DVD-Player Reviews

First, it should be noted that I have not owned any DVD player before purchasing this product, so this review cannot be of such depth one can expect from an exprienced owner: however, I can detest that, since I own four computers -two of them laptops, am an engineer, and am a gadget freak, I think my review may be of some help for all the people browsing the web for their next 'big' thing. Well, here is a 'small' thing that really deserves your attention.

Having seen a friend own a Sharp DV-L70U, a two year old model DVD portable player with a 7 inch screen, I changed my mind from looking for cheap, regular DVD player that would sit like a duck under or top of a TV, eating dust, to looking for a portable player.

At first, the Sharp brand stood out from the pack due to reasonable price compared to others, its wonderfully crisp, 16:9 8 inch cinematic screen and dolby sound that can deliver dolby 5.1 surround when hooked upto an appropriate sound system.
Oh well, enough of the specs and all that you can probably read over the net. I will tell you what I felt about this product.

First, the size: it is light and thin, even with the detachable Ni-Cd battery that lasts 3.5 hours. I think this is thinner and a lot lighter than a lot of books that I carry around. I applaud the Sharp engineers in reducing the weight to such an unbelievable level.
Second, the screen: 8 inch really makes a difference in your point of view. All the movies I saw with the player never looked so better in wide screen.
Third, the portability: you can take this ANYWHERE you want-see a movie while you eat, on your bed besides you, even inside a restroom-not a likely place, though. Most of all, this compactness will likely shine when you are on the move. I can easily agree to people who will envy you and your player during long and tedious plane trips.
Last, value: currently, you can find great prices for Sharp portable DVD players including this model, and frankly, considering that you can easily hook this up to any modern TV/ VCR to play wonderfully high-quality motion and sound is worth the price difference than your sad, dust eating immobile DVD players.

There are few drawbacks-this player, I suspect that like others, skipped some scenes of DVD movies that I rented; probably due to scratched surfaces. Also, I'd like to see some visual aid when I play a audio CD on the player-the screen is just blank when you play one. Last, the concealed speakers of the player does not do justice-it's output dB is meager at best: of course, the compactness of the size limits its amplificating abilities, like all the other portables. Also, adding a fabric case for the player could have helped me from trying to find a way from possible scratch. Nevertheless, this is offsetted by the fact that they give you some good accessories, notably plenty of A/V connectors.
The remote is pretty good, in contrast to some people's complaints that they are big. Big? Give me a break. How do you operate your 'big' TV remote? This is small- less than a credit car size but a bit more thicker- and well designed, and I had not many problems using it.

So far, I have played 'Shine','Apocalypse Now,' and 'Driven', with the DV-L80U and I must say, I was surprised that I have enjoyed them all! Also, when hooked to my plain TV, the screen never looked better with a small portable DVD delievering such a high quality input of sound and motion into it. And even with the player itself, I was able to appreciate 'Apocalyse Now' to the full with its 8inch screen, with a few drops of tears for 'Shine'.

All in all, I enjoy this player, and without hesitation, I give a five star: never mind about lack of some progressive scan abilities-even if you own a HDTV, do you get HD programs? Note that progams for HDTV will not be made in full force until 2005. Sure, wait if you want. Such as it is, this DVD player is strongly recommended for your evaluation if you are considering purchase of ANY type of DVD player, be it portable or not.
Check it out.
Now please excuse me as I am off to buy some DVDs...

This is the brand new Sharp 8 inch Portable DVD Player screen. I found it to be very impressive, and an excellent, addictive piece of electronic. Where do I begin? The 8 inch screen offers very impressive, excellent resolution (just as good as previous models), and I found no dead pixels at all. Unlike the other 8 inch models, this one shows no sharp edges, and for the size of the screen the pixels are much smaller and fill it up greatly. Since it's widescreen and anamorphically enhanced you can enjoy all your DVD's like they were meant to be seen (full screen DVD's have black bars on the sides).

The sound quality of this Sharp DVD Player is good. I have tested out the previous 7" inch player and this one, and the sound seems to be the same. It is, however DTS-compatable, and upon hooking it up with the 5.1 system DTS enhanced, the sound boomed out through the speakers, and it was just as good as table-top DVD players which are DTS-Compatable.

The Sharp Player is very Portable, much like other Portable DVD Players. The player is not too heavy, but not as light as Panasonic products. Attached to the battery, this player is about the size of three DVD cases on top of each other. On topic, the battery lasts about 4 hours long per charge. While on an airplane trip, I was able to watch "Gladiator," and "Fargo." which was excellent for the long ride. No airplane/car adapter has been made for this as of yet, and an extra battery is rather expensive at about 300+ dollars.

This is a must-buy for fans of the genre. I recommend it to anybody who has the money, and needs a DVD player. This one can stand alone as a Portable DVD Player where you can take on trips, or you can hook it up to your TV at home for a table-top DVD Player. The only downside is that you may be buying too many DVD's for the player because it's so addicting to watch on this beautiful machine. A + player, enjoy.

I use one of these with a Toshiba Theatrewide progressive scan TV, and it is awesome! The progressive scan picture out of this is just stunning. Of course, garbage in/garbage out, so make sure you don't base your opinion on poorly mastered DVDs (like my extensive collection of schlock horror).

I use the digital outputs on this for sound, so I can't say much about the audio performance of the built in D/A's, although I know they used high quality parts and it is one of the selling points. The video output is always good, and the colors look great. I have never seen any sound synch problems with this unit (I have seen them several times on other players).

I don't care much for the jog dial on the remote. It never seems to work quite the way I want it and I end up going too slow or skipping past where I wanted to go. I think it is just a feature that is sensitive to the player receiving the IR commands exactly. Other than that, it is a nice remote. It can light the buttons and has all the controls you would want.

Overall, I don't think you could do much better. I highly recommend this product.

Everything written about this player thus far is absolutely true (Home Theater Magazine Feb 2000). Even the comments here by Amazon are right on the mark! I have this player hooked to Toshiba's flagship HDTV 65X81 projection display w/ Tributaries Cables via their ColorStream Pro HD Componant Inputs and the results are simply breaktaking. When using a reference grade DVD the quality is as good as I've seen (and I researched every brand HDTV and high-end player) before settling on Toshiba. They continue to dominate this new digital technology. One word of caution with progressive scan players-make sure if you have a non-Toshiba display you check the player's compatibilty with your brand. There can be some incompatabilty with the internal line doublers and aspect ratios (as the Home Theater mag article points out). Just as DVD and HDTV technology are here to stay-it seems progressive scan is a very viable way to go way to go-especially if you want the best avaiable quality and cannot afford a $15,000 Faroudja line doubler. Trust me-you will not be dissapointed!

I just recently started thinking about getting a DVD/VCR and a home theater system. Of course I turned to Amazon.com first.My favorite place to shop online. I found just what I was looking for in the price range I wanted to spend.
I have had the system for one week now and am very pleased. I am in the 'over 50 club' and just wanted quality sound when listening to CD's, DVD's and Video's. This fits the bill.
I have seen various comments about setup time and setup being a challange. I'm new to all of this but it was not difficult at all.
I especially like how you can adjust each speaker for db's and for distance. It is also very clear how you are to best arrange them physically for the best sound. It takes a while to get used to the remotes if you are not real familiar with their use, but by the end of the second day of use - I had it down pretty well.
In the price range I doubt you could find a better deal.

Just bought this system. Sound quality is great, almost comparable with Sony but a lot less expensive. When I first used the unit, I thought the sound was not as loud as I was expecting (I was expecting it to cause my whole room to vibrate), but learned from the manual that you can add 6dB more per speaker. When I did that, it was awesome, though I might not be able to always set it to maximum since I live in apartment.

I tested FM/AM Radios, DVD, VCR. All work great. The only thing I wish Zenith could have changed is the remote. It's not universal so I need to have the remote of my TV too to watch movie.

My main concerns with the purchase of this DVD were picture quality, and sound. I am very pleased with both. I used an S-Cable for the video hook-up and standard Audio/Video cables for sound. I have the DVD attached to an AIWA AV-NW31 Home Theatre system. I suspect that sound quality relates to the compatability of components from the same manufacturer. The video however, is all on its own. No picture jitters or occasional distortions. I used Hogwarts at night for my evaluation. It was crisp and bright. The box itself is very clean with small button configurations that work well. The remote is small and for me, easy to lose. The Home Theatre remote however,works both and is larger.It was a great purchase.

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The marchine has very nice screen resolution,<br /> I really like the design! Speakers volume is high!

I was having a hard time finding a cheap portable DVD player that was at least 7". I spent a lot of time online looking at reviews, so I knew which models and brands to steer clear from. I hadn't really read any reviews for Audiovox and some of the ones I did read were good. I wanted a really good brand name like Panasonic, Toshiba, Samsung, or Sony, but you can't get something cheap from those companies. I was hesitant to get an Audiovox but luckily the store had it on display and I could watch whatever DVD they had in there. It was promo's for the store and such. I was impressed by the video quality of this for such a good price and hands down decided to get it after I cranked up the sound all the way. I cranked up the Samsung 10" DVD player next to it, nearly twice the price of this, and what suprised me is this outpowered it. The screen is big enough at 8" and the picture is clear. It was on sale for 250$ and it was a no brainer, and the Samsung I was wanting was 400$. I took it home and watched a couple of DVD's and loved the sound and picture quality. I haven't had it for very long and hopefully this DVD player will last. There are some great features that are listed, and the battery life is Okay at 3 hours. So if you are on a budget and want a good DVD player that can be used while traveling, and to be used as a DVD player to hook up to your TV, this is a great purchase for your money.

This little system is awesome. Beautiful uninterrupted or messed up pic on screen even when hitting major bumps. Color is EXCELLENT. Easy to set up and to take with you. Love it.

i like it because it has two phone jacks. it has bright screen and easy to use controllers.

I bought this at an airport kiosk after my kids and I got tired of straining to hear our DVDs and other portable electronic devices over the engine roar. Just 2 AAs needed (which last a long time), 3 people can plug into it at once. Fits in your pocket easily. Very nice little gadget.