Coby TF-DVD8500 8.5-Inch TFT Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with Swivel Screen Reviews

• First Impressions on the Coby 8.5"

  
  By A9M08WGVMM46K on 2006-06-25
  The unit is pretty flimsy, mostly composed of lightweight plastic, but this is a boon if you're looking for a featherweight device. On-Off slider switch is clunky at best. The opening latch is not intuitive and requires the attention of a few more brain cells to get this clam to open up. The latch for the external battery pack is similarly designed. With a fully charged battery, I was able to get through Aeon Flux twice (about 3 hours). Screen resolution is only about 410x230 for this 8.5" display, which yields very large pixels. The documentation states a resolution of 1440x234, but I don't believe that for a second. Each pixel is about 3x the area of a pixel found on a typical computer monitor, so edge artifacts are easily discernible. Compare this to the gorgeous 320x240 pixel resolution of a 2.5" Apple Ipod. The slow LCD response time causes choppy motion on fast action sequences and the black levels look dark gray at best. On Aeon Flux, Charlize Theron, lacks her normal, vibrant glow. This unit also does not auto-detect the format of the movie, so you'll need to manually switch from 16:9 to 4:3. This is easily accomplished with the push to two buttons, but that's unless you prefer a more portly Charlize. On particular DVDs, the unit has this habit of skipping and momentarily freezing while it's trying to reacquire the track.
  
  The speakers play just loud enough to drown out the excessively noisy disc drive mechanism. The box includes 2 headphones which plugs into the two headphone jacks located on either side of the unit. However there is only one volume control, so you will need to negotiate with your partner on the appropriate
  volume setting ... but honey, 105 decibels give realistic sound levels.
  
  It was surprising to find an included remote control, like that's really necessary. If you're sitting far enough to need the remote, then you won't be able to tell Charlize from Philip Hoffman (you know, the bad dude in MI3). However, about half the DVD functions only can be accessed via the remote, so you're forced use this remote that was clearly designed for the hand of a hobbit.
  
  Bonus: The unit contains audio/video outputs and inputs, so the Coby can be connected to a large TV for DVD playback, to do justice to Charlize. A video output device, like a Playstation 2, can be connected to the Coby to display on the on the 8.5" screen. The output and input jack is surprisingly the same jack - the input/output function is selectable via the AV In/Out switch. Strange that this particular feature is not mentioned anywhere in the manual.
  
  All these shortcomings are forgivable for this sub-120 dollar unit. Hopefully this thing will outlast its 90day warranty (Amazon's website states a 1 year warranty period - I've emailed customer service resolve this inconsistency). 2 stars for performance, 4 stars for value.
  
  

• Good product and worth the value

  
  By A1MR5LPTI0XK6W on 2006-07-11
  Excellent features and nice accessories included. After comparing few portable DVD players in Best Buy and Circuit City, Coby is very good. Picture quality is much better than Insignia and Audiovox. Of course Sony and Samsung had little better picture quality than Coby; it's not worth paying twice the amount that I've paid for Coby. After all it's your portable DVD player, not your primary entertainment system. Audio volume is excellent compared to any other portable DVD player that I've checked. Also works great when connected to the TV. This is my second product from Coby and I'm satisfied with it.
  Features - 5 *
  Picture - 4 *
  Audio - 4 *
  Accessories - 5 *
  
  
  

• Not bad for the Price

  
  By A2WA7HBTHZX6BO on 2006-07-17
  I'm sure if you spent twice the money, you would get better picture, sound and remote features, but for the money this unit is just fine. I would love to have a spare battery. We are taking this on a 3 hour non stop flight, and I'm afraid it's not going to make it. A carrying case would be nice too.
  
  

• Great product!!

  
  By AOHH5XKXMP0AD on 2006-07-03
  I bought this for my 3 young daughters to use on several long plane rides. I had no problems with it at all. It was easy enough for them to figure out without the need of a remote (something else for them to lose). The battery lasted well over 3 hours on each trip. This unit has two headphone jacks so all you need is a splitter in order to have 3 sets of headphones hooked up. Picture and sound are great. I highly recommend this unit.
  
  

• Decent Player

  
  By A160H0YEDV1DA0 on 2006-11-13
  I agree with many of the other reviewers that you can here the disc whirring and it is somewhat annoying. We used it for a long car trip, so the whirring was drowned out by the other background noise and the sound from the movie. The player had a nice accessory package and there was nothing else we needed to buy to use it. We traveled to Florida from Ohio and back. It probably had a good 30 hours worth of use, during which we successfully zombified our four year old daughter, which is exactly what we wanted! The player never skipped and was reliable. For the price I would recommend it.
  
  
• Shoot for the moon!
  By A301QRX93FN4I5 on 2006-07-14
  Never owned a portable before this, but I really like it. It's great for the kids (especially in a traffic jam), and the headrest attaching kit works really well. It'd be nice to have a portable case to carry everything in, since it has so many accessories that come with it. They give you two sets of headphones. Unfortunately, when its mounted to a headrest, you could have trouble reaching with the headphones anyway. All in all though, great value and quality.
  
  
• Not good
  By A1AM9NE0TKRILL on 2006-07-25
  I bought this item thinking that it will be a good one for a good price. Head makes a lot of sound and dvd stucks a lot during. I have returned this item.
  
  
• fine, but not what i expected...
  By AFAM4F5G1BIN on 2006-08-09
  this unit has a/v in. my thought was that one could play video games on it, or view images from a camcorder/digital camera. however, all video sent to it gets distorted to fit the wide screen. so it does not allow me to do all i wanted. it is also a bit on the loud side. if your getting this for the car i suggest the coby 7050 unit. i got one of those also, and it works much better for the kids being a tablet form factor. it also does not make much noise.
  
  
• Big screen but lot of noise
  By A2R9303GIE56V7 on 2006-11-10
  The screen is big.. picture quality is good but there is lot of noise when playing the cd. If the CD has scratches it wont play. I am not happy about this product as the noise irritates me.
  
  
• Good operating player
  By A2ASWY4YIBO9GG on 2006-11-10
  Bought this for my son after looking at a few in the stores.
  For the price, found this to be better than average.
  Much better sound than some of the cheaper ones, good picture.
  Swivel screen is very handy.
  The sensitivity to playing less than perfect DVD's is very good.
  
  
• Not bad
  By A12GFDW6ZIOFL3 on 2006-11-03
  Not a bad player for the money. Comes with tons of accessories. It is just very noisy. The drive makes a constant whining noise that can only be muted by turning up the volume. Not a good thing when in the company of easily-annoyed others.
  
  
• Great Little DVD Player (Rating should be 5 stars)
  By A1MX0LYJTATLIE on 2007-01-15
  I will be spending 4 or 5 days in the hospital for an operation soon so I purchased this unit to catch up on my DVD collection while there...after extensive research of the reviews on Amazon I decided on this unit...I was pleasently pleased when I tried it out...the 8.5" screen has a great picture and the earphones give excellent sound...to my great relief it plays my extensive DVD+R disc collection flawlessly...purchased this unit with the Targus DV301 carrying case...it holds the DVD player and the AC adapter, earphones, and remote control well, but I recommend a separate holder for your DVD's as the Targus is now quite full.
  
  
• Portable DVD
  By A246KGG04J0OB4 on 2007-03-25
  Received very quickly; had all items needed for travel, i.e., power plug for cigarette lighter, 2 sets of headphones, wires to hook up to TV set which is good b/c you can hook it up to the TV at a hotel, of course it came w/ a battery and charger and the swivel screen turns it completely around and folds flat onto itself so you can place it into the the "satchel" that came with it and hang it from the back of a head rest. Not an extra item to purchase for this unit besides your DVDs and a carrying case. Very glad I chose this player.
  
  
• Nice little multi-region player
  By AJZLJ1FHNZ0EQ on 2007-04-24
  I was really pleased with this unit especially since I am not a tech-geek and the only thing I knew I wanted was something user friendly to play PAL and NTSC dvds with good picture quality and good sound that wouldn't break the bank. I read reviews on multiple websites until my eyes crossed and I realized that for just about every unit made, whatever the price range, the complaints are the same. So I took my chances with this one and I am absolutely delighted. The picture is crisp and true (no stretching the actors to fit the screen), the sound is clear, and yes, there is a whirring noise but it really isn't that bad. The build quality is fine (as long as you aren't slamming the thing shut repeatedly or throwing it to the floor) and the menu is easy to navigate. I had to call COBY (1-800-681-2629) to find out why it wouldn't play PAL dvds even though I'd switched the menu setting. It turns out you have to have the cheat code. Here it is-on the remote press
  
  setup
  fast forward
  rewind
  next screen
  previous screen
  
  at this point the screen will have a small number in the upper right part of the screen. Use the right arrow on the remote to switch the number until you get the region code you want. Then press setup to exit.
  
  I tried it and it works so I'm a really happy camper. All in all, this is a great little player for the money. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this as a gift or recommend it to a friend.
  
  
  
• Great product, excellent quality for the price.
  By AENL7RWI1ISXV on 2006-08-24
  This player is awesome! I am having fun with my new toy. I like the larger screen and the thin styling. It has all the up-to-date and modern AV-I/O connections. Play music, video games, camcordings, etc. Battery could last a little longer but the features are power-juicers!
  
  
• A good buy for the money
  By A3DG3WEZ9ZNZN9 on 2007-01-05
  For the money this is a great product. The screen is big enough to see and the sound is clear. My kids and I are not picky. This satisfies my children on long car rides or just to watch a dvd in the bedroom. We like that there are two sets of headphones.
  The car charger quit working after the second use,and I had previously purchased two of this exact item that I returned due to an odd red spot on the screen. This sort of worried me for the longevity factor of this product working well, but again for the price this is a good deal. It'll inadvertently get a bit beaten up by the kids anyway.
  Overall we are quite happy with our purchase.
  
  
• Item is Great
  By A1B6UVCQNE9N95 on 2006-07-25
  I received the product in very good condition.
  It is working great without any problem so far. My little one loves it by watching while travelling.
  
  
• Life Saver!
  By A357K4VJY4LLHR on 2007-01-12
  After a severe injury left me in a rehab center far from all of my family and friends, this DVD player was a true life saver. The picture and sound are excellent, and it is easy to use. I added a set of earphones, and I could watch a movie without disturbing the others in my room on those long, sleepless nights. I love that you don't have to have the remote to acess the different features.
  
  
• Accesories and Features Leave a Lot to be Desired
  By A30STKLAEOSPCR on 2007-01-23
  The picture quality is good but the sound was not so great at first. We had to try different settings to improve it and eliminate the background static noise. The headphones that came with the unit is for an infant sized head. What is up with that? The feature buttons on the remote and the unit itself are not user friendly. We need to buy our own headphones and spend more time trying to figure out how to change settings. Overall, I say it is an OK unit but I wanted a great unit. I would not purchase another item made by Coby.
  
  
• Not pleased
  By A2GDLSV9U40F50 on 2007-01-10
  The video quality is excellant. Battery life so poor that we were unable to view a complete 93 minute DVD. Audio quality is very poor. With low volume and difficult to listen to and understand all speech. We are waiting for return authorization to send it back
  
  
• It really works even with European DVDs
  By A1QED7GFCB8KGJ on 2007-01-09
  For this price, this portable dvd player is really good and the international code that i got from Coby really works. So far i`ve tried it with a dvd from England and it worked.
  
  
• Very Good Product
  By A31LLA9J3HLSMY on 2006-08-14
  This product has a very good picture quality. I was very pleased for the value for my money. I would recommend this product.
  
  
• Not the best
  By A20H3HJ9HCJYH4 on 2007-01-10
  This player started making loud motor noises half way into every movie from the first one we tried. The swivel screen is nice, but in a car bag would not stay upright very well. We returned it.
  
  
• this is very good dvd player.
  By AYL9E8F6ALN9W on 2007-01-16
  great product. very thin. Swivel screen is really convenient for car seat mounting.
  
  
• Coby TF-DVD8500 8.5" TFT Portable DVD Player
  By A31WJ9IEBBQP0D on 2007-02-07
  I got this Coby Portable DVD player for my family two weeks ago. We love it very much. The main feature is the remote control which is very handy and convenient. We love the remote very much. This remote control allow us to fast forward screens and other screen selection features. Also the Swivel Screen allow us to adjust the monitor in any angles. I am very happy with this product.
  
  
• Disaster DVD Player
  By A297WE8XN2MCG8 on 2007-02-20
  this DVD player played about 3 or 4 movies before it totally went black -- nothing. No sound; no picture. when we first got it, we noticed a small red dot up in the right corner when never went away. It lasted just past the 30 days to return. We only used it in the car and that was for two trips. I will be attempting to send it to Coby for full refund. I had to buy another DVD player for the car on the second trip. Stay away from this product.
  
  
• dvd player
  By A2K17AOCCMH8A8 on 2007-03-08
  ..this portable dvd player is working flawlessly and I am highly satisfied with its performance. Thank you for producing such a fine product. Sincerely Michael Wood
  
  
• great for the price
  By ALCXODPDVCNFQ on 2007-03-10
  We bought this for traveling with our 2 yr old son. It is great b/c it comes with a case to hang on the headrest HOWEVER to change the disc you have to take it out of the case, etc. Battery power isn't long but the cord to connect to lighter is so no problem in the car! great clarity and sound.
  
  
• No surprises
  By AB5IQEOSPXRJ7 on 2007-04-02
  The DVD Player arrived within the time promised, in excellent condition, as I have come to expect from Amazon. It worked well right out of the box, and I have no cause for complaint. Operation is easy, picture is excellent, and sound is very good. I will have no reservations about giving this as a gift. It works.
  
  
• Excelent Portable DVD
  By A2HEY6IU9WXYX3 on 2007-04-11
  Excelent Choice!!! The price is good and the performance is better than others!!!
  
  

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