Philips BDP5012 Blu Ray Player Review
June 6, 2010
While not as popular as some other manufacturers, Philips has consistently built quality disc players. The Philips licensed its brand name to Funai for manufacture and distribution of electronics in the North America. There was some confusion as to who would actually make and distribute the 2009 Blu ray disc players. The 2009 models were true Philips developed products. Included in the 2009 models were three different Blu ray disc player models. The BDP 3010 was the Profile 1.1 model while BDP 5010 and BDP 7310 was Profile 2.0 model. With all the future Philips product being produced by Funai, the 2009 model might be the last time we see a true Philips product in North America.
Features
Released back in May of 2009, the Philips BDP 5012 is just a minor update to the well received BDP 5010 model. Philips BDP 5012 is a Profile 2.0 player capable of playing BD-LIVE content. While it lacks internet streaming content or media streaming capabilities, it does come with all the onboard decoding of high definition audio formats. DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD can be natively decoded on the player. Also, unlike most entry level players, the BDP 5012 comes with 5.1 channel analog audio output. The main difference between BDP-5012 and BDP-5010 seems to be the lack of Divx HD decoding on BDP 5012 and the inclusion of WMA support. Other than that, the features of BDP 5012 are identical to BDP 5010 model. BDP 5012 is also compatible with EasyLink control from Philips. You can control all EasyLink products with a single remote control.
Design
The dimension and weight of BDP 5012 are identical to the BDP 5010. The disc tray is located on the left side of the glossy face plate. Simple playback buttons and small LCD is located on the right side. The player does have low profile design and looks more compact than some of the other Blu ray disc players. The back of the player includes the Analog audio out, HDMI, Analog 5.1 channel out, component video out, digital coaxial out, and Ethernet. The SD card slot located right below the playback function buttons on the front. The included remote control is adequate for basic functions. The button lay out is pretty good. The channel and volume buttons are located in the middle with numeric buttons at the bottom. This is preferable to having the channel and volume buttons located at the bottom. You should invest in a simple macro capable remote control instead of using a stock remote control.
Video and Performance
The BDP 5012 is very quick booting and loading player. The BDP 5012 was as fast as the latest generation disc players on loading and booting time. That is quite impressive as booting and loading time has been very slow on the last generation Blu ray players. The overall video quality was excellent. Both Blu ray movies tested showed no video defects. The playback showed no moiré, jaggieness, or motion blur throughout the movie. The pictures were crisp and sharp. Overall video processing of Blu ray discs were flawless. Surprisingly, the DVD upscaling was quite good compared to other players. While not as good as Oppo, DVD upscaling showed sharpness and overall good scaling from standard definition to high definition.
Audio
The inclusion of WMA support was nice addition. But, the inclusion of MP3 format would have been nicer. The overall audio quality was on par with other players. The inclusion of 5.1 channel analog was nice touch for people without HDMI compliant receivers. The BDP-5012 handled all the audio formats as advertised. The CD and WMA played off SD card had no problem playing on the BDP-5012. Overall, I had no complaints on audio performance.
Overall Opinion
The licensing agreement with Funai seems to come at an odd time for Philips. Philips has enjoyed great brand recognition in North America. They have consistently delivered great home theater product. The cut throat market has made Philips pull out of North American market for foreseeable future. The performance of BDP 5012 reaffirms the quality product Philips can produce. The 2010 model will be manufactured by Funai and we’ll see if they can replicate the overall performance provided by the BDP-5012. Overall, the BDP 5012 is an excellent entry level player priced under $150 at most retailers.
Buy Philips BDP5012 Now!
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Philips BDP5012/F7 Blu-ray Disc Player List Price: Sale Price: $159.97 You save: $20.02 (11%)  Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days  |
Description
Enjoy the thrill of full high definition pictures delivered by the BDP5012. Indulge in every detail, silky smooth action and vivid colors with Deep Colour. Current DVD favorites can also be enjoyed, with upscaling to 1080p via HDMI.
Features
- Blue-ray Disc Player plays back BD discs in Full HD 1080p
- BD Live 2.0 for enjoyment of online content
- Digital audio out plus 5.1 / 7.1 sound via HDMI out
- SD Card slot for media playback and external memory
- 360 mm size fits in small places; HDMI cable included in carton
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Blu-Ray Discussions
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99quick… connect your laptop with, at least, a wireless mouse and maybe wireless keyboard, to a TV and enjoy large format viewing.
What I am disgusted by … lack of support for DivX HD … MKV … on the 5012 and LOS of DivX products on the SD chip I put in the player …
WMA? WTF is THAT doing on the machine?
I will look vvveeerrryyy long before getting a new DVD player … hear that Phillips?
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If you’re just looking for a blu ray player, this is it.
I bought this player in early 2010, at Sams Club for a bit over $100.
The new thing now is internet connectivity. This doesn’t have much. If that’s what you’re looking for, then newer products are likely more to your taste. But if you’re looking for an excellent blu ray player, then you won’t be dissapointed for the price.
Two movies: Wall-E and the Godfather on blu ray were both spectacular. Sharp and crisp picture on both. You can actually see a magnification effect through Michael Corleon’s glass of club soda! Sound is excellent.
Loading time is good, but not great.
Finally, this will play anything I put in it. A simple set, that provides an excellent experience. If you’re looking for a start up Blu ray, then you can’t go wrong.
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Great for the price
I purchased this player on the Amazon’s Customer review letters and also a best buy review from Consumers Reports. The sound and picture is great. It loads a little slow but most Blue Ray players do. The only fault I have with it is it’s looks. Not a big deal though.
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What you pay for
The reviews on this were good, so I hit the button. In fairness, it plays ok, but is extremely slow to load. My unit also has an occasional digital noise problem(snow). Restarting often remedies this. Philips technical was no help. Not a bad unit for the money, you get what you pay for…..
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It simply plays Blu-Ray disk!
This puppy works seamlessly with pretty much any kind of Blu-Ray disc. Other brands (like Samsung, Sony, Vizio or Panasonic) have a tiny restriction on the compatibility. But with this Philips model, so far, there is no issue I know of. It does not have the fancy “slick” looking but it simply works!
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Blue Ray Player By Philips
Thanks for the philips blue ray player,I am very pleased with the sound quality &
sharpness of the picture!! My cds that i burned from my computer sound even better
than B4.The price was very fair also Thank You!!!
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Dissapointed
I originally purchased a Sony PS3 for playing BlueRay discs. The prices of BlueRay players were at that time in the $500-600 range. Following a few unplayable discs (due to formatting issues) I decided to buy a new BlueRay player…thinking that anything newer than the PS3 would have the correct firmware installed. And YES I tried multiple times to download the newer firmware from Sony’s site…ughhh what a pain.
I soon found this not to be the case with the Phillips product. The last 3 BlueRay discs from Netflix also have issues with the firmware on this machine.
I am dissapointed that the DVD industry insists upon issuing discs with firmware that is incompatable with even the newest BlueRay machines…this killed the home version of the Betavision product for Sony and will eventually be the demise of the DVD industry as online viewing is just around the corner for the masses.
Hey DVD producers…HOW ABOUT SHIPPING YOUR PRODUCT WITH THE FIRMWARE ALREADY INSTALLED ON THE DISC?? WHAT A NOVEL IDEA??? DUH!!
Soon I predict that video manufacturers like Samsung et al will produce a fine LED video screen with an imbedded computer capable of downloading and playing video on demand for a few cents per view…right now DirectV is not competitive with netflix, but soon some company will get the message that worked so well for KMart…VOLUME is the key to profits…Video on demand for $.50 per view will have customers beating a path to your door.
Samsung, how about a 46 inch big screen with a built in motherboard and sound card?
Netflix, you already have video on demand, but who wants to watch it on a 15 inch laptop screen??
KNOCK-Knock…that’s opportunity calling…Are you listening?
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