Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Buy Low Price From Here Now
The large 8.5" widescreen display pivots for free-style viewing so you can adjust the position for optimum comfort and image quality. You can also adjust the screen brightness to get the best view of your DVDs in all kinds of light conditions. You get beautiful images while watching movies on a dimly lit airplane, or when you're relaxing in the sun at a resort or other outdoor spot. When you're in the mood for a movie, this versatile player can play back many different types of prerecorded DVDs, including DVD-RAM/-R/-RW and DVD+R/+RW discs. If you want to give your eyes a rest and listen to some tunes instead, this portable DVD player handles lots of the most popular audio formats around, including CDs, MP3s, CD-R/RW discs and WMA files. The DVD-LS86 comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that gives you a full 13 hours of playback without having to worry about running out of power on long trips. That's long enough to watch up to six DVD movies on a single charge while flying from New York to L.A. and back, so leave the AC adaptor at home and forget about recharging at your hotel. Multi-Format Playback (Playable Disc Type) - DVD, DVD-RAM, DVD-R/-RW, DVD-R(DL), +R/+R(DL)/+RW, CD, CD-R/RW DVD-RAM Video Playback Capability - DVD-VR, MP3, JPEG, MPEG4, DivX DVD-R/-RW Playback Capability - DVD-Video, DVD-VR, MP3, JPEG, MPEG4, DivX DVD-R (DL) Playback - DVD-Video, DVD-VR +R/ +R (DL)/ +RW Playback - Video CD, CD-R/RW Playback - CD-DA, Video CD, SVCD, HighMAT (Level 2), WMA, MP3, JPEG, MPEG4, DivX Dual Headphone Jacks AV Input Approximate Unit Dimensions - 2.03 (H) x 9.56 (W) x 7.06 (D) Approximate Unit Weight - 2.48 pounds
Readmore
Technical Details
- Free Style Viewing with 8.5" Diagonal Widescreen LCD Display- Multi Format playback: DVD, DivX, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, JPEG, MPEG4
- Up to 13 Hour Playback Time with Included Rechargeable Battery
- Car DC Adapter Included
- 2 Headphone Terminals
See more technical details
By JL (Washington, not the DC)
I picked this up after briefly reviewing the competition's specs. When you are shopping for a portable DVD player, the features you essentially want to pay attention to are screen size, picture quality, and battery life. If you are burning your own DVDs or playing certain styles of downloaded content you'll also want to pay attention to the format capabilities.
I finally decided on this device because it advertised 13 hour battery life and I was flying to Europe (a 9 hour flight from WA State). I was also going to be tossing it in a backpack and going. The folding design seemed like a logical choice to protect the screen with the applicable rough use.
Here's what I found, hope it helps you make an informed decision!
Pros:
- Design is elegant and fairly durable.
- Sound quality was surprisingly great.
- Controls were pretty intuitive.
- A/V cable was included accessory.
- Saves your place and starts up right from where you left off.
Cons:
- Though I didn't expect the full 13hrs battery life, it's more like 5-6 with a reasonable backlight level. Less without headphones.
- Picture quality is not comparable to competing devices like Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black.
- The buttons are awkwardly placed and easy to accidentally press when lifting or resituating the device.
Preference:
- I don't really think a remote is necessary for this style of electronic but some may find the lack of remote a drawback.
- The folding design can be a bit bulky for coach seating on a plane. It would have been nice if the screen could flip all the way over into a tablet design like this device does: Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
About Traveling with Portable DVD Players:
If you are traveling internationally and plan on buying DVDs when you arrive instead of bringing them with you... you'll want to remember that this device only plays Region 1 DVDs. DVDs from Europe are Region 2. Mexico, Central and South America, Australia and New Zeland are Region 4. Russia, much of Asia, and South Africa are region 5. In all, this means that you can only play DVDs from the region you buy the device from. There are some ways around this to my understanding but as a matter of convenience you may just want to purchase a player from the region you'll use content from. You can find more about DVD regions at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=3193231
Looking back on this purchase, I'll probably opt for my iPhone/iPod or one of the following devices in the future...
Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
Sony DVP-FX930 9-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
And Panasonic also offers a portable Blu Ray Disc Player for those of you who have gone Blu. Battery life is a bit limited and to be honest when I saw it I was thinking that Blu Ray wasn't really meant for a screen this small. That being said, it works in a pinch if your library is now primarily BRD...
Panasonic DMP-B15 Portable Bluray Player
This review was made August 2009 so check for newer options if you're reading this in the future =).
Hope this helps!
By C. V. Atencio (New York, NY)
The picture quality is better in say, my husband's iphone. Titles look very obviously made of little squares; they don't look smooth. Otherwise this machine works very well. The sound is VERY clear (that really matters to me as I want to use this for didactic DVDs etc) but the volume only goes so far; I need the headphones to cross out the noise from outside.
The unit is compact and attractive. It looks sturdy. Let's see how it lasts.
By F. G. Gates (Chandler, AZ USA)
We bought one of these for our 7 year old daughter to keep her entertained on trips. For that it has been great and kept her happy all over the US and Europe. It is even much more tolerant of dirty young fingers than several other portable DVD players we've owned.
But, after 10 months the wall power supply died and we are now unable to charge the unit. After literally hours on the phone with Panasonic I fought my way through to someone who read from a prepared statement declaring that the 12 month parts warranty relates ONLY to the DVD player and not to the accessories, including the power supply. This has completely alienated me since (a) the power supply is a separate but essential component of the system advertized as having a 12 month warranty and sold as a 'bundle' in the original packaging; (b) the warranty verbiage itself only excludes the batteries (to 10 days) and makes no such qualification about accessories, even if we accept that an essential component supplied with the DVD player is an accessory.
So, despite being a great little product I am reluctant to recommend the unit to other consumers lest they suffer the same fate as I and be stuck with either an unusable DVD player or a $58+shipping charge for the replacement power supply, which has a proprietary connector not available on after-market adaptors sold in say Radio Shack.
By ponto (Carlsbad, CA USA)
I bought this unit's previous model sometime in 2007 and it was my favorite gadget. Even though I had a video ipod and laptop to play movies when I traveled, I still carried this single purpose device. It also became an important tool for my distant MBA program where DVDs were delivered weekly.
A few weeks ago I put my old one on the ironing board, it fell and broke. Made me sick to see it die like that. I can't believe how long it lasted as it was.
The previous model was better in ways that matter to me when I watch a movie: the screen was more clear, the audio was better, and the battery life was long.
Screen clarity is not an option when you partially use the DVD player to read powerpoint slides. Watching slides is painful enough but this new model is so grainy compared to the previous model.
This one is a tad lighter, but that is due to the smaller battery. I did save my old battery that lasts longer because it is interchangeable with the new model.
I paid twice as much for the higher quality old model and would pay three times as much to get the old model back. I don't know how this compares to other current DVD players so this review is aimed at owners of previous models who might think this version is just as delightful as the last.
The old one spoiled me rotten and I'm off to ebay to find one.
One thing I wish this or other DVD players had is a the ability to watch in faster mode where *you can actually understand* what is being said in fast motion. We have that for our MBA streaming videos where we can watch the professors at every interval between .4 and 2.0 in increments of .2 where 1.0 is normal, 1.2 is slightly faster .8 is slowed down. This is something the old model didn't have but the technology exists so just saying to Panasonic...please incorporate this.
I was starting to not watch my classes on the old DVD player anymore because I could get through the classes in half the time if I watched it online using the accelerator. I can't really understand the audio on this machine in fast mode.
I don't want to spoil the enthusiasm for this product but this new one seems like Panasonic said to the engineers...see what you can do to reduce the cost of this unit. The problem is, they took out the cost but removed the quality on the most important this: visual clarity and audio quality. That's all you do with a movie is watch and listen.
By Chris C. (Atlanta, GA, USA)
I use one of these on an exercise machine to keep up with documentaries. For the past year I've been using a Sony DVP FX-820, but it would skip if A) I was playing content "late" in the disc (outer edge) or B) the exercise machine was vibrating more than usual. This really was a pain so I started looking for a player that had an anti-skip buffer like you find in most CD players. This was the only model that I could find that had it!
Further, this player offers lots of zoom options, including some that maintain the original aspect ratio (i.e. don't distort the image). Most players offer just one nearly useless stretch mode, if they offer any zoom at all!
This review applies to the LS-83 too -- the only difference between the 83 and 86 is the battery life, which I don't really care about.
Images Product
Buy Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player Now
Post a Comment