Customer Reviews

Mintek 10.2-Inch Widescreen Progressive Scan Portable DVD Player

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

 

 

I had been researching portable DVD players for a while and was scared to death by all the reviews I had read. It seems I couldn't find one manufacture that had it "all". I had finally decided that I would get the Panasonic LS850 even though I read about the dreaded HO3 error with various Panasonic models. I am a Costco member and I decided that I would by it there because they have such great consumer protection. I am glad I did! I ended up not buying the Panasonic because Costco was also selling the Mintek. In all my studies I had not read horrible things about it. Just warm reviews. None of the reviews mentioned errors that would cause major repair. This player had a larger screen than the Panasonic and it came with a whole car kit: case that fits onto the headrest and two sets of headphones, along with the DC adapter for the car. I decided to give it a try and the representative at Costco told me that she had a Mintek for 5 years and it was running great. Well we took it on the road over the weekend and my daughter was able to watch her movies without any problems. The anti shock really works as I did my best at shaking it around, not too hard, to see if I could get it to skip and it didn't.



My other fear that a lot of people complain about is the noise you get from the DVD drive itself. I didn't find that a problem at all. The machine makes noise when the DVD is first put in and is loading the movie, but once it started playing it was very quiet. We were able to watch movies in our hotel room without the headphones. I also found the sound to be very adequate for the speaker size. Other complaints I read about other manufactures was that the sound was not loud enough. Not a problem with this one. I found that on full volume it was very loud. Now in the car my daughter, who is 2, used the headphones, mainly because I didn't want to hear Elmo's World over and over.



Another feature this one has over the Panasonic is a remote control with lots of features on it. The Panasonic for some reason has no remote.



I also liked the larger screen and found the resolution to be very nice actually. We watched finding Nemo in widescreen and the colors were amazing. I was worried that the screen did not do all the cool tilt features the panasonic does, but found no glare problems in the car. Now we do have tinted windows so the sun was never shinning right on the screen. Any screen would have a hard time with that.



Another feature is that when you turn the power off it knows where the movie left off. When you power it back on it automatically starts to play where you left. Most players have to stay in sleep mode to gets this feature. I mean as long as you don't take the DVD out it will go back and resume play.



One of the cons is the battery life. It is only about 2.5 hours. The panasonic claims to have a 6 hour battery life. We don't fly long distances so this may not be the player for someone who can't plug in longer than 3 hours. I don't think it would make it over the ocean. However some planes (American Airlines) are now made with ad/dc plugs for computers (we can thank the techies for a lot actually).



The bag it came with is great and keeps all the accessories. The bag fastens on to the headrest with ease and ours did not move. We have a Ford Freestyle.



One reason I had thought about the Panasonic was because it did DivX (whatever that is) because my husband was going on about it. However, he is the one who choose the Mintek. He said that since we will be using it more for our daughter we really don't need that feature and he was more attracted to the larger screen. It does make a difference.



Now, I have only had this player for a week, but it has made it through one road trip. If I have problems in the coming months I will be sure to update this review.



I bought this player for $179.00 which is a little more than what Amazon is advertizing it for, however at Costco you get the carrying bag and 2 sets of headphones. Costso also sells the Panasonice LS850 with a carrying bag for $189.00. It will really be what you prefer. After reading so many reviews on the Panasonic (different models too) about the dreaded ERROR, I decided not to tempt fate.

This is my second Mintek 10.2" DVD player. The first one was purchased almost a year ago and is still operating beautifully. It is used by my 7 year old grandson who has autism. He loves to play VHS tapes and DVD's. Unfortunately, he likes to watch the same 30 seconds or less of the video over and over again. He wore out the rewind/fast forward buttons on two VCR's already and is working on a third. He uses/abuses the Mintek for many hours a day, loading and removing the the disks himself and forward spacing and back spacing relentlessly. He carries the unit around the house and into the car for trips to his tutors. The Mintek continues to perform flawlessly through all this activity. I purchased the second unit only because I know that eventually the current one will fail and my grandson would be devastated without his DVD player. I know that the unit has a considerable number of great features that we never use but all we care about is good picture quality, acceptable sound, and extreme ruggedness. The Minket has it all. A great unit at a great price from Amazon.

Purchased this portable DVD player as a gift for my electronically challenged husband. He loves it!! He prefers to see his DVD's on this player rather than the TV. The picture is crystal clear! Very easy to use, he has had no trouble figuring out how to use this player. The large screen is so easy to see. There are two ports for headphones if two people want to listen. I wish it had come with a carrying case, but am very happy with this product. I researched these players before I purchased and this player had good reviews. I would recommend this player to anyone, but especially for anyone who is older (poorer eyesight) and electronically challenged. Amazon did have the best price.

Mintek has no customer service! Sent them a player with a minor problem and they apparently forgot about it. When I called they said it had been fixed and they would return it. Another month passes and they simply don't respond. Reported them to Better Business and the California State Attorney's office. Finally get the player back totally disabled. Avoid this company!Mintek 10.2" Widescreen Progressive Scan Portable DVD Player

I'm pleased with this purchase.

I'm most impressed by the quality of the picture. People comment on it. The sound at maximum is weaker than what I expected, which might mean that using it in a car would require the headphones (two included).

The instruction book has small print, but the English is correct and the illustrations are sharp.

Operation is quiet. Button response is positive.

NOTES: To turn off a DVD press the stop button TWICE. The button to turn the power on/off is on the LEFT side- don't confuse it with the indicator light on the front that says "power on/chg"

Player is not compatible with newer DVD copy protection schemes. I got this for my son for Christmas and it has only been able to play one out of four DVDs. The other three simply cause the unit to lock up.

While I believe the unit to be reliable, we can thank the likes of Sony and the RIAA for creating disks which are improperly called DVDs. Legally they can not be called as such but it doesn't stop them nor does it help compatibility will lessor known brands. Despite the likely problem being the non-compatible DVDs commonly sold these days, knowing this doesn't make the player play these DVDs. If you need a unit to play a variety of mainstream DVDs, this unit should be avoided.

The only thing saving this unit from getting a one is when it plays a DVD, it plays it well and video quality looks good. If compatibility were improved the rating would certainly follow.

I purchased Mintek 10.2" portable DVD player in Sept '07. Sofar I have no problems. The DVD player is easy to operate. Sound quality is okay
A nice feature is that it plays DVD + as well as -.

This model has iffy sound, not very loud, the speakers should be facing us not up towards the ceiling and it stops occasionally. My Initial was much better in every way and lasted over three years. But was only a 7" and had a clearer picture, I should have stuck with that brand for how much this one cost.

I really liked this product. But unfortunately after just over a year, we plugged it into the car outlet and a terrible odor was emitted. And it no longer would work. We were on a trip and actually had to throw it out to get the smell out of the car. It was terrible! I have no idea what happened. It literally worked an hour before this happened. And we did not drop it or damage it in any way.

I bought this as a gift for someone who is seriously tech-impaired. The recipient was able to get it up and running without trauma and said that the quality of the picture and sound are impressive.