Posted by dgates on 08/18/06 16:05

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:06:28 +0000 (UTC), retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.)
wrote:

>
>In article <5f0be2lglaa72d6706rh5ndrctresl7108@4ax.com>,
>dgates <dgates@spamlinkline.com> wrote:
>>On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 01:29:04 +0000 (UTC), retsuhcs@xinap.moc (Mike S.)
>>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>In article <1155851753.903187.170980@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
>>>castex <cassy.castor@googlemail.com> wrote:
>>>>Hi Folks,
>>>>
>>>>I am soon moving from Europe to the US and I'd like to take all of my
>>>>dvds (region 2) with me, so I can watch them over there as well. I also
>>>>want to watch dvds, that I can buy there (region 1). I see problems not
>>>>only in the region, but also in the format (PAL vs. NTSC)
>>>>
>>>>As there is a different power voltage (~110 V?) than here (230V) I have
>>>>to buy a new dvd player anyway, I'd like to know, whether there is a
>>>>dvd player, that fulfills all of my needs.
>>>>
>>>>Summarized:
>>>>- plays dvds from region 1 & 2 (better: all regions)
>>>>- plays DivX, MP3, JPEG, (S)VCD (the more, the better)
>>>>- works with the US power voltage (better: works with either voltage)
>>>>- plays NTSC and PAL
>>>>- (of course) not too expensive
>>>>
>>>>Any chance, that I get the "player of my dreams" somewhere?
>>>
>>>The Philips DVP-642, DVP-5140, or DVP-5960 will do all this (after a
>>>remote hack to change to region-free) except they only work on US power.
>>>They are widely available at electronics and department stores.
>>
>>I own a DVP-642, and it's very cool, for exactly the reasons listed
>>above.
>>
>>Since I'm thinking of getting another one... What's the difference
>>between it, the 5140, and the 5960?
>
>The newer 5xxx series is based on a different hardware platform. Philips
>abandoned the ESS chipset and moved to MediaTek. There is DivX Ultra
>support, with better MPEG compatibility and support of features that the
>earlier players could not handle (like quarter pel and global motion
>compensation). In addition, the DVP-5960 has HDMI output and upscaling,
>and has a front-panel USB socket which can accommodate a flash drive or
>other mass storage device as the source for image, audio, or video file
>playback.
>
>On the minus side, neither of the new models has S-video output, and
>neither can decode or pass through DTS audio digital signals.


I've often heard that the $50 DVP-642 model has a habit of breaking
down after 12 to 18 months. Do you know if the DVP-5140 and DVP-5960
models have the same problem?

If not, the 5140 is only $10 more than the 642, so that alone would
seem to make it the better buy.

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