Panasonic DVD-LS5 Portable DVD Player
DVD Formats
I was on vacation last summer and looking for a portable DVD player. The moment I laid my eyes on the LS5 I fell in love with it. I'm a distance learning graduate student and get my lectures on video tape. Well I already had a combo VHS/DVD recorder and the DCMA nothwithstanding (it was for my personal use), I wanted to transfer those tapes to DVD so I could watch them on my Tokyo (where I live) train commute. Well I transferred the tapes to DVD and presto, my two hour train commute was transformed into two hours of productive lecture viewing and note taking. That's how small it is. I am able to watch and take notes at the same time even though I'm on a crowded train every morning. But don't let the size scare you into thinking it's too small for viewing. It's great for traveling and commuting and the picture is beautiful.<br />I do have a \\"BUT\\" that lowered my rating to a 4 out of 5 star review and that was the fact that Panasonic chose to limit the playback of burned DVDs to -R and -RAM. Panasonic is probably the biggest supporter of -RAM, so that would explain that.<br />The other reason for my 4 out of 5 rating and that would apply to ALL of the U.S. DVD player manufacturers and retailers, is that they continue their collusion with Hollywood and play their game of making players coded by world regions. I live in Tokyo and though there are a great many Hollywood DVDs available, the prices are double that of North America and the extras on most DVD movies in Japan are pitiful. DVDs that are released in Japan are also 4 - 6 months later than in North America, so I just purchase my DVDs through Amazon.com and I get them sent to me in Tokyo.<br />I did my search on the Net looking for companies that could help me make my player region free. Well I found one (...) and I had to buy what they called a \\"chipped remote.\\" This Star Trek looking thing that would allow me to make my player region free once I followed the three step instructions.<br />Well not only did it make my LS5 region free, but I can now play any type of DVD that is burned. That means I can now watch DVD-R/+R, -RAM, -RW/+RW and I can watch NTSC AND PAL DVDs, which means I can watch DVDs that come from Europe. Be warned that the manufacturers warranty is voided should you choose the route I took in making the player region free, but by reading all of these reviews you will see that everyone is extremely happy (as I am) with the quality of their LS5 and I did not read one review that mentioned a breakdown.<br />It's a great buy (...)<br />Now for another portable DVD player to consider (and a little cheaper) that we bought and we love equally as well, there is the NextBase SDV17-A Table DVD Player. We just got this, but it's so cool. It's region free, PAL and NTSC compatible out of the box and plays DVD/VCD/SVCD/MP3/CDDA/JPEG CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD-RW formats.<br />The screen on this one is 7\\" (2 more than the LS5), it's the length of a novel and only an inch thick. What worries me about this one is that there is nothing to protect the screen other than a soft, felt carrying case when it isn't in use. The LS5 has a folding screen which gives me a little more security.<br />Both are great though.<br />(...)<br />And just for your information most European retailers offer region-free DVD players, including Amazon.co.uk, but they will not deliver to customers outside of the EU. Does anyone know of way we can lean on U.S. retailers to stop colluding with Hollywood so that start truly giving the customer what she/he wants???<br />It's ridiculous that the government continues to protect Hollywood as they do. Once we buy a car we're not told what we can and can't do with it outside of traffic laws.e my LS5 region free, but I can now play any type of DVD that is burned. That means I can now watch DVD-R/+R, -RAM, -RW/+RW and I can watch NTSC AND PAL DVDs, which means I can watch DVDs that come from Europe. Be warned that the manufacturers warranty is voided should you choose the route I took in making the player region free, but by reading all of these reviews you will see that everyone is extremely happy (as I am) with the quality of their LS5 and I did not read one review that mentioned a breakdown.<br />It's a great buy (...)<br />Now for another portable DVD player to consider (and a little cheaper) that we bought and we love equally as well, there is the NextBase SDV17-A Table DVD Player. We just got this, but it's so cool. It's region free, PAL and NTSC compatible out of the box and plays DVD/VCD/SVCD/MP3/CDDA/JPEG CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD-RW formats.<br />The screen on this one is 7\\" (2 more than the LS5), it's the length of a novel and only an inch thick. What worries me about this one is that there is nothing to protect the screen other than a soft, felt carrying case when it isn't in use. The LS5 has a folding screen which gives me a little more security.<br />Both are great though.<br />(...)<br />And just for your information most European retailers offer region-free DVD players, including Amazon.co.uk, but they will not deliver to customers outside of the EU. Does anyone know of way we can lean on U.S. retailers to stop colluding with Hollywood so that start truly giving the customer what she/he wants???<br />It's ridiculous that the government continues to protect Hollywood as they do. Once we buy a car we're not told what we can and can't do with it outside of traffic laws.