Forum Archive Home -> DVD & Blu-ray Players -> Philips DVP642 "no disc" of death: 6 month failure
Philips DVP642 "no disc" of death: 6 month failure | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 15 01:07 | ||||
| I am posting this as a helpful warning to those considering the DVP642 from Philips. It seems like a great low cost deal and that so many people have them - it must be a good buy, right? Wrong - if it only works for six months!
I have started to notice more and more people across several forums mention that their DVP642 has suddenly stopped reading any kind of DVD disc but will read CD's VCD's etc. This seems to happen around the 6 month mark, plus or minus a month or two. Sure enough my DVP642 is just over six months old and BAM! Suddenly this past weekend, in the middle of my brand new "Return of the King extended" 2nd disc - it happened to me. Player turned off and when I restarted it, no DVD would play. Not pressed, DVD-R DVD+R, nothing. But audio CD's will play and divx CD's will play. I can even flash it down to 0531 rom and back to to 1109 if using a CD, but it never comes back from the "no disc" of death. Tried unplugging it for an hour. No change. Tried using a "lens cleaner" disc on it. No change. After alot of research, the most intelligent thing I have read so far is that most DVD players use two different lasers, one for CD and one for DVD and it probably drops dead in the DVP642 after so many hours or too much overheating after extended use. :( Called Philips and after being on hold for 30 minutes they made me go through their silly diagnostics of trying different discs to prove what I already knew. Then I waited another 30 minutes on hold to the RMA department to tell me that since it was outside 90 days it would cost $30 to get a replacement (plus it would cost me about $10 to ship it there). I'd like to hear from others who have experienced this and what happened after that - if they got Philips to do anything or if they found a work around. Maybe I'll just have to wait for the class action suit to happen in a few years :( DVP642 seems like a great deal at $60-$70 but not if it only works for half a year! Needless to say I am not spending another $40 to get a refurbished unit that might do the same thing in six month. After shopping around a bit and looking at $150 units with a YEAR warranty that do QPEL and GMC, I have decided instead to build a dedicated mini PC with video out that can also do TV capture and DVD burning as needed. It can be done for about $250 these days and the parts are completely replaceable. Older related threads: http://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=258831 http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/t230665.html | ||||
| hoppy12 posted 2005 Mar 15 01:18 | ||||
| That's funny because I've had mine for a year and haven't had this problem. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 15 01:50 | ||||
| Obviously I am not saying ALL of them fail, but a significant number do.
It probably come down to quality control. If 10%-15% fail, is that fair to the consumer that they just solve their problem with a 90 day warranty? For new buyers, do you want to take that gamble that you you are going to be the 1 out of 10 that gets a bad unit or do you want spend $10-$20 more on a better brand with a longer warranty and possibly more features. I was caught off guard with the 90 day warranty. I am not used to modern electronics failing so soon. I have two 6 year old VCR's still working well and they are far more mechanical. Just felt others should be well aware of this possibility BEFORE they buy. | ||||
| johns0 posted 2005 Mar 15 02:03 | ||||
| People come here all the time warning others about their dvd player,burner etc failing after a few month and not to buy it.Was told not to buy an apex 1500 cause it would die in a few month,2 years later still going strong. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 15 04:49 | ||||
| Yes, again, nine out of ten may work, some are fortunate but it really bothers me how Philips plays the odds.
This is a particularly cheap model. Don't just take my word for it, look at the bunches of dead units on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-reviews/B000204SWE/ref= ... rallRating It doesn't take much Googling to find other forums with DVP642 gone-dead complaints. | ||||
| hoppy12 posted 2005 Mar 15 04:58 | ||||
| I understand that you are saying that All of them didn't fail, I'm just saying that NONE of them have failed for me and I still highly recommend this player. | ||||
| jtoolman2000 posted 2005 Mar 15 05:31 | ||||
| I only bought mine to watch the occassional divx or avi from a tutorial or simmilar. So far I've used it about 30% for DVDs and the rest of the time for Divx/Avi. No problems so far - knock on wood. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 19 01:32 | ||||
| Has anyone documented the insides of the DVP642?
I am wondering if the drive inside is user replaceable with some off the shelf part? I don't care if I have to take it out of the existing case. | ||||
| Zisguy1 posted 2005 Mar 19 06:09 | ||||
| It does seem like Philips is having some QC problems with the DVP642. Nothing unusual re: products made in China... :roll:
Hopefully this gets resolved over time... usually it does, if a product line lasts very long. Doesn't help people who run into problems in the meantime, of course. P.S. "knocking on wood" with my player also. I don't care that much anymore, since I've gone to DVD burning for my backups instead of DivX/XviD (which looks kind of crappy on the Philips anyway, those awful vertical lines)... next purchase will probably just be a good quality standard DVD player. | ||||
| fmctm1sw posted 2005 Mar 19 06:21 | ||||
| Reading CD's and not DVD's.. Or was it reading DVD's and not CD's? My Plextor PX-708A (PC drive) did the same thing. It was straight up broke, lucky it was under warranty.... | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 19 09:20 | ||||
| The 1109 rom eliminated most of those vertical line problems but it is indeed the DVD reading that is broken.
I'd like them to extend their warranty to at least six months to truly stand behind what they make. I wonder if there will be a class action scandal in a couple years to prove this is effecting a serious number of people, but of course I can't wait that long for a solution. I've got a spare PC, all I need is a decent video out card and a cheap DVD reader and I am set I guess. With the right rebate sales or ebay I could do it for the $40 that it would have cost to fix the Philips. | ||||
| canadateck posted 2005 Mar 19 09:25 | ||||
| If you have a Wal-Mart near you take it there,They will change it for a new one No questions asked you wouldnt even need the receipt. If they have it in stock,or they will give you store credit.
They do it here,anyway. | ||||
| ken.vs.ryu posted 2005 Mar 19 11:44 | ||||
| you spend more on coffee or drinks than $10 a month. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 19 11:49 | ||||
| Actually I bought it orginally at Wal-Mart and I did try to exchange it. They looked at the serial number and looked it up in their system. All electronics over $50 are tracked by serial number for the past couple years at Wal-Mart.
They knew it was six months old and would not exchange. | ||||
| canadateck posted 2005 Mar 19 11:51 | ||||
| They have never done that to me,I returned a VCR that was over 1 year old. | ||||
| canadateck posted 2005 Mar 19 11:54 | ||||
| Send it to me I'll return it for you. :)
They must be more strick in the US, They told me if I ever have any problems with any thing I buy no matter how long ago , if they have it in stock they will exchange it for a New one or give store credit. | ||||
| RottenFoxBreath posted 2005 Mar 21 05:42 | ||||
| god bless europe and its 12 months warranty.
none of that 90 day crap. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 21 08:26 | ||||
| I've heard the 642 is cheaper there too (well the 630 sister model).
I guess they figure north america will put up with this nonsense and just go buy another... I'm not even gonna buy Philips CD-R's anymore. | ||||
| newbie36 posted 2005 Mar 23 18:26 | ||||
| Ive got a philips dvp642 and I know 2 others that do as well....one friend plays it a little bit...another alot and it fried after 7 months...Im starting to notice problems on mine now as well....like the svcd suddenly decides to skip 5 or 10 minutes...real annoying | ||||
| MJA posted 2005 Mar 23 20:52 | ||||
I noticed the same thing with my DVD player (/37 model with 1109 update) no matter what kind of DVD/CD/divx I use, or burner speed (NEC) it freezes after 10 or 11 min then I have to turn it off/on again then play sometimes I have to do this twice .I tried to the menu then play trick it didn’t work. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 26 01:00 | ||||
| So no one has done any photos of the inside?
I guess I can open it up myself and see, not like I am voiding any warranty. | ||||
| Zisguy1 posted 2005 Mar 26 05:25 | ||||
Sounds like overheating... did you follow the guidelines in the owner's manual for unit placement? They aren't kidding... if you put something on top of the 642 it can easily overheat. | ||||
| Ripper64 posted 2005 Mar 29 22:06 | ||||
| I picked up a DVP642 today at Wal-Mart.The girl told me right at the counter to keep the receipt because you get a 12 month warranty.She said it was a Wal-Mart thing.I thought it was 3 months or 6.She said no 12 months.Sounds good to me.I live in Canada.By the way all they have is the one's with the 0531 firmware.The date is October 30 2004.They got a whole whack of them at the time and still have a few left.The boxes are beat up on a couple.If anyone wants one guranteed 0531 Macrovision free "S" version let me know.As long as you cover the costs. | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Mar 30 05:03 | ||||
| That year coverage must be a "walmart Canada" thing. In the USA the walmarts cover most items 90 days for return and 30 days on electronics. | ||||
| Ripper64 posted 2005 Mar 30 12:02 | ||||
| I would say it is a Canadian Wal-Mart thing.Maybe anyone from Canada who purchased one from Wal-Mart can verify. | ||||
| canadateck posted 2005 Mar 30 12:07 | ||||
| I can return anything (NO Time Limit) as long as its in stock if not they will issue a Store Credit,Read my post on this thread. | ||||
| MrRay posted 2005 Apr 05 20:24 | ||||
| My DVP-642/37 just bit the dust. I bought it just before Christmas, so I guess getting 4 months or so out of it (at $25/month CAD) is better than nothing.
I got the No Disc error, but then I couldn't even open the disc drawer. The DVD wasn't spinning, and there was no mechanical sounds whatsoever. The menus worked fine and the pretty little screen saver came on, but I couldn't play the dvd or get it out. Luckily I also bought it from Wal-Mart Canada, so they took it back with no questions asked. In fact, I said to the lady "How do you know I didn't buy it from Radio Shack or somewhere else?" and she said "It makes no difference to me - you're returning a product we sell because it doesn't work, so we get our money back in the end." Crazy. Oh, and when I told them my DVD was stuck in there a guy from their electronics dept came and opened it up. (I wasn't gonna crack that thing open and reduce my chances of returning it!) He took the top off, plugged it in, and started poking around at the drawer mechanism. It became un-stuck and opens & closes like a charm! But it still gave the "No Disc" error, so I got my store credit and moved on. Speaking of moving on, I'm now looking at the RJ1500DVXII (website). It appears to play everything that the DVP642 plays, and although the cost is higher, I'll be relieved to move away from Philips. Did I mention I went through two DVP-642s? And before I bought the first DVP642 I had a similar (nonDivX) Philips player that went out within 11 months of buying it. It squealed when it played and I found that it had to be upside-down just to get through a DVD. I'm not impressed with Philips lately. | ||||
| giannid posted 2005 Apr 06 11:57 | ||||
| You know, there is a trip lever at the bottom of (underneath) the DVP642 player that allows you to manually open the tray door. It's just a little slot with a plastic lever visible on one side of the slot. You can trip it with a knife or toothpick or something.
Caution: It's not likely, but we should remember to unplug electrical items before we start putting knives into them :) | ||||
| _ck_ posted 2005 Apr 12 22:45 | ||||
| Apparently Philips is getting enough dead units to start a refurbished line of DVP642's - this also should be a HUGE warning to potential buyers:
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=922788 Don't be tempted by the price shoppers - its still 90 day warranty on used components (though overstock has a 2 year extension for $10, who knows if they will be around for two years?) Selling refurbished at a slight discount seem like new buyers funding the discount with their $30 expired warranty exchanges, just like rebate deals rely on a certain number of people not filing for the rebate (or doing it wrong and disqualifying). | ||||
| steve2713 posted 2005 Apr 12 22:55 | ||||
| They've been selling those refurbished for awhile (at least a couple of months). Is it related to the laser problems? I suppose it's a likely cause as any.
Refurbished isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. If they're repaired properly, refurbished products are sometimes better than buying the product new, as the quality control and repair is done better than what often causes the units to become refurbished in the first place. I'd probably rather buy the same unit for the same price refurbished with the addition of a 2 year warranty in this particular case. | ||||
| Zisguy1 posted 2005 Apr 17 11:34 | ||||
| I'd generally trust a refurb (from a known reliable seller with good policies) *more* than I would an original unit. | ||||
| jaxxboss posted 2005 May 13 17:59 | ||||
| Ive had mine for over a year and use it a lot, Im talking everyday and not a problem at all. | ||||
| Quantum posted 2005 Jun 16 00:07 | ||||
| If you purchased your DVP642 from Walmart or Walmart.com in the USA you have the option to buy a replacement plan for $16.58 for 3 years. If the unit breaks within 3 years, likely, you get a check for the original purchase price. Best Buy has a very similar plan for items under $200.
I usually don't buy these plans but there's a high probability that my until could fail and if so I'll get the money back to buy newer technology. | ||||
| TOY4TWO posted 2005 Jun 20 16:02 | ||||
The vertical line fix is in. Reset to defaults and never touch the SMART PICTURE option, you'll never see them again. The full fix is on the yahoo dvp642 group. I wouldn't make a blanket statement about the DVP642 failing, there were 3 drastic changes to the inside of the DVP642 disc loader. I have taken 2 apart and the new E loader is MUCH better. Make sure you get a E version, you can check in the firmware page. All this info and the screens are on the yahoo group and on the South American site (REALLY good closeups off all the changes). The new E loader came with a new controller chip that includes a heat sink, the old chip would get REALLY hot and after a period of time die. DO NOT get a refurb from Philliips, just buy a new one for $55 at Walmart and make sure you get the new loader design. The same thing happened to the people who bought Playstation 2's, SONY revised the loader/laser several times and it is much better now. | ||||
| CBC posted 2005 Jun 20 16:32 | ||||
| OK, so what does Joe Consumer look for on the carton to ID this E loader version?
In general terms Philips, ironically the co-founder of the CD standard, has not had good overall results , quality wise, with their disc players. I owned one of their (now discontinued) DVD/SACD players, which overheated a lot. Trying to return it for replacement was a major PITA. I've read many other horror stories of similar issues with other models too. I bought my DVP642 for it's Divx playing feature, but with the advent of easier methods of converting DviX/Xvid to DVD(SVCD2DVD,The Film Machine, AVI2DVD), I seldom even bother using it anymore. Another great idea, with poor execution. | ||||
| DeathStalker77 posted 2005 Jun 20 16:38 | ||||
| Toy4Two:
Could you post the specific differences between the 3 models please? I currently have an M series (orig 0531, currently at 1109) and am considering a second one. Mine has developed an "odd" problem recently though - it has changed the speeds at which it will FastForward (FFW) and FastRewind (FRW) VCD & SVCD discs. The same MPG files burned on a DVDR disc will FFW/FRW just fine. Files normally FFW/FRW at 2x,4x,6x,8x but now they will only go at 1x,2x,3x,4x - and the player will often have problems with them if the FRW button is hit while in FFW (the screen goes black and the display counter on the unit becomes garbled. The only way to break it out of this "confusion" is to power the unit off. This is very frustrating, as it has been working just fine until now. I've gone over every feature on the unit, but have been unable to correct it. I have tried numerous VCD/SVCD discs of different manufacturers and made with different burning programs. Thanks much! =) --- DeathStalker | ||||
| leha posted 2006 Feb 15 13:50 | ||||
| I owned DVP642 for less than a year when it stopped reading disks ("NO Disc" message). That happened after the player presumably overheated when operating under the hot satellite receiver. I opened its case, spread some flux over all chips' legs on the decoder board (the green board between CD reader and power supply) and used a butane soldering iron to melt solder. Now the unit operates flawlessly. | ||||
| MJA posted 2006 Feb 15 14:00 | ||||
| mine didn't last 6 months.the warranty is only 3 months!!!!!!!!that tells you dvd player isn't made to last more than 6 to 12 months(I know some lucky people .blah blah)thats why philips is on my DO NOT BUY LIST | ||||
| ROF posted 2006 Feb 15 14:10 | ||||
| My DVP642 replaced a dead Sony over a year ago. It's in operation on a daily basis. So far anything I put into it plays flawlessly. I can understand the overheating bit as posted here though. It's quite a sealed unit with little ventilation. So far so good. I spent $60 on it so it's only cost me less than $5 a month. Wish I could say that about the POS Sony product. If it died tomorrow I'd take it back to walmart. I purchased it at Best Buy but because our Walmart is closer and also sells this unit I'd do an easy exchange. I've never had any problems when the items are in stock at Walmart and all I want is to exchange a bad unit for a good one. When they ask for the receipt I tell them I don't have it and they continue processing my return. Even if I don't buy the item from them I've never had any problems. If I did I'd ask to speak with a manager. If the manager wasn't going to make me happy I'd ask for district managers name and phone number. Just mentioning that usually gets our local Radio Shack people to do what I request. | ||||
| Krispy Kritter posted 2006 Feb 16 10:53 | ||||
| I have 2 of these currently. The original is almost 2 years old now and was getting daily use until I purchased an Oppo OPDV971H for Christmas. | ||||
| webranger posted 2007 Dec 17 05:53 | ||||
| I bought one of these. It lasted a year. I bought another one. Lasted 14 months.
Same problem. No disk. No motor sounds. Just DOA. I wouldn't recommend it. | ||||
| jman98 posted 2007 Dec 17 07:31 | ||||
| webranger - Welcome to the forums, but please do NOT in the future dig up old posts that are almost 2 years old and reply to them. It's called "gravedigging" and we actively discourage it. It's really not helpful for you to dig up an old post that was long ago abandoned and add to it.
My DVP-642 is over 3 years old and it STILL works. Does that mean I'm right and you're wrong? Nope. But the fact that mine still works and yours doesn't isn't really relevant to a thread that should have been left alone. By the way, I wouldn't recommend the DVP-642 either even though mine still works. | ||||
| Krispy Kritter posted 2007 Dec 17 11:33 | ||||
| I actually have two, one from August 2004 which still gets almost daily use and a second from April 2005.
And yeah, what jman said. : ) On a side note, these units (and most other slimline units) are known to run hot. They need to be in the open air without other items or hardware sitting on top of them. | ||||
| mlyaaaa posted 2007 Dec 27 21:02 | ||||
| Im sorry if Im digging up an old post again but I must say that the same thing happened to me. My DVP is about 2 years old but I didnt use it much. Lately I started to use it everyday and got NO DISK error in the middle of the movie.
Now, all the CDs work fine. But all DVDs get NO DISK message. So I opened it, to check if theres 2 lasers - no theres one. Then I googled this thread and realised that Im not alone with this problem. Gotta build a small PC for TV to play everything I want. | ||||
| nguyen27 posted 2007 Dec 30 09:57 | ||||
| My just died with the "NO DISC" message too, after cleaning with alcohol/QTIP, air duster blowing but either work. Finally I tried tighten two screw at near the end of the tray and that work like a charm. Open up the player, and eject the tray, looking from back forward, you will see two screws with some sort of rubber washers, just tighten them. give that a try. | ||||
| dork432 posted 2009 Jun 01 06:03 | ||||
| I received my No Disc error after only 2 years. Replacing the drive would be easy if there were replacements available. | ||||
| jman98 posted 2009 Jun 01 07:56 | ||||
Welcome to the forums, but we strongly discourage doing what you did - adding unnecessarily to old posts. To be blunt, your post adds nothing to the thread. The DVP642 is rather infamous (I have one, by the way) for being poorly made and not lasting very long. Some posters reported having it die in only 1 or 2 months after purchase. I know you wanted to be helpful, but we've heard it all before. I hope you'll find VideoHelp useful and stick around, but please don't add to old posts again. The only time it's OK is if you have new information that's completely lacking in the thread, like a region free unlock code for a DVD player someone asked about in the past. To tell us that your player died after 2 years is not really very interesting or helpful to the other members here. The DVP642 is pretty crappy. It was cheap and at the time it first came out it was one of the first DVD players that would play Divx/Xvid files, but it used one of the earliest chips that supported Divx/Xvid decoding and that chip has long since been left behind by superior chips. Did you know that the DVP642 actually stretches Divx/Xvid video too much in the vertical direction? It's not so much that it's really obvious, but it definitely does that. It also is incapable of correctly displaying Divx/Xvid in 16:9 and only 4:3 output is even close to being correct. I've had mine for about 4 years now and I rarely use it. When it dies I won't miss it. | ||||
| leokrut posted 2009 Jun 24 13:41 | ||||
| [quote="nguyen27"]My just died with the "NO DISC" message too, after cleaning with alcohol/QTIP, air duster blowing but either work. Finally I tried tighten two screw at near the end of the tray and that work like a charm. Open up the player, and eject the tray, looking from back forward, you will see two screws with some sort of rubber washers, just tighten them. give that a try.[/quote]
I have this player about two years and like it. The message "no disc" happens sometime and after loading one or several times disc usually go through. Irritated but for the price is acceptable. Lately some discs do not work at all. I gave a try to this specific recipe. It sounds crazy but cost nothing to try. To my surprise it helped. Thanks for encouragement nguyen27. I believe that problem is not in these particular "two screws". There were tightened enough I felt. My best guess that just opening and blowing up some air could clean some very small peace of dust from laser bean. In any case doesn’t matter how magical it could sound - give a try. :roll: | ||||
| hExDJ posted 2009 Jul 07 15:44 | ||||
I've had this player for over 5 years now and just a couple of weeks ago I started getting the NO DISC message also, it only happened whenever I inserted a CD (data, music, pictures, etc) while all DVDs worked just fine. I tried this solution, thinking it was silly and gues what, IT WORKED!!! | ||||
| victoriabears posted 2009 Jul 08 00:01 | ||||
| Y'know , I would like to know if any of the failed machines had proper air flow round them, I now use Hockey Pucks to seperate all my electronics, not stack them on top of each other.
It was on the advice of a installer I know. Just a thought. | ||||
| Joshatdot posted 2009 Jul 09 04:06 | ||||
| I just got a DVP642/37 used from Goodwill, no remote but founds codes for it for my Sony TV mote.
Anywho, it was playing DVDs, DVD-Rs, CDs, CD-Rs fine...then I started to play around in its Setup menu. I messed around with the Video Setup, changed Output from S-Video to YPbPr, Smart Picture to Personal with various settings. Went back to watch movie after changed settings...NO DISC. So I did some Googleing, performed the Region Code to 0, still NO DISC. Got to the hidden version page, everything was right. I performed the Preferences > Default> Reset. DVD Played! ----- It's been some months now, and now nothing will play...the drive barely sounds like it's spinning up at all. And when I try to play an audio CD, after about 10s of "loading", I hear this electronic scream sound coming from the drive area! ----- I just did the tighting of screws trick...didn't seem to work, so I took out the whole drive..tapped the spin up motor, licked my finger & thum and cleaned the black band of the spin up drive. Put everything back in. DVD Plays! |
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