Customer Reviews

Initial IDM-9520 Portable DVD Player with 4-Inch LCD and Car Kit

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I'm the one who wrote a review on christmas, I'm back with an update.

I decided to test a few new things on it. I set the player at the end of a hallway at my college, and attempted to use the remote... I'll be darned, the thing worked from 40 feet away!

I popped in a cd+g (karaoke) cd.. Played it.

I am (as i type this) encoding episodes of my favorite show, Hikaru no Go, at a rate of 1300kbps mpeg2 with cq_vbr of 47, audio @ 32khz, 160kbps, stereo. Yes, I already told you this thing doesn't care about "standard compliance".

I found it's first no-no a few days ago.. It does not play mpeg videos with mp3 audio.. Don't blame it though, Windows Media Player still has issues with that type of video.

I am giving this puppy the 5 it really deserves. There are so many undocumented features in this lil powerhouse, you just need to go and get one, it will not be regretted.

Tuesday, a very bad thing happened.. It was dropped for the first time ever.. Picked it up, and the darn thing was still playing!

As for the disc mechinism issue some people have been having, thats what a warranty is for. I am happy to report that this puppy doesn't and hasn't had that issue yet.

Display is still very beautiful on it.

After these 3 months that I have had it, the casing is starting to wear on it, but this is due to me keeping it in my pocket (yes, it fits). I walk back and forth a long ways a few times a week, and this thing is perfectly happy being in my pocket, and the remote even works while in my pocket too.

I already wrote a review here, but after seeing my all-time favorite device getting poor reviews, these reviews are very different from what I have experienced. If you can, buy one. If it breaks, get a refund. It's that easy. I have owned a lot of portable electronic devices, but this is by far my favorite.

This little puppy earned me some cash too. I rented it out to friends of my relatives when they went to vegas, got $30 for one week rental. If it would have broken, and gotten reimbursed for the device, guess what.. I'd buy the exact same one again.

I am still finding out new things about this little powerhouse. I wasn't ever expecting this thing to be able to do so much. VCD, SVCD, XVCD, MPEG burned onto a regular ISO, it generates its own menu! If it ends in .mpg and is a video, there is a 99% chance this DVD player can play it from the CD, no need to even waste time making a VCD, i just burn all my videos onto a CD as an ISO now, it's a real time saver.

Seriously, go check out the review I submitted on Xmas. It will give you a much better review than the one I just left here. This is just an update really..

I just recieved this DVD player today...and so far so good. I bought it for car trips, plane tripes, etc. I haven't experience the problems that seem to go along with the 9510 version. The screen is small, but that is the size it's advertised for, and I feel its more than sufficent for something so compact. The colors are good and despite the size the screen seems to have a pretty good resolution. Other than the battery SEEMS to only be able to recharge when off the system,(keep in mind I'm figuring it out) it seems to be a wonderful little machine. Well worth the money, very compact and affordable. Should any problems arise I will rereview, but up to this point I give it 5 stars!

I just received this player yesterday and I played around with it last night. Picture for such a small screen is not bad. All the buttons and the remote work. Played through Return of the Jedi and everything was great. If you are looking for a cheap protable then this would be it. Now as for its bad points. It is a bit loud on startup and you can hear when it skips tracks and such but not overbearing. The AC adapter gets really warm. I had it hooked up to charge the battery and unplugged it because I was afraid it would start a fire...lol. Also on the chapter screen and optoins screen the highlights are hard to see. But overall good little player...enjoy.

this is a little dvd player packing a big punch!! the picture and sound are excellent and you can not go wrong for the price! I highly recommend it!!!! All connectors are included as well as battery

I am thrilled with this little player! It is my favorite toy. I was a little concerned about some of the negative aspects that other reviewers pointed out, but I decided that the positive outweighted the negative and gave it try. Am I glad I did! I take it to work to watch on breaks and at lunch and fits in my handbag.
I admit that I have not tried all the functions and have always used the A/C adapter so I can't offer an opinion on the battery capacity as yet, but for a simple, portable way to watch your favorite movies on the go, it's great. The picture is fine and the sound is not bad either(better with headphones).
If you are looking for a good value, this is it.

Added on 4/12/05: I have had this player for over eight months now, and still have not had one bit of trouble with it even though I use it almost every day on my lunch hour. I don't know if I was just lucky when other reviewers were not, but I still highly recommend it.

I wrote a bad review because the dvd player froze
and acted like the other bad reviews.
Tried it one more time before sending it back.
Now it works great.
it plays and plays. I deleted my last review.
I love this player. Took it on a trip in the car
and not a problem.
Picture great,sound through head phones is wonderful.
UPDATE:
Had player for a month with a lot of use.
works awesome.
took on another trip and worked perfect.
UPDATE #2
Had the player since august and now its december and i still love it.
not once has it froze up and i use it a lot.
i don't know why in the beginning i had trouble with
the freeze up but when i was ready to send it back
i tried one more time and not one problem since.

I live in Germany and my family in the USA, so Amazon is a great place to go for presents for everyone. Less than one year ago, I bought this DVD Player for my sister for her birthday. She has had minor problems with it since the beginning and now the player will not turn on. When she contacted the customer service department, the representative informed her that her problem is quite common and it is typical to just replace the unit.

In the warranty that comes with the player, it states if the player breaks, there is a one year warranty on parts and replacement, however only a 90 day warranty on labor. My sister was advised to send in the player along with a check for $40 for repairs, yet, as stated above, that it would likely just be replaced and there would be no refund of the labor charge.

This was something that was quite difficult for me to understand, so I contacted the company directly. In the correspondence I received, I was told that Initial stands by their product "with a 3 month labor 1 year parts warranty." I was also informed "When purchasing our product, there is the warranty card and information that comes with all of our product. This will inform our customers the warranty information and then they can make their informed decision whether to purchase the item or not." Although Amazon states the 1 year parts and replacement, 90 days labor, the warranty card is not available to be read. Furthermore, warranty cards are not made available in stores either, so true details of the warranty are not clear until after the product is purchased.

Now let me be completely clear, I understand the point of the labor charge. However, if Initial stands so firmly behind there product, how can the company justify having only 90 days to cover labor. It would seem to me, if a company truly believes their product to be of quality, they would offer a warranty that covers replacement, parts and labor for the full term of the warranty. The fact that Initial only covers labor for 90 days leads me to believe it is expected the product will break. I am very unhappy with this product and the service both my sister and I have received. Therefore, I would highly recommend not purchasing this product from Initial, but look to a different company which truly stands behind their product.

I thought I was going to have to spend a wad on a brand like Sony in order to get something good. I am very pleased with the sound and video quality of such a light, and inexpensive device.
The only downfall I can see is the proprietary battery. It only lasts 2 hours and takes 6 hours to charge, and can only be charged 500 times. Small inconvenience in my book to save the difference in the price to one that can do better.

The audio/video quality on this little guy is great. However, here's where Initial Technologies rips you off. The disk mechanism only lasts for two days. Save up for a Sony, Tashiba, Philips, JVC, or Panasonic. RCAs only last for a few months. They also have great audio/vidio quality, but very poor disk mechanisms. Note that amazon.com currently does not stock portable DVD players by Sony, Philips, or JVC. I don't remember seeing many Tashiba portable DVD players either. Amazon.com does have a good selection in many other catagories, but not portable DVD players.

I JUST LOVE THIS DVD PLAYER! I received it yesterday and have viewed one movie so far. The picture is perfect, good resolution, speakers are clear. I would recommend this product for everyone.