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Buying a portable DVD player - suggestions?

HomerHomer Registered User regular
edited July 2007 in Games and Technology
I'm in the market for a portable DVD player for some long trips I'll be taking soon. I was wondering if any of you PA'ers had done any research into which brands / models are the most reliable. Or maybe just what I should look out for, like huge differences in battery life, or skipping discs or anything like that. My price range would be around $100-150.

Thanks for any help anyone can offer!

"Mmmm, unexplained bacon."
Homer on

Posts

  • ArchebaldoArchebaldo Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I got one at costco maybe two years ago and it died w/in a month. They took it back and gave me my money back. That's the only advice I can give. Get it from Costco just in case it turns out to be a piece of garbage.

    Archebaldo on
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  • OhioOhio Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Yeah, we had a sudden need for one of these not too long ago and so I went to the only place nearby that was open on a Sunday night, Target.

    I thought for sure I'd find something good, but no. I was pretty underwhelmed by their whole selection (and portable DVD players in general) but I ended up going with an Audiovox, a brand I never thought I'd buy, just because it had the biggest screen.

    It works ok. We ran it off the car's AC adapter most of the time, so I can't say much about battery life. That was 5 months ago and we haven't used it since.

    One thing to watch out for: volume. In the limited time I had, I read some different reviews of portable DVD players and a lot of them had the same problem: they couldn't get loud enough. Of course standing in Target, I couldn't test this. One of the ones at Target had a thing included that would broadcast the sound from the DVD to your car's FM radio. I imagine this would be a really nice feature, assuming it actually works well.

    Like I said, I chose mine because it had a 9-inch screen, compared to most of the others which had 7-inch screens. At full volume, in a loud car moving at 70 mph, it was loud enough, but just barely.

    Ohio on
  • j0hnz3rj0hnz3r Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I have a cheap POS Insignia brand 7" portable DVD player from Best Buy. Bought it during Black Friday for dirt cheap. Even though it's supposed to suck, it works damn good. Haven't had a single problem with it. Battery life kinda sucks, lasts 3 to 3.5 hours, but that wouldn't be an issue in a car.

    I think portable DVD players are pretty even these days, just my opinion.

    j0hnz3r on
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  • Mr PeepersMr Peepers Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    Do all portable DVD players these days include A/V out? Because that is a damn good feature for hotel/hospital stays.

    Mr Peepers on
  • RowdieRowdie Registered User regular
    edited July 2007
    I think your best best is a Laptop. All the portable dvd players I've had the luck to run into have been monumental POS.

    Rowdie on
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