I fretted that the DTS logo was nowhere to be seen, and not mentioned in the manual either, but I was quickly relieved when I hooked it up via the coaxial digital output to my separate decoder to find that it passed through the 7.1 / 5.1 DTS bitstream without issue. So it seems that Philips merely cut a corner by not putting a DTS decoder inside...backed up by the fact that switching a disc's audio track to DTS results in muted TV speakers....but hey, DTS is a surround sound mode and if you crave it you will already have a DTS capable amp....so this is no big issue at all.

As regards connections it has: 1x HDMI, 1x Component, 1 RGB SCART, 1 pair of analog audio out sockets (RCA/phono) and 1x coaxial digital out socket. No Toslink/optical I'm afraid....but most amps have coaxial inputs and, at the end of the day, digital audio is digital audio. Philips have also kept the price down by including no free AV cable of any kind, which is commendable, as most people would prefer to buy their own as opposed to using the cheap things that come in the box. So the only accessory in the box is the rather nice looking remote control and 2 AAA batteries.

DivX playback was flawless....and the files were quickly loaded so I could tell that the 'engine' is pretty fast too. I should note that the first thing I did was to find the most beat up/scratched rewritable DVD-RW I could find for the DivX test....if a machine plays files off one of those you will know that it will not bother you in the future by being fussy over media. And I'm pleased to report that all the files played through fine. As did some old/scratched DVD-R and DVD+R discs authored as DVD-VIDEO. It seems this is one of those machines that never complains and spits out a disc over a few lousy marks (I should add that I look after my discs in general, I purposefully scratch a couple up for this test as it is a good way to spot laser over-sensitivity in a player). I should also add that this player is 'DivX Ultra©' certified... so it comes with extra menu, subtitle and audio features with its DivX playback, as opposed to standard DivX certified machines. This is a very nice feature.

Overall Philips have cut all the right cost corners and not sacrificed the important things to place this model as their entry level 1080p DivX DVD player - and to be totally honest it seems more like a midrange machine. If you require USB inputs and extra AV outputs, then look elsewhere....perhaps even Philips models above this one, but if you don't need these extras but still want DivX and upscaled output....you will not go wrong here. I personally have to commend Philips on this machine, as it does all I wanted from it, does it well, and came in at a bargain price. For that I give it five shiny stars.

Sony DVPNS708 DVD Player with 1080 Up-scaling - Black

• DVD player
• 1080p Dvd Upscaling
• CDR/RW playback
• VCD/SVCD playback
• DVD-R playback

Sony do it yet again., 2008-11-18
This has a great picture and really good sound. I've only had a few hours but this product is good. There are a few tiny little moans. The first is that even though it says i can work my TV from the remote vie a code, it just doesn't work. ( MY Tv being a LG LCD). The front is a bit basic but I like that but some won't.....Tiny things but all in all, its agreat DVD Player....

Sony RDR-HXD995 250GB Hard Disc Drive DVD Recorder

• Contents: Region - Zone 2 / Standard - PAL, SECAM / DivX/MPEG4 compatible - Yes / Compatible Media - DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD R, DVD RW, CD-R, DVD R DL, DivX, MP3, JPEG / Removable recording supports - DVD-R, DVD R, DVD-RW, DVD RW, DVD-R DL, DVD R DL / Internal hard drive - Yes / Internal hard drive capacity (in GB) - 250 / Integrated Audio Decoder - Dolby Digital 2.0 / Video Out - HDMI output S-Video output Component video output Composite video output
• Included Accessories - Remote control
• Dimensions (mm) - 430 x 288 x 76
• Weight (kg) - 4.7
• Other - Remote Control USB port DV iLINK input Built-in Freeview Tuner Block noise reduction Unwanted noise reduction Chasing playback Simultaneous play/record mode Pause Live TV

pleased with this, 2008-10-09
not long had this quite pleased with this not noisy plays back divx/xvids ok certain dvdr discs it dont seem to like setting up is a breeze epg can be a bit slow playback of dvds is excellent but i really would recomend this because the ease of setting it up to record to hdd and editing/timeslip features