portable player

Sony DVP-FX930/P 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Pink
$189.99
This is a great portable DVD player. The pink model was nice (it was cheaper than the other colors) and I like the fact that the battery covered the bottom of the player and did not stick out in the back.

The top of the machine was plastic, fairly light (in weight). The previous model was heavier and had a textured top that felt solid. The display screen does swivel 180 degrees, but doesn't hold very well at any other position in between 0-180.

The remote was bigger than most portables. It does not have a 'Power ON/OFF' button, although it has a dedicated Skip, and FFW. Also, the keys are not glow in the dark or lighted.

The touch screens worked, needing very little pressure to use them. The engine was quiet, except when initially loading a DVD.

The sound was very loud, the loudest I have heard on similar portables, esp. the Toshiba. Toshiba SDP93S 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, (Black with Silver Trim)

I was considering between those two models and I chose the Sony because it could play a variety of DVD formats. The Toshiba cannot play DVD R+ discs, so anything burned on a DVD recorder or camera won't play if using dvd +r. The Sony handles all of the formats. No Divx and not having an SD slot was not as important to me as disc compatibility.

Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
$189.99
My daughter is 2 and I've already bought two different DVD players for the car that have broken or worn out. They were cheaper, but I thought it was worth it to spend the money this time. This thing looks like it's going to last for the long haul...built well and the quality is wonderful. I like the long battery life--my old DVD player only lasted 30 minutes--not nearly long enough to entertain a toddler on a flight. We're glad we invested in this and will be able to use it for years to come.

Sony DVP-FX730 7-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
$129.99
This is a fairly good DVD player, but I am surprised that screen resolution of these devices, in general, is not better. We bought an 8-inch LG model about two years ago with better resolution. The LG still works perfectly, by the way, in spite of very hard use by two pre-school children. (LG models seem to no longer be available, unfortunately.)

This 7" Sony model has quite good sound quality, with good volume. The on/off switch is a little clumsy to use, but no big deal. And the "hold" button next to it can be accidentally switch on. Screen resolution may be better than average, but still not very good. Otherwise, this Sony DVD player seems to be quite high quality. We have had it about two months. At one point, it wouldn't play disks properly, but cleaning the lens fixed the problem.

Several people complain about the way the screen format defaults. I disagree. I think the device works just as it should. This Sony player's screen has "widescreen" proportions (16 x 9), like a modern HDTV. Therefore, when you are playing a typical widescreen DVD, there is no issue: The image fills the screen, and everything is in proportion. The issue is what to do when playing a DVD with "full screen" proportions (4 x 3), typical of an older movie or pre-HD TV show. This player keeps the image in proportion and leaves black bars at the sides. That is what I prefer. Some people prefer other options, usually stretching the full screen image out horizontally to fill the screen. I don't like the resulting distorted image but, if you do, you might want to skip this player. I believe that you can set the screen to that choice, but you will have to do it every time you insert a DVD, as it defaults to black bars.

GPX Portable CD Player with AM/FM Radio - White (BC118W)
$29.99
This CD player was cheap and did not work properly from the outset. It made all of our CDs skip. To return the item, I had to send a series of emails to the company and then ship it back using UPS. It cost $13 to ship back this horrible product which is half the cost of the product. I am very unhappy with the product and the retailer.