Panasonic DVD-LV60 5.8-Inch Portable DVD Player
A Really Great Portable DVD Player
A few years ago, I noticed the first Panasonic portable DVD player advertised in a magazine. At a hefty [$$$] dollars I knew it was out of my price range. That it, until recently when I saw an advertisement for one at only [$$$] dollars. That was when I decided to purchase one. By that time, there were about twenty models, ranging from the Panasonic LV-50, the oldest model, featuring a 5-inch screen, to the Sharp DVL-80U with an 8-inch screen. Most of these models were not available at stores near me so I could not see them in person. I was able to see the Panasoniv LV-75 and the Panasonic LV-60. <br />The Panasonic LV-60 was the best model I could find for a reasonable price. I was also looking at the LV-75, but I found that the screen quality was lower. The LV-60 sports a 5.8 inch screen, which, while smaller than some models which offer 7 or even 8 inch screens, I found that it worked well in the airplane, and I could see fine. I am very impressed with the screen quality. The colors are vibrant and the shapes are defined. In some places, I could see a few wavy lines in the background, but much less than in the LV-75. I played a variety of movies ranging from Toy Story to Jaws, and that picture quality was excellent and suited my viewing tastes. I want to reemphasize that the 5.8 inch screen (which is measured diagonally, not across) was large enough to be able to see everything, and get involved in the movie. My only complaint would be that I had trouble reading the cast bios in the menu because the print was so small. However, I feel this is a mute point.<br />I thought the sound of the LV-60 was very good. The speakers are not enough to be heard on an airplane. When I watched with my friends on a plane, (we were unable to use headphones because there is only one headphone jack), we were forced to use subtitles to understand the dialogue, we could, however, hear the music and effects, justthe dialogue was hard to understand. However, when I used headphones, everything was loud and clear. The Virtual Surround Sound (V.S.S) option worked very well with some movies, I could hear the helicopter in The Fugitive going over my head, but the V.S.S did not do anything in other movies. There is a dialogue enhancer function but I have not tried it because with headphones it is unnecessary. <br /> I was very impressed with the battery length. Panasonic claims the Lithium Ion rechargeable battery lasts four hours on lowers brightness setting. I was skeptical and I thought I would never use the lowest brightness anyway. However, I was able to watch The Fugitive, Jaws, and most of Toy Story, on one charge. That adds up to over five hours. I was watching on minimum brightness, but I have to say that there was very little difference between regular and minimum brightness. I could see the movie fine and there was no problem. It took about five hours to charge the battery, as the manual declares. Please note that you cannot charge the battery while the player is running.<br />While on vacation, I plugged the LV-60 into the T.V in my hotel to see if it worked well. The included cables worked fine in connecting to a T.V. The quality was excellent. The remote worked well and had all the functions of the player itself. I thought the buttons on the player were well conceived. Instead of the jog control seen on the other Panasonic players, the LV-60 has a knob that is used as directional control and the enter button. I also liked the blue highlight on the player, which is featured only on the LV-60. <br />...\\" I definitely suggest you shop around on the Internet to find the best price. My recommendation is that you find a store in your area that carries whatever model you are thinking of purchasing so that you can see it, and find out if it works for you. You should also read all the online reviews you can to get an idea of what each model is like.<br />**UPDATE-I have now owned my LV-60 for approx. 6 months and I am still very satisified with itsperformance.  The battery consistantly gives me 4 to 5 hours of viewing time per charge (on lowest brightness setting-it really is not noticeably worse than the middle brightness setting)which has pleased me to no end.  The one qualm I have had with this player is the nagging fear that the battery will eventually die ( the manual claims it lasts 300 uses but I somehow doubt it).  I heard tales of 300 dollar spare batteries which worried me.<br />  However, In recent websurfing, I discovered that the price for a spare battery is now only [$$$]dollars. This is still a little pricey but it beats out the other Panasonic models's battery prices by at least [$$$] dollars.  I only mention this to keep possible buyers from being mislead into believing that spare batteries are overwhelmingly expensive.  I wish all of you luck in finding the right player