Customer Reviews

Philips PET1002 10.2-Inch Portable DVD / DivX Player

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This is an item I never expected to want or own. However, it turns out that I need one at work from time to time and it is a nice thing to have while traveling by air - as an alternative to darkened cabins while the airline shows trimmed versions of films I have either already seen or have already decided not to see at all. I am delighted with this Philips player.

Perhaps over-compensating for past criticisms when I have commented on and listed various technical features of devices (and cars), I will focus this review, entirely, on my subjective experience with this machine.
Firstly, the screen is considerably larger than most other available portable DVD players. At 10.2" measured diagonally it is among the largest currently available. It comes with a full range of accessories in the box including a rechargeable battery that is said to hold enough power to play the machine for a full 5 hours - about twice the time of it's most immediate predecessor, the PET1000. It also comes with an AC connector and a car-plug adaptor. The soft case it delivers with can be unfolded so as to convert into a seat-back car holder for those who might want to provide a child in the back seat with some entertainment. The remote, though VERY small - credit card size- is full functioned and clearly marked.

It took me a grand total of ten minutes to unpack it and, glancing at the multi-language many-folded - hard to read directions began to view a DVD I had handy.
The controls are well marked and highly intuitive. Onscreen indicators respond to the controls when adjustments are being made - much as a television set when altering color, brightness and yes, even screen size! This last feature is particularly important as I have noticed that some DVD players and some TVs present everything in widescreen format, whether filmed that way or not. This player allows the option of widescreen or traditional ratio viewing. As all of my home made movies are NOT in widescreen, I can watch them on this player without the awful distortion that widescreen-only screens and players can cause to movies and TV shows. Speaking of TV, I forgot to mention that included in the box is ALSO the necessary cabling to connect the player directly to your TV.
The picture quality is honestly brilliant and I only tooled very slightly with the default settings it delivered with to obtain a picture that rivals my good quality TV.

On the downside, I would mention only the built in sound - which is, by any standard, tinny, thin and too soft to be useful in any but the most private and quiet situations. If you are not sitting alone in a closet or at the kitchen table at 3:AM while everyone else in the house is sleeping, you will need a headset or ear buds. Any standard size set will work with this player. There are two earphone outlets, however, and trying them both - each independently and then together with varying quality headsets/plugs yielded sound that was more than adequate.

The pricing for the relatively new model vary widely from the list of around $400. to the $245. Again, this is my first player and maybe I am just too easy to please - but excepting only the sound, I find no flaws.
To top it off, it is attractively silver finished on the outside and matte black within. If you're out there shopping around for a decent sized screen portable DVD player, check this one out. I don't think you will be disappointed,

After shopping around for a portable DVD player, I bought the Philips PET1002. Its screen size and quality are unmatched and the features included in such a small package are incredible.

The 10.2 inch screen is arguably the best thing about the DVD player. The LCD features a crisp display and offers amazing clarity. The Philips PET1002 has the best display of any portable DVD player that I have ever seen and will not disappoint.

Philips claims up to 5 hours of battery life and, while I didn't get that much, I did get a little over 4.5. Not bad for a portable DVD player with a 10.2 inch screen. Extra batteries are available to order directly from Philips if you require more juice on the go.

What really sets this portable apart from the competition are the DVD player's included extra features, my favorite of which is the DVD player's ability to output video via *included* component video cable. If you have a TV with component inputs, this will allow you to connect the Philips PET1002 and watch a video in 480p.
(The device also comes with a regular RCA cable and an S-Video cable for use with "older" television sets.)

The built-in speakers of the PET1002 are like those of any other portable DVD player: quiet and forgettable. I always use the DVD player with noise-canceling headphones (I recommend the Shure E2C or E3C personally) anyway so this doesn't really bother me, but this may annoy some users.

Unfortunately, the Philips PET1002 is not without it flaws and setbacks. The most annoying is the unit's loud DVD drive. After inserting a disc and waiting for it to load, the DVD player sounds like a jet taking off from a runway. Fortunately, I only notice the noise when first loading a disc, and not while a DVD is playing. A minor setback, but annoying nontheless.

Also cumbersome is the power adapter. It seems that companies spend a lot of time developing a great product but shortchange with the power cords. The power adapter is bulky at the end, which makes it difficult to plug into a wall or surge protector that has more than one thing already plugged into it. The added bulk also makes packing the power adapter more of a challenge. I wish it had been designed more like Apple's laptop power adapters.

Despite these two frustrating hindrances, the PET1002 is well worth the money and beats anything else currently on the market. Highly recommended.

PROS:
-----

1.) Best screen quality of any portable DVD player out there
2.) Component video out (480i or 480p)
3.) Includes remote, carrying case, automobile case (for "mounting" the DVD player on a seat) and car power adapter
4.) Good battery life

CONS
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1.) DVD drive is loud when first loading a DVD
2.) Power adapter is bulky and poorly designed

I was looking for a larger screen portable dvd player. I have a 7 inch screen and found it to be too small to enjoy the subtle details of a movie. I researched several dvds on different sites and discovered the philips 1002. According to cnet.com, philips 1002 is an excellent product. The colors and the sharpness of the picture are terrific and the sound with a headphone is quite enjoyable. The controls are user friendly and the dvd player very portable. I am very happy with this product and found my movies to be an enjoyable experience.

I can't speak to those who have had technical issues because mine has functioned flawlessly. That being said, I've had to replace two ipods but they are still the best out there, same goes for the PET1002. So, who gives two rat craps about the manual?? It is fairly user frindly and I was up and running right out of the box in minutes. If you need a manual to use this thing Im betting on two things, 1) You still use a VCR, and 2) the clock on it blinks 12:00. You also probably need the directions that come on shampoo and pop-tarts. If you are savvy enough, internet wise, to write an online review you should have realized you can get a pdf of the manual on the philips website and read and zoom till your hearts content. Scanning and enlarging?? There is so much wrong with that I don't know where to start. As for the player itself, yes the motor is a bit noisy, but no more so than most portables I've used, so just dont fire it up in church or in the babies crib. The speakers are small, tinny, and not very loud. If you want this thing to weigh 20lbs and come with a subwoofer, you are an idiot. Thats why there are HEADPHONE JACKS, which are plenty loud enough for all but artillery veterans. If you and your four kids can't hear the speakers WHILE ON A PLANE its because the other passengers have stuffed you in an overhead bin for being so inconsiderate. Thats like bringing a boombox on a bus, people will hate you at best and possibly punch you in the face. Also, do you complain that your car doesn't come with a blender, NO! So, don't buy a portable DVD for the whole family to watch, its not a frickin home theatre. You wouldn't buy a portable cd player for the whole family to listen too, or maybe you would, some people are a bit stupid. The screen is beautiful, very crisp, no dead pixels or screen door effect. Great contrast with plenty of adjustment range. The black levels can be a bit washed out but thats typical of all LCD screens, but this one pulls off dark sceens nicely. If you are shopping for the kids buy a cheapo, heck buy three for the price of this one, because kids couldn't care less about video/audio quality. Buying the PET1002 for children is like buying Barney on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I have achived over 5hrs of playback before getting the battery warning light. By far the best i've found and amazing for a player with a screen of this size! Also this will play most video files you have on your computer. Load all those naughty mpgs from you compter onto a CD-R and this guy will play them! I haven't tried playing shows burned from itunes yet. If you want the-absolute-best video quality available, lots of flexability, and are gadget wise enough to run a toaster without needing a g.d. manual, get one of these, awesome product!

This Philips 10.2" screen unit is replacing my Polaroid 8" screen player that I have handed down to my son. The Polaroid unit was a good player for the price ($150.00), but the Philips (at a price tag of $289.00) was a definite step up. I have only been using the Philips player for about a week now, but I will address issues with this player in previous reveiws.

QUALITY---Looks and feels solid

BATTERY LIFE---Excellent, well over 4 hours of play on one charge

BATTERY SIZE AND PLACEMENT---A little awkward, If careless it could break off. Not a deal breaker for me since I treat my equipment with kid gloves anyway.

PICTURE QUALITY---The best you will find in a portable unit!

NOISE AT START UP---There is some noise, but I did not find it to be as bad as other reveiws stated.

SPEAKER VOLUME---Not an issue with me since I use headphones. Why would anyone use a portable DVD player without headohones anyway?

UNIT CONTROLS AND REMOTE---I found that the controls on the unit and the remote are very easy to use, unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years and are challenged by electronic equipment.

10.2" SCREEN---In my mind, I never thought the difference between a 8" screen and a 10" screen would make much difference. I WAS WRONG! The bigger screen was well worth the extra investment.

MULTI-FORMAT PLAYER---This bad boy plays just about anything.

EXTRAS---Comes with everything you need to watch movies anywhere, anytime.

PRICE---A little expensive, but worth every penny. If you pay for a cheaper unit, that is exactly what you will get---a cheaper unit!

PHILIPS WARRANTY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE---To early to tell. I hope I never have to use either one.

In closing, any negatives about this unit was not enough for me to back away from the 5 star rating at this time. As for the player's longevity, time will tell.

I bought the Philips PET1002 portable DVD player a few weeks ago after reading all the great reviews on it.

BAD THINGS:
One thing I find really annoying with this player is the intermittent HIGH PITCH noise that occurs when playing a backup DVD-R/+R disc. If you have a pair of headphones on, you will not notice it; however, if you are playing it without headphones, it's a different story.

The PET1002 intermittently supports DVD+R DL (dual layers). It does not support this format officially, according to the PET1002 data sheet.

Another thing I find REALLY annoying is the awful noise the player makes at the very beginning when you are loading a DVD, regardless if it is an original dvd movie or a backup dvd-r/+r. The sound seems like it's coming from the lens assembly adjusting itself back and forth??

Besides that, the PET1002 does not have any internal memory to resume a playback of a movie once the player have been turned off. The only way to resume a playback is to leave the power on and hit the STOP button. It would have been nice to allow the movie to resume even AFTER you power it off...just like how most dvd players nowadays behave.

Lastly, when you select NEXT CHAPTER or PREVIOUS CHAPTER, there is a noticable LAG time before the chapter appears. This is not a common behavior among portable DVD players. There are other brands which advances quicker!!


GOOD THINGS:
I was really surpised at how much accessories came with the player. Unlike other brands, Philips included TWO bags (one for carrying and one for strapping on behind a headrest in a car), 3 cables (RCA, Component, and SVideo), and the typical remote, battery, and AC adapter.

Another thing I was really impressed about is the beautiful 10.8" LCD screen. It is brighter, sharper, and smoother than many competitors model.

Lastly, the battery is 5 hours!!!!!!!! :)

SUMMARY:
In all, the PET1002 has a very beautiful screen, comes with a lot of accessories that most other brands do not come with, and the battery can last for 5 hours. Unfortunately, this is not enough to overcome the functionality problems - high pitch noise, unable to read dual layer discs, lag in chapter advances, unable to resume movie after power has been turned off.

Would I recommend this model to anyone? Ummmm...not likely. Being that the PET1002 is suppose to be a high end top of the line dvd player, I was very disappointed at all the setbacks.


As a recommendation to others

I just got the PET 1002 as a gift. I didn't really think I had much of a use for it because I have a home DVD player, don't travel that much, and don't have kids. When I found out that it played DivX files (Mpeg4) and could play files burned to CD and DVD R/RW ... that intrigued me. I had a couple of shows/movies on my home computer and burned the "AVI" files directly to a DVD (-R) then popped in the DVD to the portable player and it brought up an "explorer" type menu screen and I could select the file and play it. Worked GREAT! No problems with the files and I could hook it up to my tv and watch the files on my home tv. Sound was great and the picture quality on the unit was great too. The unit came with all the cords necessary to hook up to the tv, and comes with a small remote control as well. The menu on the unit even has the sub-option to select the appropriate screen ratio (wide screen or letterbox). So far so good on the unit.

I bought the Philips PET1002 portable DVD player for my trip to the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and came away impressed.

I first used it on the 1000 mile 2 day drive over to Utah. The unit comes with a car adapter so I didn't have to use the battery. My only problem was direct sunlight on the screen but that's expected with virtually all portable DVD players.

I put the unit to the test while waiting in the long movie lines. Here's my take on it:

* Large screen/pixel amount - The large 10.2" screen is quite nice. Coupled with a screen that's 800 by 480 pixels, the image is sharp. I had people watching it over my shoulder on many occasions.

* Long battery life - I was getting around 6 hours on a single charge. I only had it run out of battery life a couple of times.

* Anti glare screen - While direct sunlight was a problem, I got no glaring reflections indoors. Overhead lights mostly showed up as a dull blur.

* No remote control needed - I really liked the fact that all the major buttons you'll use were on the player. If you need to change the audio channel, all that stuff can be accessed through the menu. I only used the remote for the first few days then let it collect dust the rest of the time.

* Durability of the unit itself - I kept it in the carrying case it came with the whole time but that bag got tossed around quite a bit. I never directly dropped it from a high level but it did get kicked around and bounced off of numerous things like metal railings.

* Region Free - While not immediately region free, it can be changed through a hack that's available online. (just google philips dvd region hack. you'll find it)

* The Extras - It comes with just about everything you'll ever need for it except an extra battery. Lot's of cables for both input/output signals, car & wall adapters, remote control, carrying case, plus other stuff.

THE BAD:

* No memory retention - If you shut the unit completely down it won't remember where you stopped a movie. While annoying it wasn't a show stopper for me.

* Battery attachment - I treat my electronics well but I would be a bit concerned with a child running around with the battery attached to the unit. While it doesn't feel too flimsy, it does flex enough for me to want to put a 'handle with care sticker' on it.

* External speakers - I found the external speakers lacking in sound level. In a large crowd it was hard to hear. The levels were good for headphones though.

* Color controls - There's no controls for RBG levels. While the screen was good I guess I'm spoiled with having color level control on my HD LCD TV.

Overall I really liked the unit. It's a little bit heavy but not so bad that it hindered me. The loud startup noise wasn't as bad as I've read either. Also no dead pixels after close to 60 hours of use so far.

while the unit was a bit pricey for me, I couldn't put a price tag on boredom it saved me from. last year I played my Sony PSP so much at the festival I got tendinitis and I wasn't about to go through that again!

I purchased this as a replacement for a truly awful store brand one we got from that big yellow and blue box store. Their house brand of portable players is simply horrible.

The Philips has a big, generous and bright screen with good resolution. Even downloaded DivX files or files played off my iPod through the A/V input look pretty good. It recognizes every home-burned DVD I have thrown at it, +R, -R and RW as well. I've played all sorts of DivX files with it, and only rarely does it have trouble with one.

Drawbacks - all that screen real estate eats battery. Battery life is not good with this player. If you're lucky you get two hours. Also, the screen could be better, frankly. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but there's always a faint ghosting of the actual space between pixels during bright scenes. Other players have this so bad as to be unwatchable, the Philips really isn't that bad, but it's not perfect, so no 5 stars. Last drawback is the remote - it's a very thin, non-backlit remote that is virtually useless in the dark. You'd be better off getting a super-cheap learning remote and teaching it all the commands.

If you take trips, have kids or have a wife like me who is obsessed with one of those terrible night-time soaps, this is a great player to have. It even comes with a nice case and a whole system to hang it on the back of a seat in your car. Definitely a bonus to have that DivX capability as well.

If you're willing to pay for a high quality product then this is what you're looking for. And after seeing some of the cheaper players in action, the Phillips PET1002 is worth every penny I paid for it. The screen is large and puts out a beautiful picture. The battery lasts close to five hours so I can usually watch two movies before I have to charge it, which is great because I'm often using it in situations where I can't plug it in. If you're in a situation where you travel a lot or have lots of time to kill all day then I highly recommend that you invest in a high quality portable DVD player and the Phillips PET1002 is by far the best player that I've ever come across.