Coby TF-DVD8500 8.5-Inch TFT Portable DVD/CD/MP3 Player with Swivel Screen
First Impressions on the Coby 8.5"
The unit is pretty flimsy, mostly composed of lightweight plastic, but this is a boon if you're looking for a featherweight device.  On-Off slider switch is clunky at best.  The opening latch is not intuitive and requires the attention of a few more brain cells to get this clam to open up.  The latch for the external battery pack is similarly designed.  With a fully charged battery, I was able to get through Aeon Flux twice (about 3 hours).  Screen resolution is only about 410x230 for this 8.5\\" display, which yields very large pixels.  The documentation states a resolution of 1440x234, but I don't believe that for a second.  Each pixel is about 3x the area of a pixel found on a typical computer monitor, so edge artifacts are easily discernible.  Compare this to the gorgeous 320x240 pixel resolution of a 2.5\\" Apple Ipod.  The slow LCD response time causes choppy motion on fast action sequences and the black levels look dark gray at best.  On Aeon Flux, Charlize Theron, lacks her normal, vibrant glow.  This unit also does not auto-detect the format of the movie, so you'll need to manually switch from 16:9 to 4:3.  This is easily accomplished with the push to two buttons, but that's unless you prefer a more portly Charlize.  On particular DVDs, the unit has this habit of skipping and momentarily freezing while it's trying to reacquire the track. <br /> <br />The speakers play just loud enough to drown out the excessively noisy disc drive mechanism.  The box includes 2 headphones which plugs into the two headphone jacks located on either side of the unit.  However there is only one volume control, so you will need to negotiate with your partner on the appropriate <br />volume setting ... but honey, 105 decibels give realistic sound levels. <br /> <br />It was surprising to find an included remote control, like that's really necessary.  If you're sitting far enough to need the remote, then you won't be able to tell Charlize from Philip Hoffman (you know, the bad dude inMI3).  However, about half the DVD functions only can be accessed via the remote, so you're forced use this remote that was clearly designed for the hand of a hobbit. <br /> <br />Bonus: The unit contains audio/video outputs and inputs, so the Coby can be connected to a large TV for DVD playback, to do justice to Charlize.  A video output device, like a Playstation 2, can be connected to the Coby to display on the on the 8.5\\" screen.  The output and input jack is surprisingly the same jack - the input/output function is selectable via the AV In/Out switch.  Strange that this particular feature is not mentioned anywhere in the manual. <br /> <br />All these shortcomings are forgivable for this sub-120 dollar unit.  Hopefully this thing will outlast its 90day warranty (Amazon's website states a 1 year warranty period - I've emailed customer service resolve this inconsistency).  2 stars for performance, 4 stars for value.