Team-BHP - Which DVD Player to buy in India?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1339673)

Hey guys, when I checked the Philips 3996 and 5996, I was told that the harddisk has to be FAT32 format. The player can't read NTFS format drives. Is it true? Please do let me know as I'm planning to get one such player.

I bought a 3996 recently and yes the harddisk has to be in FAT32. I tried another HD in NTFS format. I had few directories in it and one of the directories had the movie files in it. When I connected this HD to the player, it could display the top level directory names correctly but it showed junk characters for the contents of the directory where I had stored the movie files. FAT32 works fine.

Also the HD I am using is Transcend 160 GB. It has about 10 GB songs, may be around 80 GB movies and some pictures. It reads the contents and lists it in less than 10 - 15 secs.

Great player and you can go for it with eyes closed.

The 5996 as far as I heard in Hyderabad Ezone is that the 5996 is discontinued. The difference as far as I know is that it has karoke.

Thanks drvhplyevraftr, for the info, I think I'll go for the player and probably would buy a separate HDD formatted in FAT32 for storing movies.
Is Karaoke the only difference between these two players or there is difference in picture/audio quality too? 5996 is still available in Bangalore as of now.
Another question, if I use the HDMI as my output to the TV, can I still get audio from the stereo/RCA outputs?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340560)

Is Karaoke the only difference between these two players or there is difference in picture/audio quality too? 5996 is still available in Bangalore as of now.

5996 was available in Pai (near KFC-Indiranagar) last Saturday. 5996 has DTS processing, irrelevant if you are using the aux out. No *claimed* difference in video quality.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340560)

Another question, if I use the HDMI as my output to the TV, can I still get audio from the stereo/RCA outputs?

Yes, you can. Setup gives an option to disable HDMI Audio.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340560)

You dont have to buy a HDD formatted in FAT32. You can do it easily yourself using freeware such as Fat32Formatter. Google it.

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Originally Posted by nishantgandhi (Post 1340878)

You dont have to buy a HDD formatted in FAT32. You can do it easily yourself using freeware such as Fat32Formatter. Google it.

Oh thanks, I think even XP has the option of formatting the drive to FAT32, am I right? I remember changing FAT32 drive to NTFS, so I hope that reverse is also possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by skywalker

5996 was available in Pai (near KFC-Indiranagar) last Saturday. 5996 has DTS processing, irrelevant if you are using the aux out. No *claimed* difference in video quality.

OK, I'm currently planning to use the RCA audio out for audio and HDMI for video. So in this case DTS processing will be meaningless, right? If I change my HT later to a one which can take HDMI input or Digital Co-axial input, will then the DTS processing make any difference? Or the AV receiver itself will take care of it?
BTW, how much is Pai quoting for the 5996 and 3996? I had a Samsung 870HD before but I didn't like the feel of the remote and found it bit cumbersome, hence thinking about a Philips now (and also for the USB input). The picture quality of the Samsung was very good and I hope philips will be more or less the same only.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340916)

If you have a dedicated receiver you will not use the DVDs decoder. Not recommended also as it can never match the capability of a dedicated receiver. Its required only if you connect your 5.1 speakers directly to the DVD Player.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340916)

BTW, how much is Pai quoting for the 5996 and 3996?

3700 for the 3996 after mild bargaining. 5996 was quoted at 4900, didnt bother to bargain :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1340916)

Oh thanks, I think even XP has the option of formatting the drive to FAT32, am I right? I remember changing FAT32 drive to NTFS, so I hope that reverse is also possible.

You wont be able to format a HDD greater than 32GB into FAT32 using Win XP. Use the software I suggested. Works like a charm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nishantgandhi (Post 1341022)

You wont be able to format a HDD greater than 32GB into FAT32 using Win XP. Use the software I suggested. Works like a charm.

Thanks, I'll do that once I get the system.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyWalker (Post 1341012)

So basically it's better to go for the 3996 as it's cheaper and still have the similar features except the Karaoke and DTS decoder.
But now I'm having other thoughts about changing the whole setup itself. Currently I've a sony HT system which is 2 years old and it doesn't have HDMI output/input, nor digital audio in. Even for component output it's 576i and I presume no progressive scan. But that's ok as if I got for the 3996, I'll be using the HDMI out for video but still I'll end up with two channel audio only. So thinking about getting something like this SCARLET Home Theatre System with USB Direct Recording | LG Electronics India i.e. LG scarlet 903TA. Anyone have used it? Any reviews? Few problems I found that it doesn't have AV input as I want to route my STB's signals through the HT. It only has a optical input but the STB doesn't have a optical output.

Quote:

Originally Posted by akash_m (Post 1016029)

Think no further! Moser Baer has launched its own DVD players with all the damn features you can think of. The players are very compact and trendy to look at, will meet most of your requirements too.

I bought model named Black Panther by Moser Baer for Rs 2,250/-, One year instant replacement warranty. Immacllate sound and pic quality, trendy remote!

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Just wanted to share the below mouthshut user experience here.

MOSER BAER MP 565-2G Review, MOSER BAER MP 565-2G Price, India, MOSER BAER MP 565-2G Accessories, Beware of RE-BRANDED Chinese MP3 players !! - MouthShut.com

Is this true for DVD players also? I was seriously considering Moser Baer!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 1341362)

So thinking about getting something like this SCARLET Home Theatre System with USB Direct Recording | LG Electronics India i.e. LG scarlet 903TA. Anyone have used it? Any reviews? Few problems I found that it doesn't have AV input as I want to route my STB's signals through the HT. It only has a optical input but the STB doesn't have a optical output.

not sure about this one, but if you are looking for a HTIB setup, why don't you look at Onkyo/Jamo/Sonodyne series? I am sure there's one in your budget and they will sound much better.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkyWalker (Post 1342821)

not sure about this one, but if you are looking for a HTIB setup, why don't you look at Onkyo/Jamo/Sonodyne series? I am sure there's one in your budget and they will sound much better.

Main concern is budget, I can't spend more than 25k and hence was looking for cheaper options with all bells & whistles. Read good review about this LG system in What Hi-Fi meg and thought of giving it a try. I don't know if in that budget I'll get any Onkyo or others.

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Originally Posted by asifpm (Post 1350251)

I am also looking for DVD player with HDMI Interface. I am using LCD TV (Samsung) which has HDMI Interface also. From the reviews, looks like Philips3996 is good. Does this comes with HDMI cable. If not not how much we have to spend for the same. I know its bit costly.

Philips 3996 comes with a HDMI cable. I just got this last week for Rs.3800 and definitely VFM.