Philips DCP850 Docking Entertainment System
Manufacturer: Philips Consumer Electronics Part number: DCP850/37
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Philips DCP850 has plenty of appeal for video iPod users. It's among the first devices to combine an iPod dock with a portable DVD player, plus it offers good connectivity and supports useful media formats.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/04/2009 |
CNET editors' review
Philips DCP850 Docking Entertainment System price range: $179.99
- Reviewed by: Nathaniel Wilkins
- Edited by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 05/08/2007
The good: This portable DVD player incorporates a video iPod dock that allows you to play iPod videos on an 8.5-inch screen. It also has an SD card slot for movie and photo viewing, and it supports DivX video and MP3 CDs.
The bad: The remote control can hardly command a docked iPod, and iPod menus are not displayed on the DCP850's screen. The tinny speakers aren't good for listening to music. The rechargeable battery isn't removable and only provides around 2.5 hours of DVD playback between charges.
The bottom line: The Philips DCP850 has plenty of appeal for video iPod users. It's among the first devices to combine an iPod dock with a portable DVD player, plus it offers good connectivity and supports useful media formats.
A true convergence product, the Philips DCP850 ($199.99) is among the first portable DVD players to incorporate a video iPod dock. Although the iLuv i1055 came before it, the DCP850 improves on the concept with a more-refined design. Factor in its all-around solid performance, and it's easy to see how the DCP850 could become quite the trendsetter.
Measuring in at 8.3x7x1.5 inches, the DCP850 isn't any bulkier than a standard portable DVD player. With portable DVD player screens generally ranging from 7 to 11 inches, the DCP850's 8.5-inch, 16:9 display is of average size. The hinged screen swivels 180 degrees to accommodate different viewing angles. If you're on a tight budget and can settle for a 7-inch screen, check out the otherwise identical Philips DCP750, which costs about $50 less.
The DCP850's iPod dock is located essentially in the same place where a keyboard would be on a laptop computer, which makes it easy to access and to use a docked iPod's controls. When docked, an iPod is completely flush with the DCP850's casing. Cleverly, the DCP850's iPod dock doubles as a bay for the unit's remote control. Thanks to a locking mechanism, the DCP850 securely holds either. And of course, the screen folds down, providing clamshell-like protection to a docked iPod or the remote while in transit.
The DCP850 has a good assortment of connectivity. Side-panel jacks include dual headphone outputs as well AV-in and AV-out miniplugs. Philips includes an adapter cable to further facilitate connecting the unit to your home entertainment system. The unit outputs anything your iPod can play. Additionally, it can play MPEG-4/DivX video files, which is a big plus for people who have big DivX movie collections. The unit supports virtually all types of home-burned DVD and CD media, and an SD card slot provides an extra option for playing media files.
The DCP850's biggest drawback is its limited iPod integration. iPod menus aren't displayed by the DCP850, and the DCP850's remote basically can't do anything useful for the iPod besides pausing it. That said, these limitations aren't fatal, because you can easily use the iPod's controls and display for navigation and command purposes when the iPod is docked.
In our tests, with its brightness dialed in to a moderately high setting, the DCP850 delivered approximately 2.5 hours of DVD playback from a fully charged battery, which isn't very good. We fared better with the DCP850 playing video from our iPod, getting around 5 hours of playback before the DCP850's battery died. In addition to a standard power adapter, the unit is supplied with a car cigarette lighter adapter for charging on the road. Handily, the DCP850 charges your docked iPod while charging its own battery. On the downside, the DCP850's battery isn't removable, so you can't purchase a spare for long flights.
Overall, the DCP850's performance was good. The unit didn't have any problem playing home-burned discs including DVDs containing DivX files and MP3 CDs. What's more, digital photos we'd shot onto an SD card displayed without issue when we loaded the card into the DCP850, and the image quality was perfectly acceptable. Although the puny built-in speakers performed adequately for watching movies, they sounded too tinny playing music. If you're looking for an iPod dock to play music, you'll be better off with the Altec Lansing inMotion iM600 ($149.95).
In the final analysis, the DCP850 isn't perfect, but nonetheless offers plenty of appeal for video iPod owners who are in the market for a portable DVD player.
User reviews
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Move it along....
by ckdex on November 9, 2007
Pros: decent pic
Cons: not enough space for all the gripes..
Summary: Attn Ipod owners!! This unit is not, I "REPEAT", not compatible with the 6th generation or to those who don't speak "I" speak, the New "classic" 80 gb & ...
Summary: Attn Ipod owners!! This unit is not, I "REPEAT", not compatible with the 6th generation or to those who don't speak "I" speak, the New "classic" 80 gb & 160gb Ipod's for video viewing. When you connect the ipod to the the unit it reads..."Tv video out enabled, please connect av device" ***!!! Needless to say the only reason I bought this was so that I could expand the pic size of my Ipod movies without having to lug around dvd dics If I didn't feel like it. So much for the "It sounded good in theory" principle. Th eother gripe is that the battery is non replacable
8 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Disposable Player
by Tempp on October 26, 2007
Pros: Design
Cons: Battery
Summary: Watch out!!!
The built-in battery cannot be replaced by any means. Here are some quotes from Philips customer support:
"We do not manufacture and sell replacement batteries for the unit." ...Summary: Watch out!!!
The built-in battery cannot be replaced by any means. Here are some quotes from Philips customer support:
"We do not manufacture and sell replacement batteries for the unit."
"We apologize to inform you that the battery is not replaceable. It is an internal part of the portable DVD player and you cannot purchase it anywhere."
Also, Philips told me,
"We do not have available information about the average life duration of the built-in battery."
Basically, Philips is saying they do not know how long the device will last and there is no way to fix it once the battery dies.
Do you want to invest your money to something that may become useless in a month?????5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Outstanding
by wsmckinney on February 1, 2008
Pros: Portability
Cons: Battery life
Summary: After setting up my iPod to send out the video to the TV I had a great picture for the size of the data file. If you have had problems ...
Summary: After setting up my iPod to send out the video to the TV I had a great picture for the size of the data file. If you have had problems getting the video to the screen you need to go to video setting in the iPod and set the output to tv. Turn everything off and then the next time you start it up the video will be on the large screen.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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audio from ipod videos way too low
by bramallo on June 3, 2007
Pros: everything except audio
Cons: audio from ipod videos inaudible
Summary: I strongly urge you to go to bestbuy to try your own ipod on a floor model before buying this. Everything looked great until I tried watching movies from my ...
Summary: I strongly urge you to go to bestbuy to try your own ipod on a floor model before buying this. Everything looked great until I tried watching movies from my ipod. The video looked great, but the sound was very very quiet, even when everything (the philips player and the ipod) were cranked to maximum volume. This has also been a problem with the Memorex i-view. Probably better to buy a regular portable DVD player instead, and use the line-in jack to send the video in. I'm glad I tried before I buyed!!!!!
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best Investment for the video iPod
by quiksilver589 on May 21, 2007
Pros: Large screen, speaker quality, the best of it's kind, etc.
Cons: Not the greatest battery life
Summary: This is the greatest accessory I have purchase for my video iPod. I enjoy the portability and the larger screen. I have had this product for almost 5 months and ...
Summary: This is the greatest accessory I have purchase for my video iPod. I enjoy the portability and the larger screen. I have had this product for almost 5 months and it has never failed me. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting a larger, portable screen for their video ipod.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent companion for travelers
by labg on May 21, 2007
Pros: Great integration of video iPod
Cons: Better control of iPod by remote
Summary: I bought this for my 15 months old daughter, and have survive her so far. This is great for parents that don't want to carry DVDs for the kids ...
Summary: I bought this for my 15 months old daughter, and have survive her so far. This is great for parents that don't want to carry DVDs for the kids and only a few for the adults. I have all her baby videos on my iPod 60GB and this was the next step for her to view them while we travel. Also she likes to see her pictures with her music. I would prefer more control of the iPod with the remote and better speaker but for $180, just a few more than a regular DVD player is a great deal.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Useless for iPod videos & pictures!!!
by brunoblacklab on November 29, 2008
Pros: Good sound from the iPod - good job really cos that's all it's good for with respect to the iPod 80Gb.
I suppose if you have an older iPod then it may work - as I have an 80gb which was out before this product - it's just useless for that!Cons: The fact that you can't use iPod with it ........... and that you cannot buy a new battery - once the battery goes, it's then ready for the garbage....... bad idea Philips!
Summary: Why produce a product that does not provide functions as per the label.......and that cannot be maintained. Not working with iPod 80gb among others, and not being able to ...
Summary: Why produce a product that does not provide functions as per the label.......and that cannot be maintained. Not working with iPod 80gb among others, and not being able to replace this battery, makes this a real lemon!!! To all iPod users, I do not recommend purchasing this for use with your iPod !!! If only it stated this on the label, or if only I had realised before throwing away my receipt!!!!
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Bad Pixel, NO support from Philips
by Dsuich on March 28, 2008
Pros: Dock for remote control is nice
Cons: Very poor build quality & poor customer support
Summary: The unit had a manual "volume" control for both volume and picture brightness, which was very convenient. It was nice to have the remote control and DVD all in one ...
Summary: The unit had a manual "volume" control for both volume and picture brightness, which was very convenient. It was nice to have the remote control and DVD all in one package. But right out of the box, the screen had a bad pixel; a single annoying blue dot that stayed there in the middle of the screen all throughout any movie playback. Additionally, the on-off button was very difficult to operate. When I called Philips for a repair of this defect, they told me that I would have to pay for return shipping! Their support line is manned by people in some foreign country that have almost no ability to intelligently converse in English.
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Bad buy, never again. only works on old Ipods not current ones
by epcauctions on January 20, 2008
Pros: nice layout
Cons: Only works with gen 5 ipod, short battery
Summary: I bought this to go with my Ipod classic and it only works on video with gen 5 Ipods even though they are not made any more. Maybe Philips should ...
Summary: I bought this to go with my Ipod classic and it only works on video with gen 5 Ipods even though they are not made any more. Maybe Philips should keep up with the times and make so current Ipods work in it. I wrote them and they basicly said buyer beware and there was no way to adapt it. the dvd player was built just a few months ago and after the production date of my ipod classic. Great idea they did not follow through on but they still make even though many people will buy it and it will not work for them. Another consumer scam they will not address and offer no fix for. They could easly change adaptor to fit current classic models. Battery life limited and might get you through a movie
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80gb & 160gb iPods Beware
by jnsgardner on November 26, 2007
Pros: Nice unit with quite a few features
Cons: Doesn't play video from newer iPods
Summary: This unit doesn't play the video on 80 and 160gb iPods. The audio comes through, but not the video. I confirmed this at Frys and Best Buy as well ...
Summary: This unit doesn't play the video on 80 and 160gb iPods. The audio comes through, but not the video. I confirmed this at Frys and Best Buy as well as the Philips Tech # 1-888-744-5477. How can Philips market a new unit like this and not have it play videos?
John
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Philips Consumer Electronics
- Part number: DCP850/37
- Description: Enjoy your DVDs and iPod videos on 8.5" wide swivel screen. The sleek and compact Philips DCP850 also features a SD/MMC memory card reader, which allows you to view digital photos or DivX movies stored on your memory card.
General
- Product Type DVD player with iPod dock
- Form Factor Portable
- Width 8.3 in
- Depth 7 in
- Height 1.5 in
- Weight 2.4 lbs
DVD
- Media Type CD, DVD, CD-R, SVCD, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, Video CD
- Media Format PAL
- Media Load Type Top-load
- Search Speed 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x
- Supported Digital Video Standards DivX, MPEG-4
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
Display
- Display Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 8.5 in - Color
- Image Aspect Ratio 16:9
DVD Features
- Picture Zoom Yes
- Picture Zoom Power 2x, 3x, 4x, 1/2x, 1/3x, 1/4x
- TV Screen Saver Yes
- Additional Features MPEG4 capable, JPEG photo playback, Video playback from flash memory card, Digital photo playback from flash memory card
Audio System
- Sound Output Mode Stereo
- Response Bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
- Dynamic Range 80 dB
- Digital Audio Format Dolby Digital output
- Signal-To-Noise Ratio 85 dB
- Speaker System Details 2 x Right/left channel speaker - Built-in - 300 mW
Remote Control
- Type Remote control
- Technology Infrared
Connections
- Connector Type 2 x Headphones ( Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm ), 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x Composite video/audio input, 1 x IPod docking
Slot(s)
- Type 1 x SD Memory Card
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Car power adapter
- Cables Included A/V cable
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
- Battery 1 x DVD player battery - Rechargeable - Lithium polymer
- Included Qty 1
Dimensions & Weight (Shipping)
- Width (Shipping) 10.8 in
- Depth (Shipping) 3.3 in
- Height (Shipping) 10 in
Manufacturer info
- Philips Consumer Electronics
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Philips Consumer Electronics products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.philipsusa.com/
- Address:
100 E. 42nd St., New York, NY - Phone: 800/223-1828
- Email: us.ce.webmaster@philips.com
- Fax: 423/475-0411
