Customer Reviews

Durabrand 9" Portable DVD Player

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

We bought two of these. Worked fine for 3 months and then battery's went bad. There are no replacement battery's obtainable per customer service. These things are spin offs of "EMERSON" products. You've probably seen them in stores. Emerson is the bottom of the food chain in electronics. Save your money, invest in a brand name. Don't buy one of these to be thrown out and your kids disappointed in only a few months. And Oh yes, lets go back to customer service for a minute. Try emailing customer service with the email given in the owners manual. It comes back as "No such address". Phone number.......... "the toll free number you dialed is disconnected..... no further number is available"....... RIP OFF!

Don't waste your time and money on Durabrand products. I purchased the portable DVD player and had to return it, only for the second one to break within 60 days. I've tried to no avail to get answers and support from their customer service. I will never ever buy their product again! The only reason there is even a star, is because I couldn't leave this review without giving it at least one star! oh... by the way ... not to mention the fact that I had to pay a $15.00 service charge for exchanging it!

We bought two of these 1.5 years ago for use on long trips. We've been VERY happy with them...until now....it appears both batteries have died: these have never been left in the heat/car...and I can't find a replacement battery anywhere. They still work on AC, but not in the car with the car adapter. HMMMMMM.

I paid $79 for this Durabrand portable DVD player, on sale at a Target or Walmart. I agree with the other reviewers here - Durabrand is about the most chinsy piece of Chinese electronics you can imagine.

However, it's lasted 2 years, and still works - here's what I've learned about caring for this (and other) cheap Chinese electronics:


[1] Unplug the battery when you don't need it - save the battery for your trips, the car, etc. These batteries are *chinsy* - and replacements are expensive and impossible to find. Make sure to fully charge it at least once a month, and fully discharge it before recharging. 2 years later, I can only get about a one hour charge out of the battery - but others who leave the battery plugged in at all times wear it out completely after about 3-6 months. My method works best to preserve battery life.


[2] Use a car adapter in the car. However, there are two problems with using this machine in the car. First, the volume level (see below). Second, the AC adapter port has a weak connection, so if you hit a bump, the machine will turn off. To make it worse, the player has no memory, so it restarts at the beginning of the disc each time.


[3] The volume - is inferior. Even at full blast, you can barely hear it in the car. It says it's stereo, but I took the face plate of the LCD screen, and one of the speakers is empty - there is only one speaker in there.

There are three easy solutions for extra volume on this or any portable device. First, if you have a cassette deck in the car, get a CD player cassette adapter (comes free with many CD players, or buy separately for about $5). It will blast sound through your cassette deck. Second, the FM transmitters (intended for MP3 devices) work fine with players like this. Lastly, external speakers will work - just plug them into the headset jack, but you will need battery powered speakers, or else there will be no benefit.


[4] The remote - is great. It's held up for 2 years on the original battery. However, you *must* keep the remote with you at all times to use this player - the buttons on the machine itself do not allow you to go back to the menu, select chapters, etc.


So, my bottom line is, for under $80 or $100, this is probably an "average" quality Chinese player. Never pay more than $100 for a Durabrand - you can probably get something much nicer for your money.

I don't know that other brands in this price range are any better quality - so the Durabrand is a *tolerable* unit (as long as you buy it from a seller who offers a warranty against defects).

So if that's all you have to spend, or if you already own one, I hope these ideas help in making the most out of this player.

I really love the sound and picture from this 9" portable Durabrand dvd player. I bought this player for my daughter for Christmas. Due to the fact that my TV's built in dvd player had died. The bonus about this player is you can also enter the region free code which is 9-7-3-5. So now my daughter can also watch her television shows that haven't or aren't released here yet. Totally worth a hundred dollars.

My wife bought the DUR-10. It is NOT Amazon's "Item being reviewed." The battery failed within 2 years. 8 hours on internet. Still no direct replacement found. All phone numbers & all web sites suggested by Durabrand's documentation failed. All contacts that Wal-Mart suggested failed. Wikapedia suggested two manufacturers for the product. Both were found to be out of business. Bottom line. I can find no support for Durabrand products.

There is a 9 volt DC battery pack RB-270 that my wife bought to extend her view time for a different video player. It should be compatible - but - it uses a different cable. I am going to hack the cables to solve the incompatibility problem. Not to worry. I am a retired electronic engineer. This battery appears to be similar to the one listed as "DURABRAND DUR-1500 battery
Li-ION 9 600 battery #DVDU9-121238" at the site --- [...] --- . This battery comes with a set of compatibility problem busting cables.

I hope this helps some of you.

Two days after I got it stopped working. I am out 70 dollars. Instead of watching movies I have a very big paper weight

This is my 2nd portable DVD player. The 1st one that I owned was a Sony, I broke it and needed a new one immediately. I went to Wal-Mart and bought this Durabrand. It was $20 or $40 less then the Sony. I love the layout of it. The picture it great, the sound is to good so I am always turning it down. I use this thing everyday. I take to work with me and set it on my desk so I can watch it while I work, when I'm in the kitchen cooking I set it on the counter to watch, I set it next to my bed at night and watch movies on it while I fall asleep and I put it on my vanity in the morning while I get ready for work, and of course I take on long road trips. The point is I have had my Durabrand since November 2007 and this is a daily routine and abuse that I put this thing through. 2 years later it still works awesome, the battery works great still, my car adaptor works wonderful still and so does the remote. I have never ever had a problem with it and am so thankful to have found such a well built and designed portable DVD player so such a reasonable price. When/if this one ever breaks I will more then likely replace it with the exact same one. This is an excellent buy!!!

I bought this refurbished Durabrand Portable DVD player that turnout to be faulty. It worked for one day. I should have spent the extra money for a new one. Very disappointing.

I read the negative comments, but decided to purchase this from Walmart, having had good luck with other Durabrand products. In a nutshell, I have not regretted this purchase for one minute. I bought this exact product at almost a year ago and have used it on several long distance trips. It works fine and the battery is still going strong. I bought it primarily to have at bedside for white noise so I can sleep (my husband can't sleep with the TV on), so I use it every day/night. I have absolutely no complaints and it is still going strong! The picture and sound quality is there and is has every option that my other three non-portable players have including the remote control. I say, you really can't go wrong, but it's much less expensive at Walmart.