Picture this scenario: you have a friend who knows a guy who knows a girl who owns a 300GB hard drive with a collection of pirated movies and TV series. When you eventually get your fingers dirty and succumb to copying some of these goodies off the monster drive you realise that not only have you never seen file formats like this before but you also have no idea how to play them on anything other than your computer.

This exact scenario has played out numerous times in the last 12 months for me and I’m not a fan of watching video on a computer screen. In the past I used to convert all these files to iPod format and play it on my TV (via my iPod) but ever since I got my iPod Touch (and later my iPhone) I realised that there was no way to play video through my TV. Apple have cunningly prevented most third-party video cables from unlocking the hidden TV-out on all their latest iPods. Buggers.

In December I figured it was probably time to invest in a DivX DVD player so I headed off to Hi-Fi Corporation to see what I could find. As I knew nothing about DivX I figured I could just spend a couple hundred Rand on an el cheapo but I was sadly mistaken. Most of these pirated videos are converted with the DivX codec which allows for smaller file sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality and what I learnt through the salesman is that there are multiple DivX formats.

So, out of the 30 odd DVD players on offer at Hi-Fi Corp only one of them could play all DivX formats. The Philips DVP5986K DVD Player is a DivX Ultra player which means it can play all DivX formats (3.11, 4.x, 5.x and 6.x).

Coupled with this the DVD player features an HDMI connection (cable not included) allowing you to hook it up to your high-definition TV for superior playback quality. Depending on your HDTV the DVD player can output from 480p up to the max of 1080p.

This all sounds very impressive but seeing as I don’t own an HDTV and I couldn’t really care what DivX formats I’m using I was only interested in whether or not it would play AVI and MPEG file formats. Looking through some of the detailed specs I noticed that not only can it play these file formats but also MP4, MP3, WMA, WMV, JPEG and TIFF to name a few.

It plays any format of CD or DVD but the best feature is the USB port in the front of the player. I have a 4GB USB flash drive which I find so much easier to copy a video to and play straight from the device. Surprisingly there is no lag from playing videos from the USB port and I guess it’s because it supports both USB 1.1 and USB 2.0.

Don’t think the functionality ends there either! For musically inclined people, I’m not one of them, there is a Karaoke option as well. Simply pop in your favourite Karaoke disk, plug your microphone into the available jack and you’re as good as the next Celine Dion.

A fascinating option in this DVD player is the ability to rent and purchase movies using the DivX Video on Demand (VOD) service from the Internet. I’ve personally never explored this option before and I’m curious to know if it even works in South Africa but the basic concept is that you enter a VOD registration code into the DVD player’s menu and then you use that same code to rent and purchase movies online. Once you’ve made a purchase you download the software, burn it to a DVD and it will play on this device according to the rental or purchase agreement you have in place.

If bandwidth capping wasn’t such a major issue I’d try this service out today however, I think I’ll wait until internet access becomes a little more affordable first.

The Philips DVD player is a monster of a machine and is one of my best investments of 2007. I’ve never seen a DVD player that can do so much and the time it has saved me in converting video was well worth the purchase price.

Date Purchased: December 2007
Price Paid: R699
Store: Hi-Fi Corporation