Buy Advice: Pioneer v/s Philips

[ashvar]

I am looking to buy either the Pioneer DV-563A or Philips DVP642. I want is to be able to play normal DVDs, DVD+-Rs, MP3s and VCDs (PAL). I am looking for help in deciding between the two and your help is always appreciated.

Thanks

[chrisb01]

Some of my input on Phillips: https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=235219

[EatMoreChickens]

If you don't need DivX playback, the Poineer is probably a better player. The Philips don't handle problematic VCDs or mpgs. So stutters and freezes can be a problem.

[scottb721]

I recently bought a Pioneer DV-270.
It's superb.
Front panel has menu cursor keys , Enter button, Menu etc so remote isn't needed to browse menus.

Plays MP3, JPG and WMA.

Something's it does that others might not,
got a CD containing mp3/wma or JPEG's that are spread across multiple folders?
The Pioneer can play the entire disc without the need to keep selecting the next folder.

Also,
got 2 movies on 1 DVD-R but no menus? No Problem.
The player can scan the disc for available titles and show the first second of each and you simply use the cursor to choose which one you want.
Also does this for chapters. It creates it's own chapter selection screen with moving pics for each thumbnail.

Would happily buy another.

[guns1inger]

I've not had a lot of experience with the Phillips players, but those that I have used have not impressed me all that much. Home authored DVDs do not seem to play as reliably ( or correctly) in Phillips machines.

Pioneer, on the otherhand, have always been good to me. They go for ever (my last one was almost 6 years old before being replaced) and are rock solid and predictable. However, Pioneer are firmly in the DVD -R camp, some +R may be problematic unless you ca bitset.

[samijubal]

I wouldn't buy anything Philips over Pioneer myself, very cheaply built equipment.