To start, when I removed it from it's packaging I was amazed at the weight of the thing! A whopping 2.6lbs or 1.2kg for those who prefer metrics (without the battery attached I believe.) This weight was the information I received according to the operation manual that came with it anyway. If you ask me that's very a very acceptable weight. Something else I noticed immediately after removing it from the packaging was all the accessories the came with it. Here is what I found:

1 Rechargeable Battery
1 Remote Control
1 Operation Manual
1 Power Supply Cord W/ AC Adapter
1 Audio/Video Cable
1 Car Adapter
1 Headphone Splitter

So after getting the thing completely unpackaged and after thoroughly examining the hardware I decided it was time to see this thing in action. I quickly attached the battery pack first and promptly inserted one of my favorite DVD's into the player, and that's when it hit me... The screen is capable of spinning around 180 degrees and folding back on itself. This was an amazing discovery, this thing is very compact and still it has a 7" screen! So, after coming to this realization I again proceeded to trying out the machine play function. Being the curious person that I am I had to try the remote as well. So I immediately unwrapped it and found that they had even included a battery for that too! I stuck the battery in it and began to go to work. Let me take a second to describe the remote. This was designed to be slim and compact, much like the type of remote you would receive with a car stereo or portable cd player. The controller allows you to turn on or off the subtitles, access the main menu of the disc, slow motion, and a few other important goodies.

Now, when I finally got through the excitement of all this new stuff I mustered up the will power to ignore everything else and push the little play button on the remote. The movie began to play. If you remember, it was running on the battery pack as it came straight from the factory. This was short lived however because even though it came with a charge, it wasn't fully charged. The movie turned off less than half an hour into it, but that's not really the point. The point is this, for the time that it did play... it was a beautiful thing! The picture was clear, and I mean crystal clear. The sound was immaculate. Let me put it like this, built in stereo speakers and Dolby Digital sound decoder. I was thrilled, this thing has already exceeded any of my own expectations.

That's not all though, if you ask me this thing is loaded. Aside from playing your DVD's it will also play cd's and JPEG image files. My favorite feature though, I'll have to say, you can actually plug you video game system into it and now you have a portable Playstation XBox or Game Cube, so long as you can find some way to power it up. That's where a power converter in your car would come in very handy, but that's another subject altogether. So yes, you read that right, it has an audio/video in and out. It has a multi-speed fast forward and backward, the ability to memorize where you left off and start from there, you can search the disk by time rather than track, it has ESP, no not the psychic kind but Electronic Shock Protection - for smooth playback, and it supports changing of screen ratio, with multi-angle viewing capabilities. And to top it all off, a fully charged battery pack should have plenty of juice to make it all the way through your favorite movie, I'll go as far as to say even through "The Lord of the Rings" though I doubt it will make it through the complete trilogy, sorry. For those of you interested, I have sat through an entire movie with this thing on my lap and can truly say, I was comfortable. It never got too hot to handle, if you know what I mean.

So in short I have to say, I really love this thing! So what's so dangerous about it you ask. Does it pose a fire hazard? Well, in some cases I'm sure the answer is yes, but not in mine. Here is the real danger, if you buy this thing, chances are that you'll love it so much that you'll want to bring it with you everywhere you go! This could potentially become a problem. Taking this DVD in the shower with you, a definite "NO NO," aside from the risk of shock I don't think the DVD player will be quite right afterward. Taking it with you for a drive, probably not a good idea if you're the driver. Look out world, cause if you thought the guy on the cell phone was bad wait until the guy watching his new portable DVD player gets behind the wheel.

Anyway, if you're in the market for a portable DVD player, aside from the serious risks mentioned above, I think this is one to take a serious look at. It's got all the features one could hope for and probably some you weren't even thinking about. Consider this, for the price of about five brand new DVD's or approx. $145.00 your next road trip might just be a little less stressful. Thanks, and enjoy!

Recommended:
Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 145.00