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Portable DVD Player Recommendations?

Posted by Cliff on from the size-matters-the-smaller-the-better! dept.

snapman asks: "My wife and I are looking to move to another state because of our respective job situations and we forecast a lot of travel (to return home to visit family and friends). We were looking at portable DVD players to help ease the boredom of long flights home, and we were wondering if the road warriors of the Slashdot community have any advice on the best portable DVD player (features, drawbacks, battery life, etc.)?"

4 of 34 comments (clear)

  1. Portable DVD player observation by KILNA · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you buy a decent portable you're a third of the way to purchasing an inexpensive laptop with DVD drive and a much larger screen.

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    Error: PANTS NOT FOUND. Press <F1> to continue.
  2. Plenty of them by xylon · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Here in Singapore there are plenty of 'portable' DVD players, that is, they come with an in built LCD screen. I've no idea how much they cost, but I remember initial impressions being not exceedingly expensive.

    That said, I don't see the point in the toys, personally, other than a 'ooh, look what I have' factor. As another poster said, you're well on your way to a decent laptop by purchasing a portable DVD player, and you'd be able to do other stuff with it, as well... especially on those long boring flights.

    Anothing thing: if you're intending to use these at home as well, I'm not entirely sure of the quality these things would output, if indeed it's quality that you're after. Might be best to get a cheap-ish DVD deck, and a cheap laptop. Best of both worlds, then.

  3. 12" ibook by Hadlock · · Score: 3, Insightful

    why the hell not? sure, you don't own a mac (yet), but it has a 5 hour battery life, nice big 12" screen (when letterboxed is still larger than the largest dvd use only dvd player) and when you're not using it for movie playback you can write emails, compose documents in word, listen to music/mp3s/cds and even burn your own. if you get bored of a movie, you can always load up one of about a million games.

    yes, it costs about 2x as much as a mid priced portable dvd player, but you pay for alot of useful other features and a signifigantly higher resale value.

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    moox. for a new generation.
  4. This is what I do by djupedal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I travel with a late model Apple 12" iBook. Smaller than a TI, and much less expensive, these are the stealth deals of the year. They are excellent for DVD use on an airplane, etc. You can copy DVD's to the hard disc and play from their, or leave one in the drive, ready to watch when the in-flight movie leaves you flat. You get a large clear screen, and easy controls. One battery is more than enough for one movie.

    In the car, I have a 7" (widescreen - $200.00) LCD that is dash mounted, and I use a Sony Psyc headless portable player...these are selling now for $99.00.

    I looked at the portables with screens, but a nice one, with a large screen, decent controls and battery life sells for more than $500.00, and in some cases, more than $1000.00. For that kind of money, it's not a hard step to an iBook for around $1200.00, and you get the obvious benefits of an excellent laptop.

    Any of these will also play audio...most will also play VCD. If you travel far and wide, you'll want a player that is region free, so you can buy DVD's from various countries. Again, my iBook fills this requirement, but not without some minor tweaking.

    Before you spend too much, watch for portable MPEG players coming to an outlet near you.