Panasonic DVD-LS5 Portable DVD Player
Perfect corner of the market
After reading all the other reviews on Amazon and looking at everything in a few of New York City's major electrical stores (J&amp;R, Circuit City, Best Buy) I bought the Panasonic DVD-LS5 portable DVD player for $329 from Amazon. <br />It was the most streamline and compact, solid feeling, good looking and highly recommended DVD player of this size. The screen looked sharper and brighter than it's competitors including larger much more expensive models. <br />6 months later, several friends and colleagues have fallen in love with this portable DVD player and after doing their own due dilligence, all chose the same model. Panasonic really seem to have gotten it right and the premium one pays for this consistently strong and reliable brand is well worth the money. <br />Size? I travel a great deal and wanted a very good tough small well made machine for around $350. The LS5 fits the bill and seems to stand alone in it's corner of the market. Larger portable DVD players start approaching the size of a small laptop and cost around $600 and up. Moreover, this model is perfect for a tray table even when the seat in front is reclined in your face. Ideal for the back of a car. Sits on my knee in the airport lounge. In hotel rooms I either connect my DVD player to the TV using the supplied cables or usually prefer it's crisp clean screen and awesome headphone sound.         <br />Extras? The battery gives just over 2 hours of juice - basically one movie plus change. I recommend people buy an additional battery: Panasonic's CGR-H601A/B extended life battery is good for an extra 3-4 hours (a very reasonable $69 especially considering most batteries cost more than a hundred bucks).<br />Sound? The headphone sound is absolutely amazing and the external speakers in such a tiny machine can't match their sophisticated range and power. So I recommend a really good pair of headphones - don't skimp - the sound is incredible! I can hear a depth and nuance in a movie's soundtrack and dialogue which I've never noticed before. A  headphone splitter is a very good idea. Additionally I recently bought Sony's small and highly touted SRS-T55 travel speakers ($47.50) so that a small group could join the fun. Two or three people can all view equally well without losing quality from being off centre.