Philips PET710

The Philips PET710 is a compact portable DVD player that should appeal to people who travel frequently, but when it comes to the crunch, it's let down by average image and sound quality.

Measuring 161 x 193 x 30mm, the PET710 features a 7" TFT screen with a resolution of 480 x 234, and like most of the current portable DVD range, it has a clamshell design.

Flip open the unit and on the top side is the screen, which, strangely, is not positioned in the centre of the device. We can't help but feel the screen could have been much larger and wider, with all the space around and below it. On the bottom side is the DVD drive and to the right are the navigational controls, which are easy to use.

On the left side of the unit is the power button and over on the right side is support for DC in, digital audio output via coaxial cable, RCA video out and audio out, two headphone jacks (so two people can share the device) and the volume control.

The unit plays back DVD, DVD-RW, DVD+R, Picture CD, SVCD and Video CD. It also doubles as a music player, with support for CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3-CD, but our testing showed the sound quality was poor and the volume through the integrated speaker was too low.

Video playback quality was average with the image not as crisp and bright as expected and the contrast was low, even when adjusted. Overall the picture quality was quite dark and at times blurry, although the unit remained stable when it was moved from one location to another while playing a DVD.

The PET710 ships with a very good remote control and all features (except opening and closing the DVD compartment) are accessible via the remote. The buttons are quite rounded and easy to press.

The PET710 can be powered by an AC/DC adapter or by a DV 9V lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack. Battery life is about 2.5 hours, long enough to watch most movies. A 12V car adapter is also included in the package, so you shouldn't have to worry about battery life on the road.