Philips PET724 7-Inch Portable DVD / DivX Player
Performs like a $300 Model!
Ever since I discovered this portable DVD player, I have been highly impressed with how much it met both my normal and oddball demands.  As a student of Musical Theatre, Opera, Classical vocal and choral literature, and Jazz and Classical piano, high volume from the internal speakers, 320-KBPS constant bit rate MP3 playback on DVD, and four-hour battery life are of great importance to me.  I have read reports that its internal speakers are somewhat weak and that it will not play MP3s burned to DVD.  Please remember that this is not a home theater system, and that its speaker drivers themselves are palm-sized, or more than likely even smaller than that.  Something else to be well aware of when adjusting the volume is that there are actually two volume controls.  There is an analog knob on the DVD player itself, as well as a digital adjustment on its remote control.  For full volume range, it is best to set the latter to its maximum level so that full volume adjustment is made possible via the former for convenience perposes.  I burned some 320-KBPS constant bit rate MP3 files to a single-layer DVD using the UDF file system and they played successfully.  On the Musical Theatre, Opera, and choral side of things, this player is capable of playing both NTSC (North American) and PAL (European) DVDs on corresponding as well as opposite TVs.  For certain titles in these genres, the North American editions are either four percent slower in tempo and picture movement and flatter in pitch than the European editions due to the method of PAL-to-NTSC conversion used by the distributors of such DVDs, or do not include as many bonus features as their original European counterparts.  Sometimes, it can be the other way around, except the European editions might be four percent faster and sharper and have less bonus material than their original North American counterparts.  On both ends of the spectrum, if the audio pitch is corrected without changing the audio speed to keep the picture and sound in synch, a subaudible breaking-up effect may be noticed as the result of slight artifacts from slightly bending or stretching the pitch in the conversion process.  However, because of this player's bicompatibility with both color systems, I have the freedom to choose and purchase whatever editions are the best.  Although it is not in the manual, this player can be made multi-region compatible including RCE DVDs.  Open the disc door.  Turn on the DVD player.  Using its supplied remote control, press 'SETUP.'  Arrow down to the preferences page.  Press 'OK.'  Press 212225 followed by left arrow, followed by down arrow.  Press '0.'  Press 'SETUP' to exit.  Turn off the DVD player.  Close the disc door.  Now you can play any store-bought DVD without thinking about it.  One thing to consider is that many Philips DVD players will only play DTS audio tracks via their digital output jack(s), a minor disappointment if you are planning on using the internal speakers, earphones, or line output because DTS tracks are approximately two times larger in file size than Dolby Digital tracks resulting in better audio quality.  I have read on some non-official sites that Philips themselves released downloadable, burnable firmware for some of their DVD players to correct this.  There is no firmware upgrade available for this model at the time of this customer review.  Of course, there is always the option of sending Philips feedback asking them if they would consider releasing a downloadable, burnable firmware upgrade for this model if this issue is important to you.  Being an advanced amateur audiofile/videofile myself, I am going to do just that.  In conclusion, if you are looking for a portable DVD player with wide video compatibility you have come to the right place!