Philips DVD727 Progressive-Scan DVD Player
Unreliable -- be careful!
I originally bought this player for the ability to play both NTSC/PAL and the fact that it can be made &quot;region free&quot; through a simple hack. The sound quality and picture, I admit is great for the price point. <br />  <br /> But here is what happened...I accidentally hit a random button on my remote and lost my video (the audio is fine.) I Googled and found that this is a &quot;known&quot; problem with this unit. See: [...] and search for Philips 727. <br />  <br /> Apparently there is no way to fix this problem (I even checked with Philips customer service). Since my unit is out of warranty Philips wants me to pay $30 plus shipping both ways to fix the problem. I might as well buy a new one for that price! <br />  <br /> The bigger issue is that I have seen this unreliability and &quot;random&quot; failures with other Philips units. This includes their HIGH-END SACD 1000 (which originally retailed for $2,000). My friend's SACD 1000 player randomly broke down and cost hundreds of dollars to fix. I am thinking this is the LAST Philips product I will buy. Pretty bad for a company that is otherwise pioneering new technology -- SACD, DVD Recorders, Flat Panel TV's.... <br />  <br /> Other folks have similar experiences like this? <br />