Philips DVD Player with HDMI 1080p, USB and DivX Ultra
February 13, 2008 - By Guest Reviewer
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
Rate this review:
(8 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)
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Filed Under Audio/Visual, Featured Reviews, Home Entertainment, Philips
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Allen Taylor
It looks and sounds gorgeous … and the price isn’t bad either.
I’m in full agreement about having to watch video on a monitor - it would be so much nicer to flop onto the couch for my daily dose of entertainment.
I’ve an LG DVD recorder with a 400Gb HD with all the above features. I’ve had problems with some of my newer WMV movies where the video playback stops and starts (copied on DVD-R) and after much research and discussions with tech experts in LG UK they figured some of the newer Codec might not be compatible with the player. As I dont know what else can work as a last resort I’ve thought of connecting my PC to the TV to so I can bypass the recorder and playback the movies directly. The HDMI interface is fantastic and gives me much better quality playback on ordinary DVD’s.
Welcome Allen
Jasmine - looks like you’re becoming a regular here - good to see!!! But I’m with you anyway. Some people like watching on their laptops or PCs but I just can’t. This was the most expensive DVD Player at Hi-Fi corp when I bought it but hell I’m loving every minute of it.
Farooq - I haven’t really played WMV formats that much. My formats seem to be AVI mostly with some MPG files so I don’t know if this issue exists on my player. I love the idea though of your 400GB HD. That’s the only thing missing on mine I guess.
As a matter of interest, how much did you pay for the 400GB model?
Good deal for R699, paired with a reasonable priced projector and you have a dam nice home entertainment center.
The only issue though is that you don’t have any sound with that
Hi Justin,
I paid about R3K for it (sale price). On SP mode I get around 200+ hours of record time which aint bad. Its got touch sensitive controls and no buttons on the front which kinda neat and you just to touch the panel for it activate the controls. Very easy to setup and use, I’ve owned LG DVD players and recorders for some years now and I must say they are good value for money compared to say Sony which offers the same but is just a bit pricey.
Can you tell me the model number of this player? i have been looking for something like this for ages, and the price is grweat
Hi Henri - it is the Philips DVP5986K.
I bought it last night for R650, its not an ugly player, and so far its played all my video clips and movies i tried on it (even 3GP but it doesnt support the sound).
I noted that you can upgrade the software (my player has dvp5986_98.bin version) can anyone direct me to where to download the software?
You can download the upgrade software here: http://www.timesurl.at/a3d4cd
1. Extract the ZIP file and you’ll have a .BIN file
2. Burn the .BIN file to a CD
3. Power on the set and put in the disc.
4. A message will be displayed on the OSD after the upgrade file is recognized.
5. Follow the instruction displayed on the TV Screen – Press “OK†to upgrade
6. After reading the file, the disc will be ejected
7. Remove the disc, but DO NOT close the tray
8. Wait approximately 3-5 minutes for the software to be upgraded
9. The set will restart itself once the upgrade is completed.
10. Upon wake up, please perform a “Default reset†in the Preference page under setup menu.
11. Caution: Do not unplug or power off the set while upgrading in progress.
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Hello to all,
After I read you all comments posted here, I just want to share mine. I just brought the DVD player (LG-EX50, USB2.0 support) and one HDD 500GB Buffalo. First I try my dvd player with 1GB sony handy drive so that I can absolutely watch my movie (avi) on it. Then I try the HDD500GB, it doesn’t work in the beginning, so I just leave it with connection to the dvd player, after about 5 min, all of the folders in my HDD came on TV. So my conclesion is that if you want to connect the big size HDD, you may have to wait for some time till the HDD was scan by your DVD player, but if you use handy drive which is smaller it will be active on screen in a very short time. Hope this will help someone who interested to watch a lot of movie from your HDD on TV. Any comments are welcomed.
Regards,
Noppie
need help, cant get external hd to load thru usb on my phillips dvd player, it just goes to the usb main screen but noting loads…. any help?
Someone told me once, and i cant remember where, that to get the external HDD to load, you have to leave it plugged in for quite a while as the dvd player takes a lot of time to read it in the first place. i hope this helps
The USB drive should be FAT32 file system. If you have NTFS filesystem, it may not work.
Please check.
i bought this player and it didnt wanna detect my hard drive, i then discovered that it should be fat32 not ntfs. Gonna go home and try it now. Does anyone know if it plays mp4/mpeg4?
Indeed it does play MP4 video, i don’t know why though, but mp4 recordings when you use your mobile phone as video camera, it says something like invalid audio codec, but otherwise it plays MP4 very well
better get a2.5″ hdd player with divx facility they have tv out also.
so, u can practically play anything u can get one at cheap $20
or costly but better ones from tvix
Could you please tell me what is the meaning of all all region dvd. Should that be insisited on at the time of buying? For academic purpose what dvd recorder will be of use to a teacher