Product Description

The Philips PET1020/37 is a Portable DVD Player with a 10.2" High Resolution LCD Display. The product has a 180-degree swivel screen and comes with a Car Mount Kit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13294 in Consumer Electronics
• Color: Black
• Brand: Philips
• Model: PET1030/37
• Dimensions: 1.20" h x 10.60" w x 7.40" l, 3.00 pounds
• Display size: 10.2

Features

• 10.2" High-Resolution LCD display
• 180-degree swivel screen
• Memory Card Slot
• USB2.0 Connector
• Car Mount Kit Included

Customer Reviews

Philips PET1030 10.2" Portable DVD Player with Car Mount Kit
When I first bought this DVD player, I loved it. Yes there are more expensive ones but I couldn't find better a better player, really. After watching a movie, I noticed that every time the chapter changed, it had a little marker in the upper left corner. At first I wasn't bothered with it and after a few weeks, I didn't want to watch a movie on it because it was so bothersome.

I like to write reviews for people and not for myself. So, I do a FAQ.


How's the picture quality?

It's great. Very clear; very bright. It's a standard LCD screen. (Push the screen and you get puddle). The only thing I don't like it that dust and particles always get on the screen. Nothing a little blow on the screen won't fix.


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How's the sound?

Actually, it's the loudest potable DVD player I've heard. What I like is that you can change the volume with the remote. It has the option of volume numbers 1-16. I usually keep it on 12 because it's actually too loud. The bass on it is your normal small speaker quality. It's so so. But nothing to worry about, the sound is still excellent.


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How the quality?

It's good. The CD cover is a little flimsy but nothing that will break too easily. Turning it on is a little tricky. Sometimes it takes a minute to turn it on and off. One time I pushed the power button and it wouldn't turn on. I thought maybe it died after 2 days but it turned on. This is normal. It takes time to boot up.

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How's the screen?

Great size. 10.2. It's the largest you can find for now. I actually watched seasons 1-6 of The Sopranos and The Lord Of The Rings on it and the screen size wasn't bothersome at all. You can actually watch a movie and not worry that maybe the screen is too small.

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How are the accessories?

Nice. It has a controller, cigarette lighter adapter, TV adapter, an option where you can attach the DVD player to the back of a car seat. Great for kids and long trips. The attachment is actually very sturdy. I wouldn't worry about it falling off. I don't like the remote. It's kind of cheap. It's the size of a calculator but a little thinner. The bad thing is that the remote is kind of needed but not necessary. You can do the same functions with the buttons on the DVD player but the remote is a lot easier.

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How's the battery life?

Pretty good. It's about 4 hours. I always have mine plugged in so I can't say if it's 4 hours exactly. The DVD player manual says it's approximately 4 hours.

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What are the options?

It has a lot to set up so you get the picture and sound the way you want. It has the option where if you turn the DVD Player off, it will stat back up at the same place.


General: Language, PBD Setting, Power Save, DIVX VOD, Parental, Set Password, Factory setting.

Video: TV Display, TV Standard, MPEG-4 Subtitles, Brightness, Contrast, Color, Turn off LCD, Battery.

Audio: Dolby, Digital (SPDIF).

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What's on the controller?

Menu/Disk, Set up, Direction arrows, OK button, Display, Options, Vol Up and Down, Play/Pause, Fast Forward, Rewind, Stop, Mute, Number Button 0-9, Subtitles, Audio, Return, A-B, Zoom.

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How's the size?

Very nice. It's the size of a hard cover book. It's not as heavy compared to other DVD players but it's a little heavy. Like I said before, the screen size is great. If you where to take it along with you, pack it as you would a hard cover book.

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What are the features of the DVD player?

Here's the great part.

It has a swivel screen meaning you can turn it half way around. I like this because when I watch a movie, I just see a screen and not the player. For the connections, it has a Headphone jack, AV In/Out, USB connection (the best part) SC/MMC Card. (The memory card slot won't work with a SanDisk. It's too large. You can get an adapter though.) S Video, COAXIAL, The Power Adapter hole. Now for the USB option. You can connect, your iPod and charge the iPod, PSP, Camera anything that has the option of a USB connection. When you connect the USB, you can actually use it as a player for your MP3 player. A picture viewer form your Camera and PSP. It will show all your files that are on your device. Great feature. On the bottom on the DVD player it has the rubber feet so it won't slide around.

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How's the look of it?

Very sleek. It's White and Gray. When opened, it's Black. I like that because it's not distracting.

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So, after all the good stuff, what bad about it?

As before, the remote isn't too good. Dust gets on the screen very easily, sometimes it takes awhile to turn on and of course, the infamous chapter marker which you can get rid of.


It's really the best Portable DVD Player I've ever seen. If you're going to get one, get this.

Here's how to get rid of the marker.

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Go into Google and type in "Philips Portable DVD players".

Click the first link that says "consumer.philips".

Before anything, select your country in the upper right.

Click the link that says Contact & Support on the upper right hand corner.

Next it will say "Find Product".

Copy and Paste " PET1030 " in the Model number or keyword search bar. When the search is found, click the first link that pops up. "1 PET1030/37 Portable DVD Player".

On the left hand side it says "Software & drivers" Click that.

SOFTWARE

+ Firmware Upgrade Readme File

Posted Date: 10/17/2007 Size = 14 KB
+ Firmware Upgrade Software

Posted Date: 10/17/2007 Version = 070911


Now take it from there.

Make sure you read the Readme file before doing anything. You have to follow exactly what it says or it won't work.

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The Readme file.


Software / driver information


Software version v070911 for PET1030/37


Benefits.


Fixing the problem of chapter mark constantly stay on the display when playing back some of the DVD disc


Do I need to upgrade the software.


Software version number smaller than 070911 need to proceed software upgrade
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How to check the software version of your DVD portable


1. Press the SETUP key to enter the setup menu

2. Press RETURN and then press 1->2->3 by remote control

3. The display will show the software version e.g. 070303
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How to download the software to your PC


Click below link to download and save the zip file on your PC
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How to upload the software to your device

1. Unzip the file and then burn this "PHILIPS.BIN" file into CD-ROM using the following setting"

- File System CD-ROM ISO Level 2

- Mode 1/2/XA

- Character set ISO 9660

- Finalized, single session

- Write speed slow (e.g. 2x, 4x)

2. CD-ROM disc name must be "PHILIPS" (otherwise it will not be recognized as a disc for upgrade)

3. Power on the portable DVD player with AC/DC adaptor. (Warning: Do not use the battery alone!)

4. Keep the OSD language setting at "English" (Warning: It's important!!)

5. Play the CD-ROM for upgrade. They player will automatically upgrade after pressing "OK" by remote control
(Warning: Do not unplug the AC/DC adaptor during SW upgrade to prevent flash corrupt of the player!)

6. Once upgrade is completed, the player will restart automatically and you will observe PHILIPS LOGO on the screen

7. Then it is safe to remove the disc from the player

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Need more info or help? Just leave a comment and I will help you out.

Good Machine - Poor Quality Control
I received the PET 1030/37 as a Father's Day gift from my family and have used it for five days per week since then, while riding the bus to and from work (about 40 minutes ride each way). So, keep in mind that I am probably harder on a portable DVD player than most people.

Overall, this has been a very good machine. It has a nice large screen, with very clear picture. Basically that is the most important thing to me since I don't use the sound on the bus - I watch silent movies. On the rare occasion that I have used the sound, I have found it to be sharp and clear. Also, I have found the 180 degree swivel very helpful as it allows me to balance the machine on my lap with the screen tilted back while riding the bus. The brightness control should have a larger range in my opinion since old movies can be too bright or too dark and require adjustment in contrast and brightness more than this machine will do.

I like the buttons that work both as chapter moves and fast forward/rewind. You just touch the button once for chapter advance or hold it down for fast forward. Another feature I like is that it will often return to the previous location of a movie I was watching when I turned the machine off when I reached my bus stop. This feature works sometimes and doesn't work sometimes.

The reason I have given this machine four stars and decided to write a review is because of the problems I have encountered and the results of those problems.

The first machine I had began to have a problem of freezing from time to time in mid-movie as if there were a problem with the disk. During the freeze, it would make a whirring sound inside. I determined that it was a machine malfunction and not a disk problem because it got worse over time and continued on all of my DVD's. I called the technical assistance and they were very helpful. I sent back the defective unit (more than $11 in postage that I paid). They replaced it with a "new" machine in a very short time.

The next unit I used, was a slight upgrade of the returned machine, but was white and came without a carrying case (the first unit was black and had come with a carrying case). So, now I had to buy a carrying case from Amazon.com (Targus DVD001 13 Portable DVD Player Case for $24.68 and worth twice that - 5 stars).

This "new" unit began to have problems from the start. It would work fine for two trips, then on the third trip, it would have problems turning on and off. The button for the power just would refuse to work. So, I called technical support once again, and once again, they were very helpful. Back goes the defective unit and I get another "new" replacement (also, I'm out another $11+ in postage).

Please re-read the previous two paragraphs to see what happened next (except that this "new" machine was not another upgrade, but was identical to the defective machine that I returned).

As you can see, I am now out more than $57 in postage and purchase of a carrying case, and am on my fifth DVD player since June (this is November). On receiving my two latest machines (my fourth and fifth replacement units), I was given the replacement before having to return the defective unit. It also came with a prepaid FedEx label, so I am not out a fourth or fifth round of postage. In all this time, Philips has been very good about sending replacements promptly and have been easy to get a hold of on the phone in order to make the arrangements. I give their customer satisfaction 5 stars. I give 4 stars to the machine due to the hassle it has caused me. I suspect that the previous replacement units were also returns from others, and they could not "duplicate the problem".

I believe that I now have a new DVD player as it so far has worked flawlessly (knock on wood), and it even takes less time to recharge than the others took. If Philips can work out their quality control problems, they will definitely have a 5 star DVD player. Update - this is September 2008 and the latest replacement from November 2007 still works great! I am still using it for about 40 minutes at a time, twice each day, five days each week.

Do note that when turning off the player you can expect the power to go off sometimes immediately and sometimes after a short (3-5 seconds) wait. It's not a problem if you know ahead of time that this eccentricity will happen.

Absolutely in love this this
OK, first, I did the firmware update immediately upon opening the box my player arrived in and have not had any of the problems some users seem to have had.

Second, this has a stunning picture and when using earphones (I use Klipsch earphones) the sound is very nice.

I've shown this to several friends who have their own personal DVD players and in every instance they were shocked at how good this one was in comparison. I hesitated a bit before paying a bit more for this player rather than some cheaper ones, but I'm really glad I went with the nicer player. The only way right now you could really do better than this would be to use a laptop instead, and frankly I just find a laptop too heavy and hot (I usually have my player in my lap or on my stomach as I watch) for completely comfort.

As I've gotten to know the player better I've come to feel very easy with the controls. Except for the fact that it isn't easy to determine precisely how much time there is left on a particular video I like just about everything in the control array.

I especially like the fact that the player will play just about any kind of video format, including .avi files in DIVX format. I've been able to play files off my camcorder as well as shows I've recorded on TV using my DVD recorder. I've yet to find a disc that I couldn't play on it. And I've used the S video cord to play things on my TV that my normal DVD player is not able to. Finally, I like the fact that you can flip the screen over so that the player will fold up to the size of a hardback book. I'm able to adapt the display screen to just about any situation I'm in.

So, all in all I'm delighted with this player. The battery is great. I've taken the player to coffee shops and played a long string of TV episodes without any difficulty. I give this about as high a recommendation as is possible. Just make sure that you do the firmware update. If you do you'll find this to be pretty much a perfect player.