Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Killer DVD Player, May 30, 2009
This DVD player is a great bargain at $55. It works perfectly fine. Here's what you really want to know:
1) Make this DVD player region-free. Press Setup on the remote and go to Preferences. Press 1, 3, 8, 9, 3, 1 on the remote. Use the up and down buttons to select Region 0 (region-free).
2) Go to the General Setup page. Press 1, 3, 7, 9. This will display the firmware information. If the last two digits of Version aren't "31," then go to the Philips website and update to the most recent firmware (31).
3) For US users, the first two digits of Version will be "37." Go to http://vb6rocod.euracks.com/dvp5990_37.php and download "DVP5990_37_vb6_v32_All_Logo.rar" and follow the upgrading instructions (http://vb6rocod.euracks.com/upgrade.html). It really is as simple as it sounds, and it can be done in less than 60 seconds. I recommend the USB method. Upgrading to this firmware will give the USB capabilities of the DVD player increased functionality and usability (there are a couple dozen changes and fixes; I won't list them here).
Random notes: The DVD player will only recognize jump drives and USB hard drives that are formatted in FAT32, so you will need to do that. Now, the manual says there is a limit of 300 folders and 648 files. This is not exactly true. There IS a limit of 648 files PER folder. So what reads as a limit of 648 files is actually a limit of 648 * 300 = 194,400 files. So this is NOT a limiting factor.
I tested a variety of files and the DVD player can read everything I threw at it, with the exception of Quicktime files and Real files. It is equally as capable in the realm of audio files. It also has a slideshow feature for pictures. In case you are curious, it can't read PDF files.
When one video or audio file finishes, it automatically goes on to the next one. It could be great for background music when hosting a party.
The DVD player can access .srt subtitle files that have multiple tracks and you can flip through them while watching a foreign Divx movie. I was extremely pleased by this. The modified firmware I linked will also allow you to change the color, size, and location of the subtitles while you're watching the movie. Extremely nifty.
Watching Divx movies on my TV looks perfectly sharp, and now I don't have to store or swap discs. This DVD player is a sign of the future. Get out and buy one (and a USB hard drive... if you catch a deal they're as cheap as ten cents/GB). $100 can create a total multimedia collection that changes with you.
Also, the remote does feel a little cheap. But who cares? It is cheap.
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45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Makes a great media center with large USB HD.., June 29, 2008
I bought this at Best Buy today. I was there picking up a 500GB WD USB HD for $90 on sale and thought i'd see what they had in the way of DivX players. I had read good things about this one and the 5992 (both have the improved USB 2.0). The 5990 was $59 at Best Buy. so for around $150 i have a great 500GB Divx/.wmv/.mp3/etc. 1080i media center for my digital TV. A great alternative to an Apple TV, which i had been contemplating for sometime.
Down to the nitty gritty. If you're using a Mac to set up your DivX Hard Drive for use with this player, make sure you format your USB Drive to FAT-32 (MS-DOS), and also (very important) make sure the partition map is "Master Boot" not "Apple Partition Map". After i did that everything was smooth sailing. I've also used it with a couple flash thumb drives and it works great. Its amazing how smooth the ffwd/seek is when playing from USB.
The Manual says the unit supports USB drives with maximum 300 folders and 648 files. So i figure, most DivX movies are around 700MB... times 648 = 442GB. anything larger than a 500GB drive for this DivX/DVD Player would be overkill.
The picture: Very vivid, very sharp. I'm extremely impressed. I'm outputting the Component RGB Signal to my Insignia 37" Digital TV, and it looks fantastic. I have some low quality episode rips of "Rescue Me" that are very blotchy on my Macbook @ 1280x800, but playing from the Philips player they look almost DVD quality on my Television. I'm also glad i have room to upgrade in the future with the HDMI and Digital audio outputs.
The menu system isn't too slow, its responsive enough. I hope this unit lasts a long time because i am really enjoying its features. Most of all i am just happy to never have to hook my computer up to the TV anymore to watch a ripped movie or TV show, i can just throw it on a usb flash drive now.
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27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good 1080P player with some firmware issues., July 24, 2008
Pro: USB 2.0, Decent picture quality, easy all region hack, Low price.
Con: Some firmware issue, no optical out as for most of Phillips.
I have purchased 6 DVP5892/37 from Philips, kept 2 for myself & gave 4 away to friends & family. I love that unit for its performence/price. When my brother wants one more all region hacked 1080P player, I picked up a DVP5990 for $50.99 on sale at BBY online.
Setup was easy but this player got some firmware issues. It can't recognize TV resolution via HDMI & doesn't auto convert to lower resolution. factory setting at 1080P out of the box So you need a 1080P TV to change HDMI setting for 1080i TVs. Composite Video connection & HDMI interferes each other when both are connected to TV.
Video & audio performence is about the same as older DVP5982 but DVP5982 has no above issues.
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