surferdude7's Full Review: Panasonic DVD-LA95 9 in. Portable DVD Player
The Panasonic DVD-LA95 Palm Theater gives you high performance movies on the go, plus it will play your MP3 files for you music pleasures. With added outside speakers the DVD-LA95 is a mini Home Theater on the Go!
Panasonic DVD-LA95
The unit features a 9-inch LCD screen with 432 x 234 pixels for great movie quality.
The LA95 offers you both 16 x 9 and 4 x 3 viewing for your movie pleasure and the availability of the built-in Dolby and DTS decoding by using the output for external speakers. Now you have portable DVD player made with a true 5.1 sound when external speakers are added. You can also view letterbox and pan-and-scan.
Not only will it play your DVD movies but it will also play DVD-RAM discs, DVD Audio discs, CDR discs, CDRW discs and MP3 files. DVD-RAM is a rewritable DVD that can be reused about 1000,000 times. You can record MPEG-2 video on it from a DVD recorder and then play it back on the LA95.
Features on the LA95 are Chapter Preview, Repeat mode, Title & Chapter search with marker function, Skip in forward & reverse and auto power off with resume play when you turn it back on if the DVD is left in the player. Plus it includes high-speed, five-step smooth motion scan in forward and reverse, up to 100 times normal speed with an easy-to-use shuttle ring dial.
The remote is a standard type remote but I did notice that it had no volume controls on it to control the volume, what a bummer!
Pros & Cons DVD-LA95 or Notebook
With the cost of Notebooks with a DVD player now at prices of $799 and portable DVD players like this one, I thought I would show some differences between them.
The Screen sizes are a lot to think about, the LA95 has only a small 9 inch screen but it is in the 16 x 9 format. The Notebooks usually have larger screens like 14 and 15 inch screens but most come in the 4 x 3 inch format. Both produce a good looking quality movie.
The Rechargeable Battery on both is drained at about 2 to 2 ½ hours. An extra rechargeable battery is recommended and if possible a battery that will last twice as long.
The Built-in Speakers on the LA95 sound better than on most Notebooks that have used. Both the DVD portables and Notebooks on the go sound better if you have a good pair of headphones. The LA95 does give you an option I haven’t seen on any Notebooks yet and that is the availability to have a 5.1 speakers system since it has the built-in Dolby and DTS decoders.
The DVD-LA95 comes with a Wireless Remote making operating it a lot nicer from a distance, most Notebooks do not have a remote.
For DVD Movies and all around sound the Panasonic DVD-LA95 Palm Theater is the better one to have if you plan to mainly view a lot of DVD movies. The Notebooks has a big advantage by being a computer on the go making it probably the better buy if you can only choose one. Notebooks with a DVD player around $799 or the DVD-LA95 for $500 plus!
Other Features
Super-Thin & Lightweight Design
Approximately 2.5-Hour Playback with Supplied Lithium Ion Battery Pack with a Built-In Recharger.
Multi-Voltage AC/DC Adapter, from 110V to 240V
Twin Laser Pickup
27 MHz/10-bit Video D/A Converter
192 KHz/24-bit Audio Digital/Analog Converter for DVD-Audio
Dialogue Enhancer to increase the center speaker volume
Panasonic 1 year parts and 90 days labor warranty
Overall
For movies on the go the Panasonic DVD-LA95 Palm Theater is a nice addition to have on all your traveling plans. The movie quality is great with the built-in speakers producing a much deep and richer bass sound than I have seen on any Notebook computers.
The battery lasted about 2 hours and 15 minutes till it needed to be recharged again. Remember you can view it while being plugged into an AC outlet to save on battery power. They do make a 4 to 4 ½ hour battery but at an extra cost of about $150.
I didn’t have a DVD-RAM to try but I did play a recorded DVD on it without any problems. I did try the MP3 files and they sound great when using a nice set of headphones over the built-in speakers.
The downfall to this portable is the limit of only viewing about one movie before it needs to be recharged again. If you plan to use it a lot I highly recommend a second battery and if you can afford it the better battery.
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