Philips PET724 7-Inch Portable DVD / DivX Player
Died an early death
I was basically happy with this unit as it came out of the box. As noted by another reviewer, the unit runs warm-to-hot which can be a little disconcerting. As also noted by another reviewer, the unit is quite noisy when first loading a DVD. I was glad in both cases that I'd been warned, or I would have been worried.    The user guide is poor, sadly typical of most electronic gear today. For example, it wasn't clear how to select the menu/OSD functions from the unit (vs. from the remote) -- I figured out almost accidentally that what looked like a flat surface around the menu navigation buttons was actually a pressure-sensitive switch that activated the menu (pressing on one side) or OSD (pressing on the other).    Speaking of the remote, I found it hard to use. I have fairly large fingers, which was part of the problem, but the tactile feel just wasn't right (or at least not what I was used to). I must say that the thinness of the remote is remarkable. Finally, I question the utility of a remote with a 7-inch screen (other than there are more buttons on the remote than on the unit itself).    The DVD door doesn't open as far as I would like -- only about 35 degrees without feeling like you're forcing it, and I didn't want to do that.    Now for the really bad news. My unit died after less than five hours of use. It stopped loading DVDs -- just kept up the noisy loading sounds until I stopped it. Hopefully amazon will take the return. I'm very disappointed in Philips' quality control.    I'm also disappointed in Philips' warranty policy. Included in the box was the usual warranty registration card. What was unusual, however, was that the card was entitled \\"Application for Warranty Benefits\\" and stated \\"To qualify for warranty benefits, this card must be completed and returned within 5 days from the date of purchase. Based on my understanding of U.S. consumer law, this is misleading at least -- in the U.S., companies cannot require return of a warranty registration card as a prerequisite for warranty service. To be fair, it looks like the card may have been intended for Canadian buyers, but there wasn't anything that excluded U.S. buyers from the 5-day requirement. In any case, even if allowed, imposing a 5-day registration requirement isn't customer-friendly.