Sony DVP-FX1 Portable DVD Player
A Beautiful Machine (updated)
I hit the \\"Buy\\" button as soon as I saw this was available. It's a beautiful machine.<br />Despite the metal body, the Sony is still small and light, and probably isn't as prone to scratches as its plastic-bodied counterparts. That's a good thing because despite tossing mine in my briefcase daily it still looks brand new.<br />The battery adds about a 1/4\\" to the height and doubles the player's weight, but it snaps into place with no cable connector to get tangled or broken, which is why I didn't buy the second-generation Panasonic. I've watched two movies back-to-back on one battery charge without a problem.<br />The screen on my unit is bright with no burned out pixels. Color reproduction is good with no noticable color shift. In certain situations, there is a slight halo visible along high-contrast edges, although this is inconsistent (playback on my TV is perfect). The screen pivots almost180 degrees, so finding an optimal viewing angle is easy.<br />There must be a BIG memory buffer since playback isn't affected by hard shaking (I mean REALLY hard shaking), so I'm guessing it will be popular with the minivan set. <br />Basic controls--play, stop, etc.--are located along the front panel so you can still use them with the screen closed. Interactivity controls are on top and are similar to that on Sony's high-end computer monitors (you'll either love or hate the joystick toggle). Flipping through the five screen size options is as easy as pressing a button beside the screen, which is also where the brightness control is located. Smart design that.<br />Onscreen set-up controls could be less arcane. The onscreen icons aren't labeled, so it's difficult to understand their purpose.<br />Sound is fine through the built-in speakers when watching DVDs, but this machine really rocks when hooked up via the optical connection or when using digital reference headphones. Headphones are pretty much a must have when listening to CDs, unless you really miss AM radio.<br />The disc location memory is a great feature. If you turn the player off when a disc is playing, all you need to do to start up where you left off is to hit the play button. It turns itself on and finds the location as soon as the disc spins up.<br />As a self-professed gadget freak, I have to say that this is the coolest thing I've craved for some time. Happily, it was worth the wait.<br />-----UPDATE 05/27/2002-----<br />After almost two years with this player, I'm still very happy with it. Since I rarely travel anymore, the machine sits on top of my TV 90% of the time, or in the kitchen while I cook. <br />Sometimes the machine will refuse to play a disc. It will spin up, sound like it's getting lost, and then stop with a flashing code onscreen. The way to fix this is to carefully (I mean very, very carefully) clean the laser lens. I usually use a Q-tip dipped in plain water and then blotted until just damp.