Nice Inexpensive DVD Portable player...

[gcutler]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1051826214909&skuId=5452066&type=product

$179...


http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5452/5452066_ra.jpg
http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5452/5452066cv1a.jpg

This is great for playing on airplanes, or for long car ride or for the long term traveller (if a hotel room's TV can accept the RCA inputs, maybe a problem these days).

It also plays DVD-Rs that I had (but did not advertise that). Plays CD-R/RW and MP3s...

Comes with a battery, and charger, power adapter, Auto adapter, RCA cables (RCA to mini-pin connections on player) and a mini Remote Control... http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/5452/5452066rca.jpg

The other units start at $399 but average in the $600 range, can go up to $999 and have bigger screens up to 10". But at $179 less of an investment...

Cons:
Yes the screen is the smallest out there at 5" but it still very watchable, but the unit itself is the most compact (being limited by the size of a DVD/CD media.), NO S-Video or Composite connections (RCA only). Unit is loud when loading DVD since drive mechanism is not silent. But not noisy when playing media.

Most reviews have been very good as well.

[jrjcd]

fry's occassionally sells a 7 incher for about 169.00....

[BobMurdoch]

About time these things came down in price too. I paid $899 for my Panasonic portable 2 years ago.

[Nick]

"I paid $899 for my Panasonic portable 2 years ago."

That's an expensive toy, but the price you pay for being an 'early adopter'. You need to curb your childish impulses, Bob. :D

I've been using my $900 laptop pc with a large 14" TFT screen to watch movies on DVD for several years now. It goes with me everywhere I travel. I have no need for a one-trick pony DVD player, even at $179 :)

[BobMurdoch]

Yes, but my player doesn't burp when playing DVD's like my computer does sometimes. Also, the "inflight movies" in the back seat of my car (via a y plug that splits the audio to two sets of headphones) has given me blissful silence as the 9 and 3 year olds stop whining about listening to Radio Disney on XM.........

Best $899 I EVER spent.......


New MasterCard commercial..........

Portable DVD player $899

Headphones $40

DVD Movie $20

Being able to watch Jackass: The Movie on an airplane while the rest of the passengers watch 3rd Rock from the Sun reruns....... PRICELESS!

[gcutler]

Being able to watch Jackass: The Movie on an airplane while the rest of the passengers watch 3rd Rock from the Sun reruns....... PRICELESS!

I haven't travelled that much via air since 9/11, but is 3rd Rock type reruns common on most airlines? Last time I flew I had nothing better to do than listen to the same old Bill Cosby comedy album on channel 7 of the audio offerings (That has not changed in 5 years) :D

[Unthinkable]

I haven't travelled that much via air since 9/11, but is 3rd Rock type reruns common on most airlines? Last time I flew I had nothing better to do than listen to the same old Bill Cosby comedy album on channel 7 of the audio offerings (That has not changed in 5 years) :D

I flew out about a week after 9/11 and usually fly a few times a year. I've never seen 3rd Rock on the Sun reruns shown in all my travels. Parts of an Animal Planet show were featured last time I was on a Delta flight and they also had some blooper stuff which was pretty atrocious before showing a movie.

[gcutler]

Thinking back a year or so Last time I did travel from Atlanta to NJ via delta I believe they had Frasier repeats (not a fan of Frasier :( )??? But I guess the Portable DVD helps in that it is my choice of 5 episodes of Babylon 5 Season 3 or whatever I feel like. And with the fact that it will play my DVD-Rs, I can make custom DVDs of whatever I want (one episode of Futurama, B-5, Highlander, etc)

[Phil T]

I am flying tomorrow on Frontier Airlines - Denver to Indianapolis - and will get to try out the in-flight 24 channel Directv service. I will post my opinion after I get back on the 22nd.

http://www.frontierairlines.com/dtv/index.asp

I purchased a 7" Polaroid DVD player at Best Buy in June for $288.00. We used it in our Honda Odyssey during a trip from Denver to Ohio - Florida - New Orleans and back. It was great for my twin 15 year old girls to watch DVD's the whole way. :D

[jrjcd]

the last time i flew to LA and back, the airline i was on had the audacity to tell me that there would be no movie because the flight wasn't long enough....i thought, what a crappy stance to take-until a few weeks ago i read in the paper that the airline industry is having real pronlems with the wiring to their entertainment systems catching on fire in mid flight....

gues i can pass on the inflight entertainment, eh....

[cnsf]

In business class or first class, they give you your own portable DVD player (on most airlines).

Also, the 16:9 screens are much preferable to this 4:3 screen.

How is the resolution? I tried an Audiovox once and it had to be returned the resolution was so poor (and a pixel in the center was dead).

[BobMurdoch]

I bought a Panasonic LA95...... highly recommended. I can output 5.1 surround to an external receiver with an accessory cord and also standard RCA jacks so I can watch MY movies in hotel rooms with TVs with RCA inputs.

Great picture, I bought the optional battery pack that docks on the bottom which gives me 7 hrs. of viewing on one charge. The standard cylindar battery built into the hinge is only good for two hours. The picture is great in native resolution, OK in zoom mode or full where they stretch the movie to fit the screen.

The volume output is a little low for my taste, but I guess that helps keep the battery drain down.

The Third Rock reruns was on Continental in Coach on one of the smaller planes I took recently. The big 777s have the VOD systems in business/first class, but the smaller ones usually don't.

[gcutler]

The Third Rock reruns was on Continental in Coach on one of the smaller planes I took recently. The big 777s have the VOD systems in business/first class, but the smaller ones usually don't.

I was just thinking, it would be impossible to have the words "Video On Demand"and "3rd Rock From The Sun" in the same sentence. Thats the VOD equivlant of an "Oxymoron" :grin:

[gcutler]

Anyone have experience with the "Universal" Portable DVD Batteries from Energizer or Memorex or whomever out there is making them. Do they work as well as they say? Would rather get another brand specific battery just according to size, but if these batteries tend to be twice as lasting then there is value.