Philips DVD701AT DVD Player
Unacceptable: failed in less than 30 days
I purchased one of these from another retailer (sorry Amazon), and returned it 30 days later.<br />After 28 days it developed a disturbing habit of &#8220;freezing up&#8221; after an hour or so of playback. The only recourse at this point was to turn off the machine (directly at the unit), only to have it freeze again after a few more minutes of playback.<br />I was sure the first time there was a problem with the DVD I was playing. However replaying a DVD that had successfully completed some days before turned up the same problem.<br />When it worked correctly, I found the playback quality acceptable. This was used only as a 2nd DVD player for a 20-inch TV with no extra speakers, so picture and sound quality weren&#8217;t that important.<br />The on off switch is awkward. This unit seems to be designed for the European market. Consumers there insist on an actual &#8220;mains&#8221; switch that allows them to shut of an electronic component completely, rendering the remote control useless. Yes, it goes into &#8220;standby&#8221; when &#8220;turned off&#8221; using the remote, but if you ever shut it off directly at the unit, it&#8217;s dead until turned back on from that location. A minor point I was willing to overlook, if it weren&#8217;t for the playback failure.<br />It does have one feature that my primary DVD home theatre system does not: it remembers the last position played for the past 5 DVDs. Very useful if you stop watching before the end; it prompts you to resume where you left off when next you turn it back on.