Customer Reviews

Samsung DVD-L25 Hand Held Mini DVD's Player

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

 

 

The system (as of 9 Sept 2006) is incorrectly listed as a "Samsung DVD-L25 Portable DVD Player with 3" Screen"

This discription is wrong:

The unit does not have a 3" screen, it has a 2.5" screen. This can be verified on samsungs web site which states:

"Samsung offers this new ultra portable DVD player which plays Mini-DVDs and displays images on a bright 2.5" TFT LCD"

Also this "DVD Player" will not play standard size DVDs. It is technicaly a "Mini DVD player" and will only play the special 3" mini DVDs used in DVD video cameras.

Getting beyond Amazon's deceptive advertising practices the unit has several issues:

Battery life is horrible. It is advertised at 2.5 hours but I am getting considerably less. While the batteries are rechargeable it is a hassle as they have to be removed from the unit.

While blank media abounds publishers have abandoned the mini-DVD format, anything you play on the unit you will have to "burn" yourself.

For a portable unit it is VERY sensitive to any vibration. For best viewing place on a table or other stationary surface.

It looks toylike but this is not for younger children. There are too many buttons, no "hold" mode (the buttons are always active), the main control is a finicky joystick and a nasty "put an eye out" warning if you lift the lid to look at the laser.

Pros: Great for long trips
Cons: batteries will die quickly if not correctly charged.

SCREEN SIZE
I never realized how small a 3" screen was until now. When my kids were watching the cartoon on a recent trip they resembled a football huddle. The price is so great, I might buy a second player as a early birthday gift.

SOUND
Sound quality is surprisingly quite good. However, I didn't find the "enclosed" headset in the box. Of course, I did buy the item "used" which is always a risk. Fortunately, like most people with small children I have lots of extra headsets.

BATTERY LIFE
The player says it can last for approximately 2.5 hours, however, I have had it last only 5 minutes after charging all night.

Other: Can't play standard DVDs. Your recorded news, music videos and the like will all need to be transferred to the 8 centimeter Mini-DVD Format [DVD-L25].

Overall, this was a great deal and one of my better investments.

I bought this product for my little boy for his birthday to use while on dialysis and to and from dialysis. It is a 2 hour drive one way to the dialysis unit and 4 hours for the treatment, so 3 times a week I have to have 16 AA batteries for the trip. I was amazed at the picture and sound quality. Other parents in the unit really liked it too, they are purchasing it for their child. I'm trying to find an adaptor for it so when in the unit we can plug it in.

I found the blank mini DVDs with 1.4 gb here on Amazon and with the program I have on my computer, I can put 2 hours of video on each DVD (An Entire movie or 2 movies if they are Cartoons).

Even though this was the only present my son received for his birthday that he didn't ask for, this is the one he loves the best. I'm purchasing more of these for my other children for their birthdays.

I did not realize that this item could only play mini-dvd's and that the selections are minimal.

We purchased this DVD player and think it is wonderful. There is a multitude of pre-recorded mini-dvds out there if you look. Many sold right here on Amazon. We probably have a mini dvd library of over 20 choices at this time, with more available, that we just haven't located yet. The unit is small, but that was the intention when buying it. It is more portable than the DVD players we currently have installed in our vehicles. The picture and sound quality is great as well. I have raved about this to friends. I would highly recommend it.

"This is among the tiniest DVD format players available" it states in the last line of the product description, yet its product dimensions state that it weighs 6 pounds . . . more than a bag of sugar . . . I do not think so, would Samsung design something that heavy for kids to lug around & watch a video??? Top that off with 13 pounds for a shipping weight from Amazon's listing and you get retailers charging $19.66/$13.79/$14.59 for shipping costs ???

Does this player come with its own pet brick to comfort it during the trip to its new home ???
I am amazed that Amazon is forcing us to beware of such tactics while visiting your site . . . don't you want us to feel comfortable with the information/pricing given at each products' site ???

Do other shoppers out there not look at shipping costs before you press "Add to Shopping Cart" or hit "1-Click ordering" ???

C'mon Amazon . . . get your act together . . . I love shopping here !!!

Make sure you know this is only to play the 3 inch "mini" dvd.
Might be good if you have those minidvd camcorder. that's all i can see the use of this thing. also note you'll be paying shipping on "13" pounds, althought the line above the weight clearly states this is 1.4 pounds. how lame is that? Unit feels very flimsy.

It is a good item, but you can't find any movies to play on it. So it defeated its purpose in my book.

I purchased this for a 5 year old who can't get enough of the DVD player. It came with everything needed to get started. The only issue is finding more pre-recorded DVD's.

While it would not have been a good deal at its original price for the ~ one third of that that Amazon is selling it for now it is amazing. Battery life is reasonable. a set of alkalines lasts about 2 and a half hours at max volume. The included looney tunes cartoon disk works great and has a nice batch of classic cartoons. I used it mostly to play MP3 files burned to a DVD and the built in speaker is adequate. I strongly suggest using earphones for movies though. I haven't yet tried the included 2300mAH niMH batteries. The included charger charged those overnight...took more than 5 hours but less than 8 to fully charge them. Heck the batteries and Charger alone are worth Half the current price so look at this as a mini-DVD player for the cost of a case of decent beer and you'll be happy.

The negatives are:

1) It only plays mini-DVDs so know that going into the purchase. You'll likely be burning your own fair use copies of movies and having to hunt down blank mini-DVDs. Look for them in the Camcorder accessory isles at big box retailers or buy online.

2) The buttons are very small and not easy to read the labels. This may be okay for a 5 to 9 year old, but not good for an elderly person.

3) the main control for navigating either movie menus or file menus is the top mounted joystick. It feels pretty flimsey and I'd doubt it will last long in the hands of the typical child.

4) It will not autoplay a disk just by turning it on. You have to push play. Not likely a problem for a child, but as my main use will be for my elderly mother to listen to recorded BBC radio shows that may be a non-starter. I won't find out for certain till Fall though.

Other thoughts:

It will eat batteries fast. It is powering a laser and a motor spinning a mini-DVD. You will need either a second set of rechargeables or a lot of Alkaline AA batteries if you plan on using it on trips of great length. A third option is to purchase a 6Volt DC adapter. I'd recommend taking the unit with you to Radioshack to make sure you get the right sized plug (The external power jack is a bi-polar located slightly forward of the headphone jack) and that the adapter has enough current(the manual calls for 6Volts DC at 1 to 1.5 Amps or order Adapter PA-AA25) to run it.