Philips 642 - Turned off can't turn it on

[next2u]

Hello
I have a Philips 642 Dvd Player that I bought over a year ago, and never experienced any problems with it before.
Usually I do not turn it off and just put it on Pause and then continue watching a movie the same day or at night time.
Today in the morning I still had the 642 on Pause, but when i came back home 2 hours later it turned off (it happened to me before were the dvd player would just turn off by itself or reboot)
But this time I cannot even turn it on.

I unplugged it from the outlet for a couple of minutes, plugged it back in.
The power on my remote doesn't seem to load the DVD Player.
The StandbyON is flashing
Stop/play etc.. none of them seem to work on my dvd player.

What could have happened, how can i turn my DVD Player back on?
Is there a toll free tech support # by Philips that you can call?

Any suggestions on what should I do now?

Thanks in advance.

[normcar]

Is there a toll free tech support # by Philips that you can call?

Philips tech support, thats a good joke. Philips has one of the worst tech support available.

I would try to look on the website for problems like this, and find if there is a reset combination for resetting the unit. Something like holding the power button down while plugging in the unit.

Also try to leave the unit unplugged for a couple of hours.

I had a $900 Philips DVD recorder that was always crap, and quit after recording about 50 DVDs. I will never buy a POS Philips again. If you do a google search, you will find a lot of people with problems with expensive Philips equipment that take weeks to hear anything if ever.

[ybeard]

I think if you looked on the web you'd find that your problem is one of the more common problems with the Philips 642. I had one that simply died as well. Hey, it's a throw away DVD player at between $50-60 USD.

[MJA]

thanx to the Philips 642 I don't buy anything made by Philips anymore .consider yourself lucky that your player lasted more than a year.pure garbage

[painkiller]

Sheesh.

Never turned it off? Left it on pause?

Don't you think you should re-think that habit/practice?

Think how much longer it would have lasted.

[jagabo]

Think of it as a good excuse to get a Philips 5140 or 5960. They have better picture quality and better compatibility.

https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=301153
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1590868#1590868

[FulciLives]

My Philips DVP-642 lasted something like 2 months, give or take.

I hardly even used the ******* thing!

DivX/XviD looked OK but DVD playback was poor and the PAL DVD to NTSC was a freakin' joke ... the quality was SO bad.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[handyguy]

I think that circuit city has a 5960 for $55 AR now. Thats cheap. YOu can even use a external HD with it.

[next2u]

Thanks for all the reply guys.

normcar - I tried to leave the unit unplugged for more then 12 hours, plug it in, the standby/power mode is flashing red.
None of the keys on remote or the actual dvd do not work - I already gave up with it i doubt it will ever turn on.
Sorry to hear about your $900 DVD Recorder issue

MJA - Yeah it lasted and served me quite well for over a year.
painkiller - Yeah i know it wasn't a very good thing to do while leaving it on pause for long period of times...And even though i don't think that's the main reason why my 642 stopped working, I won't do it again with my new player.

jagabo - Thanks you veyr much for the link, very nice detailed reviews with pictures, I might get 5140 we have it @ BestBuy for $75CDN + tax - those bastards.

p.s. Before making my thread on this forum, I came across one thread with pictures where the guy explains how to unscrew the 642 Philips, and take out the DVD out of the CD-Rom, if anyone has a link to this thread post it here.
Or maybe someone knows another solution how to take out the DVD out.

[Cohiba_IV]

Guess What? I have the exact same problem. The 642 worked fine for almost 2 years, I even moved from place to place (cruise ship employee). Then one day it just stopped working, with that evil flashing light taunting me. Did anyone ever figure it out? I have tried unplugging it, overnight. There is a DVD stuck in there. Buying another DVD player will not get this DVD out, so although that is great advice, it is no help. If it's too complicated, then I won't bother either. But if it's a simple reset issue or power cord problem then I might take a shot. Why not? Abe Lincoln did.

[kato51]

FWIW, from google...if you're handy with a soldering iron, it maybe worth a shot. Atleast it's cheap. Apparently the cap in the power supply goes bad. NOTE: the capacitor is polarized so if you try this make sure you replace the new cap in correct orientation (observe where +/- legs go). Putting in a polarized cap backwards may make it leak or explode.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.video.dvd.players/browse_thread/thread/75e138505277...c9e979f191c3ef

[handyguy]

" Buying another DVD player will not get this DVD out, "

Just open it up. It just has a few screws.

Of course, unplug it first.

[jman98]

With regards to FulciLives, it is fair to point out, which he did not, that I've seen his complaints before and they very specifically relate to the fact that the DVP-642 did not play progressive scan PAL DVDs correctly. I have no progressive scan PAL DVDs that I can test with, but I have found the unit's PAL->NTSC conversion to be OK for my needs. Just note that this player simply chops off the extra lines of resolution to get it down from 576 to 480, so if you have a PAL DVD that is not letterboxed, you'll miss some of the picture. Quality is all subjective and the people who hate the DVP-642 REALLY REALLY hate it passionately. I'm just saying that there are other opnions here. For all I know, FulciLives got a bad one and I got a good one or perhaps his TV is a lot more state of the art than mine. However, many people own this unit and it works fine for them.

next2u - Leaving a DVD player on pause for hours is a very bad idea. Why not just do what I do? If I want to stop watching a movie, I stop either at a chapter point or at some increment of 10 minutes, like 50 minutes, 70 minutes, and so on. Yes, you have to waste "precious" seconds by reloading the DVD when you are ready to resume watchign and then go to the place where you left off, but I'm still using my DVP-642 2 years after I first bought it and you aren't.

[next2u]

Cohiba_IV - Check your PM i sent you an explanation on how to fix this problem.

jman98 - I fixed my problem so it is currently working, and the issue with the player was the burst or bulging capacitor on the power supply side of the dvp642's mainboard, not because I had it on PAUSE for long period of times.


Wow thank God I did some more research before actually listening to some advices here about how I should just forget about it and get a new DVD Player..Why get a new one when this one can be fixed in 10 minutes.

I appreciate all the input and all the reply's, sorry to hear that some mebers had issues with their Philips after 2 months - fixed and still going strong.

Here's the known issue phillips dvp642 flashing red stand-by light, and HOW TO FIX IT.

on the power supply side of the dvp642's mainboard.
to fix it simply dis-assemble the unit removing the mainboard totally from the casing. search for the bad capacitor on the main board. once you have found it simply turn the board over and using a soldering iron and some desolder twine desolder the capacitor from the board being careful not to burn the circuit board or lift any traces.once you have removed the old capacitor take it and purchase a replacement from radioshack or equivalent store. make sure the replacement has the exact same voltage rating and AT LEAST THE SAME AMPERAGE higher is ok lower will not work.but the voltage must be exactly the same. resolder the new capacitor to the mainboard and reassemble and viola your up and running again.

[TBoneit]

You forgot to mention that it is very important to watch the polarity of the electrolytic capacitor when replacing it. Reversing the polarity will result in a high current flow through the capacitor and shortly thereafter its destruction, possibly in a explosive fashion as the water in the electrolyte turns to steam.

That is why they have + marking on them. Mark the circuit board before desoldering.

[painkiller]

Next2u -

Glad to hear you were able to fix your problem.

I, too, have the Phillips 642. Had it for a couple (several?) years now, no problem with it - knock on wood.