Portable DVD Players

If you are on a long haul flight and do not wish to depend on your carrier's choice of in flight entertainment or cause the battery of your laptop to run down you might consider watching your favorite movies on a device known as a portable DVD player.

A portable DVD player can also be a handy tool that is used to entertain children on a long road trip when they are stuck in the backseat of a car. Many models of portable DVD players which are geared towards children come bundled with games that feature popular children's characters like Dora the explorer. Portable DVD players come with built in speakers and can be combined with set of good head phones as well for complete viewing privacy.

However when choosing a portable DVD player there are certain features that you should keep in mind like the dimension of the player you certainly don’t want to lug around a heavy bulky player which defeats the purpose of being portable. Ideally portable DVD players are between 7 to 9 inches big. Another factor which affects their portability is their weight, you want a player that provides you with entertainment and at the same time is light weight as well. Portable DVD players which have large rechargeable batteries are often the heaviest. While choosing your portable DVD player, you should look at the side of the box of the DVD player to get information about size and weight of the player.

Most portable DVD players have rechargeable batteries that last for up to two and a half hours. This power capacity is adequate for the viewing of most movies though some portable DVD players have batteries that last for five hours on one charge. Like weight and size, the size of the player's screen is also important and a larger screen makes for a more pleasurable viewing experience.

Many players can be plugged into your home theater system so you will want quality output for both video and audio. Ideally S-Video for video and Optical Out for audio ensures the best playback performance. Today's players also support a whole host of formats like CDs, MP3s and CD-Rs and DVD-R's and some even come equipped with iPod docks as well .This often eliminates the need for you to carry additional gadgets on the road.

Portable DVD players can cost from $100 upwards depending on the various features included with the player. According to industry surveys in 2008, the SONY DVP-FX820 portable DVD player is one of the best models available on the market today. This DVD player comes equipped with an 8 inch swivel screen, a long lasting battery and a sleek modern design. Other highly ranked portable DVD players in the list include the Toshiba SD-P71S and Philips DCP951.