Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player

I was originally looking at two other models of 7" portable DVD player, the Samsung DVD-L75 and the Toshiba SD-P1600. After looking at both at a local Best Buy store, I was dissapointed by their lack-luster (literally!) LCD screen. But thinking that there was no better choice available around the same price range, I still bought the Samsung since it was lighter in weight than the Toshiba and had a better button layout.

When I got the Samsung L75 home, I was further put off by the inconvenient way to adjust the aspect ratio on it (I don't like images from my TV show DVDs being horizontally stretched out to fill the widescreen) you have to get in layers of menus to do it, and it doesn't remember your preference for the next disc. The final straw was that it also randomly stops (not just skips) in the middle of a show, so I returned the Samsung L75... and am SO GLAD that I did! Because the next thing I found was this little gem of a Philips PET710, which is MUCH better in many ways.

Pros of the Philips PET710:

best LCD screen amoung competitions

very good (and loud) speakers for the size

brushed aluminum casing, not cheap plastic

good user interface design (button layout and menu navigation)

can be made region-free (more on this below)

Cons of the Philips PET710:

no AV input ports (for gaming/digital camera/iPod/etc.)

loud spin-up noise when loading a disc

battery life is adequate, but not as long as I'd like

And here's the hack to turn the PET710 into a region-free DVD player:

1. power on

2. open the DVD tray cover

from remote control:

3. press "setup"

4. navigate to the "preferences" page

5. press "OK"

6. key in "2" "5" "2" "3" "1" "5"

7. press the left arrow

8. press the down arrow

9. press "0" when region code is displayed

10. press "setup" again to exit

I can confirm that this model works with home made DVD+R, DVD-R (although the "-" formats are not listed as compatible), VCD, SVCD (but doesn't seem to support SVCD subtitles), and MP3 CD. Have not tried DVD+RW or DVD-RW discs but they probably will work as well. Aside from being region free, it can also play both NTSC and PAL formats on its own LCD screen (but does not seem to be able to do conversions say if you want to play a European PAL DVD in the player and output to your North American NTSC TV set).

[Added 12/6: In response to another reviewer's comment on the screen being "not a true 16:9" it definitely is! You only need to take out a ruler to verify this. The actual LCD screen on this player measures 154 mm by 87 mm, which is compliant to the 16:9 ratio. The top and bottom filler black bands do still show up on some movies, because some movies are filmed in the 2.35:1 ratio, an "ultra-widescreen" if you will.]

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, unlinke 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.

Buy Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player Now

UPDATE 5/20/2011

I junked this unit today. While the player itself still worked, the monitor portion gave out. A DVD player with sound but no picture is pointless. The funny thing is that I think I paid $250+ for this item in 2007. Today a similar unit is under $100. The way of technology...

ORIGINAL REVIEW 3/16/2007

If you are looking for portable DVD player that is durable and offers great picture and audio quality, and plays any DVD you can find, this is it.

I'll get the flaws out of the way first...

As other reviews mentioned, the battery is a little clunky in design, and the DVD player doesn't integrate with several devices. The other small complaint I have is that the fast forward function does not work well with burned or homemade DVDs. But this may be the fault of the DVD and not the player. The skip and rewind functions work fine, however, so sometimes I will circumvent this problem by skipping forward one scene and rewinding instead of fast forwarding. I don't have this problem with regular DVDs.

But the pluses are numerous...this unit is durable, nice looking, super-easy to use (a 3 year old could figure it out in 10 minutes), and comes with both AV and car adapters, as well as a mini remote.

The weight of the unit is very reasonable. I carry it around with me a lot.

Another big bonus is the extended battery life above and beyond the manufacturer guarantee. I can usually get at least 3 hours of use on one battery charge. The battery appears to fully recharge in less than 2 hours. Another reviewer provided helpful advice about purchasing extra batteries direct from Phillips at a pretty reasonable price.

Another big plus is that this DVD player appears to play any and all DVDs. It plays DVDs in any format I have tried, including burned DVDs and PC-edited home movies. It has played DVDs that my other DVD players have rejected (including my Panasonic DVD Recorder/VCR combo that I paid $300+ for). I can't say if it plays DVDs from other regions (like Europe or Japan).

But the biggest plus to me is the picture and audio quality. On a 9" screen, picture quality really counts.

I wish I could give this unit 4 1/2 stars. It's perfect except for a few flaws noted above. If you're ok with those, this unit is perfect for you.

Read Best Reviews of Philips PET710 7-Inch Widescreen Portable DVD Player Here

I debated getting the similar Polariod 7" player, before finally settling on this Philips model...glad I got this one.

It feels very sturdy, the case is made of metal rather than plastic. The picture is beautiful, easy to view from all angles, and the built-in speakers work fine (however, I use headphones for use in the car/plane rather than jacking up the volume...it includes TWO built-in headphone jacks...very nice). There is a surround sound option which is quite effective.

The battery life absolutely blows me away, especially considering the smallish size; the package stated 2.5 hours, but it lasted almost 4 continous hours on our first use! I don't know how to explain this; maybe it's a first time use anomally...we'll see. Regardless, I would buy this unit again in a heart beat...Great value!

BTW, if you want spare batteries (Philips OEM, rather than 3rd party batteries) you need to call Philips via their Customer Service number on their website (I searched the web high & low, nobody sells these Philips OEM batteries). I just purchased 2 more batteries from Philips for a total of $45 (including tax & shipping)...what a steal.

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We have been using this DVD player intensively for about a month.

For the price you get a very decent and sturdy DVD player, with a relatively sharp screen (I've seen better ones though) and very good sound quality. In my case, the fully-charged battery last for almost 3 hours. As an example, my son was able to watch Finding Nemo and Toy Story II without the need of recharging.

Controls are very easy and intuitive and it also comes with a remote control with a decent range (I tried from about 9ft-3mts and still worked).

Another plus I can see is the fact that you are able to switch from regions and easily play DVDs purchased in other countries.

The only downside I found is that the power adaptor is only meant for 110 volts so if plan to take it with you to a country with different electricity parameters (i.e. any in Europe) you better think about buying another transformer. Having said that, you always have the choice to charge it via the car cigarette plug, this is what we did in our recent trip to France.

Would I buy it again? yes!