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Nextbase Portable
DVD Players Guide
Introduction
If you've ever sat on a train or an aeroplane
and longed for some distraction from the boredom
of a long journey, or tried to occupy the
minds of youngsters in the back of a car long
enough to avoid the almost inevitable, "Are
we there yet?" question, a portable DVD player
is something that you might like to investigate.
Smaller, less complicated - and therefore
less "hungry" in terms of battery life - than
a laptop, a portable DVD player is also much
less likely to suffer at the hands of young
children who are not renowned for their appreciation
of expensive electronic equipment. Portable
DVD players are available in a number of styles
and sizes and can be carried comfortably on
your person, in your hand luggage, or mounted
in a car as a permanent or semi permanent
fixture.
Style, Size & Weight
In terms of style, many portable DVD players
feature a so-called "clamshell" design, in
which the two halves of the player - in other
words the screen and the player body itself
- fold neatly together for storage when the
player is not in use. Others feature "pop
up" or "flip out" screens which similarly
reduce the amount of space that a portable
DVD player takes up in your pocket or bag
when you are not actually watching it. Each
of these styles is highly portable and which
you choose really depends on how often and
where you want to use a portable DVD player.
If, for example, you are intending to use
a portable DVD player in your car for the
entertainment of children on a regular basis,
you may prefer a model that is specifically
designed for that purpose. These are usually
mounted - using mounting kits and accessories
that may or may not be included in the price
- on or between the front seat headrests in
a car or other vehicle. As such, a flatter
"tablet" style portable DVD player may be
a better option than one of clamshell design,
which obviously needs to be mounted in an
"open" position so that its body juts out
from the seat back. Portable DVD players of
durable, rugged construction are a necessity
for in-car use - particularly if children
are involved - and you should also look for
anti-shock or anti-skip, devices which prevent
DVD playback for being interrupted by rough
road conditions. If you have more than one
child, you may want to consider a twin screen
portable DVD player or at least one with a
screen that is large enough be viewed comfortably
by two or more children without squabbling.
In this situation, do not forget that you
will also need twin headphone sockets - or
a headphone "splitter" which allows two sets
of headphones to be connected via one headphone
jack - and, of course, two sets of headphones.
The size and weight of a portable DVD player
is unlikely to be a major issue in a car -
provided, of course, that a player fits unobtrusively
into the interior without distraction to the
driver - but may soon become one if you want
to physically carry a portable DVD player.
A slim, lightweight portable DVD player -
with an equally slim, lightweight battery
- may weigh in at as little as 2lbs or so
but its small screen size may not be to your
liking. If that is the case, you have the
option of choosing a larger screen size but
this, in turn, will also increase the dimensions
and weight of the player as a whole. Inevitably,
a portable DVD player involves some kind of
compromise and you need to weigh the amount
of space you have available and the weight
that you are prepared to carry against the
visibility of its screen. The Nextbase DVM235
model, as an example, is less than 2 inches
thick and features a 3½ inch, pop out screen.
Screen Characteristics
The whole object of a portable DVD player
is to allow you to enjoy films and other content
while on the move. Part of that enjoyment
is being able to see what you are watching
as clearly and brightly as possible. The smallest
portable DVD players have screens which are
typically 4, or 5 inches across, measured
diagonally. While these are suitable for occasional
viewing, they may become tiresome if viewed
for longer periods. This is particularly true
in the case of children and they - and you
- may find the whole experience more enjoyable
if you opt for a slightly larger screen at
the outset. A screen size of 7 inches is typical
for a "standard" portable DVD player - if
indeed such a thing exists - and look, too,
for "active matrix" or TFT ("Thin Film Transistor")
technology which allows more precise control
of each picture element or "pixel" in the
display.
Pixels are important - a "megapixel", incidentally,
is just 1,000,000 pixels - because the total
number of rows and columns of pixels determine
the vertical and horizontal "resolution" of
the display of a portable DVD player. Generally
speaking, the higher the pixel count - and
the precision with which each pixel is controlled
- the better the picture quality in terms
of clarity, brightness and colour depth. The
Nextbase SDV185S model, for example, features
an 8 1/2 inch TFT screen with a total resolution
of over 300,000 pixels.
Battery Life
Aside from, rather obviously, its size and
weight, the other factor that determines the
portability of a portable DVD player is its
ability to operate away from mains power -
that is on batteries - for adequate periods.
If you consider that a typical Hollywood feature
film has a running time of at least, 2 hours
and often longer and is best enjoyed from
start to finish without interruption, it is
easy to see why a battery life of less than
2 hours is unacceptable to most travellers.
Those travelling by car, of course, have access
to a mobile power source and can plug in their
portable DVD player - via an in-car charger
- for the duration of their journey. Elsewhere,
a portable DVD player needs to operate for
3 hours or longer on batteries in order to
provide maximum benefit. Failing that, the
other option is to acquire a secondary, replacement
rechargeable battery pack, although these
are not cheap and mean that you have something
else to carry around. Portable DVD players
and battery technology - especially that based
on lithium chemistry - are improving all the
time, however and most portable DVD players,
nowadays, offer battery life that is adequate
for all but the longest - a la Michael Palin
- trips.
DVD & Other Formats
All portable DVD players will play back commercially
recorded DVDs but if you are in the habit
of burning your own DVDs - in DVD+/-R, or
DVD+/-RW, format, for example - you need to
make sure that your selected player actually
supports the formats that you want. Not all
do, but many also provide additional support
for audio CD, including MP3, VCD ("Video Compact
Disc"), SVCD ("Super Compact Disc"), and DivX.
The Nextbase SDV47 model, for example, is
a tablet style portable DVD player which supports
all of these formats and more.
Connectivity Options
You may use a portable DVD player exclusively
as a portable unit, but one of the advantages
of many models is that you can connect them
to a television - in your home or hotel room,
for example - or a home entertainment system
as a substitute for a standard domestic DVD
player. If you have access to an "HD Ready"
or "Full HD" television with "progressive"
scan, look for that same feature in a portable
DVD player. Progressive scan works by creating
a single frame of video in single pass, every
1/60th of a second and allows DVD content
to be viewed flicker free, with fewer jagged
diagonal lines and other motion artefacts
than the inferior "interlaced" scanning method.
Look too for the best available video and
audio connections appropriate to the other
components of your home entertainment system.
Video connections range from basic analogue
RCA connectors, to SCART - which handles audio
as well as video - S-video, and component
video. Later models may also offer HDMI for
HD video. Audio connections, on the other
hand, may again be RCA phono but high quality
digital - coaxial or optical - audio outputs
are also available. These can be important
for the accurate reproduction of a film soundtrack
on a digital surround sound, or other audio
entertainment, system.
About Nextbase
Nextbase, operating out of its headquarters
in Hong Kong - but with manufacturing and
research and development facilities in mainland
China and Taiwan, a European sales office
and a global network of distributors - is
respected in the AV products market. The company
has more than 15 years' experience and specialises,
in particular, in the design, development,
manufacture and distribution of portable DVD
players. Indeed, Nextbase was responsible
for the first "tablet" style portable DVD
player in the world and has since filed numerous
patents for innovative, high quality, portable
DVD players - for use indoors, outdoors or
in the car - worldwide.
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