Coby TF-DVD7100 Portable DVD Player
Tips for junk lovers
It's a piece of junk, but it's mine.  I love it. <br /> <br />The biggest problem - it doesn't play any disc.  Honestly, I turned it on before I took off the protective paper disc.  It could hurt a little.  But if 1% of buyers do that, they need a huge return department. <br /> <br />The trick to make it play is to press the edge of the inner hole of the DVD disc down firmly, with two or four fingers around the hole.  Rotate say 30 degrees and press again, until the disc is evenly and firmly in place.  If the disc plays today, and you leave it in the drive as it is, still it may not play tomorrow.  You have to repeat the ceremony again.  So this player would be unsuitable for children and seniors. <br /> <br />When it plays, DVD-R, DVD+RW, VCD, CD discs are all OK. <br /> <br />The battery is 12 mm thick, and slightly smaller than the player.  So it's rather bulkier than the look of the player alone.  The first time without charging it, it plays less than 3 hours, with low battery warning after 2.5 hrs, all approximations.  The 2nd time after charging over night, it went dark about 2.5 hours.  The volume is maximum, so it may make a difference. <br /> <br />For cars it's OK, there's a cigarette adapter.  For planes, I have looked at extra batteries, which sold at > $60.  This is silly.  So I went to Radioshack, brought an 8AA battery holder with 9V battery type terminals, 9V battery clip, and a power plug.  If you don't want to do any soldering, there's some universal power plugs, and 'wire screw caps' to join the wires.  Then buy 8 or more NiMH rechargable batteries, 2600 mMh, for less than $2 each.  If you can wait, there's some 2800 and 3000 mAh from the far east.  The rating of the original battery is also 3000 mAh.  I don't think the external battery pack will last 2 to 3 hours because of different technology, and the external cut off voltage seemed to be higher at 9V.  But for $60 I can buy many AA batteries from ebay.  The 8 battery pack is slightly heavier than the original battery, but AA batteries are very easy to pack into your hand carriage. <br /> <br />The screen resolution is about half that of standard DVDs.  So it's not like viewing the DVD on your ultra high resolution computer monitor.  It's like watching a small TV.  Somehow it make sense, do you want perfect resolution when you are on the go?  However, the resolution is definitely not good enough for a portable photo album. <br /> <br />The good thing about the audio is that there are two head phone outlets.  The bundled head phone is rather strange - it's not an across the top of the head headphone.  It's across the back of your head, so I guess I have to sleep on it while on the plane. <br /> <br />If you search around videohelp.com, you can find the instructions to play disc from all regions.  I tried the instructions and the player responded as expected.  I haven't tried any foreign region discs yet.