Rating: 
Summary: Avoid at all cost!!!!
Review: After minimal use, the DVD player did not work. Although able to recognize audio CDs, it failed to recognize any DVDs, ejecting them after attempting to read the data. I bought a lens cleaning disc for $10, thinking the laser had to be cleaned. Still, no DVDs played. After calling customer service, they told me there was little I could do since the product was no longer under warranty. In addition, I was told that no Philips authorized retailers would be able to repair it. So, after such minimal use, my DVD player is simply a CD player.Now that DVD players are a little more advanced, playing MP3 CDs and DVD-R, do not fall back on the Philips DVD711 because it may be the most inexpensive. You'll end up having to buy another DVD player anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Avoid at all cost!!!!
Review: After minimal use, the DVD player did not work. Although able to recognize audio CDs, it failed to recognize any DVDs, ejecting them after attempting to read the data. I bought a lens cleaning disc for $10, thinking the laser had to be cleaned. Still, no DVDs played. After calling customer service, they told me there was little I could do since the product was no longer under warranty. In addition, I was told that no Philips authorized retailers would be able to repair it. So, after such minimal use, my DVD player is simply a CD player. Now that DVD players are a little more advanced, playing MP3 CDs and DVD-R, do not fall back on the Philips DVD711 because it may be the most inexpensive. You'll end up having to buy another DVD player anyway.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Player for the Money
Review: After much research on DVD players in this price range, I finally narrowed the choices down to the Philips 711 or the Toshiba 1700. I actually intended on buying the Toshiba but changed my mind for two reasons. I picked up the Toshiba unit (literally) at Best Buy and it felt extremely light and looked cheap, especially the back panel. The Philips felt very solid. I also just bought the new Philips 27" (silver) TV that has phenomenal picture quality with component video capability, and thought the Philps DVD would be a better match. The Philips DVD player was very impressive in regards to its picture quality, which in my opinion is the most important feature in a player. This is the second player I have purchased, the first being a Sony model that was $350 - paired with a Sony 32" TV and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I can't give the edge to either unit. The remote is sort of "toyish", but the on screen programming is exceptional. Zoom is also a nice feature that I don't have on the Sony unit. Considering the price and Philips' reputation for high quality electronics, you can't lose with this unit.
Rating:
Summary: Best Player for the Money
Review: After much research on DVD players in this price range, I finally narrowed the choices down to the Philips 711 or the Toshiba 1700. I actually intended on buying the Toshiba but changed my mind for two reasons. I picked up the Toshiba unit (literally) at Best Buy and it felt extremely light and looked cheap, especially the back panel. The Philips felt very solid. I also just bought the new Philips 27" (silver) TV that has phenomenal picture quality with component video capability, and thought the Philps DVD would be a better match. The Philips DVD player was very impressive in regards to its picture quality, which in my opinion is the most important feature in a player. This is the second player I have purchased, the first being a Sony model that was $350 - paired with a Sony 32" TV and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I can't give the edge to either unit. The remote is sort of "toyish", but the on screen programming is exceptional. Zoom is also a nice feature that I don't have on the Sony unit. Considering the price and Philips' reputation for high quality electronics, you can't lose with this unit.
Rating:
Summary: Great player, good price, don't let the other's fool you
Review: Alright folks, What do you buy a DVD player for? To watch your movies? or to play your music? For me, that was an easy one. I see a lot of people putting this player down because of it's CD music quality (which I have not used on the player yet), and giving it a minimal of max of 3 stars. C'mon people, this thing is for DVD's, not CD's. From what I've seen, this player is darn fine. The image and sound are great, and the remote, which is also put down a lot (probably most of you technologiclly challanged people) is not a hassle one bit, in fact, I like it a lot. It is small, and the buttons even have decals on it which tell you exactly which each of them do, you'll perfect the thing in no time. The loading time is exactly the same to every other DVD player i've seen, and I havent had a problem with the system yet. And just look at the price, after all the rebates, you've spent practically nothing. Do yourself a favor, buy this player. :)
Rating:
Summary: Don't buy it for the audio capability
Review: DVD play is good. I purchased this model specifically because of its CD-R and CD-RW audio capability. Unfortunately, the player more or less consistently skipped the first second of each CD audio song when the songs were not played sequentially. The Phillips technicians told me that "is not a problem". That was all I needed to know about Phillips brand. I returned the player.
Rating: 
Summary: Its alright
Review: I am writing this review based on a person who owns a two-speaker system with an amlifier (didn't really use rears) and a twenty-seven inch TV with S-Video input. Let's really face it here. It doesn't really matter how many more lines of resolution a Toshiba sd1600(540) has over a Philips DVD711(500). If you have a regular television, it doesn't even hold 500 anyway. I mean, unless you are the small percentage of people that have really keen eyesight and a great HDTV or better television, as far as the picture quality goes, if its a DVD player, its good enough. What I want to focus on here is the features and the sound performance of this thing. As for its features, there is a heavy rumor that it plays DVD-Rs as well as CD-Rs and RWs. Lots of you would think that those are great features. But its not really a feature to look for. Some people here say that the menus aren't very good. To my viewpoint, that isn't true at all. Although it takes more than just one keystroke, they aren't taking over your life. It creates an on-screen menu of options on the top of the screen. To my opinion, the Video Black Level controls didn't really help in any of the viewing quality as well. Neither did the zoom because it--not like other dvd players with zoom--pauses after zooming. I guess it is to examine artifacts or bullets that are flying. To my opinion, zoom is supposed to let one be able to watch their movie as a full screen perspective for the people that have smaller TV sets. Its sound seems pretty crisp and clearer than other dvd players I have tried such as the Aiwa XV-DV370 by a little(highly recommended and costs the same and has this professional remote control, great quality virtual surround sound and sound in general with comparison to others at its price range--A definite five star in my book) and the Apex AD-660 by a lot(Highly don't recommend because of lack of sound quality although has good 2x zoom in options). With the TruSurround 3d, one would notice that you must also place the speakers an average of 6 to 8 feet apart in order to produce the effect. The effect of this feature is not so good either. The most it did was create a center channel, and not the other side ones. Spatializer N-2-2 seems to do a better job. The remote control seems as small as a regular cell phone--easy to lose. I didn't like how toy-like it looked and felt. It also has no missing connections as well. I mean that it has S-video, Component, two analog, optical, and coaxial outputs. As for cons, the DVD711 has skipped once and placed me in different areas of a movie--which really sucks big time if you're watching something like the Sixth Sense. And as I said, it doesn't make a good 3D effect on sound. Why do I give it four stars you ask? It is because its wonderful crisp sound(no matter what mode), its DVD-R capability, and the fact that its feature upgradable. Another thing to keep in mind is that when they say its feature upgradable, its just saying that it only upgrades when the player has problems with playing new DVDs. If you don't really like the control, just get another one. If one was to spend this much money on a DVD player, I would certainly suggest you guys go out and buy an Aiwa XV-DV370 (plays mp3s CD-Rs and RW), Panasonic RV-30 ($50 rebate makes $130 with Digital Cinema Mode which just changes the picture mood, 2+subwoofer output along with Dialog Enhancer, smooth scanning, but missing a coaxial output.), Sony SD360 (With Active Tilt control which helps read messed up DVDs and Smoothscan modes to help less jerkiness in fast-forwarding and slowing down and great looking remote control. Many different modes of cinema sound. Best rated out in the market with $50 rebate makes $200), Toshiba SD1600 (only one of these with zoom feature to fit screen. No optical output. Top seller here on Amazon, but I heard it skips and destroys DVDs sometimes if you got one in a hundred.), or the Philips DVD711 (Not really bad at all). I just hope that all of this was helpful. And by the way, the DVD711AT and the DVD711 are one in the same models.
Rating:
Summary: The best DVD player around!!
Review: I bought one of these beautys over a year ago,and not only did It always work great when playing both DVd's and Video Cds.But now even a whole year or two later,It still works great.I could'nt recommend this DVD player more! If you're looking for a great and inexpensive DVD player,look no further,this player is the one for you!
Rating:
Summary: 4 years and still love it
Review: I bought this player 4 years ago and at the time it was one of the top players. It's built quality feels so much better than the current generation players which are exclusively made of plastic unless you spend at least $500. The player has never rejected a disc, never frozen or made any kind of error even with the worst rented dvds. I've always been a great Philps fan and as long as they keep making products like this one I will always remain one.
Rating: 
Summary: You get what you pay for.
Review: I bought this player to replace my DVD-ROM drive, which was hopelessly fickle about playing DVDs. The good thing about the Philips DVD711 is that it has yet to reject one of my DVDs. It is an inexpensive player with great audio and a lot of options for a player of its cost. That said, the system does have its flaws, though minor ones. It shows no indication of being able to support DVD-R, a format which it is said to be compatible with in the technical specification on Amazon, but not mentioned once in the manual. Additionally, the player seems chained to its remote control. If you lose the remote or it gets broken, you lose all access to the on screen menu and navigation capability, as there are no navigation or menu buttons on the player itself. Don't let what appears to be a fast-forward/rewind jog-dial on the front fool you either. Accessing the frame advance, zoom, and other advanced features means dealing with the sometimes cryptic hierarchical on-screen menu system. If a track has multiple angles, an on screen display in the form of a semitransparent box shows you which angle you're currently viewing. The only problem with this is that there is no way to disable it, and it invades the picture space like a Borg cube ready to assimilate your movie. That's a little harsh of course, but one would think the main purpose of a DVD player is to provide quality DVD playback at all times. This is not user error, the manual specifically states, "The angle icon remains displayed until multiple angles are no longer available." However, these are relatively small issues. Few DVD titles include multiple-angle tracks, DVD-R has yet to become popular, and most of us try to keep our remote controls where they can be found. If you're looking for a cheap DVD player that gets the job done, this is a good buy.
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