Make road trips a little more bearable
Lineup of DVD players packs kid-pleasing entertainment features into a portable package
With Memorial Day already gone, the summer travel season is upon us. What better time to take a look at portable DVD players for those long road trips?
These gadgets can make the difference between a family trip that is enjoyable - or at least tolerable - and one that becomes a debilitating endurance test. It's no wonder, then, that US consumers bought 5.8 million portable DVD players last year - about a quarter of all DVD unit sales, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.
"For anybody who travels with kids, it's an essential item," says Shawn Dubravac, an economist with CEA, an industry group in Arlington, Va.
The Globe tested five portable DVD players - ranging in price from $80 to $210 - using them to view discs at home and in the car. All were single-screen versions (some brands offer two-screen sets, so two passengers in rear seats can easily watch at the same time), and all included rechargeable battery packs, automobile power adaptors, and plug-in power cords - making them suitable for use on the road, in the air, or at home. Only the Coby TF DVD7377 model came with headphones.
In general, all the players, regardless of price, offered good, basic functionality: If you simply want to watch a movie or listen to a CD, you can buy a perfectly adequate model for $100 or even less.
Many models offer screens that swivel and fold down, making them compact and allowing more flexibility for viewing (such as, tucking it into a harness and suspending it on the back of a car seat). More money gets you a bigger screen size, a sharper picture, and longer battery life - important for airplane travel, when automobile power adaptors that plug into the lighter jack are of no use.
It's also important to note that models advertising battery-powered play time of five hours or more typically achieve those maximums only if users take power-saving steps, like reducing the brightness on the LCD screen.
Higher-priced models also can include bells and whistles that you may - or may not - want or need. So it's important to think about how you'll use the unit and what type of discs and formats you'll want to play.
Will you use it mostly for automobile travel or in-flight entertainment? If two people will want to watch it at the same time, you'll probably want a model with dual headphone jacks. Do you want to do more than just watch movies?
Consider, for example, a model that plays MP3 music files as well as audio CDs. Dubravac, the CEA economist, says he likes models with the capability to display JPEG photo files because showing his kids pictures of themselves is a fun diversion.
Some models have USB or SD ports, slots that let users transmit information from a computer or a digital camera. The idea is that you can download music files or photos to a memory card or portable flash drive which is inserted into the player, letting users hear or view them without having to use a disc.
We had trouble getting any unit to recognize the USB cable from our digital camera, but we were able to remove the camera's memory card and pop it into the SD slot of the Coby player - and enjoy a slide show of our 5-year-old daughter's recent birthday party.
Our favorite model was the Sony FX820, which for $180 offered the best combination of picture quality, ease of use, battery time, and durability.
Pros: This model has excellent picture quality, with clear sound to match. The screen "swivels" to lay flat and the battery pack fits flush with the back of the unit, making it nicely compact. It also has dual headphone jacks and plays up to six hours.
Cons: It lacks some extras, like a USB port.
Final Word: It comes in a choice of colors, including red, blue, and pink.
AUDIOVOX PVD73 $80
Pros: This lightweight model has straightforward playback controls.
Cons: The unit's shorter battery-powered play time of about two hours is impractical for longer flights and movies (the "Lord of the Rings" films run about three hours each). It also doesn't have a remote or swivel-screen function and has just one earphone jack. There is also an audible "hum" from the disc drive.
Final word: This is a no-frills model that offers basic DVD viewing at a rock-bottom price.
COBY TF DVD7377 $105
Pros: This model has the most complete out-of-the box accessory package, including small headphones and a harness for mounting the unit on a car headrest.
Cons: Its shorter battery-powered play time of two and a half hours is a minus. And the plastic case materials scratched easily even with gentle use.
Final word: It is a lot of player for the money. The SD slot let us view a slide show using the card from our digital camera.
LG ELECTRONICS DP781 $210
Pros: This model had a crisp picture, clear sound, and sleek profile. It also has dual headphone jacks. Additionally, it plays up to five hours on battery.
Cons: The battery pack juts out from the body of the unit, making holding the player somewhat awkward for a child.
Final Word: The remote came with a battery so we could use it right away.
PANASONIC DVD-LS86 $200
Pros: This unit's extended battery-powered play time of up to 13 hours makes it a good choice for longer flights.
Cons: The lack of swivel screen feature and remote makes adjustments tricky while using it in the car.
Final word: Without taking power-saving steps, such as reducing screen brightness and using headphones, we logged just four hours of battery-powered play.
