Definitely Very Desireable (Philips DVD 750)

Member Name: timtm

Product:	Philips DVD 750
Date:	08/05/01 (252 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful remote control, Stylish menus and features, Two SCART connections

Disadvantages: Only two audio channels directly, Annoying non-disc-eject mechanism

Philips' player was my first introduction to the world of DVD, and it remains my favourite player of the many I've tried since.

Starting with the player itself, it's solidly built, with a well-designed front and good firm ("clicky") buttons for the major functions. It wouldn't look out of place next to (or below) any high-end TV, though the display seems to attract dust more than the rest of it!

The open/close button is slightly annoying though - you press it once, and it turns the machine on, but doesn't eject the disc - for that you've got to wait until the machine reads there's a disc there, and only then can you eject it.

Connections around the back are slightly limited, but functional. There are two SCART ports, which is very useful, and both optical and digital audio connections. There's no seperated 5.1 channel sound though.

Features are plentiful and all well-implemented. Fast/slow forward/rewind are available in jump-o-vision at a variety of speeds, and a 4x zoom feature can be used to great effect when looking for detail (though the picture gets rather pixellated!). All menus are presented in a lovely translucent finish over the top of the picture, which just adds to the sheen.

But by far the best bit of the package must be the remote control. Every function is easily available, and it fits in the hand wonderfully. It's stylishly designed, looks great and does the job it'd designed for. It's the best DVD remote I've seen.

Summary: