Cute and practical
Written: Dec 15 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Tiny, versatile, great "gosh wow" factor
Cons: Not for the serious videophile. Could use another internal speaker.
The Bottom Line: A good balance between features and portability.
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| tilbrook's Full Review: Panasonic DVD-LV50 5 in. Portable DVD Player |
Time was, the whole point behind portable electronics was to make them as small as possible. Remember how cool it was to have a Walkman the size of a cassette case, or a Discman not much larger than a CD? Then display screens got involved. Now there's this weird tension between having as small an overall unit as possible, with the largest possible screen. Think laptop computers -- they're up to what, 17 inches now? Or cellphones that could practically fit in your ear, except they seem to think they need to include call display, and text messaging, and graphics abilities that are apparently trying to compete with Gameboys or something.
Same thing's happening in the portable DVD arena. They can make 'em really tiny these days, but until someone develops the roll-up screen, the competition seems to be who can get the biggest viewing area and still qualify in some way as "portable."
Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to make a decision on a portable DVD player, and I decided to buck the trend. My reasoning was that if I really wanted to view the DVD in big-screen format, I could always hook it up to my existing video system. On the other hand, if I wanted it portable, I wanted it really portable. Quite frankly, if you want a twelve-inch screen, why not go for a laptop PC with DVD drive? It's about the same size, will cost you about the same, and you get a free PC with it ...
So I had a look at the Panasonic LV-50. It really is tiny, maybe the size of three CD jewel cases stacked together, or a bit bigger with the battery pack attached. (That battery pack, by the way, should run it for a couple of hours on a full charge, which is pretty much the minimum you'd expect.) As a stand-alone unit, it's adequate: the five-inch screen is admittedly awfully tiny (but enough to show all the details of the DVD you're watching), the controls are basic, and the built-in speaker (yes, that's singular "speaker") is pretty tinny sounding, although you can plug in a pair of stereo headphones. But I've seen the screens on bigger DVD portables, and they're really not that much better to my eye. And there are video/audio out ports and a cable included, so it's a cinch to connect to your existing TV. Oh, and it has a remote -- almost the same size as the player, for cripe's sake -- that has all those cool functions like chapter select and slo-mo backwards motion.
So I decided that the compact size advantages outweighed the compact size disadvantages, if you get my drift. And what finally sold me was the unit's versatility. It'll play CD's (and isn't much bigger than your basic Discman-style player). It'll play MP3 discs (although I admit I haven't tested that yet). It'll play VCD and SVCD, and doesn't appear to have a problem with CD-R or CD-RW formats. This latter is especially appealing, as my wife and I now have a way to show off all those digital photos we never got around to printing. Burn 'em to a CD in VCD format (our LV-50 came with a coupon for a free program called tvCD that will do that, or there's a freeware program called VCDEasy that will do the same thing) and voila -- instant slide show. And we can show it off to friends and family on their own TV (whether they have DVD or not as long as we remember the cable), or in a restaurant/coffee shop/bar as long as A) they don't mind all crowding around the tiny screen, and B) they don't start clamouring for more after two hours (which strangely enough has never happened).
If all I'd wanted was a DVD player, I could have paid a lot less for a standard-sized one. And if I'd wanted all sorts of fancy features, I'm sure I could have paid as much or more. But I was looking for versatility and portability, and for me the LV-50 fits perfectly.
Oh, and don't keep making the mistake I made all through the first draft of this review, and call it LD-50. Toxicologists will laugh at you.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 500
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Epinions.com ID:
tilbrook
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Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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