At first glance, the Philips DVD622 appears to be one of the best-value DVD players available. This single-disc player is compact and stylish, measuring a mere 14 inches wide by 11 inches deep, and it stands just 2 inches high. It is small enough to use as a second DVD player in a kitchen, bedroom or dorm room, or even in a car or RV.

The attractive design is complemented by excellent disc compatibility. Whatever format disc you have, chances are the DVD622 can play it. Philips claims the unit will handle DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW, along with CD-R/RW. Other compatible formats include discs encoded with MP3 audio files and JPEG images. The DVD622 offers a selection of playback features including resume play, slow motion, picture zoom and parental controls.

Combine the disc compatibility and sleek looks with a progressive scan output and a $35 recommended price tag, and you would think you have the makings of a terrific DVD player. Unfortunately, we found the DVD622 intermittently failed to recognize home-recorded discs that Philips claims are compatible with the player. Obviously, this can be a time-consuming and frustrating experience, especially when the discs play without difficulty on other DVD players.

If you want a DVD player solely for viewing store-bought or rented DVD movies, the price of the DVD622 makes it an excellent value. Progressive scan playback delivers smooth, high-quality images when the player is connected to a digital TV via its component video output, and the DVD622 offers all the outputs needed to connect to almost any analog set as well. There is even a coaxial digital audio output for routing surround sound signals to a home theater receiver.

If you have a large collection of home-recorded DVD, we'd suggest looking at other models. However, if you simply need a basic DVD player for watching commercial DVD movies, the very affordable Philips DVD622 is hard to beat.

Pros: Compact, attractive design, budget price
Cons: Struggles to recognize certain discs

Warranty
1 year parts and labor