I picked this up after briefly reviewing the competition's specs. When you are shopping for a portable DVD player, the features you essentially want to pay attention to are screen size, picture quality, and battery life. If you are burning your own DVDs or playing certain styles of downloaded content you'll also want to pay attention to the format capabilities.
I finally decided on this device because it advertised 13 hour battery life and I was flying to Europe (a 9 hour flight from WA State). I was also going to be tossing it in a backpack and going. The folding design seemed like a logical choice to protect the screen with the applicable rough use.
Here's what I found, hope it helps you make an informed decision!
Pros:
- Design is elegant and fairly durable.
- Sound quality was surprisingly great.
- Controls were pretty intuitive.
- A/V cable was included accessory.
- Saves your place and starts up right from where you left off.
Cons:
- Though I didn't expect the full 13hrs battery life, it's more like 5-6 with a reasonable backlight level. Less without headphones.
- Picture quality is not comparable to competing devices like Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black.
- The buttons are awkwardly placed and easy to accidentally press when lifting or resituating the device.
Preference:
- I don't really think a remote is necessary for this style of electronic but some may find the lack of remote a drawback.
- The folding design can be a bit bulky for coach seating on a plane. It would have been nice if the screen could flip all the way over into a tablet design like this device does: Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
About Traveling with Portable DVD Players:
If you are traveling internationally and plan on buying DVDs when you arrive instead of bringing them with you... you'll want to remember that this device only plays Region 1 DVDs. DVDs from Europe are Region 2. Mexico, Central and South America, Australia and New Zeland are Region 4. Russia, much of Asia, and South Africa are region 5. In all, this means that you can only play DVDs from the region you buy the device from. There are some ways around this to my understanding but as a matter of convenience you may just want to purchase a player from the region you'll use content from. You can find more about DVD regions at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=3193231
Looking back on this purchase, I'll probably opt for my iPhone/iPod or one of the following devices in the future...
Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
And Panasonic also offers a portable Blu Ray Disc Player for those of you who have gone Blu. Battery life is a bit limited and to be honest when I saw it I was thinking that Blu Ray wasn't really meant for a screen this small. That being said, it works in a pinch if your library is now primarily BRD...
Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Bluray Player
This review was made August 2009 so check for newer options if you're reading this in the future =).
Hope this helps! Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
I originally purchased the predecessor to this unit, the DVD-LS82. When it worked, I was happy, even if the speakers were a bit soft at full volume on my nightstand. Even after repairs at the Panasonic depot, however, mine was EXTREMELY sensitive to the faintest disc imperfections that my other DVD players ignored. When I returned it to Amazon, per Panasonic's instructions, it was no longer for sale by Amazon. So, I ordered the DVD-LS86.
The only differences between the 2 units are that the earlier incarnation was silver, came packaged with a car kit, and had an advertised battery life 1 hour shorter. The newer unit, while initially offered at the identical price, is, as I write this, now offered at enough of a discount to almost buy your own car kit, if you choose.
The operating manual states that the battery on this unit recharges in 7 hours, when turned off, at 68 degrees F. When I brought my brand new battery up to full charge, it took barely longer than that.
What most people will be interested in is the battery endurance when playing it. Again, according to the manual, this unit will play (always assuming using headphones) for 13 hours at a brightness level of -5. This translates to noticeably dimmer than "Moonlight" mode; unless you're an avid spelunker/movie buff with severe photophobia, it's reminiscent of bright moonlight through welder's goggles. I actually have photophobia (and welder's goggles), and I couldn't stand -5 in my darkened room at night. "Moonlight," which translates to about "-3," however, was fine.
At a brightness level of "0," the manual states that battery life drops to 7 hours; that's about what I suspect most users would compromise for in the trade-off between visibility and battery life during the day. "0" is noticeably brighter than "Moonlight." I tolerated "Moonlight" in a brightly lit indoor location to extend the battery life; it's rather like watching a film in a discount, second-run theater that turns the projector brightness down to conserve the bulb life.
Finally, the manual states a battery life of 5 hours with the bightness on "5." If you use the "Daylight" setting, you get an even slightly brighter picture than that; so, if you choose the "Daylight" setting, you'll get the most vivid picture, but the battery life will suffer even more. You might need this if you want to watch movies on a sunny day at the beach-- if you go to the beach to watch movies.
Personally, I thought it would be easy to scratch a disc on the steel portion of the housing around the lense or bend the disc a bit too much when removing it from this family of units. I wish that they'd design a release mechanism that caused the machine to let go of the disc at least as easily as most cases. I managed to avoid scratching any discs; but, I was uncomfortable seeing the discs bend. I, therefore, wouldn't recommend leaving it to children to change the discs, particularly if the unit is as sensitive to micro-scratches as my DVD-LS82 was.
Sadly, my love of Panasonic products has been, in the case of portable DVD players, so far, unrequited. My DVD-LS86 has a habit of turning itself off at random intervals when using the a/c adaptor. I can't believe that this is a universal product feature, so, I'm exchanging mine for a new one. I hope that the replacement will finally live up to its promise. - Battery Life - Panasonic - Dvd Player - Portable Dvd Players'
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