Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review
(5 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
FIX for blinking red light, plus BONUS: Region-Free code,
July 18, 2010 Jason Kirkfield "The Pride and Sorrow of chil... (Purple Mountains Majesty) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Philips DVP642 Progressive Scan DVD Player (Electronics)
This was a great player which, by entering a simple three-digit code* via the remote, was easily turned into a cheap Region-Free DVD player. Unfortunately, this line of Philips players also has a weakness: a capacitor on the board goes bad (specifically, C316), and since it controls the power supply, this effectively ends the unit's life for most home users. Googling DVP642 and "blinking red light" will yield many, many instances of this specific failure. To be sure, plenty of low-star reviews here on Amazon evidence the same problem.
But if you are handy with a soldering gun and don't mind spending two bucks at Radio Shack, I can assure you with moderate certainty that this DVD player will keep on tickin'; certainly it worked for me. I will include a DIY fix-it link in the Comments section below. In fact, a handy and enterprising soul could conceivably pick up some "broken" units, perform the fix, unlock the region code, and sell them as reconditioned Region-Free...Read more
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Ok while it works,
September 15, 2009 Stefos - See all my reviews
This review is from: Philips DVP642 Progressive Scan DVD Player (Electronics)
Device worked well when it worked and would play whatever type of disk I wanted to play. Started to skip and get stuck in playback to the point where it couldn't find its way back to the scene that caused the skip. Thought at first that I had bad dvds, but then I substituted another dvd player and the same disks played fine. Opened up the device and noticed that the slider has a hard time getting to the outer edge of the dvd and it doesn't look like anything that can be corrected. Device lasted about two years and in my opinion should have lasted much longer. I liked that it had a display to let you know what mode it was in, but the buttons on the remote were quite small. I don't think these devices are being made with the same quality that I used to equate with Philips years ago.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Darn good quality in a low priced player,
October 10, 2006 D. Rose "Video Nut" (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Philips DVP642 Progressive Scan DVD Player (Electronics)
Bought the first one about a year ago because it had a good PAL-NTSC convertor and is simple to make region-free. I've found these players to be of good quality, with virtually none of the flaws other brands seem to have. Audio and video quality is excellent, the players are VERY dependable, the remotes not too bad, and the design of the cabinets is nice. Plenty of great features not often found in other players. DVP642s can remember where you've stopped up to six movies, and will start playing from the stop points of any when the discs are re-inserted. Audio can be customized as well as the video output. I was so surprised and impressed that I bought a second one for another room. The ideal ones to buy are the earlier models in the larger boxes as they have firmware that allows you to copy copyprotected discs directly to videotape without using copyguard eliminators. Upgrading the firmware only disables this handy feature, so I suggest NOT upgrading the firmware. These are...Read more
