Home > Consumer Reviews > PHILIPS PET830/05 - 8.5inch Portable DVD Player

I'm a big fan of Philips products, not only because they usually do what they're built to do very well, but also because they tend to look great. The PET830 is no different, with its mixed glossy black / brilliant white casing and its impressively thin tablet PC-style construction. It also has a fair bit of functionality built in, with the ability to play JPEGs as well as DivX movies, MP3s and WMA files stored either on a CD, DVD or on a USB stick. This kind of ability is available on several video players these days so its nice to see it included here.

The PET830 also comes with various additions for both home and car use, including a remote control, car charging adaptor and headrest mount. Although the remote might seem a strange inclusion given the portability of the player, it soon becomes obvious that it's easier to use it rather than the controls mounted on the device itself as most of these are positioned around the casing and are quite small, so aren't always that easy to get to. The sound from the built-in stereo speakers, whilst a bit tinny and lacking in any real bass, is well-defined and gives some sense of depth; in real terms, I'd liken it favourably to the sound from a good-quality pair of laptop speakers and probably about what you'd expect from such a small device.

However, a product like this lives or dies by the quality of its screen and this is where I think the PET830 lets itself down, having both a noticeably lower resolution than some of its rivals and what seem to me to be not brilliant, although not terrible, colour reproduction and contrast levels. The picture when viewed from anything approaching a comfortably short distance seems a little blocky and bland, and mucking about with the player's picture settings doesn't seem to help much. I haven't seen many portable DVD players so this might be par for the course, although if the PSP can manage a top-quality screen, I don't see why something like this can't.

I was tempted to give the PET830 4 stars out of 5 for its very classy (and expensive looking) exterior and its pretty good functionality, although I feel that its shortcomings in the picture department really do let down what is otherwise a great product. The picture might be more than adequate for many users, particularly if its for little more than keeping the kids quiet on a long car journey, but more discerning buyers might not be so forgiving. If you were considering getting one on the basis of its picture alone, I'd suggest you audition several other makes before making a decision.

We ordered this on express evening delivery as a last-minute purchase before taking our 2 year-old on a long flight and have been absolutely thrilled with it. I am no technical/gadgets expert but we wanted something with a good picture and sound that looked decent and did the job. It is very easy to use and absolutely saved us on a number of occasions. Although we have not particularly tested it (as we have only used it for kids' DVDs) the quality of the picture was great. I had been a bit worried by the previous review but I needn't have - it was streets ahead of the lower models I had seen on test in department stores and the larger wide screen (many only come in at 7 inch) made all the difference. It is sleek and classy and looks great. Comes with a very good headrest adaptor and if you are buying it for travel, buy another case - the hama one supplied by Amazon is perfectly good and a good fit; the case supplied is small and flimsy.

I bought this for my daughter to keep her occupied on long car journeys

the battery life is 3 hours - most of the cheaper models are 2 hours

it works from the mains or from a car charger (cigarette ligher socket) as well.

It clips easily (and quickly) onto the back of the car seat using a well designed (and sturdy) support.

Comes with a nice remote control too.

Has 2 headset sockets, so 2 people can use it.

Also comes with the cable to connect to the TV. This gives a great picture and works well at home. We also used it to connect to our hotel room tv with great results. Note it supports PAL as well as NTSC.

This is a region 2 player. Philips DVDs are usually easy to make into multi region using a code from the internet. I have not found one yet, but this may be because it has only just been released.

The picture is quality is very good. My daugther loves it.

The only criticism that I could find for this product is that it does not have the option to display the time elapsed. So if you have only watched part of the film and want to get back to the same part, to continue the film, then you have to rely on the chapter number

I grew tired of looking for a dvd player, reading as many reviews as possible and still not coming up with any answers. I bought this particular one having read a review on this site from someone who bought this model express delivery to use on a flight next day. We were also going to fly next day with our young daughter. I can honestly say the picture is fantastic the small control button on the screen is so easy to use and allows you to skip,play,pause and volume without having lots of buttons for little fingers to push all the time! Our flight was only 2hrs but the dvd was fine and showed no sign of dying. I'm yet to establish how long it will last but we had it set to quite a high volume setting because our daughter is to young for headphones. The bigger screen is well worth the extra money but as the other review stated buy a seperate case because the one supplied is very thin and is more a dust cover if anything. For those like me who are buying to keep children happy and do not know anything about dvd players, you will not be disappointed with this one.

I wanted a portable DVD player for my child for a 10 car journey. I am no 'techie'and therefore reviewed peoples comments on here before deciding to purchase this. I was not disappointed.

It looks good, the picture is perfectly good for viewing in the car, its easy to fix in the car,in fact my only negative comment would be that without using headphones (3 year old refused to wear them), the sound could be better, although my child was perfectly happy.

The battery life was approx 2.5 - 3hours

I took the avdvice of a previous reviewer and ordered a seperate carry case, and while i agree it is needed, do not buy the Phillips SVC4000 as recommended by Amazon as the DVD Player barely fits, despite allegedly being for screens up to 10".