Top notch picture clarity, CD music sounds clear and rich. Full of features(all the bells & nwhistles). Fairly user friendly. Philips technology,expierience shines.

After the upgrade....none to mention.

I just got my unit back after sending it to the Philips service dept. in PA. for the firmware upgrade. It took less than a week to send it out, get it repaired, and get it back. An incredible turn around time for factory service. The repair was free of charge as stated in my prievious posts, and shipping was reimbursed, as promised by Philips. Post Upgrade:*there are no obvious problems with the unit that I can see at this time, and it plays as 'new'. The issue of newer and some older DVDmovie titles not playing has been fixed. The issue of partial frame or image skips/freezes or 'lockups' has been fixed. I haven't yet tried to see if CD-R/RW format disks are supported by the upgrade, but the DVD media and CD audio play flawlessly. I can honestly say that even at 4 years old this is a premium player . DVD titles have crystal clear playback and audio CD's have a rich dynamic sound. I can now, after the upgrade give this player the top rating of 5 across the board. Philips Electronics has produced one of the finest DVD players in the DVD850AT.
I hope this information was helpful.

Similar Products Used:

Philips DVD 701, Philips CD-R/RW media-for both PC and component.

This is a follow up to my 12/00 post.
Most of the updated info you need is on the site now. John has included much of the info in his post. It is nice to see that we can share info here to help one another out.
I want to make this to the point so :
The upgrade is free, but you must ship it out for service. Philips will pay for up to $15 in shipping costs to the service dept....just fax them your shipping reciept and they'll send you a check(ask the customer svce. rep for info.).
Contact Philips Consumer Electronics at 1-800-705-2000.
A customer svce. rep. will give you the info on where you need to send your DVD player for the upgrade. Mine went to PA. yours like John's may be different.
So rest easy. Philips looks like it's taking care of the consumer this time around so I urge anyone reading to take advantage of it now. Get the free upgrade and enjoy. I love this player and even at 3 1/2 yrs old it can still keep up with the newer DVD players.
Hope this info helps a little. And thanks John for posting your info here as well.

Just a follow-up on my part to say yes, the Internet DOES work! I was ready to go this weekend and spend some hard-earned $$$ on a new player until Ron (I think) e-mailed me to let me know about the info re: upgrades. Thanks to all.

Great video and audio quality - when it can read the DVD

Inherent problems reading newer mixed-mode DVDs

I too have seen the problems reported in the other reviews, ranging from the inability to read newed DVDs (Alien, Abyss, MI-2, Gladiator) to the hard-hang requiring the unit to be unplugged. After running through the Philips customer service mill for several hours, I may have found something that could provide a ray of hope for those who have been looking for a solution to this problem.

Contrary to what several Philips customer service staff personnel have claimed (or have been oblivious to), there IS a firmware upgrade for the 850AT units. It is free-of-charge and can be applied in one of two ways:

1) The unit can be returned, accompanied by a note specifically requesting a "service upgrade", to the nearest Philips service facility. I would call the facility prior to sending the unit to make sure that this information is still valid and to get a mailing address. The numbers I have are: San Jose,CA: 800-300-9013; Houston/Euliss,TX: 800-952-3254. What it will end up costing are shipping charges and turnaround time (currently around 1-2 weeks)

2) An upgrade DVD can be ordered from Customer Care (800-531-0039). This phone number is primarily geared for WebTV support but also supports Philips' DVD products. Ask for the free "850 Upgrade" DVD, part # 483569117075, which they should send free of charge. The service people mentioned the upgrade process should only take around 4 minutes and that instructions are provided with the DVD. My upgrade DVD should arrive within the next few days and if there are any problems, I will report those to this forum.

I researched this product thoroughly before making the purchase and found almost nothing - luckily this is easily one of the best purchases I have ever made.
The video and audio quality of the player are amazing for the price I paid for the thing ($399 with lots of free movies from 800.com), and I am more than satisfied with all of the extras that come with it. The remote control is excellent, with any feature you can think of save glow in the dark controls..

The only problem I have had so far occurs when I put in my Tenchi Muyo the movie 2 disc - some parts, a multi angle icon pops up, and when I switch angles I only get a black screen.. who knows if I am doing this right but regardless, the multi angle icon is annoying at best.

If you see this player, do not hesitate buying it. It is the same hardware as the Toshiba 3109 and I believe is the better player of the two!

In reference to my previous posting, the information I received from Philips was incorrect - the part number I was provided is for the laser assembly. How's that for quality customer service?? The information I received today specified that the 850AT is not user servicable (i.e. an upgrade DVD is NOT available to be sent out to consumers) and that the unit must be sent in. The new phone number I was handed for this tidbit of information was 800-821-1767. Again, it was reiterated that the upgrade is free and the turnaround time is about two weeks. The address for the upgrade is:

Philips Factory Service
6700-D Papermill Road
Knoxville, TN 37919

Include your name, address and phone number, along with a note specifically requesting the free service upgrade.

It was a great player.

Customer service, technical support no help. Can't get fix implemented to play newer discs.

I have 3 of these players and they simply will not play any of the newer mixed discs. I have contact Philips so-called Customer Service and have been given the run around about getting the so called upgrade for this DVD player. Everything from the upgrade never existed or was canceled by management to they could fix the player for $130/each player to they could only exchange the DVD player for what is on hand at the service center. I have also tried every avenue of contact (phone, email, online chat, calling the service center, talking to supervisors) and I'm furious because they refuse to fix my DVD players. I even drove 250 miles to the service center in person to get the issue resolved. For the manufacturer refusing to fix a firmware defect caused by them not following DVD Video standards to read discs is absolutely appalling. I WILL NEVER EVER BUY A PHILIPS/MAGNAVOX PRODUCT EVER AGAIN. For a company not to stand behind the product it makes is unforgiveable.

Similar Products Used:

Toshiba SD-5109

Beautiful picture quality, very good sound

You may find yourself pulling your hair out when newer releases won't work.

The player itself is top notch in my opinion. I would have given it 5 stars accross the board if the player did not have the compatibility problem w/ newer DVD titles.
- Some older/newer titles WILL NOT WORK with this machine (DVD850).
I have not had any performance problems to date other than what was previosly mentioned. Flawless playback of the 100s of DVD titles I own. Sound quality is as good as any on the market, given that you are using a 5.1 surround reciever - 2 channel stereo output for any DVD video is sub standard and a waste of technology(in my opinion).
I purchased the player nearly 2 years ago for around $600.00. Anaverage price at the time (1998) for a better-than average player. I have the unit connected via s-video to a Philips 32" TV.
Flawless picture. Great sound. What more could you want right? WRONG.
There is still that compatibility issue with some DVD titles Most of them newer ones.Which is potentially a HUGE problem. Especially if the future DVD movie releases may be in a format that the player can't read.
Contrary to Previous reviews Philips does have 'firmware updates' avail. for the DVD850. But as with everything else in life - it will cost you-.
to my understanding From Philips an upgrade will run you from $130 to $160 depending on who does the work (Philips or local),Philips being the cheaper of the two.

Final Comment on the DVD850 -
Even with the problems it is still a very good player but although I stand to defend Philips products, pass this one up for a newer model or different brand.
If you can get one cheap or free, pick it up.Your kids will have a ball watching Barney.
But with the price of players dropping, you're better off with something newer and UPGRADEABLE (important with all the new technology).

Similar Products Used:

Philips CDD 3610 CD-R/RW