Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black Reviews

• Not too shabby!

  
  By A37X41DY8NH5CV on 2006-06-14
  Review for the Sony DVP-FX810. Primary use: Aboard our boat and used
  with second 13" flat screen.
  
  Well, like most people we've all been looking at these portable DVD
  players for years. Remember when they were 400-500 dollars or more? Now
  we have a large selection available for far less. The Sony weighs in at
  a bit under 200 dollars. If you read the reviews on these players,
  you'll generally see some happy users and an almost universal amount of
  folks whose units went belly up fairly soon.
  
  
  Here's the bottom line. Just about ALL of these players are built
  cheaply. Speaking to a friend and a large retailer, I learned that
  almost all see a fair amount of returns, including the pricier units.
  No matter which unit you buy BE SURE to buy an extended warranty so you
  can get a replacement if it dies.
  
  
  Now....on to the Sony. This unit appears to be better built than most
  of the others. It has a solid feel and the screen hinge is more robust
  than others. The unit is slim, black and looks more like a 400 dollar
  unit when sitting next to entries from Toshiba or Magnavox. The screen
  rotates 180 degrees in one direction and will fold back flat against
  the unit creating a tablet type player/viewer. This is perfect for
  headrest or wall hanging, but Sony has made no provision for this so
  you'll need to improvise.
  
  
  Screen quality: Well....here's the meat and potatoes. Based on my many
  years of audio and video usage on the higher end of the market, I'd say
  the FX810 has average video quality, which is to say less than
  stunning. Viewing the screen dead on makes for poor viewing. Tilt the
  screen a bit and you get a more contrasty effect. Resolution is
  passable, but nothing to write home about. Frankly, none of the small
  screens are very impressive and offer less detail than a good notebook
  computer. Still, the image is "just fine" for it's intended purpose and
  watching a movie is no problem. Color and hue have that less than
  accurate LCD look, but again, quite passable as entertainment.
  
  
  Sound quality: Pretty weak, as on every one of these units without
  exception. A pair of headphones or even cheap external powered speakers
  will help a lot. This is not a flaw, but a limitation due to the size
  of the player. Sony did what they could with some very tiny speakers.
  
  
  Battery life: WOW! Sony's battery is a killer and ran my unit for two
  whole movies, well beyond 4 hours and had power to spare. This may be
  the best on the market in this regard. Charge times are somewhat long,
  taking nearly five hours. The unit will charge while playing as well
  and will work off the included AC adapter or 12 volt cigarette lighter
  plug.
  
  
  Feature set: This is a pretty basic unit. It won't play DTS tracks and
  it has only composite out. I feel that without S-Video and progressive
  scan, Sony has focused on making this a more solid unit in other areas,
  such as overall build quality. The FX810 ships with a remote that is
  full size. It's a bit odd to have such a clunky remote for a portable
  DVD player, but it's easier to use and won't have you hunting for
  little odd batteries used by the credit card remotes. Video in/out
  plugs are included with RCA's to connect to a TV. You can also send in
  a video game or video camera signal in. A single switch toggles between
  AV in/out.
  
  
  Another Bottom Line: Do YOU really need one of these? I have a DVD
  player with 7.1 dolby in my van, but I wanted a small player for my 35
  foot sailboat that could also feed a larger 13" screen. This fits the
  bill. Features like progressive scan would be a waste on something like
  this. The long battery life is nice and folks who fly a lot will
  certainly appreciate that. If Sony makes a version with a 10" screen,
  higher resolution and keeps the battery life they'll see quite a few
  sales. In the end I still feel this is one of the better units, if not
  the biggest, around. For under 200.00 it's fun and cheap, but looks
  pricey. Just spend a few dollars more on the warranty and you'll be
  good to go!
  
  
  Capt RB
  35s5
  NY
  
  
  

• Good new entry in this price range

  
  By A55PCTJ6NINET on 2006-07-17
  As I write this, Amazon still has the player listed as "not yet available" even though it's been available from other vendors for several weeks now. I've had mine for about three weeks.
  
  As much as I like this player, there are a few reasons I'm only giving it four stars. First and foremost, the player has no screen mode for accommodating older wide-screen DVD's. When you watch one, you'll get black bands on all four sides. If you switch the LCD mode to Full, it only stretches the picture horizontally. It does a great job, however, on more recent "enhanced for 16x9" discs.
  
  I'm not sold on the idea that glossy screens are a good idea on laptops or DVD players. A glossy finish supposedly makes the colors more vibrant, but it also means that, unless you're in a very dark room, you're always going to get reflections, particularly in scenes that are darkly lit.
  
  The player is heavier than I expected. It is heavier without a battery than my older 7" Toshiba player is with a battery attached. While this gives the impression of a solid, well-made product, it also makes me worry about how severely it could be damaged if dropped on a hard surface.
  
  On the plus side, the twist and flip tablet mode is well thought out with all of the controls running along the bottom of the screen. This could be improved by having a way to differentiate the buttons by touch. The picture quality is as good as you're going to find in an under-$200 player. The battery life is impressively long; I'm getting 5-6 hours per charge. Both AC and car adapters are included. Unlike my older player, when you turn the DVPFX810 off, it remembers where you stopped watching and resumes play at the same point. For me, this player is well worth what I paid for it.
  
  

• Great DVD player for gym or travel

  
  By A34IC48GLL4U3Y on 2007-06-04
  I purchased the Sony DVP-FX810 DVD player for use while exercising. The one standout feature of this model is that the screen flips up, pivots around, and folds back flat, making it look a bit like a tabletPC. This is great for my purpose, since I need to put the laptop on exercise machines much like others are putting magazines.
  
  The player feels quality built - definitely not a cheapo wal-mart special. If I was handed it and asked to guess the price, I'd say $300+. It comes with a full-size remote (not particularly practical for me), but everything is also accessible from the unit itself. There's a very practical rubber nub built in (sort of like that on IBM laptops) that lets you move around menus without using a remote. It also comes with a car and home charger.
  
  My only negative on this player is that it is rather thick. The battery fits to the bottom of unit - measuring the full size (l x w) of the player. That makes the unit feel a bit thick. That said, it still fits on the exercise machines without difficulty. Despite other reviewers, I have not complaints about the quality of video. It looks fine to me - though I am not an expert. Overall, I would say that I'm very pleased with the purchase.
  
  Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - an intense thriller in which a martial artist, a greedy corporate attorney, and a sexy conspiracy theorist team up to stop a world-class sniper from killing presidential candidates.
  
  Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.
  
  

• I'd recomment it!

  
  By A1Z1VG5XNWFASH on 2006-09-10
  The main reasons why I bought this DVD player is because: 1) I loved the way it looked (very sleek and stylish), 2) it was in my price range, 3) it said it had a 6 hour battery life, and 4) it has two headphone jacks.
  
  Cons:
  --The glossy screen makes for a lot of glares. to fix this problem, I hold up something dark in front of the screen!
  --If you like to watch old movies on DVDs in wide screen, you're out of luck. It can only play those movies in full screen mode, which means you have a tiny screen (however, I don't know of any other DVD player that has fixed this problem)
  --I think the screen is pixely, in other words, the pixels are quite large. It bothered me because it makes the picture less defined. However, an advantage to this is that your kids won't be tempted to keep their faces inches away from the screen and ruin their eyes. The farther away you hold the screen, the better the picture looks!
  --The twist screen only twists in one direction. I sometimes forget which direction that is, and risk breaking the thing.
  --the sleek remote isn't very sleek; it's about 1/3 the size of the player itself, and maybe 1/2 as thick. I found that quite amusing.
  
  PROS!
  --It's a beautifl design. The speakers and buttons are all on the screen which makes the tablet design wonderful.
  --you really do get 6 hours of battery life. Of course, this is on the dimmest screen setting; but I've been able to watch at least 2 movies in good lighting on one charge.
  --You don't need the remote to watch a movie. there are some settings that you can only make with the remote, but i've actually never needed to change those settings.
  --the speakers are loud enough...for a quiet room. If you decide to watch a movie in a loud restaurant or (as I did once) in a car while it's being hailed on, you won't hear much. But overall, i'm happy with the noise they can put out.
  --the package comes with everything you'll need! a battery, a remote, audio/video cables, a car charger and a regular charger.
  --it saves your movie for you. if you turn it off in the middle of a movie, you can turn it on and resume it right where you left off!
  --it automatically selects the right screen mode for the screen size (wide screen or full screen)...unless of course it's an old movie.
  --there's an IR reciever on the screen as well as the front of the player. So whether you have it in tablet setup or regular dvd player setup, you can use the remote.
  
  The dimesions for the player are:
  9 in x 6 in x 1.75 in (with the batery on)
  
  the remote is:
  5.5 in x 2.5 in x 0.75 in.
  
  Also good to know:
  --the "open" button on the front of the player is not to open the screen (the screen has no latches or buttons holding it closed), it's to open the place where you put the DVD in.
  --Charge the batter completely before you use it for the first time. I charged mine for about 5 hours the first time; but i think it was done after 3.
  --I'm very picky about protecting this thing, so I chose the Targus hard-shell 10" case (model #TDC004US) and the icon dvd player neoprene sleeve (total cost ~$60). I put the player in the sleeve and then i put that inside the targus case, and pile all my cords and remote around it. I find this gives a lot of protection.
  
  

• DVDs to Go

  
  By A3QNX5KWHDV0GD on 2006-10-20
  I wanted a portable DVD player that I could prop up on the treadmill at the gym and watch movies while I burned away the calories. The Sony does the job admirably.
  
  I must admit, I didn't do a lot of research on this purchase. I started by buying a $79 special, which worked okay, but felt kind of flimsy. So I returned it and got the Sony.
  
  One thing that seemed surprisingly similar between the cheap unit and the Sony was picture quality. Resolution just doesn't seem to be great on these units. But since you're only looking at an 8" screen, the picture does appear crisp, with decent contrast. The screen is glossy, and prone to glare, but it hasn't been a problem, even in the brightly lit gym.
  
  The screen will swivel and fold into a tablet, with all controls within easy reach. The player comes with a remote (a big one for such a small player), but I haven't even unwrapped mine. I suppose it might come in handy if you used the player's outputs to a large screen and home theater system.[UPDATE] I wanted to finish watching the disc in the player, and rather than taking it out and changing players, I just plugged it into the inputs on the front of my TV, found the remote, and I had a full functioning DVD player. It even picked up where I left off in the movie I was watching.
  
  Battery life is close to 5 hours, about twice that of most similar players. An AC adapter/charger, and auto adapter are included. Headphones are not, but ports are provided for two sets.
  
  I've heard that an extended warranty is recommended, but the player comes with a 12 months parts and labor (as opposed to the typical 12/3 terms). I figure if it breaks after a year, there'll be something slicker and nicer available to spend my toy budget on.
  
  So far I am quite happy with this player. It fits perfectly on the treadmill, and helped pass the hour long wait at the doctor's office. A nice diversion for automotive or motorcycle passengers, too.
  
  Great battery life, swiveling screen, and pleasing design make the Sony Portable DVD Player worth considering. Oddly enough, Sony released a 7" Walkman DVD player about the same time. I can't figure why they would compete with themselves. I like the one I got because it seems more versatile, and the screen is better protected when closed. It sounds, from the description, that the `Walkman' might have better audio features.
  
  
  
• Well worth the price!
  By A15OKXTGDML5MJ on 2007-02-24
  I spent weeks researching portable dvd players before finally purchasing this one. My general findings from my research were 1) no players seem to be quite loud enough when used without headphones, 2) less expensive players don't seem to stand the test of time, 3) most battery lives seem to be around 2.5-3 hours.
  
  I bought this Sony DVPFX810 player in October 2006 and am still as delighted with its performance as I was when it first arrived.
  
  The picture quality is great, and the screen size makes for easy viewing. I have taken this player on a couple of trips and find that its size works well even in the cramped quarters of airplane seating. The volume is more than sufficient with headphones. Without headphones the volume is also fine -- if there is not much outside noise (in a room full of talking people you would need the headphones). The battery has been lasting for around 5 hours of playing time -- a stand-out feature of this player.
  
  This player also allows for plugging in the player and using it while the battery is detached, which lets me feel free to watch a movie at home without worrying about zapping the life of the battery.
  
  The swivel screen looks pretty cool, but I almost always use the player in its "laptop" formation.
  
  I bought the case "Case Logic Koskin DVD Player Case w/SS" for this player, which fits very nicely.
  
  
• Best in Show
  By A3AF42J6XZZ20Q on 2007-04-29
  Let's be realistic. It's a PORTABLE DVD Player, not a HOME THEATRE module or the centerpiece of any entertainment center. It's fairly lightweight for having an 8 inch screen. I did get 6 hours out of the first charge, even now(6 months later), I consistently receive 5 solid hours. The screen swivels for a flat-viewing option on a decent color display. It is not a HD display, but what portable device is going to do that for under $200? I've owned two other brands for this price-or less-and remember, you'll get what you paid for. For the price, I've not seen a better quality product.
  
  
• didn't last a month
  By A33Q3Q5YZSOWIP on 2006-11-05
  Less then a month after we received this DVD player it stopped working, we returned it to Sony for a replacment but they didn't have one so the "repaired" this one. 3 weeks later (a long time in my opinion) we received the "repaired" one back, and the motor was so loud when playing that it wasn't really useable - so back to Sony again. It's been about a week now and we haven't heard back on whether or not they are fixing that one or if they have any replacement units yet. Don't recommend it. It's also a little on the heavy side (maybe some people would like that). Our last one was a panasonic 50 (old version I think) and it died after about 18 months - we thought that was unacceptable so we bought the Sony - but in retrospect I wish we had bought our old one again. It lasted longer, was lighter weight and the screen tilt was more versatile.
  
  
• disappointing purchase and service
  By A2JCW0TEEHY86G on 2006-08-15
  This unit has very good picture and sound quality. However, the speaker on our unit malfunctioned in less than a month. What a disappointment after paying over $200. To top it off, the customer service from Sony has been frustrating. It has taken close to a month to receive a replacement for a defective unit.
  
  
• Nice design but terrible screen
  By A2VLC7BD0BGFCZ on 2006-11-18
  I got mine in the airport to kill time on long flights and it was the battery stamina that draw me to the Sony when I looked at all the available DVD players. That turned out to be a bad decision.
  
  After charging and trying to watch my first movie I thought I had got a broken unit because the screen viewing angle is vertically maximum 20 degrees. Basically you have to tilt the creen forward and look on the screen slightly from above to even be able to see the picture. It is almost impossible to view the screen straight. Secondly the picture quality is really poor and the image becomes pixelated (you can actually see the individual pixels in the screen) due to the low resolution in the screen.
  
  The contrast is bad and all dark areas merge together in a movie. Initially I thought the DVD I was looking at was a poor copy because the image quality was so bad. I was so convinced that the unit was broken that I took it back and changed it for a new one. Then I relaized that the unit wasn't broken, it was the design that was broken. Since the replacement unit was equally bad.
  
  Then I happened to read the specs for the display used by Sony and it turns out that the vertical resolution is only 200 pixels on an 8" screen. That clearly explains why I could see individual pixels in the screem while wathcing a movie.
  
  So, the bottom line is that this player has a very nice design, long battery life but completely and utterly useless with the built in very low-resolution LCD. So, the point of the whole device is lost.
  
  So now I have it in the Office purely as a DVD player and use it with a small Denver LCD TV which has a magnitude better screen.
  
  I can only speculate why Sony chose such a poor display but I suspect that it was very power efficient to allow them to have the exceptional battery life.
  
  
• In comparions to the portable DVD market, this is The the BEST
  By A2CPJSA6UV6FHF on 2006-07-30
  I consider my self to have average knowledge abt all such eletronic items. So am a user who just wants something good, and for that want, this Sony product satify's it. Among all portable DVD players I used at walk in stores, this Sony model was the best. It does have some drawbacks such as the glare, but the positives outshine the one or two here and there negatives which the avg user dosent notice.
  The best feature is, u can collapse the screen and use it as a DVD player in your car. A car charger in the package is a added advantage
  
  
• Quite Pleased
  By A3IG75E8A9HL0Q on 2006-10-09
  Purchased it through Radio Shack due to a gift card I received. Definitly advise that you buy the extended warranty. When I first used mine I listened to half the movie with the built in speakers and then switched to
  headphones. From that point on the speakers never worked again. Not so much as a hiss or crackle out of them. Exchanged for a new unit at Radio Shack with no hassles (thanks Radio Shack.) Sony offered to exchange it also since it was only 6 weeks old but I would have had to pay shipping and Sony said I would get a refurbished unit and not a new one. Sony, That is very bad custome service!! The glare people talk about is not that big of a deal. Battery life is excellent. Picture quality is more than good enough for watching movies. Usually I don't waste money on extended warranties however considering the price and the fact that at least 4 other people I know of including one other Amazon reviewer have had the speakers die or the unit just stopped working I must say GET THE EXTENDED WARRANTY!! Unfortunatly the name SONY (think of all the lithium batteries they are recalling)is no longer a reason to assume quality. Too bad on that note.
  
  
• An ALMOST perfect portable DVD player
  By A1PN2U0AWXGVML on 2006-12-22
  Sony, a name of usually high quality products doesn't disappoint with the DVPFX810. Here's my breakdown of this product:
  
  PROS:
  Beautiful design
  AWESOME battery life compared to any other player out there (5 hours +)
  large 8" screen
  Lots of options for contrast, brightness, etc.
  excellent full functioning remote
  swiveling screen makes it easy to watch movie on cramped plane tray (just like a tablet PC)
  Acrylic hard coating screen makes for a scratch resistant viewing area
  Plays DVD-Rs or CD-Rs with Jpegs
  Plays mp3 with excellent sound on burned discs
  2 headphone jacks
  car charger included
  dual remote sensors on unit for convenience of operation
  PRICE IS EXCELLENT
  
  CONS:
  the screen is merely average, actually has less pixels vertically than a smaller sized PSP (280 for PSP 220 for this)
  built in stereo speakers don't get too loud (use your headset)
  no included case
  no memory stick/SD card slot
  
  Conclusion: This is a VERY good unit for under $200. I got mine for $200 even including tax (thats the deal I made with ABC warehouse). There aren't any other units that can play 2 full movies on one charge that is 8" in diameter. I highly recommend this in spite of its few shortcomings.
  
  
  
  
• Got this for our trip, recommend it
  By A2HV853UNP5VTY on 2007-07-06
  We got this player for our international trip to use for my daughter who is two. Even after reading someone's review about it not being loud enough, we still got it.
  
  Well, I was never dissapointed. The volume was very loud. Even on the air plane,my daughter and I were able to watch her dvd and heard every little bit of it. We also used it on a 5hour bus ride as well as in a hotel. When she was going to sleep she wanted to watch her favorite cartoon, so we connected the portable DVD player to the television and she watched the cartoon.
  
  We had no visual or audio problems. I'd say you should buy this model. I was impressed with it. Hope you will be too.
  
  
  
• Good product
  By A3GORZ65KIXK47 on 2006-12-03
  I've been using this product a lot for a couple months now. The screen is quite good and unlike other units I've tried this one has very low dvd spin noise (in fact, when a dvd is playing you don't hear it at all). So far I've not had one problem with this unit. Why only four stars then? Because the volume is really not loud enough; infact, I use this with two small portable Sony speakers that plug into one of the two mike jacks (the speakers work with their own battery). The overall battery life is great, but of course you can plug into a regular wall outlet or battery outlet in your car.
  
  
• Don't Buy This DVD Player
  By A39QOL7HERKWCW on 2006-12-04
  I was looking for stereotypical Sony quality but did not find it in this machine ($198.00). First of all, the quad-motion "Enter" button on the unit doesn't work, I had to use the remote. Second, every time when starting a disc, or restarting from Pause or Stop, the English subtitle comes on. I can't find a way to make this not be the default start-up item. So I again drag out the remote and manually turn off the subtitle each time I get ready to watch a disc. Thirdly, and this is my biggest complaint, the speakers hardly put out any volume whatsoever despite having the volume control put on high. With the volume control on high the headphones I purchased from Sony ($19.99) did put out enough volume. Nevertheless the speakers should put out enough volume to be able to hear a movie in a quiet room. Fourthly, the resolution is too low. I can't read the credits at the end of a movie. All in all, make sure you know what you're getting beforehand if you decide to purchase this product.
  
  
• thought of everything
  By A38XIA2IE0BWGF on 2007-03-17
  I got this thing to use by the hot-tub, but am using it for my regular DVD player to connect to the big screen in the house. It works well for both purposes, and is more reliable than my supposed top of the line Phillips player. First off, it is an 8 inch portable player, so the screen is not HD and the speakers are not surround sound, but the screen quality is great and I actually like the shiny flat screen (haven't experienced the reflection problem that others did--then again I have only used this at night). The speakers are beneath the screen and point toward you, not up from the base like some other players. I already have supplemental speakers by the hot tub, and they plug in quickly through the headphone jack. I chose this one becasue the screen flips around to any angle, and you don't have the distance of a notebook, so it worked best for my purpose. You can control it easlily with full function features from the front of the screen, or use the remote which is very ergonomic with logically placed buttons that are easy to memorize. There is a separate sensor for the remote on the screen side, so it works great no matter how the screen is positioned. I never expected to use it in the living room, but I was getting so frustrated with my Phillips that I finally smashed it. To my surprise, the little Sony was easy to plug in with two jacks on the side, and the image and sound transfers to the big screen even with the player closed! And the remote still works with a separtae sensor on the front. Kind of like the refrigerator light, the little 8" screen shuts off when the screen is down, so this thing actually works great in the living room too! The remote has a much better layout than my old Phillips that never made any sense. So far I've had no battery issues. I plan to take this on vacations, and could imagine easily plugging it into any hotel TV to use just like I do at home. I was skeptical of the fiip around screen, but the twisty hinge is very solid and works great. In a nutshell, I congratulate the designer of this product. Sony thought of everything.
  
  
• GREAT picture
  By A3ISBYMO8AUIWJ on 2007-06-26
  Finally a portable DVD with a truly spectacular picture. This is the 5th different DVD portable I have purchased and up until now I was pretty dissapointed with the grainy pictures I was seeing. This little guy has a great picture. The operation is smooth. Included is everything you need for portable viewing and inside viewing. Sony does it again. I've only owned this for 1 month but it has played every home made DVD-R I have made and every movie without a glitch! The sound is alos quite good for a portable unit. Great purchase.
  
  
• BEWARE....PLS DON'T EVEN THINK OF BUYING THIS!!!
  By A1XISQ1ULXK6OC on 2007-05-21
  This newly bought machine broke down in about 2and half month. Well, great. Sony sent me replacement in about 2 weeks, which was brand new (not refurbished), and which died again, in this time, in about 4 months.
  I never carried this product outside my house. It was perfectly kept. I guess I used the replaced product less than 100 hours. What an amazing short life.
  Extremely clumsy product with, I suspect, some inherent mechanical defects. Please beware.
  
  
• Mine died a quick painless death
  By A1I7TT5YXI7A92 on 2007-06-05
  I bought this unit for long trips for the kids and was impressed with the way the rotating screen would allow it to be placed in various positions in the car for viewing. Unfortionatly, the glossy screen of the Sony made it virtually impossible to watch in a vehicle, even with tinted windows. Even putting towels in the windows helped little. The kicker was the fact that the unit died during the first movie played. Screen just failed. I was worried about the base units connection to the screen with the rotating feature, and it appears my worries were justified. Returned it and bought the Toshiba 1900 instead. I am much happier with the slightly larger screen and the lack of glossy luster on the screen. Also, it's still working after watching several movies.
  
  
• Excellent player for the money
  By A1WCRIQUX3L1AR on 2007-01-15
  This is the best portable DVD player for the money to date. First off, my biggest issue with portable DVD players is the poor quality screens. Panasonic probably makes the best portable units, but their screens are a joke. The lcd pixels are HUGE for their screen size and it ends up in very poor picutre quality. This Sony model is the only unit I found that had a small pixel structure in it's lcd. (very similar to a laptop lcd) I couldn't stand watching the other brands players because of the stair step jagginess to edges. The Sony does a better job at hiding it because of its smaller pixels. The unit comes with all of the accessories you could need including a car adapter. The clincher was the fact that the battery fits nicely under the unit and does not extend out at any point making it very compact and truly portable. You will easily get at least 4-5 hours on one charge. My only complaint is that the audio needs some help. It is not very loud and I recommend a boostaroo if you plan on using it on airplane travel. Overall, this is an excellent unit for the money, as it can be had for less than $200. Would be 5 stars if the audio was louder.
  
  
• looks good unless you use it
  By A12ADUKVPKEQ1L on 2007-04-14
  I bought the Sony because it seems better made than many of the other portable DVD players I looked at. I like the black case and the compact battery. However, despite its good looks, it does not work well.
  1. The sound is very poor. 2. Picture is very dark, lots of reflections and hard to get the screen at a good angle to see the movie well. I like to be able to SEE and HEAR my movies!!!
  
  
• Awesome screen & picture quality
  By ACFR2KE1RH0SJ on 2007-07-16
  This is the first time writing a review but I felt the need to do it.
  I will start saying that this it's the 3rd portable DVD player that we're buying, 1st was a Toshiba (excellent sound, good picture but I'd a little problem with the DVD door compartment), 2nd cheap brand last only 6 moths (the battery felt apart and then just stop playing DVDs) and this time I didn't want to expend more money or time, so after read many reviews I went to the store and start playing with them (was the best thing I could have done) from my top three choice (Toshiba, Panasonic & Sony) I choose this one because the picture & screen is awesome, it's like watching form your home DVD player in my case I don't like really bright screen and this one it's perfect, also I never tough that I will like the swivel screen and ended up be so functional, the battery it's on the bottom part and you not even notice it's a great idea, and the DVD it's self it look very solid, when you moved the device from a place to another it doesn't jump or start over. The only bad thing for dome of you it's that the volume it's not as loud as others brands but in my case for my kid it's perfect.
  
  
• Perfect for traveling parents!
  By APC8PK6DOR28U on 2007-01-15
  We received this gift before making our Christmas trip to Virginia this year and man was it ever a lifesaver! The battery lasted through two flights (each about an hour and a half) and still didn't need to be charged! I have yet to see this player die on me as a result of battery charge. As long as it is all juiced up prior to departure, it works perfectly. We also used it during our last road trip to Chicago. The trip took us just over three hours with a few stops and it ran perfectly the entire time. The other thing I love about this player is that the buttons are located on a small bar under the screen. It doesn't pose as much of a distraction for our toddler. Otherwise he would be poking at them constantly! The only issue I have is that the screen does have a glare if it is not positioned well. The carrying case we bought does help with glare a little bit when using it in the car because of the flaps on the side. On a side note, so far this player has not had any problems playing any burned dvds that we have put in it.
  
  
• Solid Unit for the money
  By A3AY2GIC8RBHVJ on 2007-01-21
  I don't usually write reviews but after reading some of the comments below about poor sound quality I needed to say this; What are you talking about? The sound is very good through average or better headphones. I will agree the the built in speakers are not much, but if you are going to use headphones you have no worries. I was listening with a pair of bose tri-port headphones (not noise canceling) in a very noisy room and could not turn the volume all the way up with out discomfort. I looked at all the other units in this price range and I found none better! Picture quality is good, not great, but better than any other player in this price range. Very soildly built, I recommend this unit.
  
  
• Great DVD player for the price.
  By ASQQ7ROWBD2KI on 2006-11-10
  I ordered this DVD player and when it came to recharging the battery it wouldn't recharge. I phoned SONYs customer service which seemed good. The woman had me reset the player and the battery was still not able to recharge itself. SONY customer service said they have been getting calls about the same problem with their battery rechargers. They told me to fax them my receipt with the event number which they gave me and they will send me a new charger. Its been over a month and still no charger. I contacted Amazon about the problem. Amazons' customer service is very good. They told me they would send me a new DVD player and pay for my shipping back to them. I received my new DVD player in a matter of weeks. This new players battery charger works. Thanks....AMAZON!!!!
  
  
• Does not play my video CD
  By AVWE59WQ9I7UU on 2007-01-28
  I still have my old sony DVP-FX1 from 2000 when I received this as a christmas gift from my sister. Well, it doesn't play my home made video CDs or VCDs but it played on my old sony DVP-FX1 perfectly! So what's wrong with the latest model? I simply do not understand. Buy this if you only want to watch DVDs. Just beware it doesnt' play video CDs (CDRs that are created to play video)
  
  
• Doesn't play edited dvd's
  By A2T8A8IHC4VFA3 on 2007-06-08
  I edit my daughter's dvd's to remove the title screens so I can more easily play them for her in the car (she is three). This unit refuses to play the edited dvds. Otherwise the player seemed fine. I returned it and got the Coby 8 inch swivel screen player instead.
  
  
• Do not buy - not loud enough for a plane trip !
  By A82WVUHINZNE3 on 2007-01-04
  Before buying this unit I read all the reviews saying the speakers were not loud enough and that you needed to use headphones. No problem I thought since my kids were going to use it on a plane anyways. Even on maximum power with some pretty sensitive headphones this thing could not put out enough volume for my kids to hear a movie on the plane. The people sitting in front of me had cheapo brand DVD players and we could hear their movie playing from their speakers - it's not the size of the speakers on this one as one reviewer stated - its that Sony has apparently decided to limit the output volume to avoid any hearing loss lawsuits. Unfortunately they limited it to the point where if you want to use this device for travel on a plane or in a car it is virtually unusable unless you are willing to carry around expensive noise cancelling headphones or the huge old style headphones that completely surround your ear.
  
  The most dissapointing thing was when I called Sony to complain. The customer service rep said "Well just use it in a quiet room then..." to which I responded that people buy portable DVD players to watch while they are traveling ... I followed up with "then why do you ship it with a car adapter if the unit was not meant to be played in anything other than a library." Not one to give up, I then sent an email to Sony's support address explaining the problem and some potential solutions for disappointed owners such as myself - their response - a generic "form" email saying "thanks for your feedback, have a nice day." The really sad part is that the battery life on this unit is excellent and were it not for their artificially low volume output this unit would get a 5 star rating from me despite Sony's now uncaring customer support. Makes me question whether I want to get that Bravia LCD if they are going to support their products so poorly. Sad to see a company like Sony slip so much.
  
  
• Sony & Bose need to get together....
  By A25PCG0W6XSPA9 on 2007-02-13
  Picture quality is so/so, need to look at the screen almost at a slight angle to see it better. From certain angles, the picture is not viewable at all. The sound quality out of the speakers is NOT great - using headphones however is a different story- better quality there.
  
  Wouldn't it be great if Sony & Bose got together to create a portable DVD player? Sony makes a good picture product, and Bose makes great speakers (as well as radios & CD players). Doesn't that make sense? HELLO? It's like Chocolate & Peanut Butter! Nobody's going to know how good it will be unless ya' try it!
  
  

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