Philips DVP3140 DVD Player - Better Deal Than DVP642

My mother had a Panasonic RV31 DVD player and, although it was one of the older models, which were heavy an seemingly built well, it, just as one of my Panasonics, died recently with a dreaded H02 error (motor failure).

Since it worked for about 6 years and survived a couple of moves, I do not fault Panasonic too much. But two dead players out of two that I have not sold in first two years of ownership is not exactly a great reliability record. Therefore I decided to look in the different direction.

Besides, PAL playback on an NTSC TV would be useful as well as region-free "feature". And since I myself had owned the Philips Philips DVP642 for a while and was impressed with its ability to play any format, PAL playback on an NTSC TV, its region-free hack and its generally good performance (save for poor remote and slow fast scan, I decided to give another model a try. The Philips DVP3140 was bought for under $37 online and replaced the Panasonic, which moved to the trash bin.

As a result of failure of two Panasonics (both with the same H02 error, with my Panasonic S35 lasting only 2.5 years), I am no longer considering owning a Panasonic DVD player, no matter how good the picture and how easy they are to use.

Just as the DVP642, the DVP 3140 can play DivX and other computer-friendly formats. It also plays PAL discs on an NTSC TV. What it lacks in comparison with the DVP3140 is an S-Video out and an optical digital out (it only has a coaxial one). Both are non-issues since my mother has an older TV that only has a composite video input and is soon getting my TV (since I got a 50-inch plasma), which has a component video input. So no need for an S-Video. And her receiver has both coaxial and optical inputs.

Features

I was pleased to discover that just as my DVP642, the DVP3140 can play DivX, Xvid and JPEG files. You do not need to create a VCD disc structure, just copy the MPEG/AVI files to a CD-R/W disc and insert it into this player and it will play them.

The player can play PAL and NTSC discs on a PAL or NTSC TV and there is an easy hack to make it region-free. It can even convert PAL to NTSC and vice versa. Nice.

Connectivity

The player has a permanently-attached AC power cable. It has a coaxial digital audio out an no optical out, which is rather normal, especially for the price and is a non-issue. There is also an analog stereo audio out, a composite video out and a component video out (which even supports progressive scan). Pretty much all you need. I would not expect an HDMI out at this price and a lack of an S-Video out is a non-issue for me either.

All outs are well-marked and arranged well.

Operation

The player is compact-sized and is lightweight. There are not many buttons on the front panel. The display is bright, but is pretty small in terms of the amount of information it fits. The Panasonic displays feature several colors, clear separation of digit groups and more real estate.

The player is also not too intuitive to use. Its remote control is not much better than that of the DVP642. It has rows of poorly-marked buttons with some buttons sharing several uses. Whereas I could use my Panasonic DVD remotes with my eyes closed, this remote needs good light to use.

The onscreen displays are not as informative or well-designed as the ones of Panasonic. Not much information is displayed on each screen. And the manual is not very concise either.

Picture Quality

The player can convert PAL to NTSC rather well. I noticed no jerky motion and the image quality is pretty good. I used the composite video connection since my mother’s TV has no others (but it is otherwise an excellent Panasonic direct view model). I have not try the progressive scan for that reason, but I am sure is adequate.

The image quality overall was very good with good colors and contrast, good detail level and highlight/shadow detail.

Sound

The sound was good as well (using a coaxial digital connection); obviously it is as good as the received and speakers can produce as the player is set to transmit bitstream directly to the receiver. I have not tried the analog stereo connection, but I am sure it would produce excellent sound.

More on Usability

The player played my MPEG and AVI computer files flawlessly. There is a short delay before the playback of the each file, but it was pretty short. The files can be burned on a CD-R/W disc just as a regular data CD with no VCD structure needed.

In fact, you can even record AVI and MPG files onto a DVD-R/W or DVD+R/W and the player will play them. Pretty nice for pirated material. Fortunately, my mother needs good video playback and region-free PAL playback, which this player also provides. She also needs an occasional audio book (MP3 CD) playback and this player can do it too, as well as WMA playback.

Final Thoughts
This player is an excellent choice for people who do just like to sit down and watch a movie (as opposed to someone who likes to push remote buttons every 20 seconds). I like the fact that it plays PAL on an NTSC TV and plays computer-friendly videos, MP3 and WMA. I like its price and core performance.

Likes

Low price is a nice thing. Progressive scan, features, PAL playback and conversion to NTSC, computer video file playback, MP3 and WMA. Decent build quality, good video and sound.

Dislikes

Remote not an ergonomic masterpiece, cheap LCD display, very basic GUI and not easy to use, aside from basics. An S-video out would be nice.

Bottom Line

If you need to play PAL discs on an NTSC TV, play computer files and DivX, MP3 and WMA, the DVP3140 is a good choice. If you want an inexpensive DVD player with solid core performance, progressive scan and reliability no worse than that of Panasonic models (can you tell I am still unhappy?), the DVP3140 is a good choice. If you like a DVD player that is very easy to use, has nice GUI or has HDMI with upconversion, look elsewhere.