Philips DVP5140 Multiformat DVD Player with DivX, MP3, Windows Media Support
2 Stars. You can do better...
This is an incredibly mediocre DVD player. Picture quality is fine, but features are lacking. My biggest angry complaint is that if you leave a DVD paused long enough, the thing will simply shut off. Oh, it doesn't tell you that, it likes to pretend it's in \\"Standby\\" mode; fact is, it's merely in \\"OFF\\" mode with a red LED light on. It will NOT remember where you paused, either; you'll simply have to start over. If you are like me and tend to pause to go to the bathroom or respond to a phone call or such, this is an extremely irksome \\"feature\\". Other than that, it just seems to lack certain features. I couldn't get the subtitles on one of my DVDs to work at all, so, uh, go figure.    The remote control is absolutely awful. I'm only mildly annoyed by the lack of clearly labled ffw/rwd buttons (they are disguised as the left/right menu navigation buttons). I'm more annoyed by the lack of an eject button on the remote. I'm absolutely enraged by the placement of the IR diode (signal thingy). It's recessed under a little half-inch shelf of plastic, which makes the reception for the player sketchy at best. If it isn't aimed just right, you get no response. If you for some reason get this player, use a Universal Remote.    The region-free feature is nice, but I wish it was automatic. All I can say is that if you do order this, don't get angry when you see a big Region 1 code on the box; this is just the default setting. It takes a minute or two and a special code, but you should be able to play that obscure Chinese comedy series you paid a 937% markup for on eBay. So far, I have no complaints with the multi-region feature.    It can play a variety of formats; I suppose that's attractive to some folks. If that sort of thing gets you excited, then you might well like this DVD player. Frankly, I can play all of these formats as well on my new-fangled \\"computer\\", plus I can play games, draw pictures, and write smarmy reviews. So really, I personally don't see the attraction ofmulti-format playback.    Overall, this is a mediocre DVD player that happens to have an attractive feature (region-free playback). There are better players available for the same price or a few bucks more, and I recommend you shop around until you're sure this one is good enough for you.    ***EDIT*** Ok, I guess you CAN resume playback where you left off, you just have to press play as soon as you see the \\"LOADING\\". Frankly, this is only mildly less annoying. Why couldn't they just AUTOMATICALLY resume play? Seriously, jeez...