Customer Reviews

Philips DCP951/37 9-Inch Portable DVD Player with iPod Docking

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I picked one of these up. I was psyched about the iPod dock. A great idea and from what I can currently find, also a unique feature. No one else has a portable DVD with an iPod dock. At the time of purchase I was torn between this Philips model and the Sony FX820. I'm a big Sony fan but the iPod dock really had me.

I got it home and popped my iPhone into the slide out dock. After fidgeting with it for a couple of minutes I was watching a movie from my iPhone on the screen. Cool. But.....then I noticed. Unless you are looking at this player's screen head on, you can't see a damned thing. If you change the viewing angle just a bit, the LCD screen becomes nearly black. Unviewable. Very disappointing. To me, this one fault makes this player useless. It's a shame. The iPod dock feature is cool.

The unit does feel VERY plastic-y. Also, this is an open faced design. You can't close it up. The screen is always exposed. The DVD loads on the back of the unit too. Kind of clumsy.

On a positive note. The unit didn't seem affected by any cellphone GSM noise.

A cool idea but flawed by seriously poor image quality. I would recommend the Sony FX820. You can hook up an iPod or just about any external video source using a cable. The Sony is far superior in material, build quality and picture quality. Sorry Philips!

I have an iPod classic with 80 GB. I carry my music and a lot of movies with me to watch during my commute on a busy subway system. I wanted a bigger screen to watch my iPod movies. This thing has adapters for virtually all formats. I am going to throw out the others but am keeping the iPod classic and touch/iPhone ones. The built in speakers are not very good quality. The headphones produce good iPod sound pass through.

I am a bit disappointed at the SD card format support. The SD card can only have MP3 sound files or JPEG pictures. This thing also supports DivX. I am not sure how this works. I am not interested either. MPG4 movie does not play. I was planning to use this card feature some times.

The DVD is OK type. The DVD door is extremely flimsy. Mine is already showing signs of wear after one week! The battery drains a little faster when running the DVD drive to watch movies. I am planning to take my movies mostly on the iPod.

Flimsy design, poor video image quality, and no battery gauge that is why 3 stars. I am otherwise very happy and would recommend this product.

Most of the basics have been covered by other reviewers. The very basic stuff you know and expect has been given the proper attention.

However there are a few things about this unit that are just plain wrong or misleading.

-This unit CAN read movies from the memory card slot. DVD's encoded as AVI's can be read. With a smaller screen you'll want to scale down to less than half of the original DVD resolution (320 width on widescreen format), but the files will be recognized by the unit and can be played on it.

-The iPod dock will ONLY act as a conduit for movies that are compatible with the iPod on models that support movies. This means that unless you can load the video into iTunes and watch it on your iPod then it isn't going to work on the DVD player. The unit is simply taking the video stream from the iPod and putting it to the screen. It is NOT decoding the video at all.

-Movies encoded for the iPod and loaded onto a memory card can NOT be read by the unit. It will see the files but it will be read as an incompatible format.

-Movies in AVI format can be burned to a CD or DVD and read in the exact same manner as using a memory card.

-The entire "DivX functionality" is only with DivX versions 4 and 5 for encoding media. As the current DivX release is up to 7, well, you get the idea. The integration of the unit with this name brand is almost exclusively so that they could push customers to buy movies from DivX. Don't think that you need to use the DivX encoder to make video media for this. It's also quite possible that the unit might not read newer movies encoded with version 7 from the Divx site. Consider this a warning to stay away from the notion that DivX is necessary or really much of an option.

The bottom line is that this is quite a good dvd player. The screen has one of the best pictures I've seen and has enough expansion to not have many limitations to it. The iPod integration is nice, but unless you've dedicated a significant amounts of time and energy to moving media onto one, it shouldn't really be seen as a selling point.

Tried it, didn't like it. It's speakers are not powerful enough. The plastic of the disc door and tray are too flimsy. The curved shape of the case makes it nearly impossible to use the (also flimsy) stand. The unit gets too hot, it would be uncomfortable in your lap. The remote doesn't work more than a few feet from it and then only when you're facing straight to it. All in all, it's a neat idea just not very well executed.

This is a solid system for watching DVDs and iPod videos. Haven't tried the SD card yet, but the quality for DVDs and the iPod is excellent.
The only problem I had was using the controls on the system itself for fast forwarding iPod video. They were pretty clunky. However, if you use the remote control, there is no issue. All in all, it is well worth the money for people who enjoy videos on the go.

(I use an iPod Touch) This device is a great idea but it really seems like it was rushed to market. The materials are light plastic which gives it a very cheap feel. It is light weight though. The controls are not as integrated as you would expect. For example, you have to open the iPod bay to turn on movies and route the video to the large screen. Something that you half-expect to be able to do automatically. The buttons on the device don't seem to consistently control the iPod at all, so again you have to open the iPod bay to change movies etc. The screen is large and seems o.k. although the resolution isn't super-high quality. Speakers seem o.k. The lack of an integrated stand is just plain silly though. I have a Logitech mm50 ipod speaker docking station with exactly the integrated stands that this thing needs. Maybe they really just added the iPod docking station as an afterthought which would make sense. As a consumer, though, you see the iPod dock and think "oh, cool, they made something for the iPod to interface with seamlessly". Nope.

Day 1: Okay, first, out of the box it contains: the unit, 12v car charger, Wall plug, AV cable, and a Neoprene cover (still glad I got the XDS-9 Neoprene DVD Player Case (Blue) anyway)

Unit: Controls are just fine. I don't know what everyone is complaining about. The kickstand is right next to the dvd player and holds the unit just fine. The screen does go funny when you look at it from below. But left, right and above, it's fully visible at all angles. Front controls: menu, play/pause, directional arrows with ok in center, fwd and rev. These all do different things depending on the mode your in. They let you navigate the screen when in ipod and SD mode, and they are the DVD controls in disk mode. The right side is the iPod dock, the top has source, monitor, and power buttons as well as the DVD release. The DVD door opens in back, the spindle holds the disc firm. Left side: dual earphone jacks, AV in, AV out, volume wheel and SD card slot; plus power.

iPod: Okay, the dock allows you to slide your ipod inside the unit and control everything (except photos) from the main screen: movies, playlists, podcasts, etc. It defaults to widescreen so you have to hit the monitor button to see them right. But it seems to function completely in all modes. It comes with cradle adaptors for different ipods and the remote fits in the iPod Touch cradle as though it were made for it.

DVD: plays nice, use either the front controls or the remote. Seems fully functional. Played my home burned DVD nicely. Add the AV cable and it outputs to a larger screen perfectly.

SD: I recorded a movie clip with my still camera and tried to play it. No sound. Oh well, I didn't really need sound anyway for my purposes, but clearly there are some file compatibility issues that will frustrate some folks.

Overall, yes, it feels light and cheesy, but it's well thought out, and works pretty much as advertised. Plus being able to present DVDs, iPod movies, even photo slideshows makes this a steal. It's the perfect sidekick to my Pod for on-the-fly presentations.

Works well with my video I-Pod and is a handy small size with a larger screen than many portable DVD players. The stand and DVD door are a little flimsy but as long as you treat it with the appropriate respect that any electronic item should be treated it is not a problem. Might not be good for younger children who might be a little too rough on it for the DVD door. The sound is good for a portable device and the picture quality is excellent. All in all it is a good player for the cost and is very handy if you like to enjoy DVDs or IPOD videos on the go.

I got the Philips DCP951/37 dvd player & ipod doc. Let me just say that I LOVE IT! I hooked my Ipod Touch to it right away & it worked beautifully. Then I tried the dvd player & it ran quietly & crystal clear. Just remember to take the paper out of the dvd player before you turn it on.

I was nervous about how one review said the screen was distorted if you weren't viewing head-on, but the only time you can't see the screen is when it's lying flat down & you're trying to watch the screen from a bottom angle. Now, I don't watch tv that way so that's not an issue for me. I'm so glad I decided to see for myself!

Anyway, I set up the player by standing it up on a flat surface & against a wall, like you would normally watch a tv. I can view it from far left to far right without any distortion, like a regular tv. So if you're trying to watch it with a group of people/kids, nobody should have a distorted view. I even stood up & looked down on it & still it wasn't distorted. It's only distorted if you try to view it from the bottom of the screen looking upward & I don't know anyone that watches tv like that, so it shouldn't be an issue. The remote also works great! The speakers are normal for a portable player & I'm probably going to invest in portable surround sound speakers for it. It also comes with attachments to hook it into a tv, which is useful if you have a bigger tv around to view. I can't find one thing I don't like about it! It's an asset to our Ipod Touch!!!

I think it's a terrific deal for the price! If you get this device, you won't be dissappointed! It does everything it's supposed to & with no issues. If I ever see this on clearance I'm going to stock up on a few so I have backups. It's going on EVERY vacation with us! Wonderful device & would be even better if they made a bigger screen version(like a 15 inch screen) for family viewing!

I expected more, especially at this price point. My chief complaints are with the stand and the picture. The stand works great on a flat surface, but if you are not at a table or something sturdy (like in the car) it has to be held or propped. The picture is not so defined. Not good for sharing, you have to have just the right angle to get the most from the picture which is less than desirable at any angle. Would not have bought this one had I been able to test it first.