The Philips DVP5960 is a top player which will suffice for most people looking for an affordable but advanced DVD player. There is a growing trend for DVD recorders and these will slowly replace VHS Recorders. However this DVD doesn't have the capability and thus is catered to a different market. ... Read review
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A review by dblock on Philips DVP 5960 August 6th, 2007
Author's product rating:
Picture Playback
Good
Sound Level
Satisfactory
Range of Features
Excellent
Durability
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Good
Advantages:
Affordable, reliable, some great features
Disadvantages:
Can't play HD - DVD's, some configuration problems with some HD TVs
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Philips DVP5960 is a top player which will suffice for most people looking for an affordable but advanced DVD player. There is a growing trend for DVD recorders and these will slowly replace VHS Recorders. However this DVD doesn't have the capability and thus is catered to a different market. With Phillips you know you are getting a superior product and it is worth paying the few extra quid rather than a non branded or inferior brand, which through many reviews sometimes cause problems for different people.
The best features of this DVD player are:
HDMI Upscaling: Basically this gives a high definition view of your current DVD's provided you have a HD television. Of course this doesn't give the same quality as the new HD DVD's but it certainly is a mark up from playing DVD's on your HD set, because you do seem to get some pixelation. I would say it is similar to those who have played PS2 and PS3 on their high definition television sets. There is a significant difference, HDMI upscaling acts as a middle-way between the two qualities at a fraction of the price of both HD DVD player and HD DVDs. A word of caution in that you will require a HDMI cable to upgrade DVD quality movie to the desired level, this doesn’t come with the player and thus it will result in an additional cost and perhaps a change of mind on the purchase if you are on a budget. There remains a concern on some DVD’s of viewing screen of 4:3 and 16:9 (widescreen) and some may not configure to your ideals.
DivX compatibility: This for me is the best feature. DivX has become a very important video format in recent years, generally you can you use it to reduce the size of a DVD (up to 4.7gb) onto a CD (700mb) and the loss of quality is not that appreciable. Nowadays many television programmes are available on the internet (both legal and illegal content), of course for the legal content it is preferable to many to download programmes off the net and use the USB feature of the DVD to transport the video file and watch in on a television. It certainly beats sitting infront of a computer for over an hour. I have yet to fully test this feature and for the non-techies it maybe an irrelevant feature because they may not even know what DivX is, let alone what to do with it but for some it is incredibly helpful. The USB feature may be misleading to some as not all files will be able to be played. Indeed only those which are coded by the DivX format will play. The most popular files mpegs, wmv etc.. will not automatically play and certainly the low quality video files available on the net will leave the user disappointed.
The DVD player is aesthetically pleasing, like most models available today it is slimline and doesn't occupy to much space. The player is not a mutli-region one, however like most DVD players available there is a method of changing this should this be required with the information freely available on the net. There isn’t too much wrong with this player and for those looking for a DVD player which is cheap but still has modern features then you can’t go wrong with this.
Advantages: Good Value Product Disadvantages: None really
This is a good quality product that offers good value for money in the very short term. Although as with most products of this type, the value will deteriorate over time and should be able to get a cheaper version next year. It's a great device with plenty of features that I would highly recommend. This really is a wonderful piece of kit that should go well with many accessories because it really looks good. After using this product for a few months ... ...issues but only time will tell. I therefore would recommend the product. However, always think carefully as to whether you actually really need something before you buy it. We buy so many things nowadays that we don't really need.
Picture / Display
Aspect ratio : 4:3 , 16:9 Picture enhancement : High Def (720p, 1080i) , Progressive scan , Smart Picture , Video Upsampling , Video upscaling , Flip photos , Rotate , Zoom , Slideshow with MP3 playback ...
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Advantages: looks good, plays everything, cheap Disadvantages: Remote Could Be Better
I have had this DVD player for about a year now and, overall, I have to say that I am very pleased with it.
Firstly with regards to its looks, it looks good! It is a silver unit with a black front and a red standby button on the bottom left of the player. The buttons on the front are very basic: it only has 5 button, a USB port and the tray. On the back, you get the usual connections that are expected including, obviously, an HDMI port. The actual ... ...enough to fit through a letter box)
With regards to the actual player, the main reason I bought it was for its playback capabilities. It plays everything! As far as I've found, there is nothing that it has had trouble with and there are no issues with colours or syncing problems. I mainly play divx's and these work a treat.
The DVD player also upscales with is supposed to be quite a good feature. Personally, I cannot tell the difference between ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: price, upscaling option, impressive playback features Disadvantages: remote a bit fiddly
...an attractive price tag the Philips DVP 5960 boasts a range of features you would expect from a player twice the price. Once connected via a HDMI(High Definition Multimedia Interface) cable you have the option to select the picture resolution or use the automatic setting which will do the job for you, resulting pictures from standard DVD's are noticebaly sharper and colours more vibrant. You will need a HD ready TV to benefit and a large flat screen ... ...The device is multi-region enabled and In addition to playing most DVD types(DVD+R/W DVD-R/W) you also have the option of playing back DIVX encoded movies which can be burnt to a recordable DVD or stored on a USB drive, which is useful if you have movies on your PC allowing them to be quickly transferred to the player. Photos in high definition JPEG format can be viewed via your TV if you need to and it has the option to play MP3's.
The unit itself ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: VERY good upscaling, good price Disadvantages: No clock, remote slow sometimes
I had bought a bush DVD player for HDMI upscaling and it didn't really do anyhting. I exchanged it for the Sony. The upscaling is fantastic, really gives you the HD experience withouth actually having proper HD (althought its not the same as the real stuff).
For the price, it is fantastic. All modes of upscaling, progressive scan if you need it, zoom function, 3D virtual sound etc etc, with various modes. I cant fault it. The remote is not exactly ... ...for sticking a memory stick in and plays DIVX movies
plugged in, connected HDMI cable and away I went (took a few moments for TV to recognise it). Doesnt have clock etc, but do you really need that these days.
Likes: Looks OK (quite wide, but same width as my current DVD recorder), Easy to use
Lots of options for sound/display
USB socket to play downloaded DIVX movies
Fantastic price, even for just a player. I thoguht my HD Bravia TV was disappointing ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Cheap, very good 720p upscaled image quality Disadvantages: Some remote control problems, takes time to read certain discs
Overall very good and cheap HDMI HD 720p upscaler DVD player.
Has an attractive slim design and good build quality. The remote control is small and modern. The only snag in using it is that sometimes the menus don't react, probably the infra red sensitivity is a little less than it should be. The remote control lacks a HD upscaler and eject button. You can upgrade the firmware off of Philips's support site to remove the bugs earlier firmware releases ... ...long before it starts playing, bad disc or laser running off track?
Produces remarkably good image quality of DVD's on large TV's (i.e. 50 inches or more). There's a newer version out now that supports 1080p. Overall a good/very good and cheap HDMI DVD player. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Introduction
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I would like to start this review by stating how I came to own this product. I bought this product a month ago because I needed a new DVD player for the home entertainment system in my bedroom. I did not want to pay as much as... more
I was attracted to purchase this DVD player a while ago for its DivX capabilities (something not too many players have).
It is a fairly impressive HDMI player, supporting 1080p High Definition resolution pictures. The HD output is flawless and makes... more
This product has not yet been reviewed. 
