I love my Philips DVP642

[DeeBye]

A few months ago I bought a new DVD player. I researched various DVD players, and one specific model jumped out at me.

Amazon.com link to a Philips DVP642 DVD player
(I am not being paid to post the above link)



The Philips DVP642 DVD player is much like every other DVD player out on the market. It's a slimline model in a silver-grey colour. It's certainly not the nicest-looking DVD player out on the market (and frankly, the remote sucks arse). Price-wise, it's right in line with the Sony/JVC/Samsung/etc single-disc DVD player offerings. I paid about $90CAD for mine.

So why did I buy a Philips DVP642?

It's a DivX-certified DVD player. It can play any DivX 3.11/4.x/5.x compressed video right out of the box. By extension, it will also play XviD. Seriously, the Philips DVP642 will play just about any type of video you throw at it.

It can even handle multiple video files burned to a single disc. I have a few CD-Rs with Thomas the Tank Engine episodes saved to them. The episodes are all saved in different formats (some are DivX, some XviD, some mpeg). There are multiple episodes saved per disc, and the Philips DVP642 can play them all flawlessly in sequence.

Just as a test and proof, I downloaded the World of Warcraft June 2004 gameplay trailer and burned it to CD-R. It's a DivX compressed video file @ 14 MB. I popped it in my DVP642 DVD player and took some pictures of the aftermath.

[JustAGuy]

A few months ago I bought a new DVD player.  I researched various DVD players, and one specific model jumped out at me.

Amazon.com link to a Philips DVP642 DVD player
(I am not being paid to post the above link)



The Philips DVP642 DVD player is much like every other DVD player out on the market.    It's a slimline model in a silver-grey colour.  It's certainly not the nicest-looking DVD player out on the market (and frankly, the remote sucks arse).  Price-wise, it's right in line with the Sony/JVC/Samsung/etc single-disc DVD player offerings.  I paid about $90CAD for mine.

So why did I buy a Philips DVP642?

It's a DivX-certified DVD player.  It can play any DivX 3.11/4.x/5.x compressed video right out of the box.  By extension, it will also play XviD.  Seriously, the Philips DVP642 will play just about any type of video you throw at it.

It can even handle multiple video files burned to a single disc.  I have a few CD-Rs with Thomas the Tank Engine episodes saved to them.  The episodes are all saved in different formats (some are DivX, some XviD, some mpeg).  There are multiple episodes saved per disc, and the Philips DVP642 can play them all flawlessly in sequence.

Just as a test and proof, I downloaded the World of Warcraft June 2004 gameplay trailer and burned it to CD-R.  It's a DivX compressed video file @ 14 MB.  I popped it in my DVP642 DVD player and took some pictures of the aftermath.


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Nice! I have that same TV. It's ridiculously heavy. I sometimes wonder if it will one day make my floor collapse, and drop into the basement.

As far as the DVD player goes, it looks nice. I don't even own a DVD player, not counting the Xbox that is. I've got a modded box, and it takes care of all of my media needs. There's this app called Xbox Media Center, and it streams video content, music, pictures, you name it, over the network to the 'box and plays it without any problems. With the High Definition pack, you can even get the Dolby Digital Audio and 480p out of it (not on that TV, unfortunately). Quite delicious. I've also got Linux on there, but it's mainly just a novelty (save for the SAMBA file sharing), as it's brutally slow.

[DeeBye]

Nice! I have that same TV. It's ridiculously heavy. I sometimes wonder if it will one day make my floor collapse, and drop into the basement.

Haha! I once posted a thread complaining about the weightiness of my TV. It was quickly derailed, but there's a few good responses near the end. Sony Wega CRTs are damned heavy and will give you an instant hernia if you try to lift one.

As far as the DVD player goes, it looks nice. I don't even own a DVD player, not counting the Xbox that is. I've got a modded box, and it takes care of all of my media needs. There's this app called Xbox Media Center, and it streams video content, music, pictures, you name it, over the network to the 'box and plays it without any problems. With the High Definition pack, you can even get the Dolby Digital Audio and 480p out of it (not on that TV, unfortunately). Quite delicious. I've also got Linux on there, but it's mainly just a novelty (save for the SAMBA file sharing), as it's brutally slow.
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I've read up on the wonder that is a modded Xbox. If I was still into consoles and owned an Xbox, I would probably have modded it as well.

For now, I'll stick with my Philips DVP642. It was relatively cheap and plays almost everything I throw at it.

Next stop: media PC :)

[ShadowHM]

Happy Birthday, DeeBye :)

(I know this has nothing to do with your original post) Hijacks R Us :P

[Munkay]

Happy Birthday, DeeBye :)

A Cake for you DeeBye,



Happy birthday!

Cheers,

Munk

[DeeBye]

Happy Birthday, DeeBye :)

(I know this has nothing to do with your original post)  Hijacks R Us  :P
[right][snapback]73681[/snapback][/right]

Thanks :)

[JustAGuy]

Haha!  I once posted a thread complaining about the weightiness of my TV.  It was quickly derailed, but there's a few good responses near the end.  Sony Wega CRTs are damned heavy and will give you an instant hernia if you try to lift one.
I've read up on the wonder that is a modded Xbox.  If I was still into consoles and owned an Xbox, I would probably have modded it as well.

For now, I'll stick with my Philips DVP642.  It was relatively cheap and plays almost  everything I throw at it.

Next stop: media PC :)
[right][snapback]73660[/snapback][/right]

If ever you do go the Xbox route, and if price is a concern, definitely don't go the route I went to get my Xbox modded... I had the chip installed by a guy I know, he also put in a hard drive. This is on the Xbox I bought at launch... Total cost of the drive, chip, install, original Xbox, and a different case (I bought a clear blue case) was around $500 (CAD). So, yeah, stick with the Philips :)

I remember that thread about the TV; I didn't post anything because I had no frame of reference. Great TV, despite it's weight. Mine is a bit stretched vertically (a couple centimeters), but that's barely noticable. I didn't get it delivered when I bought it... I actually had to lift it into my car, weight and awkward size and all, and then out and up my porch stairs, to the living room... My brother and I then moved it to a different room and then back again because we didn't like it's original positioning... I tell ya, I broke a good sweat that day.

[Mithrandir]

Is it possible to play with a modded Xbox on Live? I was under the impression it was not, but the last reading I did on the subject was a while ago.

If not, having an Xbox modded would take away perhaps its greatest strength. Seems like sort of a steep price to pay for being able to run Linux and some media. Then again, if you don't play on Live I guess it doesn't really matter.

[pakman]

No, you still cannot play on Live with a modded Xbox, however, I think there is a crack or someway around it, I remember my friend saying something about it. Maybe I was just dreaming <_<. He modded his and put in a switch to be able to switch from the mod to 'regular' Xbox. He also had a 120GB hd in there and can play every file you throw at it.

[JustAGuy]

Is it possible to play with a modded Xbox on Live? I was under the impression it was not, but the last reading I did on the subject was a while ago.

If not, having an Xbox modded would take away perhaps its greatest strength. Seems like sort of a steep price to pay for being able to run Linux and some media. Then again, if you don't play on Live I guess it doesn't really matter.
[right][snapback]73739[/snapback][/right]

Modded Xbox + Xbox Live = Xbox is banned and therefore unable to play on Live.

Yes, I agree completely with what you said. Xbox Live is practically THE reason to own an unmodded Xbox. BUT, mod chips can be turned off, if you have the proper type, and when the chip is off, the Xbox functions as a normal Xbox and can therefore connect to Xbox Live. If you leave the chip ON while you connect to XBL, the Xbox is banned. I screwed up once, and my Xbox was banned when I loaded up Ghost Recon (the bugger auto-connected on me). I believe that Halo 2 introduced a new form of detection where the chip didn't need to be on for you to get banned, not sure though, since I was already banned.

Anyway, I bought a second Xbox for a few reasons; 1. for unfettered Xbox Live play, 2. for Xbox LAN partying, 3. I wanted to own an Xbox in "mint" condition, considering my other one is only barely an Xbox now (in appearance and in function).

For me, there are two reasons for having my Xbox modded. Each reason themselves outweigh the cost of buying a second Xbox (for cheap too, they're practically giving them away nowadays!):

1. The Xbox Media Center. Incredible piece of software this is. I don't even watch TV anymore, I just download the shows in High Definition and watch them over the network.

2. Ability to copy games to the hard drive. Sure, it opens to the door to piracy, but if you own the games already like I do (mostly Xbox Live titles, such as Halo 2) it saves the disk from wear-and-tear, and speeds up loading times. Capcom vs SNK 2 for example has practically no loading time between rounds, whereas playing off of the disk has a noticable 5-10 second delay. Copying games to the drive also allows you to bring your Xbox to a friend's house and not actually have to bring all your games.

A side note about Linux: I would have greatly improved performance in Linux of I formatted a section of the hard drive in reiserfs or ext3, rather than using a loop-back system that sits on top of the Xbox File System (XFS). That's why my Linux is slow as mole-asses.

[DeeBye]

Is it possible to play with a modded Xbox on Live? I was under the impression it was not, but the last reading I did on the subject was a while ago.

If not, having an Xbox modded would take away perhaps its greatest strength. Seems like sort of a steep price to pay for being able to run Linux and some media. Then again, if you don't play on Live I guess it doesn't really matter.
[right][snapback]73739[/snapback][/right]

As pakman says, some mods can be set up to switch the mod off when you want to play on xbox live. At least, that's what I've read. I don't own a Xbox (modded or otherwise) so I can't speak from experience.

If you are just looking for something to play DivX/XviD media straight from CD/DVD to your TV, I really suggest the Philips DVP642. Despite it's relative ugliness (and maybe it's just me that thinks it), it's really a good all-around DVD player. It's also region-free and firmware-upgradable. To update the firmware, simply visit Philips' website and download the update. Burn the update to CD and plop it in the player.

Here's a good review of the Philips DVP642.
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=20465

[SetBuilder]

Well, I do all of my home entertainment through The Beast (the massive computer). So my DVD player is a Pioneer 16X Slot Load DVD-ROM.

Only slot load DVD ROM I can find in existance. Works REALLY well.