Difference between the Philips 5960 and 5980

Jobbypon · 19-11-2007, 9:47 PM

Hi there,

I am looking at buying the Philips 5960 dvd player. Does anyone know if there is a major difference between the Philips 5960 and 5980 ???

The 5960 was on Amazon for £38 delivered, but has now gone up to £50, so considering the 5980 as only £1 more at £51 !!!

Has anyone seen either of them any anywhere else as I really wanted to buy one this week.

Many thanks, Jobby.

JohnCM · 20-11-2007, 12:56 PM

I've bought a 5960 from Amazon at £40, although have yet to try it out as an alternative to my Pioneer 575 (which after excellent service seems to be locking up occasionally).

It was a difficult decision as I've had some problems with Philips stuff in the past (and their customer service dept). However, the player seems to generally get good reviews on this and other forums, whereas the 5980 seems to have its problems, and I was particularly attracted by the divx capability.

During my research on one forum (can't remember which, I'm afraid) I found that the chipset in the 5960 is a Mediatek (as used by pioneer and others), whereas the chipset in the 5980 is a Philips one. This swung it for me (and may explain the problems experienced with the 5980).

Hope this helps.

a4lloxo · 20-11-2007, 3:17 PM

the main difference is the 5960 scales to 1080i,the 5980 to 1080p.i owned a 5980 for around 6 months and it had plenty of use and gave me no problems,however i did find that on anything bigger than a 32" the picture quality started to drop off quite noticably,but all in all i found it good value for money

Jobbypon · 20-11-2007, 9:08 PM

5960 it is then !!!

Thanks for the replies guys.

What is the difference between 1080i and 1080p ??? I am buing a 42" plasma in December so don't want a grainy picture !!!

I am looking at the Philips as it has the 3 features I am after:- Divx playback, usb connection and hdmi upscaling. I have noticed that Argos do the 5960 for £50 so may buy from there and take back if not happy with it...

Any more opinions would be appreciated.

Cheers, Jobby.

*chris57* · 21-11-2007, 9:07 AM

You should be able to get the 5960 for less than £50 as its basically the early version of the 5980. In other words its been superceeded by the 5980.

The 5960 has firmwares available for it from the modding community. The 5980 doesnt. The 5980 plays standard Nero Digital apparently whereas the 5960 doesnt. If you are going to be getting a 42" plasma check out the screen you are getting to see if it displays 1080i or 1080p. If its 1080p then go for the 5980 or even better the Popcornhour as it plays mkv,H264 and other HDef formats:-
http://www.popcornhour.com

Here's the best website page for the 5960:-
http://www.phunkyfish.com/article/4/philips-dvp-596012
Here's the best site for modded firmwares:-
http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?act=SF&s=&f=24

PQ of divx playback is great, best I've seen on any compatable divx player. DVD PQ playback is good.

The USB connector is excellent no more burning discs.

Jobbypon · 22-11-2007, 9:18 PM

Thanks for the reply Chris.

I am struggling to find out if the plasma I am getting is 1080i or 1080p. The model is the Samsung 42Q97HDX.

Does anybody know, so I can buy the relevant player ???

By the way what do the 'i' and 'p' stand for anyway !!! ???

Cheers, Jobby.

TommyVecetti · 23-11-2007, 1:34 AM

Have you thought about buying something a bit better, rather than skimping on the player side of things? I'd only consider buying a player like this if you were using a 32" screen.

*chris57* · 23-11-2007, 7:42 AM

How about one of these if your going to spend a bit more and USB/divx/PQ are your main drivers. It also plays H264,mkv etc so you wold actually be getting HD playback:-
http://www.popcornhour.com/
In terms of playing DVD's you can backup to your PC and stream or thansfer via network.

coupe_20v · 23-11-2007, 9:56 AM

I'm getting the 5960 from Argos today. My panel can do 1080i and 1080p but if im happy with the picture from thef 5960 then i'll probably keep it, rather than hunt around for a 5980 to test.

I'll let you know when I've done some testing.

Jobbypon · 23-11-2007, 11:18 AM

Again, thanks for the replies guys.

May do the same as Coupe and get the 5960 from Argos, as they do have a good returns policy (once I get my plasma !!). Really wanted to budget £50 max. Also need a £10-£15 1m HDMI cable if anyone can recommend.

Just so I know, does anyone know if the Samsung 42Q97HDX is 1080i or 1080p ??? What does the i and p mean ?????? !!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you don't mind Coupe, please let me know how the 5960 goes with your 42"...

Cheers, Jobby.

Jobbypon · 26-11-2007, 11:12 PM

Hi guys.

Anyone know if the Sammy 42Q97HDX is 'i' or 'p' ???????

I am buying the plasma this week, and want to know whether to buy the 5960 or 5980.

Ideally, I want to buy the 5960 as can get fron Argos and take back if not happy, but would this be ok with the Samsung telly or should I go for the 5980, and why !!!! ????

Please help asap, as I am keen to part with my money asap....

Cheers, Jobby.

merkin51 · 27-11-2007, 8:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobbypon

Hi guys.

Anyone know if the Sammy 42Q97HDX is 'i' or 'p' ???????

I am buying the plasma this week, and want to know whether to buy the 5960 or 5980.

Ideally, I want to buy the 5960 as can get fron Argos and take back if not happy, but would this be ok with the Samsung telly or should I go for the 5980, and why !!!! ????

Please help asap, as I am keen to part with my money asap....

Cheers, Jobby.

It's a 720p set so can not display 1080p, the 5960 would be more than adequate for your needs. The only reason you'd get the 5980 instead is to future-proof yourself for when you get a 1080p set, but by then there would probably be better players out

You should really read up about 720p and 1080p, though. Your set is 720p "HD Ready" and has a screen resolution of 1024 x 768. 1080p screens are called "Full HD" and generally have a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 so can provide better picture quality with a 1080p source. However a) they cost a lot more for a decent one, b) it's debatable whether it's worth it at 42" and c) unless you're into gaming many people say there's no point at the moment as 1080p material isn't too common over here.

I'm in the same boat as you as I've just bought a 720p 42" plasma, and I'm also planning to go and get the 5960 from Argos when I pick up my new TV unit!

Jobbypon · 27-11-2007, 3:37 PM

Many thanks. That answers my question !!!!

I have heard that the pic on the Samsung I am getting is supposed to be very good, so should be happy with that.

So, I assume the upscaling dvd player (Philips 5960) upscales to 720 rather than the standard dvd pic (therefore an improvement) ??? This i really just a bonus, as I am mainly buying for divX playback and usb port....

Cheers, Jobby.