DVD Players???

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jttheclockman

jttheclockman

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I am looking for a portable DVD player.


Well this seems the place to come to for all ???? I have an itch to get a DVD player. I find at times I have some free time that seems wasted when I can be watching some tutorials on pen making or other things. My question is what to buy and why and where??? Have no idea what to even look for. I am not an electronics gadget guy.

Are all these things the same and if not what should I look for and what is a good brand??? Does the size of the screen matter. I would like to be able to view it confortably. These are players and not recorders or are they both???

Any suggestions.??? Thanks
 
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John:
For me, these products have become disposable, meaning that I can buy a portable DVD player with a nice screen for less than $50.

I would buy a product like this at Wal-Mart. With any manufacturer of these inexpensive products, you have pretty good odds of it lasting for a while, IF it operates when it comes new from the box. Wal-Mart has the best customer service and return policy.

Conversely, my experience with Best Buy is that when they sell me junk (usually at higher prices than Wal-Mart) they try to make it nearly impossible to get my money back.

I'd buy the cheapest one made. It will likely work for several years......outlasting the current technology making replacement necessary anyway.
 
If your computer has a DVD drive ( most all do now a days) you can watch the DVD's on what you already own. Other than that there is really just too many things to type out and too many to choose from to explain it all. If all you want to do is watch DVD's at home the screen will be your TV, if you meant you wanted a portable one, yes there are bigger and smaller screens available.
 
OOps I meant to say portable.

I have bought things from Best Buy so I am familar with their stupid rules of returning things but if that is the place to get a good one.
 
Really, you should take into consideration HOW you're gonna use it. If it's gonna see light use and not get moved around too much, any cheap portavle DVD player will do the job. If you're gonna use it a lot, and it gets handled quite a bit, spring for a nicer one and save yourself a lot of heartache. Best Buy's a good place to go for something like that. Brand name items are on a really level playing field with those things now, so it's really just which one you like upon inspection.
 
Drstrangefart said:
Really, you should take into consideration HOW you're gonna use it. If it's gonna see light use and not get moved around too much, any cheap portavle DVD player will do the job. If you're gonna use it a lot, and it gets handled quite a bit, spring for a nicer one and save yourself a lot of heartache. Best Buy's a good place to go for something like that. Brand name items are on a really level playing field with those things now, so it's really just which one you like upon inspection.
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What makes one better than the other is what I need to know so I don't get snowballed. I will be taking it on the road and on trips. Do these operate on batterys, ac, and also 12volt car batterys.???
 
jttheclockman said:
OOps I meant to say portable.

I have bought things from Best Buy so I am familar with their stupid rules of returning things but if that is the place to get a good one.
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Wal-Mart sells them, they will return it if it has issues with very little problem especially if you toss the receipt in the box and hang on to both, just in case.
 
jttheclockman said:
Drstrangefart said:
Really, you should take into consideration HOW you're gonna use it. If it's gonna see light use and not get moved around too much, any cheap portavle DVD player will do the job. If you're gonna use it a lot, and it gets handled quite a bit, spring for a nicer one and save yourself a lot of heartache. Best Buy's a good place to go for something like that. Brand name items are on a really level playing field with those things now, so it's really just which one you like upon inspection.
Click to expand...


What makes one better than the other is what I need to know so I don't get snowballed. I will be taking it on the road and on trips. Do these operate on batterys, ac, and also 12volt car batterys.???
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Most of them do operate on standard A/C, and have batteries and car adapters. The botom of the barrel cheap ones seem to have the OPTION for car adapters and the like, but do not include them. Read the back of the box thoroughly to make sure all of that is actually in there. Really, beyond the accessories and styling of the case, most name brand portable DVD players aren't any better or worse than other name brand portable DVD players in my experience. Consumer Reports may be able to offer up more specific info.
 
John, have you considered an inexpensive notebook computer? Very portable, has DVD and you can do so much more with it.
 
Most of the optical and electronic components all come from the same factory, regardless of the name brand on the unit. One of the very few exceptions here is Sony, who at last inquiry still produced their own components
 
Padre said:
John, have you considered an inexpensive notebook computer? Very portable, has DVD and you can do so much more with it.
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No not really. I am sure they are way more expensive. Just looking for something to play dvds. I have a few woodworking dvds that will require some studying and I need to be able to do this in any spare time I can get.

I think I will be making a trip to Wallyworld. The thing I am thinking though it is after Christmas and what kind of junk is left or brought back?? Will have to see.
 
John,
I have owned a few, all of them seem to work well. The cheaper ones did not have the durability that the better ones did. I transport them a lot and use them in a car and a plane, so I am hard on them. One of the most significant things to look for is long battery life. If they are rated for two hours, that barely gets you through a movie and as you know there are many movies that are 3 hours. There is little more frustrating than not getting to see the end of a movie that you have invested 2 hours. I now have gone to a laptop and have an 8 hour battery, but this makes for a very expensive DVD viewer. It does however show blu-rays, I have never had a blu-ray portable before.

A friend recently bought a dvd player and got an extra battery on line. I have tried that in the past and not had any luck trying to find the battery. He only bought the unit that he researched and knew he could get a battery for, but the batteries are 40 to 60 dollars though. I can not remember a unit I have had that did not come with adapters for cig lighters and ac, but I am sure that is a something to look into. I have seen them not work well off of the ac adapter...in fact I burned one up one time trying to watch and charge at the same time. Now, it was an ac outlet on a plane and I had question as to whether it was the right voltage, but I have never tried that since.

I have never seen a unit that records, though I did have a unit once that would allow a camera memory card to be viewed. I usually get 9" or so, I am happy with that size. Andy is right (as usual) I had a unit once that was some sam's unknown brand then my wife got a Polariod brand that was exactly the same, even down to the fonts on the instructions.

Good luck----
 
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I have a Sony that was given to me as a present. It works great and I use it to watch videos when learning something new in my shop. Appears to be a tough little machine.
 
nava1uni said:
I have a Sony that was given to me as a present. It works great and I use it to watch videos when learning something new in my shop. Appears to be a tough little machine.
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Cindy

Do you have a model number??? I have Sony TVS and they are the best.
 
One other thing to consider is the sound quality and volume. Some of these really small players have tiny speakers and a tinny sound quality. It would drive me nuts to try and listen to instructional DVDs with sound quality that makes it impossible to understand. Some of the shop DVDs I have watched do not have the best sound quality anyway, as they were recorded in the shop and not a sound studio. If you don't mind wearing headphones while watching, that would mitigate this problem. Otherwise, I would ask a store clerk to allow you to listen to the display models first.

Just thinking that a set of external computer speakers would enhance the sound too, but now you're starting to lose the ease of portability.

Personally, I would look for an older used laptop, because it would give you so much more than merely a DVD player. Something to ponder.
 
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