Customer Reviews

Philips Portable DVD Player PET-805

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

 

 

I have the "multi-region" version PET800(instructions below may enable multi-region for PET805). This is a sound, robust player and gives the appearance and feel of high quality. I loved the brushed metal finish almost too nice to throw in a backpack. The screen is of a good resolution and can be viewed from the sides with no difficulty. Obviously Philips could not swallow their pride to say they openly support the DVD-R format, however this little gem plays DVD-Rs with ease.

I have used this player with DVDs from USA, UK, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. Originals and good quality backups work flawlessly. Poor quality media will cause a break up of the picture, jumping of scenes and possibly no playback(true of any DVD player). However if recopied to a reliable media it works without any problem.

TV output seems to be selected only when the TV/TFT selection switch is selected to TV, this means you select the TV system type on the TV screen, not on the TFT display. This can be a little difficult if the TV screen is revolving and an element of guesswork will be necessary to press the right sequence of setup and arrow keys until you have the correct system selected. Whatever, it works with PAL, AUTO and NTSC just fine.
It's a little clunky when loading up and selecting chapters, but when viewing a movie there is barely a whisper.

Audio is tinny but I would not expect anything else on these little players; the volume was more than adequate and the headphones (there are two outputs) were a different world and a very enjoyable experience.

It displays jpg images, so I tried a standard data CD with a library of home pictures. It displayed the directories and allowed me to select images, even performing a slide show. The screen was not really suitable to display the high resolution of the images and obviously the quality of images would be improved if connected to a TV.

A soft case to protect the unit would have been nice.Well you can't have everything!

To access the Region Coding menu. THIS WORKS also for the PET800, PET810, PET1000:

1. Power on your PET
2. Lift up the screen and open the DVD "platter" cover
Use the Remote Control to:
3. Press "Setup"
4. Navigate to the "Preferences" page
5. Press the OK" button
6. Key in the following numbers 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 5
7. Press the left arrow
8. Press the down arrow
9. When the region code is displayed, press "0" (all regions playback).
10.Press "Setup" again to exit.

As it stands, the Philips PET-805 is a well recommended unit. The activation of all-region coding (see above) for international travellers most definately expands it's usefulness.

This is a good portable DVD player for the mony, but it does have some negative points that you should be aware of. It has good build quality that seems quite sturdy, unlike a lot of other portable DVD players out there. The video and audio quality is excellent. It plays all kinds of DVDs (including ones from other countries if you use the multi region code as described in other reviews).

The only reason I'm not giving it a great rating is because there are some real negatives:

-No AV inputs. You cannot connect your digital camera to display your photos, nor can you connect a video game system to this DVD player. Most all other brands do have this functionality, so Phillips needs to get with it.

-I wish the battery didn't protrude out the back of the unit (it should be under the player instead).

-No resume function. You will lose your place if you stop a DVD movie while watching it and turn the player off.

-Very loud spinning noise. This player is annoying loud when spinning the DVD.

This Phillips seems like a solid player that will last beyond what you would expect for the price, but you should be aware of the negatives. If you cannot get beyond these negatives, I would recommend going with a Toshiba which has all the features the Phillips is lacking, although is probably not quite as good in terms of display and build quality.

This player is very convenient for trips.

Pros of the Philips PET805:

1. Activation of all-region coding is easy (See J. W. Cooksey's review).

2. It plays DivX files but with some trick. For some reason the player does not like "AVI" extension. Just rename it to "MPG" and it works just fine.

3. It works with home made DVD+R and DVD-R.

Cons of the Philips PET805:

1. Loud spin-up noise.

2. The lack of "Resume" function.

Philips PET-805 is a well recommended unit.

I bought the Philips Pet 805 for my mom for her birthday (she often takes my daughter on trips and I thought it would help in the car) . It got some use but nothing too heavy. About 3 months after I bought it it started acting funny, soon it no longer played any DVDs. When I contacted Philips I got the usual phone runaround, the warranty is expired, I'm sorry sir etc. I have now written a letter to Philips hoping for some help with my $200 piece of junk. Buyer beware!

This is a great buy. It isn't costly, and you get everything you would want from a portable dvd player. In addition to great picture, you get a powerful sound out of tiny speakers. I know a lot of dvd players have the problem of the sound being too low, or hear constant weird noises coming from the speakers, but it isn't the case here. The quality on the picture is amazing. The screen is bigger than the standard 7 inch size (it is 8 inches diagonally) and you don't have to constantly recharge it in order for it to work. I would say it works a lot longer than the predicted 2 1/2 hours and almost doesn't uncharge at all when not used. Those of you to whom look is important as well would be satisfied with it's really nice metallic look. The only drawback with this player is that it is a little heavy for a small portable. I would say it is safe to proceed to check out with this item.

I have used this player on several airplane trips (my main reason for purchasing it) and find the display quite good. If you are playing a FS DVD it will automatically scale the format to WS, which is not a terrible issue, but it does tend to make faces a bit broader than they should be. Of course this is not an issue with WS DVDs.

I never use the built-in speakers, as it comes with two headphone jacks which allow you to hear excellent sound depending on the quality of your headphones. For my most recent trip I experimented with a low-cost pair of noise-reduction headphones and that made the whole experience less fatiguing as I didn't have to keep the volume up so high to drown out the engine noise. Occasionally the player would start then go back to the startup menu for no reason, but once engaged it played through the DVD completely. I bought this a year ago for $250 so the current lower price is a plus.

Bought this for grandkids for a long vacation trip in the car, they tried it out before the trip and everything was good. 14 hour car trip and they watched movies all the way and every night for a week before bed and back home in car again. Picture is great and they were happy with sound without ear plugs. No problems so far. I like the looks of case and it is well built. They bought a case to hang it over the back seat in the car. Picture looks better from several feet away. Recommend it.

I received the player for Christmas. I was extremely happy with the DVD player. The buttons are on the face of the player and are easy to locate. The screen size and picture quality is good. The sound quality is O.K. but is greatly improved with headphones.

The only problem that I had was that I received a defective power/re-charge cord. I called Phillips and they sent me one at no charge. It works perfectly well now.

I think that this player was well worth the money. It functions easily, the picture is good,and the sound is very good with the use of earphones, less so without. My one complaint is that it didn't come with a carrying case.

My children were given a Philips PET-805 for Christmas. Ideal for long jouneys and has dual headphone jack. Unfortunately, it ships with a US only plug and when we had got past that problem it we found it will not play Region 2 DVDs even though it has language nationalisation in French and Spanish. So far we have not found a DVD the Philips will play. There is nothing in the manual or on the box to say it will only play some types of DVD or how to switch it to play other DVDs.

As a travel player the Philips is about as much use as a chocolate fire guard.