Philips DVD Player (Philips DVD 723)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	Philips DVD 723
Date:	25/07/04 (634 review reads)
Rating:

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I've been wanting to review this for a while, but haven't been able to identify what model our DVD player is until today. As some of you may know, we (my family) have a Philips television and am very loyal to the brand. We purchased this DVD player a fews days after the television, because we very pleased with what Philips have to offer.

We bagged this superb DVD player for around £80. There wasn't any real competition that would sway our decision of purchasing this particular product. We had a look at a few cheaper, budget, DVD players but they looked too cheap and nasty. The fact that the brand is also Philips, means that it fits in well with television and video player/recorder. We didn't want a DVD with the facility to record, because they were a bit expensive and we don't ever record programmes from the television.

We also particularly like this DVD player, because of its size and colour. It is very slim and looks very smart because of it. It would be ideal for those of you who haven't got much room around the television area, with the presence of a Digibox and a VCR. It looks very modern and smart, much better than some of the thicker DVD players. It is described by the manufacturers as an Ultra Slim player and it certainly is. The colour is very impressive. It has a nice silvery/grey finish and it gives it that look of quality. It matches our television and also the stand.

The product looks very compact and well put together. All of the parts and panels are screwed securely together and it looks like people have taken their time in assembling it. It also weighs very little compared with most DVD players I have come across. Whether this is an advantage or disadvantage I don't know, but it certainly doesn't do any harm. As yet, we have had no problems with the product, everything seems to be working properly without any problems.

The installation is very simple, simply plug the scart
lead into the back of your television set. There shouldn't be a need for any tuning or programming, so you should be able to use it straight away. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow, not that I have ever had to use them.

The remote control is very small and also comes in a sliver finish, although the back of it is a matt grey colour. It has a lot of necessary functions to play DVD's or CD's and so on. In addition, there is a 'zoom' button for changing picture size and the equivalent for sound, named 'audio'. Other functions include 'repeat' and 'preview' which are both very useful.

On the DVD player itself, there are only five buttons, which is all you really need. They are all the basic features including, from left to right: standy/on, pause, play, stop and then open/eject. Each button has a chrome effect finish and the symbols of the button's function are inset in black.

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FEATURES

This DVD player is able to show all of the following forms of presenting media: DVD, CD, CD-R, VCD and MP3-CD and there is a special slide-show feature for picture CD's.

The player also Optical/Coaxial digital audio output, but this is common on most modern DVD players.

There is a 'Smart Sound' setting which we use quite a lot. It offers the sound in different forms, so you can get a really good atmosphere. You can set it to 'concert' if there is some nice music in the programme or film you are watching. There are a host of other settings including: hall, classical and rock.

The media that you are showing or listening to, can be played at 1,2,4,8,16 or 32 frames per second.
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We like this DVD player very much and would reccomend it to anyone. It is sleek and smart, as well as coming in a nice c
olour. It is also a very reliable product and Philips are a very reliable electronics company. It won't break the bank, so I am sure many people will be able to afford the £80 price tag as I have already mentioned. If you do go out and buy this, please let me know what you think of it. I would give this a 9/10 for an all round performance.

Thanks for reading!

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