Customer Reviews

Philips PET1000 10.2-Inch Portable DVD Player

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I researched and tested portable DVD players for quite some time, wanted no less than a 9" screen and couldn't justify the expense of a quality laptop PC w/a DVD drive. It came down to the Panasonic DVDLS90 9" or the Phillips PET1000 10.2". I decided on & purchased the Phillips based on multiple online reviews and hands-on experience with both at the local electronics superstore. My comments:

The Pros:

1) EXCELLENT picture in all respects, best in the portable DVD world. Resolution/sharpness, response time, color accuracy, etc. is the best I've seen. The Panasonic had a TERRIBLE picture (non-progressive) that artifacted badly especially with animated material and was considerably less sharp and color accurate.

2) Handy slimline remote that does everything except load the disc and order the pizza.

3) All the cables you'll need (AV-RCA, Component vid, S-vid, Cig lightr cord, ac/dc cord). The Panasonic only came with AC & Cig lightr cords.

4) Overall sexy & high-end looking slimline player 10.2"W x 1.2H x 7.1"D (w/batt: 10.2W x 2"H at back x 8.5"D) The Panasonic unit is only slightly smaller (9.3"W x 2.06"H x 7.31"D) and has a smaller screen.

5) Plays multiple formats as listed in specs, but interestingly enough WILL also play a CDr filled with JPEG images despite reviews on other sites to the contrary (CNET.com). In fact, the unit has an image viewing menu that allows you to display thumbnails and view slide shows. The only drawback is that it will only display filenames up to 10 characters in the old Windows-style file reader, not a really big deal. NOTE: does not recognize avi, bmp, pcx, wav, wma, & wmv files.

The Cons:

1) DISSAPOINTING BATTERY: a) 3 flimsy plastic clips in a row that hold batt pack to player will take NO punishment before snapping off. b) When attached, batt sticks out 2" beyond back of player & 1" below. c) Batt life is rated 2.5hrs, I've averaged about 3hrs with brightness/volume set to mid levels. You'd expect a higher capacity batt with such a nice player. d) long recharge time.

2) Personal Pet Peeve: when playing any recorded disc that has multiple viewing angles (ex: The Vandals - Live at the House of Blues), there is a small but distracting angle icon that appears at the upper rt side of the screen. After some frustration & a useless conversation with a useless Phillips CS rep somewhere in India? who advised me to return the unit for repair (wrong), I found the answer on Phillips website: the icon cannot be turned off when playing a multi-angle disc, so be warned.

3) Some functions (slo-mo) are only accessible by remote so don't lose it. Also hard to read the remote buttons in average/poor light.

4) No included carry case, no handle on the unit.

5) You must press on the disc door near the "open" button in order to latch it, otherwise it won't stay shut.

6) Somewhat noisy drive mechanism during startup & when accessing chapters, but only a slight hum when it counts like when watching a movie. A minor con.

Other reviews have knocked the sound quality. I'm somewhat of an audiophile and have no problem with the quality from this unit. You won't either if your expectations are realistic about the sound that should come out of portable DVD players. Although the Phillips has some annoying design flaws mainly with the battery, it wins in my book because of the unequalled quality of its 10.2" picture, ease of use, cool remote & styling. An extra aftermarket or higher capacity Phillips (when available) batt pack should solve any playing time issues with you international travellers. Get a high-quality padded case and carry it around with the battery detached. I recommend this player for anyone that takes good care of their stuff, values an extremely high quality picture, decent sound and mutiple connectivity choices. This player is not for the kids in the back seat of the soccer mom SUV. Get them a 7" Mintek or Coby. You'll be less angry when they spill their Coke on it.

I purchased this DVD player from Circuit City abour 3 months ago. My intention was to watch DVD movies in my hotel room during my endless trips abroad on business.

The other reviewers have nicely summarized the detailed features on this player. I would like to affirm that I did an exhaustive review of all the current players and found that this one offered the best picture quality, progressive scan output and component video. It can therefore double as a DVD player with the output connected to a good hotel room TV.

Unfortunately most hotel room TV's do not have component video inputs and that is the main reason why I returned this player back to Circuit City and got a Sony Vaio laptop instead. The laptop has a larger screen and I just watch movies on it (no connection to hotel TV's).

I might add that the Vaio laptop blows away any portable DVD player on the market including this one when it comes to picture quality. However, I must emphasize that this is not a fair comparison as the laptop costs $1500 versus $335 for this player.

I still regret not having this little player with me any more. It is much more easily transported than the laptop and I would not have worried about having it stolen as much. It has a beautiful form factor and the battery seemed liked it would last 2-3 hours easily.

I took one star away because the speakers are really weak. You will need to use headphones or buy a pair of portable speakers. I have some active portable speakers from Sony that offer quite good bass sound that you need for action movies.

By the way, I still have a portable Sony FX-700 that I reviewed here 3 years ago. The Sony is going strong despite some considerable abuse from my eight-year old. I have also owned 2 Mintek's and they conked out in less than 6 months - not nearly as kid resistant!

All in all, this Phillips unit is a really good buy if you are in the market for a portable DVD player. Buy this player - it is a quality product.

I purchased this about 3 weeks ago after doing a great deal of reseach on portable DVD players. So far, so good. The picture is great and the sound (a problem with a lot of portables) works well without earphones (surround sound) and great with earphones (I use the same Apple sound reduction ear phones that I use with my IPOD). I primarily use it while on a plane and have been very pleased with the ease of operation. They say the battery lasts 2-1/2 hours at low monitor light but I have not used it that long (it takes about 2 1/2 hours to recharge). It's so new (mine was manufactured in June 2005) that Philips is not selling extra batteries yet, which would be required for long trips. Also, I did get an extended warranty from Circuit City because the Philips warranty is only 90 days. My cable/internet went out the other day, so we just watched a movie on the DVD - another good reason to have one!

After researching several portable DVD player I decided to purchase the Phillips PET1000 10.2 Portable DVD Player and have been very pleased with this purchase. The is hands down the best picture of any of the available portable DVD players. The battery is a bit bulky but not a problem. The remote is great. The sound from the speakers is adequate but then you don't expect home theater quality sound in a portable player. Overall, this is an excellent product. At the current price this is an excellent deal and I would highly recommended it to anyone looking for a quality portable DVD unit.

I read with interest some of the complaints about wide screen (anamorphic) on this unit. It was a simple option in the setup menu to change from 16:9 to 4:3. There is even a setting for Letter Box and non-Letter Box.

After that my first of two complaints is that the contrast ratio, I think, could be better. However, that said, the picture is definitely the best in this class.

I read numerous reviews of this and the Panasonic LS-90 and also compared them side-by-side and the PET 1002 has a superior picture with much better resolution.

The battery issue still needs to be addressed by Phillips. I agree with other reviewers that a unit in this price range should have a longer run time and more substantial attachment points. I'm not an industrial design engineer but it would seem a simple matter to reverse the attachment points so the battery would fit under the unit instead of sticking out behind it where it is subject to shock and possible breakage.

The transport mechanism on my unit I found to be exceptionally loud. I'm not sure if they are all that way or not but this was a bit annoying. However, if the unit were to be used as I would expect to in most cases with headphones this should not be a large issue.

One nice feature is that the unit accepts external video and audio inputs so it can also be used as a monitor. We will be using it in a configuration where this will be very helpful.

I picked up this player two days ago. Unfortunately, I had to return it once because the latch mechanism on the DVD lid broke. I think it was defective from the start because the replacement one is solid, but make sure you hold the button in as you close the lid and then release it to ensure the same does not happen to you.
Otherwise, I own another philips regular DVD player (dvp-642) and love it to death. As with that player, this player and it's 10.2" screen has a very crisp image that rivals many big LCD/plasma screens, great contrast and clarity for a portable player. Also, this kit comes with every cable you would need. It has A/V cables, Componants cables (yes, this is progressive scan), s-video, lighter adapter, AC adapter, the only thing it doesn't come with is a little set of earbuds and a case. Yes, the battery does take 5-7 hours to charge, and the battery life is only about 2.5-3 hours depending on your contrast settings. The DVD player is quiet during play, and does make some noises on menus and startup, but this is fairly standard with any player. My brother has a toshiba 8.5inch and it is louder during playback. This model does not have a 5-in-1 drive for memory cards like the Toshiba and some other models, but thats ok, It's 10.2 high quality inches. I have seen no problems with the "anamorphic" picture that another reviewer stated. Also, the remote is very small and thin, and the color schemes make it hard to read, especially if low light. I was gunshy to get another player like this one because of the latch mechanism, but one of the big chain stores had this player on clearance for $175, and I just can't even get close to this quality of a product otherwise for that price. You just can't beat the picture quality, it rivals any LVD/plasma tv, and it is a progressive scan player, so you can connect it to an outside TV and see this as well. An outstanding product, one minor flaw to watch.

After much comparison this was the best Portable DVD player in the price range, even when compared to more well know brands as Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sony. It had the best picture, sound and clean design. I would highlt recommend this item.

Overall I find this unit to be very good. I also agree with most of the other reviews. However I wanted to add a con not mentioned in the other reviews. On my unit the DVD's have to be perfect in order to play. Any small scratch that would still be playable on your main DVD player or your laptop will not play on this unit. It will simply hang up and not play.Buffing the DVD with a repair kit will not help. I had to resort to making a copy of the DVD in order to play with this unit. I suggest looking over your DVD's carefully. If any have a scratch dont expect it to play.

This is an excellent dvd player, have had it for 3 months now, no problems except for the very first unit I purchased, which the door latch broke on the second day, quickly returned and has been fine since. I picked this up on clerence for about half of what the low price is now online. The external sound is a little soft, and the unit is a bit noisier than my toshiba, but the picture and output connections make up for this. The large screen and great colors on 480p are great. The Output to my tv if i hook it up works flawless. Also the DIVX and plays all really does play all. Worth a look, but a little on the to high of price if you pay more than 200 bucks for. If you spend the asking 270 or more for this unit, you may as well start looking at low end notebook computers with dvd, more bang for the buck!!

It has a wider screen which is very good for viewing.Sounds are good, not scattered or dull to the ears.Features are easy to understand, not complicated.