Info and forum posts by 'cazzasguy'

RE: Philips DVP630 Firmware

Hi Paul,

What program did you use to burn the firmware CD? Did you follow the instructions on the Philips website to the letter? It`s critical - and very diferent from compiling a music CD for example. Provide a few further details, including the brand of CD you used, and I might be able to advise.

Cheers

Dave


From a meaningful existence

Philips DVD Recorders - what a farce!

Before deciding to buy a Philips DVDR75 I read an awful lot of criticism of the marque on here, and other forums. However as the rest of my home cinema setup is Philips and has served me well, thought I`d go ahead anyway.

How stupid can you get. Straight out of the box, all it would do is display the menu. The channels installed OK, through the "Easylink" system. But all that happened after inserting a disc was error messages or corrupt memory addresses. On the 5th attempt, the DVD+R icon finally appeared, then... the dreaded disc error came up. Tried Verbatim, TDK and ZeroDefex discs, all with the same result.

To avoid the inconvenience of asking the mail order company to arrange collection and subsequent redelivery, I took the advice of the Philips website. Downloaded the firmware upgrade, wrote it onto a CD-R and whizzed the disc into the machine. Instant results! Accepted discs as empty DVD+R`s. Even started recording! And the timer worked! Great, I thought...

Until putting the discs back into the machine in order to finalise them. Ten minutes of whirring and - "unreadable data on disc.Press OK to eject". On every single disc...

What a pile of garbage. Now I have to ring 24-7 Electrical and take at least 1 day off work in order to get the thing back again. And even then will it work properly?

From a meaningful existence

RE: Play.com - Alien vs Alien Promotional

Well, guess I dropped myself in it a little! My girlfriend`s sister works in their despatch department and managed to get me a couple of "advance copies". Play often receive stuff well ahead of its official release date and unless threatening noises are made by the distributor, try to fulfil advance orders as soon as they can. Apparently threatening noises HAVE been made in the case of the new Alien DVDS, so don`t expect your discs before mid-April. Well worth waiting for though, the DTS soundtrack is noticeably different and the extras are cool!

From a meaningful existence

RE: Play.com - Alien vs Alien Promotional

No, apart from slight differences in the packaging there are no differences whatsoever. I got Alien and Resurrection under BOGOF from Play and have compared them with my brother in law`s pair which cost him about 15 quid more from Amazon.

So it is a genuine bargain.

From a meaningful existence

RE: The Running Man 2 disc special edition

I`ve just received the R1 special edition from Play USA, its the Canadian version. The box makes no mention of a DTS soundtrack, neither does the menu when the disc is inserted. However after selecting Dolby Digital 5.1 and sitting back to enjoy what I consider to be a criminally underrated film, my Yamaha amp switched to DTS Matrix 6.1 mode!!!

Very puzzling, but sounds great whatever format it is

From a meaningful existence

RE: NTSC/PAL?

I know I`ll probably be accused of dodgy eyesight, but on the vast majority of NTSC disks in my collection, I notice horizontal lines reducing the overall resolution... this is particularly evident on movies filmed in black and white. Do I really need contact lenses, or is this a real drawback of the NTSC format? It surely can`t be my player or TV... they both claim to be compatible and together cost over £1,800!!! Help anyone?

From a meaningful existence

This item was edited on Tuesday, 20th January 2004, 09:54

RE: What is the best JFK to get?

You should seek out the R1 Oliver Stone Collection (available on its own or as part of a box set), as it has a DD 5.1 soundtrack rather than Dolby Surround which seems to be on all other versions.

Unfortunately the picture quality isn`t any better than the R2 release.

Movies help you rise above the banalities of life

RE: Help / Opinions needed please Sharp / Philips?

Despite the unmitigated criticism of Philips on here, I have to say that during 2 decades of being a home cinema afficianado, I`ve not encountered a set as good as my current 32" widescreen - and I replace TVs every 3 years. The 100hz scan results in a superbly stable picture, all the hi-tech features work without fault, and it has every output/input option you could wish for. Yeah it was expensive (£979 after shopping around) but worth every penny. Has aesthetic appeal too - important when trying to justify a major outlay to your other half!

As a result I also bought Philips DVD959 and 980 VHS machines and I`m similarly impressed.

From a meaningful existence