Customer Reviews

Sony DVP-FX1 Portable DVD Player

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

 

 

the new sony dvd player is not what i would have expected from Sony. The sound is fabulous when using earphones. However,the picture clarity is not nearly as defined as the Panasonic. I have both and the picture quality doesn't compare. The Panasonic is light years ahead of Sony in this area. the Sony being the most expensive player on the market leaves you disappointed in the picture and external sound quality.However, it is lighter and easier to handle than the Panasonic. I would not trade picture quality for ease and handling.

I have always been a fan of Sony products and recently eagerly awaited the release of their new portable DVD, the DVP FX1. However, I was told by the Sony rep in its Chicago store that FX1 cannot be plugged into a car or airplane outlet; extra batteries would have to be bought and carried instead. I intend to use the portable DVD almost exclusively on car and airplne trips so I will find another brand instead.

Wow!!! This portable DVD player is my favorite Sony toy!!! Not only is the video quality excellent but there are also A/V inputs and outputs. In other words, hook it up to a big TV or hook your VCR or camera up to it. I think the most important feature is that it can play dual layer discs. Often confused with double sided discs, dual layer is two metal films on one side of the disc. It's basically 2x regular DVD data on only one side. Although tricky at first, the navigation system is well planned and well thought out. As a bonus, it uses enhanced signals when a Glasstron headset is connected to the player. I strongly recommend this product, mostly due to the quality of Sony but also due to its overwhelming coolness factor. I wish I could give it more than five stars!!

Gooddog back again !

I reviewed this Sony in comparison to the Sharp DV-L70U (see) about a year ago.

I am even happier with it now.

I have one correction : the Sony built-in speakers DO produce stereo and even image sounds if placed near a corner of a room!

I have since purchased an infrared transmitter "LaserLink" and receiver set (available from Sony only) to send excellent picture and sound, without wires, across the room to my Sony 27" Trinitron.

It is awesome how well this works and how convenient it is when friends want to watch a film together !!! The little matchbox sized sender plugs into the side of the player and the burger sized receiver plugs into the big TV and sits on top of the cabinet or wherever (within 3 meters of the player) . The picture is as good as with the wires and the sound is good, clear stereo (DTS ? Don't know yet).

Only the marginally better picture quality of the Sharp haunts me a little. But my Sony is still free of ANY bad pixels etc.

I am VERY happy with it and now own about 100 DVD movies.

I HAVE seen an 8" Sharp with improved fit and finish advertised... will look and see those and report back --- Sharp could beat Sony easily if they sack the guy who designs slipshod plastic cases for them , and if they reduce the heat given off by the unit, and if they get a decent 5 hr battery (that's how long my DVD-FX1 battery lasts) !!!

WHY DON'T THEY HAVE A PLUG-IN DIGITAL TV/CABLE READY RECEIVER MODULE SO WE CAN USE IT'S 16 X 9 MORE OFTEN ????

----gooddog

The review in "Somewhat Disapointed" is right on the money -- I've compared the Sony unit with the Panasonic seven inch player and the Sony has an average picture at best. The Panasonic has a laser sharp picture. The Sony has great build quality but overall for the price is a disapointment.

I bought this unit about a year ago it has performed like a sony should a bit pricey then compared to others now but the fun aspect of a portable dvd player slash viewer is phenomenal!I rate this product 5 stars because of the ability to change screen
modes for what or how you care to watch it small big etc and it's ability to play with extreme quality no kidding it will rival all if not most other units plays well on it;s output to other video sources!so cool factor it's surround sound is uncanny and when plugged into a stereo it's ability to output digital & dts is very good good separation spatial effects excellent.good buy!

I had just purchased this tiny piece of electronic wizardry from sony. after playing it for awhile, i found a few things that could have made this machine nicer, lets start with sound quality, it could have been better. 2 earphone jacks would have been nice. the brightness switch doesn't seem to change the picture too much, after all, it is sony's first attempt at a portable dvd w/monitor. so we all know they'll improve in all aspects of this machine. one last note. It was quite pricey....

I hit the "Buy" button as soon as I saw this was available. It's a beautiful machine.

Despite the metal body, the Sony is still small and light, and probably isn't as prone to scratches as its plastic-bodied counterparts. That's a good thing because despite tossing mine in my briefcase daily it still looks brand new.

The battery adds about a 1/4" to the height and doubles the player's weight, but it snaps into place with no cable connector to get tangled or broken, which is why I didn't buy the second-generation Panasonic. I've watched two movies back-to-back on one battery charge without a problem.

The screen on my unit is bright with no burned out pixels. Color reproduction is good with no noticable color shift. In certain situations, there is a slight halo visible along high-contrast edges, although this is inconsistent (playback on my TV is perfect). The screen pivots almost180 degrees, so finding an optimal viewing angle is easy.

There must be a BIG memory buffer since playback isn't affected by hard shaking (I mean REALLY hard shaking), so I'm guessing it will be popular with the minivan set.

Basic controls--play, stop, etc.--are located along the front panel so you can still use them with the screen closed. Interactivity controls are on top and are similar to that on Sony's high-end computer monitors (you'll either love or hate the joystick toggle). Flipping through the five screen size options is as easy as pressing a button beside the screen, which is also where the brightness control is located. Smart design that.

Onscreen set-up controls could be less arcane. The onscreen icons aren't labeled, so it's difficult to understand their purpose.

Sound is fine through the built-in speakers when watching DVDs, but this machine really rocks when hooked up via the optical connection or when using digital reference headphones. Headphones are pretty much a must have when listening to CDs, unless you really miss AM radio.

The disc location memory is a great feature. If you turn the player off when a disc is playing, all you need to do to start up where you left off is to hit the play button. It turns itself on and finds the location as soon as the disc spins up.

As a self-professed gadget freak, I have to say that this is the coolest thing I've craved for some time. Happily, it was worth the wait.

-----UPDATE 05/27/2002-----

After almost two years with this player, I'm still very happy with it. Since I rarely travel anymore, the machine sits on top of my TV 90% of the time, or in the kitchen while I cook.

Sometimes the machine will refuse to play a disc. It will spin up, sound like it's getting lost, and then stop with a flashing code onscreen. The way to fix this is to carefully (I mean very, very carefully) clean the laser lens. I usually use a Q-tip dipped in plain water and then blotted until just damp.

Listening to cd's is awesome with the surround sound switch (especially with sony's "studio monitor" headphones which are excellent), and I thought the picture was really good EXCEPT when watching a movie that is NOT enhanced for wide screen. This causes the picture to become blurred and unwatchable as you adjust the "screen mode" to zoom in to spread the information out to fill the screen.

Watching 4:3 (standard TV size) pictures is a breeze because there are "black bars" are on the sides of the picture instead of the incredibly irritating "gray bars" that many 16:9 (wide screen) TV makers have opted for.

I give this product 4 stars mainly because of the speakers. They're very easy to blow if your watching a movie scene that is quiet and then suddenly loud. If this happens, you will notice a slight puncture wound in at least one of your speakers. A fault that I've noticed in more than one of my sony products that really do have the best images possible, but are not-so-hot when it comes to the speakers attached to them. I usually listen with headphones anyway.

Plane trips are one long movie now, they could put me in a piece of luggage with this thing and I wouldn't care.

I purchased a Sony portable DVD player this time last year. Big mistake. It stopped working shortly after the 90 day warranty and Sony would do nothing but let me pay them for a repair/exchange. So I paid for an exchange + Shipping. Then the replacement they sent (same model) would not even turn on. Then they offer to let me pay to send that one back too (months have transpired because they do not send a replacement until they have logged in and assessed the one you send back). Meanwhile, I still have nothing. Sony charge me $500 for a lemon product and will not stand behind it. I will never purchase a Sony product again.