Portable-TV Reviews

I received this TV as a gift, and I was impressed by its small, rounded, easily-held-in-the-hand design. This portable has some good features, including the neck strap antenna, an easy to use tuning system, and good reception even of UHF stations. However, the most important feature of any television is the picture, and this model simply is not the best available tiny TV in this most important respect. The image is dimi and low in contrast, and is nearly impossible to see in bright light. Some of the newer Casio models I have seen have a brighter, sharper, more contrasty image, and consequently are preferable to this Sony product.

The screen has to be at the correct angle to maximize the
view but it is an amazing little TV. I've had mine for about 2 years, It's dependable.

This amazing 2" TV from Sony boasts the typical high quality acurate color picture Sony Watchman owners are used to in a free standing design that is a relief to those of us who usually have to hold a miniature TV in order to watch it. Sony's Straptenna is a unique neck strap and antenna combination that eliminates the need for a rod type aerial. On this particular set, the strap is too long and stiff to fold out of the way when using the set on a desk or table. A rod antenna would have been a better choice. The power switch and band selector is located on the bottom front of the set which means it must be picked up to change from VHF to UHF. The switch would be better moved to the side or top of the case. The up and down channel selector buttons are conveniently located although feel a bit flimsy. This is not characteristic of Sony.

The picture is bright and clear with very acurate color. The sound is a bit lacking in volume through the built in speaker which is true of most Watchman sets although through headphones it is almost high fidelity. The unique shape makes this an excelent bedside table or desktop television. This cabinet shape however makes it dificult to carry in a pocket unlike many of the flatter case styles offered by RCA and Casio.

With a rethinking of the controls and a rod antenna and wrist strap in place of the neck strap-antenna combination, this would be the perfect little portable.

Checked this out as thought it would work well in home as well as car and the price was right. This product probably has the worst picture I have seen in a Lcd. Could not see a good picture at any angle, if you went one degree one way or the other, it would get blurry. Took it back after 2 minutes of use. I do give it two stars for fair value and decent audio.

Purchased this unit almost a year ago to hang on the wall in front of a treadmill. Has worked out great! The size is just right. Easily mounts to a wall or can be easily removed to sit on a counter. The sound quality is pretty good for a smaller unit. The DVD/TV quality is good, however if you are not viewing from directly in front of the screen, the picture will fade or blur. Overall, I am very pleased with the unit. I would highly recommend one of these for use with a treadmill, exercise bike or eliptical machine.

Purchased this compact TV/DVD/RADIO Player. I am very happy in general with it. It was purchased for my kitchen. It has great sound and the picture is clear-the screen is a bit small but thats o.k. However if I move around -from the side view it is not as clear as I would have liked but the picture is still visible.So over all I am quite pleased.

I have never owned a portable television, but I convinced myself I needed one because I had to work on New Year's Eve, and I really wanted to see the all the New Year's celebrations. I figured I would only use this thing once and it would join the ranks of the other forgotten electronics. Well I was pleasantly surprised when I took it out the box and actually used it. The reception was pretty good for being in a skyscraper. The sound was good. Plus it has a radio, which is cool. I think I'll be using this more than I thought, it may just take up a permanent place at my desk, and I won't be forced to tape General Hospital anymore, I can watch it at work.

I bought this TV on a whim and it has come in so handy. We've used it in bed when sick, on a train, in the kitchen, and so on. Lately we've been using it more than our "real TV". Light and easy to use. TV tuning can get a ever so dicey every once in a while, but it is really not a problem.

Sometimes one can only wonder what the engineers at these consumer products companies are thinking when they design and test these things. Finding a quality portable CD player with tuner these days is like trying to find a quality digital alarm clock radio. Neither exists because they are frequently made by the same company. Another mystery solved...

Pros:

- Yes, it has a radio tuner!!!

- Lightweight because it can only take one battery, but battery life is therefore half of last year's Sony models.

- Plays MP3 files more reliably, even @ 320kbps

- Atrac3plus specs have been improved to 256kbps to improve audio quality

- The included OpenMG SonicStage software is a huge improvement over last year's buggy and very limited SonicStage Simple Burner software that was included with the D-NE710. Now you can record your CD collection to your hard drive for later listening and transfer to Atrac3/MP3 CD's as needed. It appears that Sony made some nice changes to the burning software based on customer feedback. Thank goodness!

- The Seamless playback feature eliminates the annoying one second gap between tracks on an Atrac CD. Yay!

- Parametric equalizer is nice for a portable

- Can charge rechargeable battery in unit

Cons:

- Radio reception is terrible compared to just about any other portable radio. I have no such problem in the same location when using a cheap five year old Sony cassette walkman with tuner. Perhaps this is due to the D-NF600 having only one AA battery instead of two to have enough power to pull in a signal. FM/TV signal reception is poor for all but the closest local stations no matter how you contort the headphone cord, and no, this is not with the Local setting turned on. AM reception is satisfactory only when the unit is horizontal; when held vertical, such as is the obvious case when the unit is on one's hip at the gym, the orientation of the internal ferrite bar antenna is totally inadequate to pull in a signal for all but the strongest local stations, and susceptibility to nearby interference is extreme. WB reception is not even worth trying. Reception quality defeats the purpose for having a CD player with built in tuner. Why would a new model tuner be designed and built to be worse than previously proven technology?

- During audio CD playback, *SNAP*, *CRACKLE*, AND *POP* make their introduction at about 30 seconds into the first track and about every 15 seconds thereafter. It's subtle but annoying, particularly if you're listening to quiet classical or new age music in a quiet environment. If you're listening to loud heavy metal or thumpy poppy songs and/or you're in a noisy environment, it won't be much of an issue since the volume of the music will drown out the audio artifact that happens every 15 seconds. Playing a test CD track with 0 DB output displays no audio artifacts, so there is a presumption that the silly cackle during regular music playback is due to a flawed design with the anti-skip protection circuitry, which unlike CD player models from years ago, cannot be turned off for your inconvenience. I would have gladly given up other nice bells and whistles on this unit in exchange for consistent quality sound, but that still seems to be asking for far too much in this "modern" era of consumer product hell. At least the D-NF600 doesn't chirp with this audio glitch bug like last year's dreadfully birdy D-NS921F did, but the problem still hasn't been successfully addressed by the Sony engineers. If it was just the drive motor spinning up and down, that would be more obvious with the 0 DB test playback, and trying different CD's with the same results rules out any disc surface defects such as scratches, dust, or fingerprints. If only one could turn OFF that awful anti-skip junk feature!!!
(It really begs the question why last year's excellent D-NE710 with no tuner does not have any obvious regular audio artifacting like the tuner models. If only one could have the CD audio quality of the D-NE710, but with a built-in AM/FM/TV/WB tuner!!! Sony, are you LISTENING??? Please???)

- The AC adaptor is not included in the package. The printed paper manual supplied accessories list states in regard to this fact: "Not supplied with the USA model". Who did we tick off at Sony this time to deserve this? Furthermore, AC adaptor model # AC-E30HG is not listed at the Sony Style website, so you have to call the Sony parts 800 number to order it.

- Using a rechargeable battery with the AC Adaptor (not included in the package - was this already mentioned?) is practically a requirement, since removing the AA battery from the battery compartment results in an immediate loss of all stored memory (e.g. all radio station presets, default annoying button beep deactivator setting, silly red/green/orange light deactivator setting, equalizer sound configuration, etc.).

- The included remote is a downright weird departure from last year's remote model, which could only be ordered separately from the Sony parts 800 number for $42, but at least it had an alligator clip that could easily attach to clothing, case, etc., and stay relatively put. The keyring-type remote included is dubiously useful for working out at the gym, unless you've been looking for a material justification to yourself or your significant other for finally getting some trendy body jewelry to hold on to this silly remote. Still, thinking of the Sony engineering interns who must have installed nipple rings to test the usefulness of this aspect of the product is potentially disturbing, if only on the basis that they could have better put their time into ensuring that the CD player had consistently clean sound output and not a hidden gnome inside crumpling up the latest audio quality test reports.

- The included carry "case" is nothing more than a plastic spider web snap-on that allows you to thread your own belt or luggage strap through it to wear around your hips. At only 6.7 ounces, a sturdy belt clip would have been a whole lot more useful. By the way, if you lose or break that plastic snappy thingy, it's $15 to replace direct from Sony.

- Parametric equalizer only works on CD playback, not on the tuner. Ummm, why???

- The flimsy plastic lid does not inspire confidence for longterm durability, especially using the odd snug fitting plastic web snappy.

So, Sony still has to work on resolving some hassles on this unit. After three weeks of striving to put up with the significant downsides, it got returned. Let's hope next year's model is hugely improved!

A great sounding unit, I was surprised. The volume is louder than I expected. There are 5 selections for equalizer: normal, soft (has less highs and lows), active (more lows and highs), heavy (even more lows and highs). I have not turned on the anti-skip feature, since it hasn't ever skipped and that feature uses more battery life. Turned off the LED. The front panel controls are great. The remote can be added between the headphones and the unit, or left off, your choice (just what I wanted). The FM receives fine. AM didn't try much. TV has channels 2-13 (VHF, UHF). Weather, I don't think the local weather here uses that band, none showed up. There is a shell clip that covers the unit for attaching it to your belt. I instead have the Sony belt and CD holder which is well padded in case it falls or I bump into something. I've used $160 headphones, this unit is not that level of sound quality, but it is equivalent to $200 PC speakers with subwoofers in the typical room, good bass, good treble. I was suprised to find that it uses only 1 AA battery and gets 30 to 40 hours of play time with MP3's, amazing. As for the anti-skip, it never skipped while riding 10 miles a day and lifting weights without the antiskip on. The CD played has MP3's, 320Kb/sec recorded without any track ID tag stuff, and it read them in fine. There are a LOT of options in the main menu for how you want the songs played. I set it for repeating, and shuffle. The headphones are light, fit well and are comfortable. The jack for them is a standard 1/8" stereo plug. There is also a 3v power input if you want to run the unit on a desktop long term, or in a car with an adapter. The long play time on one AA battery and great sound with relatively low price, no fuss with standard MP3 recorded CD's, and both remote and controls on the unit, makes this one nice. Enjoy.

Pros:
1. Long battery life.
2. Decent sount (on CD's).
3. Easy to read display.

Cons:
1. Plays first quarter of an MP3 fine, then it starts scratching and eventually stops.
2. Plays first tenth of an ATRAC disk fine, then it starts scratching and eventually stops.
3. Takes about 5 - 10 minutes (not seconds!) to read a MP3 disc before playing.
4. Button placement makes it easier to use with your left hand rather than right.
5. You have to press a button rather hard and long to make the function work.

In other words, if you listen to the radio and CD's only - and are left handed, this is the perfect player for you!

This player takes CDs, including CD-Rs and CD-RWs with 20+ hours of mp3 on them, in stride. It plays them through, and does fast forward and rewind about as well as my solid-state mp3 player. Utilizing CD-RWs, I use this unit instead of a juke box. I still use my solid-state mp3 player only because it is more compact than this unit. As I prefer having TV audio available, no other player/receiver would have entirely satisfied me. The impressive technical accomplishment of this product will cause me to favor Sony products in future.

The exterior design does leave things to be desired. The control buttons are cheesy and hard to operate. The display is too small. Instead of a carrying case or an anchor for a strap, there is a stupidly designed protruding flexible handle that makes the unit twice as bulky as it needs to be.

We were anxiously awaiting our Action ACN-5510 5". The product appeared to be intact without damage when it arrived. When we connected the screen the picture was not visible. We are returning the item. We should be reimbursed for the cost of return shipping. From now on I'll stick to books on line. I'll get the rest of my stuff from Circuit City.

I got the otherlcd screen from sony which is better because this one is weird looking it is bigger than the other one and it sound system [stinks] it doesn't even get that loud but its an lcd screen so whatever you want.

I purchased this item for my son and he loved it. We all know

how hard it is to please a teenager now a day.

We were anxiously awaiting our Action ACN-5510 5". The product appeared to be intact without damage when it arrived. When we connected the screen the picture was not visible. We are returning the item. We should be reimbursed for the cost of return shipping. From now on I'll stick to books on line. I'll get the rest of my stuff from Circuit City.

I got the otherlcd screen from sony which is better because this one is weird looking it is bigger than the other one and it sound system [stinks] it doesn't even get that loud but its an lcd screen so whatever you want.

I purchased this item for my son and he loved it. We all know

how hard it is to please a teenager now a day.

I bought this product for my boyfriend, thinking it was a great deal! I returned one I had bought at a local electronics store because I swore that this one had a 2.5 screen. When I got it the screen was miniscule and the damn thing doesn't hardly get a signal. I was furious, when my boyfriend on Christmas morning turned it on only to get pure STATIC. It's very tempremental, and it doesn't work inside the house or inside the car, (exactly what I bought it for). If your looking to buy a TV that you will only be using outside, this is the one for you.

The picture is very clear and sharp once you get a signal; thats about the only good thing that I can say about this product. It will not pick up inside of houses and cars and if you live in a rural area it won't even pick up outside. The accessory jacks are inconvient and it slides off of weak channels. It eats batterys too. At least I caught it on sale and didn't have too pay much for it.

This is a great hand heald TV. It has great quality and great reseption!! I strongly recomend this prduct!!

I bought this portable tv.... I loved having it on my kitchen counter so I could tune in to my favorite programs. However it ceased to work a year and a half after I purchased it. I am very upset about. I am currently trying to find another that is reasonably priced.

Cool color I love it! This tv shopping is fun. You know it takes money for what you want but for me it's a gift I am free for using.

i recently bought this tv because i am redecorating my room and i saw it in a catalauge. i knew i could get it cheaper on amazon,com. i have a 20 inch tv in my room, but i wanted this one to place on my nightstand simply for decorational purposes. but i find myself using it while taking a bath, because it is fully portable, and our electricity went out, and it was perfect! i have to say that i am not surprised in the quality f this product because i own many GPX electronics and that is simply a wonderful company