Philips PET1002 10.2-Inch Portable DVD / DivX Player

I originally got this for my wife. She and I have both used it and really enjoy it. The picture quality is great. The sound quality is so-so, but acceptable. I've used it outside with Tai Chi DVDs to learn new forms and refresh my memory on old ones. I haven't used it with the battery much, so I can't speak for the battery life. We usually hook it up with the A/C adaptor.

As I travel for business, I needed a small, light DVD player without too many bells and whistles. This is definitely it. As previous reviews stated, the battery lasts long enough for at least one full lenghth movie and the buttons are easy to use. Also, as previously stated, the volume is a bit weak when used without headphones. But with headphones, it's GREAT.
Perfect weight and size for airplane use, as well. I would definitely recommend this model.

I received this item as a gift. I consider myself fortunate to have been given such an outstanding portable DVD player. The picture quality is supreme and easily matches my 21" LG Flatron Wide Screen for clarity and performance. The manufacture states that one may get up to 4 hours of playtime on the attached lithium battery when fully charged. I've read some reviews that claim 4 hours is the norm; I've gotten 4.75 hours which is fantastic.

Sound quality from the internal speakers is marginal as one would expect. I hooked-up a pair of Logitech R-10 speakers into the headphone plug-in and with the Virtual Surround Sound option selected the overall sound quality is excellent.

Again with other reviews, a negative point is the mechanical noise that can be heard when the unit is starting up or searching the DVD. I've used this portable DVD player and I must say that this is nit-picking. Although you can hear a "clicking" sound during start-up and search, it doesn't happen when the actual DVD is playing a movie and that's what counts. Some claim that the unit is "hefty" in weight. Again I don't give credence to such claims. This is a larger than average portable DVD player with it's 10.5" screen. I would expect it to weigh a bit more than an 8" or even teenier unit. The soft carrying case makes the whole unit easy to take anywhere. A cradle is supplied so that the DVD player can be hung off of the back of a head rest so people in the backseats of the car can watch movies. There are also 2 headphone jacks, but headphones must be purchased separately. I should mention though that sound quality through a decent set of headphones is awesome.

This is a great DVD player with excellent image quality, great battery life, an adapter for the video, remote, and an AC adapter that works in both 110V and 220V. The only drawbacks to this great "portable" DVD Player is that due to the screen size, which is a large part of the higher quality of the image and overall DVD experience, that it is not as portable as other model and that it tends to run a little hotter than other models. Think of it as almost a mini-laptop. However, if you are purchasing this model, you know the dimensions and have foregone the portability for the superior image size and clarity and the long battery life. It also has a carrying case and an means to hang in your car along with a cigarette lighter adapter for convenient in vehicle viewing at a fraction of the cost to install one. Overall, this is a fantastic portable DVD player and must buy for the media aficionados of the world. The image and sound quality are one of the best in the market.

This player didn't even make it a year before breaking down. Bought it in April & it no longer displays a picture & it's only November. The player was handled with care & no abuse. Bought other cheaper models that at least lasted a full year before problems began. Don't waste your money on this piece of .........

After comparing numerous dvd players and reading many reviews I choose to purchase the PET1002 mainly for my daughter to use on an upcoming car trip. The picture quality is as advertised, not even comparable to a lot of the cheaper 7 inch models, and screen size is nice. She has watched probably 40 movies on it in the last month - thinks it is hers once we came home and made it into her bedroom. No issues as of yet with playing any movies. The only issue is the volume - in the house it is fine with the volume turned up all the way - but in the car it is not loud enough. Reading about this ahead of time I purchased a set of portable speakers on Amazon at the same time, the Audiosource DB5 speakers, to use in noisy situations. These work awesome and I have since been using them with other devices - better then the computer speakers I had.
Overall, a great buy. My opionion is that you can't get a better portable DVD player for under $200.00.

Now that what I said in the title, why do you want to read more?

heheh
No time?
Ya better make time, unless you have money to throw out the window.
Is that a confusing statement and seeing the five (5) star rating on this product?
Maybe..... read more to clear this up a bit.

Amazon won't let me post a detailed review due to space limitations.
So, here it is;

The bottom line of this review is; I tested all players available at Circut City store and I found this unit is better suited for my needs. It may not be for yours, but then again, that's why there are so many models out there.

My best advice;
Go to a store where you can test all of the units offered and see for yourself.
Read opinions as a reference, not as a decision to purchase anything.
If you do, I have a slightly used bridge in New York for sale if interested ;)
Just gimme a call and we'll make a deal.

BTW, Circuit City has the same price as Amazon and no delivery charge or hassle to send it back to the seller.

Excellent DVD player with great color. The volume is on the low side, you'll have trouble hearing if you use on an airplane. Happy though!!!

I AM SORRY THAT I BOUGHT THIS PLAYER.
ALTHOUR I WAS READING IN ANOTHER REVIES ABOUT NOISY MECHANISM,I DID NOT EXPECT IT TO BE SO NOISY AND DISTURBING IN A QUIET ROOM.
MAY BE IN THE CAR IT IS NOT NOTICEABLE.
ANOTHER PROBLEM IS THAT IT PRACTICALLY CAN'T PLAY DVD+, SKIPS AND STALLS ALL THE TIME ON ANY DVD+.
QUALITY OD PICTURE AND SOUND ARE GOOD.
WITH A NEW MODEL 1060 I HOPE THAT THEY CORRECTED THESE DEFICIENCIES.
THIS IS A GOOD PLAYER FOR KIDS.

Originally purchased this to keep the toddler quiet during the long flight down from Detroit to the Bahamas, but ended taking it to the restaurants as well as the wedding reception as well. Kept not only our toddler quiet and still, but also my nieces and nephews... and allowed us a peaceful meal. Although the impetus was to entertain the toddler, we knew we would use it as well for bed-time watching so we wanted something high-quality and a usable size screen. Upon seeing the various size screens at the store, the 7-8" ones appeared quite small at arms length so we decided on the >10" which is just as portable (or lack there of) as the 7-8"ers. Although we haven't seen any of these units in person, most reviews seem to indicate the top displays to be from Panasonic, Toshiba, and Philips. Panasonic was substantially more expensive and had a weird, potentially non-compact profile, Toshiba's have SD memory card slots which is ideal for reviewing vacation pix on the plane home. We would have gotten that one except there wasn't sufficient customer reviews to confirm the image/sound quality. The Philips had consistant reviews, which we confirm, that the picture was excellent (0 dead pixel guarantee), built-in speaker sound was too low but headphones is fine as long as the background isn't excessively loud, and the spin-up noise is loud but who cares, it's over in 20 sec and is hardly noticeable during the movie. To our dismay, it did not include any headphones. After reading many reviews the affordable $16 Sony Street Style Headphones (MDR-G42LP) had very good sound and strong base - we also bought a $22 Philips- Reflective Neckband Headphones (HS520), but that wasn't as rich/deep as the Sony. Case is decent and includes a backseat holder. As other stated, battery does stick-out but unless you're walking around with it, no worries about it falling off the back. Toshiba uses battery slice that fits more cleanly with the unit. We really like the Toshiba features, we just wish there were more reviews to alleve any unknowns, but we are very happy with the Philips.

Best picture I've seen on any portable DVD player. Plus support tons of video formats such as DiVX.

Vedio display quality is the the best prior to the two other products I have of this kind, Audio is simply superb, I havent seen any noise while playing. Way its priced and the battery like this is one of my best purchases.

I have had this player less than a week and have no complaints except that the one I recieved from a USA based online vendor will not play any DVDs with the Region 1 coding. These are all legally purchased discs and are clearly marked as Region 1. The player has flawlessly played region-free DVDs, audio CDs, MP3 discs, DVD-R discs made on a Sony DVD recorder with TiVo as the source, and "ripped" versions of DVDs burned as region-free to DVD-R on a desktop computer. Have not tried DivX yet.

The picture quality of the screen is terrific even with the compressed files of the ripped DVDs. The audio is marginally adequate through the spkeakers and is very good with headphones. However I expect it to be capable of playing Region 1 DVDs since it is advertised as being compatible with the DVD format. (Note: To the best of my recollection nothing was mentioned in any of the "professional" reviews of the player regarding region coding compatibility).

The owner's guide packaged with the player does mention that "...all players have region codes and discs can have an optional region code. If you load a disc of a different region code to your player, you will see the region code notice on the screen. The disc will not play and should be unloaded". Well, duh, tell me something new -- like the region code of the player I received. Nowhere on the packaging or the owner's guide is the specific region code of the player indicated.

I contacted the Philips customer service department via phone and was told that the PET1002 sold in the USA is compatible with Region 1!!! What gives?? The guy from Philips told me I could return the player for an exchange. That is inconvenient and somewhat annoying but at least they offered a replacement with minimal hassle.

Maybe I was unlucky and received a player intended for a consumer market outside the USA. If either the online vendor or Philips provide me with a Region 1 player through an exchange, I will be 90% satisfied with the product - need to verify DivX capability before I go to 100%.

Knowing nothing about DVD's including what the initials stood for, I relied on an internet search and viewer reviewes of the product. I Personally shopped in-store to see and evaluate some of the products and, finally selected the PET 1002 DVD because it met most of my needs.

Service delivery was great, with the product delivered ahead of schedule. Quality of picture excellent. Operation noise miminal. DVD's speaker sound quality fair to good and, the loudest I could find on the market of those I selected to shop for. However, with a medium-priced set of headphones attached,the sound is excellent and the volumn dial acutally produced too much volumn at the DVD's dial half-way mark. First use test was on a plane ride from D/FW to LA and the DVD worked perfectly with a beautiful picture and wonderful sound. Overall, a good investment. I'm happy with it.

I just received mine from J&R. Very fast shipping!
I look forward to using this on my flights this summer. I bought it so my toddler could watch some kid friendly stuff on the plane. I am normally against having my soon to be 2 year old watch more than 30 minutes of ANYTHING, but hey on a flight there is no playground.

I tried this with a DVD+RW and it worked, so I am pretty happy that it plays all formats. That is more important to me than the whole resume where it left off issue.

A good buy! I wouldn't get it from Etronicsland if they offered it. I bought the 8 inch screen; they sent me the 7 inch. I sent it back at MY expense. What a rip off!

5 June...the drive is noisy even after the DVD loads. I may call Customer support to get it fixed.

Great picture and audio. Excellent battery life. BUT the way the battery attaches to the player is TERRIBLE. The player cannot sit flat with the battery attached. The battery pack seems like it will fall off if the player is not carefully handled.

Also, this is not the player to casually slip into your hand luggage for a flight. It is heavy.

Finally, if it's important to have a large screen, good image quality and sound, why not spring for a small laptop computer. Great for travel, and it gives you a world more flexibility than any portable DVD player. (Of course, it costs significantly more.)

I have only used the unit a few times since I got it a month ago, but it does play all DVD formats without a hitch as advertised, including PAL format. I have used Shure E4Cs, Koss headphones, and Logitech portable stereo portable speakers, and I've been very pleased with the quality of the sound. The screen size and image quality are excellent. The unit is quite portable and seems durable and well constructed. Some detractors had carped in their reviews about start-up motor noise, but I didn't find it at all bothersome. Although I haven't had time to fully test the battery's limits, it seems to be good for at least 4 hours. So far, I have no regrets whatsoever regarding this purchase.

Really nice DVD player (but like all DVD players, use headphones). Picture was perfect and player futioned great despite the box looking really beat up.

I bought this dvd player for my girlfriend and, she loves it. Big screen,quieter than some people have said in their reviews.

This is by far the best portable DVD player that I have seen. A little expensive however; the quality and sound makes up for the price. I would highly recommend this product.

Wonderful quality

I have had my Philips PET1002 10.2" Portable DVD player for a while now and I love it. I especially like the screen size. The audio is not great, but I prefer to use headphones any way. I took it with me the last time I visiting my mother and she loved it. She is practically deaf and enjoyed using the headphones. I might purchase one for her sometime in the future.

Will... all I that I can say, its a the best I had, its a little pricey, but it worth the money, u get the chipo ones within a o month or so u loose interest, with this u really enjoy the DVD's, superior sound quality, image and clarity. I love it.

My wife got one of these at Circuit City with the extended protection plan for Christmas for me. I loved it, at first. Now, they are already "discontinued" items today - after only being on the market for about 8 months. Since I got it at Christmas "NEW," my screen has cracked due to a manufacturing defect.

Circuit City told me that the units were all "discontinued" and that they would possibly refund me "some" of the amount paid after buying their "super" guaranteed plan. When I aked what was going on, the returns manager at Circuit City said they had a lot of returns on this model and that many were having screen brakage and disk drive problems. So, they didn't even have one available anywhere in the tri-state area to do a replacement one with.

The cover on the drive is also flimsy, and sometimes the player would fail to play DVDs correctly - unless they were properly and carefully seated.

In short, I can't recommend it. Not even a deeply discounted used one.

We did manage to get Phillips to do an RMA on it, but it took my wife an hour on the phone to convince them that the screen broke due to an internal flaw. They just kept saying "You broke the screen, it's not covered!" Fortunately, a supervisor/manager from Phillips listened, and issued us an RMA. While I will be out for 15-20 days of use, I am willing to be glad to have it back and working... provided it does. [More to follow later.]

I looked at the specs. of many DVD players and thought I found a good one. The PET 1002 was also a philips, a good name in electronics, well I was wrong!

I recieved my first one on March 9th just as they said. Then we plugged it in. Wow it sounds like a skill saw! It gets better as the motor gets up to speed but still a Terrible noise. It also skips on both DVD - and + R discs (tried all the medias and tricks and record settings etc.) So I read my manual and it said call Philips customer service, so I did. They were helpful and advised me to send the defective unit to them so they could send a new one (the shipping to them was at my expense). I agreed and in about 2 weeks I got a new one. Guess what it has the same problems. So I grab my invoice from the retailer and call them to exersize my 30 day return rights (according to J&R MUSIC AND COMPUTER WORLD's own printed return policy). But when I was honest and told them that Philips had replaced it they became cold and seemed happy to tell me that they were no longer responsible and I would now need to talk to Philips Direct. I said I followed the rules in the operator's manual, but never the less no refund from J&R. So I called Phillips they also could not find their checkbook, but they did offer me the chance to send it back to them again! I told them I did not want it. They said they do not give money back. So I agreed, and have now sent the second one to Philips. They did pay for the shipping but that is of little value at this time. Here it is April 2nd and I still do not have a DVD player! They have had my money for a month! So needless to say I am not either J&R's, Amazon's or Philips best friend. I have written e-mails and talked to representitives and NO one has done more than lip service. The PET-1002 is a bad product stay away!

The most important feature (picture quality) is excellent and most everything else is great. It is only lacking in 2 areas, no memory for restart (minor) and the worst remote control I have ever seen for any device (not a big deal for me but truly unbelievable). Still a solid 5 stars.

Difficult to use with poor performance. Instruction booklet difficult to follow. Requires use of remote control to effectively use.

We are really happy with this product. We bought it for our daughters as both a DVD for their TV and for our car. The battery life is great over 4 hours and the image is incredibly sharp and crisp. The screen size is better than any product is looked at

I bought the Philips PET1002 portable DVD player a few weeks ago after reading all the great reviews on it.

BAD THINGS:
One thing I find really annoying with this player is the intermittent HIGH PITCH noise that occurs when playing a backup DVD-R/+R disc. If you have a pair of headphones on, you will not notice it; however, if you are playing it without headphones, it's a different story.

The PET1002 intermittently supports DVD+R DL (dual layers). It does not support this format officially, according to the PET1002 data sheet.

Another thing I find REALLY annoying is the awful noise the player makes at the very beginning when you are loading a DVD, regardless if it is an original dvd movie or a backup dvd-r/+r. The sound seems like it's coming from the lens assembly adjusting itself back and forth??

Besides that, the PET1002 does not have any internal memory to resume a playback of a movie once the player have been turned off. The only way to resume a playback is to leave the power on and hit the STOP button. It would have been nice to allow the movie to resume even AFTER you power it off...just like how most dvd players nowadays behave.

Lastly, when you select NEXT CHAPTER or PREVIOUS CHAPTER, there is a noticable LAG time before the chapter appears. This is not a common behavior among portable DVD players. There are other brands which advances quicker!!


GOOD THINGS:
I was really surpised at how much accessories came with the player. Unlike other brands, Philips included TWO bags (one for carrying and one for strapping on behind a headrest in a car), 3 cables (RCA, Component, and SVideo), and the typical remote, battery, and AC adapter.

Another thing I was really impressed about is the beautiful 10.8" LCD screen. It is brighter, sharper, and smoother than many competitors model.

Lastly, the battery is 5 hours!!!!!!!! :)

SUMMARY:
In all, the PET1002 has a very beautiful screen, comes with a lot of accessories that most other brands do not come with, and the battery can last for 5 hours. Unfortunately, this is not enough to overcome the functionality problems - high pitch noise, unable to read dual layer discs, lag in chapter advances, unable to resume movie after power has been turned off.

Would I recommend this model to anyone? Ummmm...not likely. Being that the PET1002 is suppose to be a high end top of the line dvd player, I was very disappointed at all the setbacks.


As a recommendation to others

This Philips 10.2" screen unit is replacing my Polaroid 8" screen player that I have handed down to my son. The Polaroid unit was a good player for the price ($150.00), but the Philips (at a price tag of $289.00) was a definite step up. I have only been using the Philips player for about a week now, but I will address issues with this player in previous reveiws.

QUALITY---Looks and feels solid

BATTERY LIFE---Excellent, well over 4 hours of play on one charge

BATTERY SIZE AND PLACEMENT---A little awkward, If careless it could break off. Not a deal breaker for me since I treat my equipment with kid gloves anyway.

PICTURE QUALITY---The best you will find in a portable unit!

NOISE AT START UP---There is some noise, but I did not find it to be as bad as other reveiws stated.

SPEAKER VOLUME---Not an issue with me since I use headphones. Why would anyone use a portable DVD player without headohones anyway?

UNIT CONTROLS AND REMOTE---I found that the controls on the unit and the remote are very easy to use, unless you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years and are challenged by electronic equipment.

10.2" SCREEN---In my mind, I never thought the difference between a 8" screen and a 10" screen would make much difference. I WAS WRONG! The bigger screen was well worth the extra investment.

MULTI-FORMAT PLAYER---This bad boy plays just about anything.

EXTRAS---Comes with everything you need to watch movies anywhere, anytime.

PRICE---A little expensive, but worth every penny. If you pay for a cheaper unit, that is exactly what you will get---a cheaper unit!

PHILIPS WARRANTY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE---To early to tell. I hope I never have to use either one.

In closing, any negatives about this unit was not enough for me to back away from the 5 star rating at this time. As for the player's longevity, time will tell.

I was skeptical, but good news... Dasa's post works! Thank you, Dasa! I was able to play my PAL region 2 DVD's no problem. I also appreciated all the extra accessories that came in the box with the dvd player, e.g. padded case, car adapter, component cables, thin remote. I'm glad I spent a little bit more than I would typically spend on a portable dvd player.

I bought the Philips PET1002 portable DVD player for my trip to the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and came away impressed.

I first used it on the 1000 mile 2 day drive over to Utah. The unit comes with a car adapter so I didn't have to use the battery. My only problem was direct sunlight on the screen but that's expected with virtually all portable DVD players.

I put the unit to the test while waiting in the long movie lines. Here's my take on it:

* Large screen/pixel amount - The large 10.2" screen is quite nice. Coupled with a screen that's 800 by 480 pixels, the image is sharp. I had people watching it over my shoulder on many occasions.

* Long battery life - I was getting around 6 hours on a single charge. I only had it run out of battery life a couple of times.

* Anti glare screen - While direct sunlight was a problem, I got no glaring reflections indoors. Overhead lights mostly showed up as a dull blur.

* No remote control needed - I really liked the fact that all the major buttons you'll use were on the player. If you need to change the audio channel, all that stuff can be accessed through the menu. I only used the remote for the first few days then let it collect dust the rest of the time.

* Durability of the unit itself - I kept it in the carrying case it came with the whole time but that bag got tossed around quite a bit. I never directly dropped it from a high level but it did get kicked around and bounced off of numerous things like metal railings.

* Region Free - While not immediately region free, it can be changed through a hack that's available online. (just google philips dvd region hack. you'll find it)

* The Extras - It comes with just about everything you'll ever need for it except an extra battery. Lot's of cables for both input/output signals, car & wall adapters, remote control, carrying case, plus other stuff.

THE BAD:

* No memory retention - If you shut the unit completely down it won't remember where you stopped a movie. While annoying it wasn't a show stopper for me.

* Battery attachment - I treat my electronics well but I would be a bit concerned with a child running around with the battery attached to the unit. While it doesn't feel too flimsy, it does flex enough for me to want to put a 'handle with care sticker' on it.

* External speakers - I found the external speakers lacking in sound level. In a large crowd it was hard to hear. The levels were good for headphones though.

* Color controls - There's no controls for RBG levels. While the screen was good I guess I'm spoiled with having color level control on my HD LCD TV.

Overall I really liked the unit. It's a little bit heavy but not so bad that it hindered me. The loud startup noise wasn't as bad as I've read either. Also no dead pixels after close to 60 hours of use so far.

while the unit was a bit pricey for me, I couldn't put a price tag on boredom it saved me from. last year I played my Sony PSP so much at the festival I got tendinitis and I wasn't about to go through that again!

It is an excellent product, we are very happy with its performance...
Amazon is an honest and trusted store. I recommend it to everyone...
As we say here in Costa Rica: "Pura Vida"

I have looked at many 10.2" portable players and the Philips PET1002 is the best I have seen. Let's face it, you don't buy a portable dvd player expecting to get HD quality like you do from your Sony SXRD. If you are expecting that kind of quality (or even close) from a portable unit you will be disappointed in every unit out there.

The built-in speakers are not going to shake the windows. The unit is only 1-1/2" thick with the screen closed so there is very limited space to put speakers. If there was more space for larger speakers the unit would be too bulky. It's a portable unit which means you should be using head phones anyway. Otherwise you may get knocked around by the people sitting next to you on the plane. But you can offer to let them use the second headphone jack on the unit.

The picture is very clean. I have watched a number of different movies on it and have not seen any pixilation. The color is very good and is still focused from an angle. The screen also handles intrusive sunlight very well.

I found the remote is a little scary to use. It seemed like I would snap it in half when pressing the buttons because the remote is so thin. The buttons do require a fair amount of pressure to activate. It really is not a big deal to me anyway because like the large majority of people who use portable dvd players, we have them right in front of us most time anyway. It's usually more of a hassle to use the remote than it is to use the controls on the unit for basic operations.

The battery life does live up to it's advertisement. I can watch 2 movies back to back with battery life still remaining. I have found that I can get about 4-1/2 hours of play on high quality settings.

The fold apart accordion paper that is suppose to be the manual is a bit trashy. Not a real big deal, but if you want to look up something in it you will have unfold, unfold and then unfold some more to find what you want.

Overall this unit delivers what it promises and is a very good player. Some people may think that it is a little expensive, but when you want portability that is also of the higher quality you will pay a little more for it. Just look at the price difference in laptop computers vs desktop machines of the same performance.

I purchased this as a replacement for a truly awful store brand one we got from that big yellow and blue box store. Their house brand of portable players is simply horrible.

The Philips has a big, generous and bright screen with good resolution. Even downloaded DivX files or files played off my iPod through the A/V input look pretty good. It recognizes every home-burned DVD I have thrown at it, +R, -R and RW as well. I've played all sorts of DivX files with it, and only rarely does it have trouble with one.

Drawbacks - all that screen real estate eats battery. Battery life is not good with this player. If you're lucky you get two hours. Also, the screen could be better, frankly. Don't get me wrong, it's great, but there's always a faint ghosting of the actual space between pixels during bright scenes. Other players have this so bad as to be unwatchable, the Philips really isn't that bad, but it's not perfect, so no 5 stars. Last drawback is the remote - it's a very thin, non-backlit remote that is virtually useless in the dark. You'd be better off getting a super-cheap learning remote and teaching it all the commands.

If you take trips, have kids or have a wife like me who is obsessed with one of those terrible night-time soaps, this is a great player to have. It even comes with a nice case and a whole system to hang it on the back of a seat in your car. Definitely a bonus to have that DivX capability as well.

The nay sayers make much of the loudness: speakers, not enough; machine noise, too much. It's a PORTABLE device intended to be used with headhones!! With them, sound is excellent; the machine noise insignificant. With it's crystal clear big screen size and long battery life it's the best of it's class.

After shopping around for a portable DVD player, I bought the Philips PET1002. Its screen size and quality are unmatched and the features included in such a small package are incredible.

The 10.2 inch screen is arguably the best thing about the DVD player. The LCD features a crisp display and offers amazing clarity. The Philips PET1002 has the best display of any portable DVD player that I have ever seen and will not disappoint.

Philips claims up to 5 hours of battery life and, while I didn't get that much, I did get a little over 4.5. Not bad for a portable DVD player with a 10.2 inch screen. Extra batteries are available to order directly from Philips if you require more juice on the go.

What really sets this portable apart from the competition are the DVD player's included extra features, my favorite of which is the DVD player's ability to output video via *included* component video cable. If you have a TV with component inputs, this will allow you to connect the Philips PET1002 and watch a video in 480p.
(The device also comes with a regular RCA cable and an S-Video cable for use with "older" television sets.)

The built-in speakers of the PET1002 are like those of any other portable DVD player: quiet and forgettable. I always use the DVD player with noise-canceling headphones (I recommend the Shure E2C or E3C personally) anyway so this doesn't really bother me, but this may annoy some users.

Unfortunately, the Philips PET1002 is not without it flaws and setbacks. The most annoying is the unit's loud DVD drive. After inserting a disc and waiting for it to load, the DVD player sounds like a jet taking off from a runway. Fortunately, I only notice the noise when first loading a disc, and not while a DVD is playing. A minor setback, but annoying nontheless.

Also cumbersome is the power adapter. It seems that companies spend a lot of time developing a great product but shortchange with the power chords. The power adapter is bulky at the end, which makes it difficult to plug into a wall or surge protector that has more than one thing already plugged into it. The added bulk also makes packing the power adapter more of a challenge. I wish it had been designed more like Apple's laptop power adapters.

Despite these two frustrating hindrances, the PET1002 is well worth the money and beats anything else currently on the market. Highly recommended.

PROS:
-----

1.) Best screen quality of any portable DVD player out there
2.) Component video out (480i or 480p)
3.) Includes remote, carrying case, automobile case (for "mounting" the DVD player on a seat) and car power adapter
4.) Good battery life

CONS
-----

1.) DVD drive is loud when first loading a DVD
2.) Power adapter is bulky and poorly designed

Gorgeous screen and image. Great battery life. Looks good and works fine.

On the downside, the spindle motor is noisy, really noisy, to the point it distracted me while watching movies. Also, the sound volume won't go up enough in general, and not at all high enough to drown out the spindle motor.

So my advice would be buy this if you plug it into external sound systems or head phones and don't use it much sitting on your lap. I returned mine.

This DVD player has a great screen, but that is all! When you are watching a movie you want sound also, and the volume in this DVD player is completely useless. Incredible, how a brand as Philips can deliver this kind of lame quality.

I have a lot of downtime where I work, so I figured a DVD player might help out. Upon opening the box, my first impression was that the unit was attractively styled and not overly large, which was a plus. When watching DVD's on it, you don't even notice that the screen is only 10.2 inches. The picture is clear and bright. I have noticed no dead spots. I highly recommend headphones as the speakers on this thing are all but useless. They're very tinney and a fly buzzing in the room can drown out all of the available volume. The unit comes with two headphone jacks, however, I did attach some powered accessory speakers that are a huge improvement for the times when several others want to watch. This DVD player comes with a nice soft case that really helps out transporting and would work for over the seat mounting on car trips.

Overall, I really like this player. I didn't really expect the onboard speakers to be all that good, but I did expect more volume. For a unit in the $300 range...I think they dropped the ball there.

I bought this DVD player mainly for my 14 months old son. Yes, it is expensive for a little kid, but very useful. I love the fact that it plays DivX. I'm able to put/convert 10 of my son's Baby Einstein discs into one DivX disc. DivX feature will become very useful for me as my son's collection of Einsteins, Barneys, and etc. increase. No more carrying a lot of DVDs into restaurants or on flights. Others have complained about the manual and the speakers.

This is a great DVD player and the quality of it outweights the manual or speakers. This is a PORTABLE DVD player and made to listen through the headphones, not an entertainment player for the house.

Try connecting your Ipod or any other portable players into a speaker without amplifier, the outcome is poor quality. It's like using my MP3 capable cell phone as a home stereo.

As for the manual, who needs it! All the icons for the player is the same as all VCR, Stereos, etc. The icons they use on the buttons have been used for more than 40 years. If you don't know the buttons for Stop, FF, Play, etc. then you shouldn't be buying any portable players.

I just got the PET 1002 as a gift. I didn't really think I had much of a use for it because I have a home DVD player, don't travel that much, and don't have kids. When I found out that it played DivX files (Mpeg4) and could play files burned to CD and DVD R/RW ... that intrigued me. I had a couple of shows/movies on my home computer and burned the "AVI" files directly to a DVD (-R) then popped in the DVD to the portable player and it brought up an "explorer" type menu screen and I could select the file and play it. Worked GREAT! No problems with the files and I could hook it up to my tv and watch the files on my home tv. Sound was great and the picture quality on the unit was great too. The unit came with all the cords necessary to hook up to the tv, and comes with a small remote control as well. The menu on the unit even has the sub-option to select the appropriate screen ratio (wide screen or letterbox). So far so good on the unit.

I can't speak to those who have had technical issues because mine has functioned flawlessly. That being said, I've had to replace two ipods but they are still the best out there, same goes for the PET1002. So, who gives two rat craps about the manual?? It is fairly user frindly and I was up and running right out of the box in minutes. If you need a manual to use this thing Im betting on two things, 1) You still use a VCR, and 2) the clock on it blinks 12:00. You also probably need the directions that come on shampoo and pop-tarts. If you are savvy enough, internet wise, to write an online review you should have realized you can get a pdf of the manual on the philips website and read and zoom till your hearts content. Scanning and enlarging?? There is so much wrong with that I don't know where to start. As for the player itself, yes the motor is a bit noisy, but no more so than most portables I've used, so just dont fire it up in church or in the babies crib. The speakers are small, tinny, and not very loud. If you want this thing to weigh 20lbs and come with a subwoofer, you are an idiot. Thats why there are HEADPHONE JACKS, which are plenty loud enough for all but artillery veterans. If you and your four kids can't hear the speakers WHILE ON A PLANE its because the other passengers have stuffed you in an overhead bin for being so inconsiderate. Thats like bringing a boombox on a bus, people will hate you at best and possibly punch you in the face. Also, do you complain that your car doesn't come with a blender, NO! So, don't buy a portable DVD for the whole family to watch, its not a frickin home theatre. You wouldn't buy a portable cd player for the whole family to listen too, or maybe you would, some people are a bit stupid. The screen is beautiful, very crisp, no dead pixels or screen door effect. Great contrast with plenty of adjustment range. The black levels can be a bit washed out but thats typical of all LCD screens, but this one pulls off dark sceens nicely. If you are shopping for the kids buy a cheapo, heck buy three for the price of this one, because kids couldn't care less about video/audio quality. Buying the PET1002 for children is like buying Barney on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. I have achived over 5hrs of playback before getting the battery warning light. By far the best i've found and amazing for a player with a screen of this size! Also this will play most video files you have on your computer. Load all those naughty mpgs from you compter onto a CD-R and this guy will play them! I haven't tried playing shows burned from itunes yet. If you want the-absolute-best video quality available, lots of flexability, and are gadget wise enough to run a toaster without needing a g.d. manual, get one of these, awesome product!

Sorry I doubted you, James and Nickelback Fan. I read your reviews (and no, I didn't vote against them!) but I still went ahead and bought this machine. Found it on clearance in Target for under $300 and figured it was worth a shot. I wanted the bigger screen so that my (four) children could crowd around it together and still see.

What a disaster! First of all, James is absolutely right about the User Manual. It's this huge single sheet of paper with tiny faded print and it folds to the size of your pocket billfold. Once you get it unfolded it's about the size of a picnic rug and totally unmanageable. Then all the info. is scattered haphazardly about the sheet, so you are looking at the bottom, then back up to the top, searching.

The good news for me is I also bought Costco's Toshiba SD-KP19SN package (169.99 minus 20 rebate coupon) this week and I had just finished opening and setting that one up when I approached the Philips, so I knew what most of the manual was trying to cover without needing to read it. Still -- compared to the Toshiba (which is the best manual I've ever seen from a foreign-language company), the Philips is shameful.

And does the Philips machine function? I'll get to that. First, I just want to say that by comparison with the Toshiba this Philips costs twice the price and feels cheap. The lid for the space where you seat your disc is tinny and I had to try several times to get the CD to sit properly so the machine could play it. During its attempts to read and its final successful load, the Philips is horribly noisy and sounds like it might break down any second. The Toshiba sounds like it might burp any second, mind you, but despite that somehow of the two the Toshiba is quieter and less offensive!!

Then, once I got the CD playing in the Philips I noticed that the highest volume level is pretty quiet. Not great if you are going to use this in a crowd, as I planned to (these machines are for my 4 kids to use when we are sitting around at swim meets -- and you know how loud indoor pools are). Probably not great on a plane, either.

Final straw, I plugged in the two sets of headphones that came FREE with the Toshiba package and found that 1) when you plug headphones into the Philips, the noise continues to come out of the machine's own speakers as well as thru the phones. How irritating and lame is that? Still, I suppose it might explain why they make sure there's so little volume on this machine ....

And 2) the second jack on my machine was non-functional. When I plugged each headset in turn into the front jack the headset worked (quietly due to lack of Philips volume, but functioning). Neither set would work off the back jack though. Completely useless for my multi-kid purposes, obviously.

The Philips machine is going back tomorrow and even if they still have it on sale I won't be buying another. I will probably go to Costco instead and pay full price for a second Toshiba and just pocket the $150 difference.

Ordered the unit based on the reviews I'd read online. Did what it said -- attaached the battery, plugged it in, saw the red light go on and recharged it until the light went out. Turned it on, put in a DVD and nothing happened. No power source at all.

Ordered another one that arrived yesterday and went through the same thing. Call Philips support and they went over every step with me and said I did it correctly and yes, the unit was defective.

$600 out, 2 being returend. Looking at another brand.

I haven't even tried to use this player yet. It may be as excellent from a technical standpoint as many reviews on multiple websites indicate.

HOWEVER, the supplied User Manual is by far the WORST I've ever seen, and I have tons of electronics devices I've used over the years.

The print is extremely small and very faded. All of the contents are very disorganized.

I've had to cut out each small section of the manual, enlarge it on my scanner, print each piece, and resort it to make some semblance of a reasonable order.

For $300, Phillips should be totaly ashamed of this crumby piece of work.

I was looking for a larger screen portable dvd player. I have a 7 inch screen and found it to be too small to enjoy the subtle details of a movie. I researched several dvds on different sites and discovered the philips 1002. According to cnet.com, philips 1002 is an excellent product. The colors and the sharpness of the picture are terrific and the sound with a headphone is quite enjoyable. The controls are user friendly and the dvd player very portable. I am very happy with this product and found my movies to be an enjoyable experience.