Philips DVD711AT DVD Player

• Dolby Digital and DTS output
• Component, composite, and S-video outputs
• Onscreen bit-rate meter
• Perfect still-picture frame advance
• DVD-video, Video CD, audio CD, CD-R, and CD-RW playback

I don't have a need for a very expensive DVD player right now. To be honest, I don't think the performance features are worth the price jump. I own some pretty serious audiophile equipment; however, I don't have a high-definition TV, so I can't comment on digital imagery. I've purchased many DVD cheapo units before, and to be honest, linear branching seems to be the most problematic trouble symptom for many players. Philips didn't necessarily outshine the competition, but it is a much more solid performer in general. You get tiny pauses between linear branches (dual layer switches), which are hardly noticeable and compared to the other DVD players that require firmware upgrades to fix the lockups, the Philips is champion. I owned the GE 1105P and 1106P and they were nightmares. They would skip over chapters and lock up, so I was very close to buying a very expensive unit.

I happened upon the 711 and boy am I glad I did. It isn't that it is a flawless machine, but what a lot of people don't realize is that it is upgradeable. This means, that if it can't run a DVD (which I haven't noticed and I've played all of the trouble makers) or a technology like VCDs, Philips can mail you a disc to pop in the unit and it will flash the BIOS and fix the problem. This should be a standard feature in all DVD players. What I'm hoping for is for an upgrade that will allow this unit to become MP3 compatible. I don't know if they will, but it certainly is possible, notice "Feature Upgradeable" on the box. Even salesmen don't have a clue as to what that means. People who are complaining about the unit struggling with CD-R/W and VCDs, most likely have a legit concern, but the good news is that it can be fixed without having to ship it to Philips or having to take it to a repair shop. In the long run, being able to download a patch off the Internet, burn it to CD and pop it into your DVD player will be much more convenient than having to ship the unit out. It is a brand new product, and with most brand new products, there will be a few bugs, but in this case they can be user-patched which is a big plus. Philips doesn't have any Web site up for this unit yet, but I'll be thrilled when they do. The thought of being able to upgrade to a new technology, format, or being able to troubleshoot discs that won't play, far outweighs the minor performance issues. I'm basing my review on DVD performance and CD performance. I don't care if it can play VCDs or CD-R/W flawlessly, because most DVD players in this price range can't play CD-R/Ws and VCDs at all. Philips gave us a dual-laser setup, so playing CDs is just as fast as an ordinary CD player. Taking into consideration that you can get this unit for sub $200, it is a bargain. My opinion is is as follows:

Who the heck buys a DVD player to play CD-R/Ws or VCDs in this price range anyway? It is just an extra bonus that it can play these formats as well as it does. Both of these issues could be addressed if people report it to Philips. Perhaps the person who said Philips responded by saying that these performance issues weren't problems, didn't give Philips a chance to explain why they weren't problems. All I can say, after dealing with Thomson Electronics (GE, RCA) products, is that Philips tech-support seemed real honest to me. Thomson Electronics wouldn't even admit that their players had performance issues. Philips seemed to acknowledge the possibility that future problems could arise. That's why this disc upgradeable DVD player is revolutionary. No problem is a problem when you can flash your own BIOS. Don't hesitate to at least check it out. You can spend $500 if you want, but think about what you really need. If you already have a CD-Player, you're not going to have any problems. If you do, call Philips for a patch or download one yourself.

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I bought this player to replace my DVD-ROM drive, which was hopelessly fickle about playing DVDs. The good thing about the Philips DVD711 is that it has yet to reject one of my DVDs. It is an inexpensive player with great audio and a lot of options for a player of its cost. That said, the system does have its flaws, though minor ones. It shows no indication of being able to support DVD-R, a format which it is said to be compatible with in the technical specification on Amazon, but not mentioned once in the manual. Additionally, the player seems chained to its remote control. If you lose the remote or it gets broken, you lose all access to the on screen menu and navigation capability, as there are no navigation or menu buttons on the player itself. Don't let what appears to be a fast-forward/rewind jog-dial on the front fool you either. Accessing the frame advance, zoom, and other advanced features means dealing with the sometimes cryptic hierarchical on-screen menu system. If a track has multiple angles, an on screen display in the form of a semitransparent box shows you which angle you're currently viewing. The only problem with this is that there is no way to disable it, and it invades the picture space like a Borg cube ready to assimilate your movie. That's a little harsh of course, but one would think the main purpose of a DVD player is to provide quality DVD playback at all times. This is not user error, the manual specifically states, "The angle icon remains displayed until multiple angles are no longer available." However, these are relatively small issues. Few DVD titles include multiple-angle tracks, DVD-R has yet to become popular, and most of us try to keep our remote controls where they can be found. If you're looking for a cheap DVD player that gets the job done, this is a good buy.

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I bought this unit after I had a problem with some other brands while trying to play foreign language (specifically Indian) DVDs. This unit had no problems playing all of the 'problem' DVDs. I do not like the remote control though. It needs too many keystrokes to access most of the features, and you have to coordinate between pressing different keys on the remote and looking at the on screen display to see where it is in the menu system. I also like the 'upgradeable' feature, where the firmware can be updated onsite by running a special CD from Phillips. I have not tried it yet.

However, overall a great unit. I would buy it again, if I had to.

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I am writing this review based on a person who owns a two-speaker system with an amlifier (didn't really use rears) and a twenty-seven inch TV with S-Video input.

Let's really face it here. It doesn't really matter how many more lines of resolution a Toshiba sd1600(540) has over a Philips DVD711(500). If you have a regular television, it doesn't even hold 500 anyway. I mean, unless you are the small percentage of people that have really keen eyesight and a great HDTV or better television, as far as the picture quality goes, if its a DVD player, its good enough. What I want to focus on here is the features and the sound performance of this thing.

As for its features, there is a heavy rumor that it plays DVD-Rs as well as CD-Rs and RWs. Lots of you would think that those are great features. But its not really a feature to look for. Some people here say that the menus aren't very good. To my viewpoint, that isn't true at all. Although it takes more than just one keystroke, they aren't taking over your life. It creates an on-screen menu of options on the top of the screen. To my opinion, the Video Black Level controls didn't really help in any of the viewing quality as well. Neither did the zoom because it--not like other dvd players with zoom--pauses after zooming. I guess it is to examine artifacts or bullets that are flying. To my opinion, zoom is supposed to let one be able to watch their movie as a full screen perspective for the people that have smaller TV sets. Its sound seems pretty crisp and clearer than other dvd players I have tried such as the Aiwa XV-DV370 by a little(highly recommended and costs the same and has this professional remote control, great quality virtual surround sound and sound in general with comparison to others at its price range--A definite five star in my book) and the Apex AD-660 by a lot(Highly don't recommend because of lack of sound quality although has good 2x zoom in options). With the TruSurround 3d, one would notice that you must also place the speakers an average of 6 to 8 feet apart in order to produce the effect. The effect of this feature is not so good either. The most it did was create a center channel, and not the other side ones. Spatializer N-2-2 seems to do a better job. The remote control seems as small as a regular cell phone--easy to lose. I didn't like how toy-like it looked and felt. It also has no missing connections as well. I mean that it has S-video, Component, two analog, optical, and coaxial outputs.

As for cons, the DVD711 has skipped once and placed me in different areas of a movie--which really sucks big time if you're watching something like the Sixth Sense. And as I said, it doesn't make a good 3D effect on sound.

Why do I give it four stars you ask? It is because its wonderful crisp sound(no matter what mode), its DVD-R capability, and the fact that its feature upgradable. Another thing to keep in mind is that when they say its feature upgradable, its just saying that it only upgrades when the player has problems with playing new DVDs. If you don't really like the control, just get another one. If one was to spend this much money on a DVD player, I would certainly suggest you guys go out and buy an Aiwa XV-DV370 (plays mp3s CD-Rs and RW), Panasonic RV-30 ($50 rebate makes $130 with Digital Cinema Mode which just changes the picture mood, 2+subwoofer output along with Dialog Enhancer, smooth scanning, but missing a coaxial output.), Sony SD360 (With Active Tilt control which helps read messed up DVDs and Smoothscan modes to help less jerkiness in fast-forwarding and slowing down and great looking remote control. Many different modes of cinema sound. Best rated out in the market with $50 rebate makes $200), Toshiba SD1600 (only one of these with zoom feature to fit screen. No optical output. Top seller here on Amazon, but I heard it skips and destroys DVDs sometimes if you got one in a hundred.), or the Philips DVD711 (Not really bad at all). I just hope that all of this was helpful. And by the way, the DVD711AT and the DVD711 are one in the same models.

I bought this system today and I am very impressed with what I got for under $200. The picture quality and sound are amazing. I tested out my only 2 DVDs (Jaws and The Sixth Sense) and they run great. So if you want a good, but affordable machine, buy this one now!