Well, after going through every nook and corner of
mouthshut.com, I didn’t find any category more suitable to write the review of
the Philips 5150 other than this one. So here we go... lets see how good the
5150 fares with the end user.
*INTRODUCTION
*The Philips 5150 is perfectly slotted in between the DVP 3046 and the DVP
5950...It offers more powerful features than the former but a few lesser than
the latter. The player was designed keeping in mind the discerning user who has
a tight budget. It is one of the first Philips players that supports divx
ultra, which will soon become mainstream in the coming years.
*INSIDE THE BOX
*The player comes with the standard accessories one would expect: Standard
A/V cables, remote control, batteries, user manual (with quick reference guide)
and of course, the DVD player.
*THE PLAYER
*This player is pretty much like any other player in its category in terms
of performance... only difference being that the build quality is exceptional.
It feels very rugged and can withstand a higher level of wear and tear... one
that you can expect from a Philips player.
The player is feature packed, with enough options to even put a smile on the
enthusiast’s face. It supports all versions of divx, including divx ultra.
Although not officially claimed, it even supports various flavours of Xvid...
not all though. It did experience difficulties with double pass xvid 1.2 codec
in certain settings. It supports Mp3/wma and audio cd playback with compression
settings between 32 and 256 KBPS. Besides this, it supports JPEG viewing and
also slideshow with mp3 playback.
Other conveniences include menu in Hindi, child lock and progressive scan (for
component input only). The player has only two connectivity options: standard
A/V or component. With component input, you get a much better quality and its
highly recommended to use this over A/V if available on your TV. There is no
support for HDMI though. This player also supports up to 7 discreet speakers
plus an active sub woofer for a complete theatrical experience.
I think its high time that manufacturers realize that India
is now a more developed country than it used to be... we still get only A/V
cables! With a high end player like this I think the company ought to put more
effort and give us all the cables necessary for component input, which is a
much more superior format than the standard bread-and-butter A/V interface.
There is no provision for USB devices or karaoke. Also, this player does not
have S-video or VGA out which can be found in LG and mitashi players that cost
half its price. Instead, what you get is impeccable performance with a reliable
set of hardware. Also, the brand image only adds to your confidence and should
convince you about the security of your investment.
*VERDICT
*Well, this player has everything one could ask for from a DVD player. It
has stellar performance coupled with a rich set of features. Although a tad
expensive for what it offers, I would still recommend it any day. You end up
with an uncompromising machine that will not let you down anytime...now can
anyone put a price on that? :-)
PS. If you want other alternatives, take a look at LG DS 9533 or Mitashi 999