Customer Reviews

Audiovox D1708PK 7-Inch Ultra Slim Line Portable DVD Player with Bonus Pack

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I purchased this portable dvd player for a trip to Maui to prevent Elmo and Wiggles withdrawl by our 19 month old. The Panasonic portable dvd players clearly had better screens when viewed side by side at a local store. The Audiovox display is acceptable. With real bad screens, I'll watch some movie and keep thinking how bad the screen is. With the Audiovox I'm able to enjoy the show.

Was the Panasonic $100-150 better? For frequent use by an adult, yes. I was actually pretty close to going for the Panasonic because the screen was so nice. I ended up going the cheap route for the following reasons:

1. No audio/video input jack for the Panasonic. I can use my Audiovox dvd player to play xbox.

2. The bonus pack that comes with the Audiovox is actually of decent quality and useful like the carrying case, ac adapter, car cigarette lighter adapter, a/v cords, and two comfy headsets. A little research showed that the car cigarette lighter adapter for the Panasonic was actually pretty expensive.

3. I'm certain my son will knock this dvd player over one day when I'm not looking. I'll feel better that it wasn't worth $100-150 more.

The Audiovox performed like a champ on the trip. My wife and I even watched a movie together with the two headsets while our son slept five feet away in his crib in our hotel room. Not sure how the quality will hold up over time but I feel good knowing that if goes kuput within a few weeks, I'll have an easier time working something out with Amazon.

I just purchased this and am thrilled. It has all the things a parent could want ie: two headsets and jacks, decent picture, good sound, the car kit and the adapters. The ability to play music and movies, the audio/video inputs and outputs to play games or hook up your video camera for a mobile slideshow will come in very handy in countless situations. We tested it out at home and found the player to be sound and I'm happy with the choice. I did notice the headphone volume doesn't go up very high. It was right where I would put it at max volume and not be blowing out the kid's ears. I think that is a plus and not a minus. I'll have to test it with road noise...I guess it depends on your car as to how this will affect you. If it is a problem, there are headsets that have their own independent volume controls and each person could boost the volume to suit their needs.

For starters, there was a problem with the battery on this unit when I received it. The indicator wouldn't stay solid, and would instead flash; I spoke to Audiovox, they said it was a problem with the charging system, and it would need to be returned. No big deal, defective units happen. And though it was a pain, my review isn't based on that.

The bigger issues were with the design of the product itself, along with its accessories. This is simply not a well-designed product.

The number one issue is with the design of the battery/adapter interface. On most portable DVD players, like most laptops, the battery connects to the unit, and the unit then has a place to plug in the adapter. On such units, the battery has to be connected to the unit to charge, but more importantly, the unit can seamlessly switch between battery and wall power. That is, if you have the unit plugged in with the battery attached, and the adapter loses power, you can continue watching your DVD using the battery. This is important on, for example, a train, where the outlet power will occasionally cut out. With this unit, however, the unit has a single power input plug, and the battery has both an input slot and a mini power cord. To watch the unit using the battery, you plug the battery's cord into the unit; to watch the unit using the battery, you plug the adapter cord into the unit; and to charge the battery, you plug the adapter cord into the battery. However, with this setup, the unit can't switch between the battery and the adapter; if you lose adapter power, the entire unit shuts down and must be restarted.

This is a minor issue, but is intensely frustrating nonetheless. What makes it more annoying is that this is the only unit I know of that is designed in such a way; both cheaper and more expensive units manage to integrate the battery and the unit into the same power system, so that a loss of power won't completely disrupt the operation of the unit.

Beyond that, the carrying case that comes with the unit are helpful if you plan to use it in a car, but fairly useless otherwise. It's very large, designed to hold both pairs of headphones and all the various cords that come with the unit. It's too large to carry around conveniently, and takes up a great deal of space in an overnight bag.

Overall, the defect in my individual unit notwithstanding, this model is merely okay. The battery design flaw strikes me as simply inexcusable, and the accessories are less than helpful. This unit is not inexpensive enough to justify its flaws; when I returned my unit to Amazon, I opted to purchase a different model rather than exchange it for the same model.

We purchased the D1708PK because we loved the fact that it was slim and that it included the case and the headphones, etc. Picture is clear and sound is ok unless you're using the headphones - then you can't hear anything. We had it on the highest number volume and we wound up turning it off in frustration. Called Amazon as soon as we returned from our trip and they very graciously gave us a $40 refund and advised us to contact Audiovox directly. Beware! Customer Service at Audiovox is the worst we ever experienced. We didn't even ask for our money back, all we wanted was to exchange it for another one of the same model and hope for the best. Well...because we didn't complain until after 90 days of purchase - they told us there was nothing they could do and that we were "stuck" with the dvd player. When we told them that we would no longer use Audiovox products in the future, their response was a curt, "That's fine, have a nice day, goodbye." My advise is two-part. 1) Check everything out immediately. Because the volume worked ok, we assumed the headphones did also and never tried them. 2) Do NOT purchase products from Audiovox!

I read the reviews and purchased with trepidation. I was sold on the price and the included car-kit.

Once home, I got out my sharpest knife for the five minute struggle with the packaging (Ft. Knox ain' so well protected). Then I ran two complete movies through it to check its reliability. Worked fine.

Charged the battery, checked that. Worked fine (negative I've not seen noted: battery can't charge while playing from the wall socket).

The thing played 5 hours straight in the car and frequently over Thanksgiving week/end. Played over the 4 hours home. No skips, stalls, "Loading" endlessly, etc.

I've saved the receipt and mind boggling packaging, Just In Case, but currently can only express immense satisfaction. Roadtrips've never gone so smoothly (terrific silence only punctuated by terrific bouts of laughter -- ahh, Pixar..).

Should this fail me anytime soon, I'll be back to edit this post, but even then, the 20+ hours its given us so far may make it worth the $129 I paid at BJs.

I bought this DVD player about a year ago and after only light usage the player will not work the text message reads "no dvd in player". Audiovox wants 97.00 plus shipping to look at it. Don't waste your money on this player.

It is what it claims to be. Nice screen that can be watched from all backseat passengers when placed between two front seats. However it would be nicer if the battery would be charged while watching a DVD. If you connect the car adapter to the battery you cannot play a DVD. While working on car power if you stop and/or restart the car the DVD stops (as the electicity supply to the unit is cut, so you have to manually find out where you were left. Believe me, kids do not like this a bit.)

I purchased this for one of my relatives who was headed to France. The DVD player came out of the box fine, and we charged it according to the directions. Worked great for about 5 months. Then as the France trip approached, the DVD player would start, then play a quick trailer, then screen went white, then totally dark. No video. So in an effort to get it replaced, I used the product protection plan I bought from NEW Customer Service. What a joke! They told me I paid too much money to Amazon for the plan, based upon the purchase price, and that I would have to get Amazon to refund my money before they could process the replacement/repair. When I asked them to override the payment they said OK but have never heard from NEW again, and now I have Amazon trying to figure it out. But calls to customer service there and e-mails also have not worked. I keep getting e-mails from someone, obviously in a customer service center in Asia, that acknowledge my complaint but do nothing. Best to call Amazon and get a live person. In the meantime, I went out and paid full price for a Sony DVD player and the relative is happily traveling throughout France with a product that works and performs to our expectations. Rule 1, don't buy the Audiovox. Rule 2, definitely don't buy the product replacement plan from NEW. They really stuck me on this. If I could rate lower than 1 star I would.

I bought this model as a Christmas gift for my kids to use on our long drives to school and other fun outings. The picture quality is great. The screen did freeze a couple of times but that may have been caused by a bump in the road. The sound is good and the headphones are of good quality with no "sound seepage" I can drive in peace when the kids are using them. I recommend this product to all. And the price is a steal for everything in the package.

I was shopping around for a portable DVD Player for about a month. It was a wedding gift for my husband (who hates to fly).
Besides the great price, the picture (LCD Screen) quality is awesome.
It made the four hour flight go by in no time.
great product at a great price.
The bonus pack was totally worth it. The portable DVD came with a nice carrying case, and TWO head sets of head phones, so we both got to enjoy the movies we brought on the flight.