Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player
To sum it all up (a quick review)
I've seen a lot of reviews of this unit so I'm not going to repeat what many have already said. Here's my take on this player: <br /> <br />PROS: <br />Plays almost everything under the sun (except QPEL encoded MPG4 files). <br />File-based subtitle support (only works after firmware update) <br />Firmware upgradeable <br />Good build quality <br />Slim profile <br />Progresssive scan w/ Component output <br />Great picture quality (better than many other DVD or DivX players) <br />Region-code unlockable (simple too) <br /> <br />CONS: <br />Chirping noise <br />Won't play QPEL-encoded files (I haven't seen a DivX player on the market that support this) <br />Remote gets a 6/10 rating (read: cheap but functional) <br />File-based subtitles must be stored in files with name of less than 11 characters or they won't work. <br />File-based subtitles are displayed in white and are pretty small. On a while background, you will barely see the subtitle but this could be fixed with an upcoming firmware upgrade (hoping). <br /> <br />I've had this unit for about 3 months now. For the most part, it rocks but it pains me every time I try to play a QPel encoded video (about 25% of my collection). <br /> <br />Just bought a JVC XV-NP100S player from Bestbuy for $106. On the outside it looks nice but closer inspection reveals cheap workmanship. It's also not firmware-upgradeable and has many more problems (odd colors, pixelation, and frameskip on certain MPEG4 files) than the Philips...but the drive doesn't chirp and the remote is a little better. Compared to the DVP642, I'd give  the JVC XV-NP100S a rating of 6.5/10 whereas the DVP642 is a solid 8.5/10. I'm still waiting for better MPEG4 players to come out. For now, $70 buys you a great DVD player that can play many more formats.