For additional clarification, my original post did state that the Philips Uptown model was 100% better than the HM5. While I did make that statement, or claim, I can see where and how it might have been misinterpreted. My point wasn't to come into this thread and "stir the pot". However, for those individuals who were on a more limited budget (e.g. the range that the HM5 falls into), I wanted to point out the other options, too. It seems that once a thread gets a certain amount of momentum going, all too many people can be misled into believing that if 150 other members thought they were great headphones, so they should be right for me. The real hard part comes into play when one orders from MP4Nation and then the customer decides against their purchase. In order to return the headphones, they are faced with shipping them back to Singapore at a somewhat lofty cost. Instead of doing so, they usually end up selling them on the for sale section at a reduced rate.
So, if I were to re-qualify my statement to indicate that the Philips Uptown headphones, as a whole, are 100% better would that clarity be easier to digest? I can understand where some confusion may have been created by misinterpretation when I stated 100%. However, the quality of the Philips is actually quite superior to many other headphones and they did a very good job on the manufacturing process. The partial use of some aluminum components, double-thick cup walls, etc. -- all add into the big picture of sound, feel, quality, etc.