Portable DVD players (1 Viewer)

[Nathan McMahan]

I know this has been around the forum before but there doesn't seem to be one place that has all the answers. I'm looking for a portable player with a built in screen to use on the road as well as in the office or bedroom, with a long life battery, that's light and sturdy that I can get in the $400-$600 range (most likely on-line)
Pricescan has the list but no specs.
Help.
Thanks

 

[Scott Dautel]

Hey Nathan:
Check out this thread
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[Jim Benard]

This is as good a place as any to ask, what the heck is going on with the Portable DVD market??? It's been dead lately. The only (high-end) one to get these days is the Toshiba 1500, right? From what I can tell it's about as good feature-wise as the Pioneer but has the best screen on the market?
When are the 3rd? generation players coming out?? Here's my wish list:
1. 8-9" screen progressive, like the Toshiba.
2. Built-In Dolby-Digital 5.1 headphone out.
(like what Ron Epstein has talked about in the past)
3. Longer battery life.
4. 8VSB built-in HDTV tuner to pickup local stations
(we can dream can't we!)
what else am I missing????
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[Jim Benard]

Bump, anyone?
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[Duane H]

Jim,
Check out the Sharp 8" at Costco. I don't personally know anything about it, and I'm not sure if it's progressive. For some reason, I thought all portable DVD players were progressive. I may be wrong, however. Good luck!
http://www.costco.com/frameset.asp?t...=10012303&log=

 

[DarrinH]

Duane, any idea on how long the battery life is on one of those? Do they include an adapter so you can plug it in as well?
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The EC
The Entertainment Cave
"10,000 for me by-myself. For that you get the head, the tail...the whole damn thing."

 

[Tom Johnson]

When are the 3rd? generation players coming out??

Panasonic, the originator of the portable DVD player, is already on it's 4th generation of product.

 

[David Olstein]

I recently purchased a new Panasonic DVD-LA85 portable DVD-Audio/DVD-Video player on eBay for $700. This may be slightly out of your range, but I've seen it advertised for less (around $650) by some on-line dealers. However, none of these dealers had it in stock, and I needed it for a trip I was taking, so I paid a little more. Even so, I still managed to pay only 50% of the MSRP. Believe me, this player is definitely worth the extra $$$. I bought the first portable DVD player Panasonic made, and the DVD-LA is VASTLY superior.
The DVD-LA85 has a 7 inch 16:9 screen and a built-in Dolby Digital and DTS decoder (I was able to listen to the DTS soundtrack of the Close Encounters DVD, presumably downmixed to stereo, through the headphone jack as well as the line out after selecting the 2 speaker set up). It is also the ONLY portable DVD player currently available that can play the high resolution audio from DVD-Audio discs (DVD-Audio discs also contain a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that can be played on any DVD player) and it has a 5.1 output (actually, three stereo mini outputs). There isn't a lot of DVD-Audio software out there, but I was very impressed with the sound quality of the Rumours DVD-A. The battery attaches underneath the player (thereby increasing the high of the unit but otherwise maintaining the compact footprint) and gives you 4 to 5 hours of playing time.
I am very satisfied with this player. My only real complaints are (1) the picture quality of letterboxed video in the "zoom mode" (where the picture is expanded to fill the screen) and (2) the audio through the heaphone jack seemed a little noisy (although this could have been a problem with the Bose noise cancelling headphones I was using). Neither of these are big problems for me, since nearly all of my widescreen DVDs are anamorphic (and letterboxed video isn't all that bad on a 7 inch screen, compared to the 5 inch screen on my older unit) and I normally use a Headroom Airhead portable headphone amp, which takes the audio feed from the line out jack.
In an ideal world, someone would make a portable DVD player with an 8 inch screen, built-in Dolby Digital (5.1 and surround EX), DTS (5.1 and ES6.1), and Dolby Pro Logic II decoder, Dolby headphone, progressive video output and the ability to play both DVD-Audio and SACD. But until that time comes, I'm sticking with my DVD-LA85.

 

[Howard R]

Right now Panasonic is running a rebate on the DVD-LV60 (5.8") and DVD-LV70 (7") where you get a free carry bag and noise cancelling headset by mail from Panasonic.
I just ordered the LV70, it can be had for less than $700.
Howard