Customer Reviews

Sony DVPFX810 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black

5 star:		(64)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

Review for the Sony DVP-FX810. Primary use: Aboard our boat and used
with second 13" flat screen.

Well, like most people we've all been looking at these portable DVD
players for years. Remember when they were 400-500 dollars or more? Now
we have a large selection available for far less. The Sony weighs in at
a bit under 200 dollars. If you read the reviews on these players,
you'll generally see some happy users and an almost universal amount of
folks whose units went belly up fairly soon.


Here's the bottom line. Just about ALL of these players are built
cheaply. Speaking to a friend and a large retailer, I learned that
almost all see a fair amount of returns, including the pricier units.
No matter which unit you buy BE SURE to buy an extended warranty so you
can get a replacement if it dies.


Now....on to the Sony. This unit appears to be better built than most
of the others. It has a solid feel and the screen hinge is more robust
than others. The unit is slim, black and looks more like a 400 dollar
unit when sitting next to entries from Toshiba or Magnavox. The screen
rotates 180 degrees in one direction and will fold back flat against
the unit creating a tablet type player/viewer. This is perfect for
headrest or wall hanging, but Sony has made no provision for this so
you'll need to improvise.


Screen quality: Well....here's the meat and potatoes. Based on my many
years of audio and video usage on the higher end of the market, I'd say
the FX810 has average video quality, which is to say less than
stunning. Viewing the screen dead on makes for poor viewing. Tilt the
screen a bit and you get a more contrasty effect. Resolution is
passable, but nothing to write home about. Frankly, none of the small
screens are very impressive and offer less detail than a good notebook
computer. Still, the image is "just fine" for it's intended purpose and
watching a movie is no problem. Color and hue have that less than
accurate LCD look, but again, quite passable as entertainment.


Sound quality: Pretty weak, as on every one of these units without
exception. A pair of headphones or even cheap external powered speakers
will help a lot. This is not a flaw, but a limitation due to the size
of the player. Sony did what they could with some very tiny speakers.


Battery life: WOW! Sony's battery is a killer and ran my unit for two
whole movies, well beyond 4 hours and had power to spare. This may be
the best on the market in this regard. Charge times are somewhat long,
taking nearly five hours. The unit will charge while playing as well
and will work off the included AC adapter or 12 volt cigarette lighter
plug.


Feature set: This is a pretty basic unit. It won't play DTS tracks and
it has only composite out. I feel that without S-Video and progressive
scan, Sony has focused on making this a more solid unit in other areas,
such as overall build quality. The FX810 ships with a remote that is
full size. It's a bit odd to have such a clunky remote for a portable
DVD player, but it's easier to use and won't have you hunting for
little odd batteries used by the credit card remotes. Video in/out
plugs are included with RCA's to connect to a TV. You can also send in
a video game or video camera signal in. A single switch toggles between
AV in/out.


Another Bottom Line: Do YOU really need one of these? I have a DVD
player with 7.1 dolby in my van, but I wanted a small player for my 35
foot sailboat that could also feed a larger 13" screen. This fits the
bill. Features like progressive scan would be a waste on something like
this. The long battery life is nice and folks who fly a lot will
certainly appreciate that. If Sony makes a version with a 10" screen,
higher resolution and keeps the battery life they'll see quite a few
sales. In the end I still feel this is one of the better units, if not
the biggest, around. For under 200.00 it's fun and cheap, but looks
pricey. Just spend a few dollars more on the warranty and you'll be
good to go!


Capt RB
35s5
NY

As I write this, Amazon still has the player listed as "not yet available" even though it's been available from other vendors for several weeks now. I've had mine for about three weeks.

As much as I like this player, there are a few reasons I'm only giving it four stars. First and foremost, the player has no screen mode for accommodating older wide-screen DVD's. When you watch one, you'll get black bands on all four sides. If you switch the LCD mode to Full, it only stretches the picture horizontally. It does a great job, however, on more recent "enhanced for 16x9" discs.

I'm not sold on the idea that glossy screens are a good idea on laptops or DVD players. A glossy finish supposedly makes the colors more vibrant, but it also means that, unless you're in a very dark room, you're always going to get reflections, particularly in scenes that are darkly lit.

The player is heavier than I expected. It is heavier without a battery than my older 7" Toshiba player is with a battery attached. While this gives the impression of a solid, well-made product, it also makes me worry about how severely it could be damaged if dropped on a hard surface.

On the plus side, the twist and flip tablet mode is well thought out with all of the controls running along the bottom of the screen. This could be improved by having a way to differentiate the buttons by touch. The picture quality is as good as you're going to find in an under-$200 player. The battery life is impressively long; I'm getting 5-6 hours per charge. Both AC and car adapters are included. Unlike my older player, when you turn the DVPFX810 off, it remembers where you stopped watching and resumes play at the same point. For me, this player is well worth what I paid for it.

The main reasons why I bought this DVD player is because: 1) I loved the way it looked (very sleek and stylish), 2) it was in my price range, 3) it said it had a 6 hour battery life, and 4) it has two headphone jacks.

Cons:
--The glossy screen makes for a lot of glares. to fix this problem, I hold up something dark in front of the screen!
--If you like to watch old movies on DVDs in wide screen, you're out of luck. It can only play those movies in full screen mode, which means you have a tiny screen (however, I don't know of any other DVD player that has fixed this problem)
--I think the screen is pixely, in other words, the pixels are quite large. It bothered me because it makes the picture less defined. However, an advantage to this is that your kids won't be tempted to keep their faces inches away from the screen and ruin their eyes. The farther away you hold the screen, the better the picture looks!
--The twist screen only twists in one direction. I sometimes forget which direction that is, and risk breaking the thing.
--the sleek remote isn't very sleek; it's about 1/3 the size of the player itself, and maybe 1/2 as thick. I found that quite amusing.

PROS!
--It's a beautifl design. The speakers and buttons are all on the screen which makes the tablet design wonderful.
--you really do get 6 hours of battery life. Of course, this is on the dimmest screen setting; but I've been able to watch at least 2 movies in good lighting on one charge.
--You don't need the remote to watch a movie. there are some settings that you can only make with the remote, but i've actually never needed to change those settings.
--the speakers are loud enough...for a quiet room. If you decide to watch a movie in a loud restaurant or (as I did once) in a car while it's being hailed on, you won't hear much. But overall, i'm happy with the noise they can put out.
--the package comes with everything you'll need! a battery, a remote, audio/video cables, a car charger and a regular charger.
--it saves your movie for you. if you turn it off in the middle of a movie, you can turn it on and resume it right where you left off!
--it automatically selects the right screen mode for the screen size (wide screen or full screen)...unless of course it's an old movie.
--there's an IR reciever on the screen as well as the front of the player. So whether you have it in tablet setup or regular dvd player setup, you can use the remote.

The dimesions for the player are:
9 in x 6 in x 1.75 in (with the batery on)

the remote is:
5.5 in x 2.5 in x 0.75 in.

Also good to know:
--the "open" button on the front of the player is not to open the screen (the screen has no latches or buttons holding it closed), it's to open the place where you put the DVD in.
--Charge the batter completely before you use it for the first time. I charged mine for about 5 hours the first time; but i think it was done after 3.
--I'm very picky about protecting this thing, so I chose the Targus hard-shell 10" case (model #TDC004US) and the icon dvd player neoprene sleeve (total cost ~$60). I put the player in the sleeve and then i put that inside the targus case, and pile all my cords and remote around it. I find this gives a lot of protection.

I wanted a portable DVD player that I could prop up on the treadmill at the gym and watch movies while I burned away the calories. The Sony does the job admirably.

I must admit, I didn't do a lot of research on this purchase. I started by buying a $79 special, which worked okay, but felt kind of flimsy. So I returned it and got the Sony.

One thing that seemed surprisingly similar between the cheap unit and the Sony was picture quality. Resolution just doesn't seem to be great on these units. But since you're only looking at an 8" screen, the picture does appear crisp, with decent contrast. The screen is glossy, and prone to glare, but it hasn't been a problem, even in the brightly lit gym.

The screen will swivel and fold into a tablet, with all controls within easy reach. The player comes with a remote (a big one for such a small player), but I haven't even unwrapped mine. I suppose it might come in handy if you used the player's outputs to a large screen and home theater system.[UPDATE] I wanted to finish watching the disc in the player, and rather than taking it out and changing players, I just plugged it into the inputs on the front of my TV, found the remote, and I had a full functioning DVD player. It even picked up where I left off in the movie I was watching.

Battery life is close to 5 hours, about twice that of most similar players. An AC adapter/charger, and auto adapter are included. Headphones are not, but ports are provided for two sets.

I've heard that an extended warranty is recommended, but the player comes with a 12 months parts and labor (as opposed to the typical 12/3 terms). I figure if it breaks after a year, there'll be something slicker and nicer available to spend my toy budget on.

So far I am quite happy with this player. It fits perfectly on the treadmill, and helped pass the hour long wait at the doctor's office. A nice diversion for automotive or motorcycle passengers, too.

Great battery life, swiveling screen, and pleasing design make the Sony Portable DVD Player worth considering. Oddly enough, Sony released a 7" Walkman DVD player about the same time. I can't figure why they would compete with themselves. I like the one I got because it seems more versatile, and the screen is better protected when closed. It sounds, from the description, that the `Walkman' might have better audio features.

I spent weeks researching portable dvd players before finally purchasing this one. My general findings from my research were 1) no players seem to be quite loud enough when used without headphones, 2) less expensive players don't seem to stand the test of time, 3) most battery lives seem to be around 2.5-3 hours.

I bought this Sony DVPFX810 player in October 2006 and am still as delighted with its performance as I was when it first arrived.

The picture quality is great, and the screen size makes for easy viewing. I have taken this player on a couple of trips and find that its size works well even in the cramped quarters of airplane seating. The volume is more than sufficient with headphones. Without headphones the volume is also fine -- if there is not much outside noise (in a room full of talking people you would need the headphones). The battery has been lasting for around 5 hours of playing time -- a stand-out feature of this player.

This player also allows for plugging in the player and using it while the battery is detached, which lets me feel free to watch a movie at home without worrying about zapping the life of the battery.

The swivel screen looks pretty cool, but I almost always use the player in its "laptop" formation.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I've had this product for 4 1/2 years now, and it is still working as well as the day I got it! Battery still even good! I love this thing!

I bought the case "Case Logic Koskin DVD Player Case w/SS" for this player, which fits very nicely.

Let's be realistic. It's a PORTABLE DVD Player, not a HOME THEATRE module or the centerpiece of any entertainment center. It's fairly lightweight for having an 8 inch screen. I did get 6 hours out of the first charge, even now(6 months later), I consistently receive 5 solid hours. The screen swivels for a flat-viewing option on a decent color display. It is not a HD display, but what portable device is going to do that for under $200? I've owned two other brands for this price-or less-and remember, you'll get what you paid for. For the price, I've not seen a better quality product.

I purchased the Sony DVP-FX810 DVD player for use while exercising. The one standout feature of this model is that the screen flips up, pivots around, and folds back flat, making it look a bit like a tabletPC. This is great for my purpose, since I need to put the laptop on exercise machines much like others are putting magazines.

The player feels quality built - definitely not a cheapo wal-mart special. If I was handed it and asked to guess the price, I'd say $300+. It comes with a full-size remote (not particularly practical for me), but everything is also accessible from the unit itself. There's a very practical rubber nub built in (sort of like that on IBM laptops) that lets you move around menus without using a remote. It also comes with a car and home charger.

My only negative on this player is that it is rather thick. The battery fits to the bottom of unit - measuring the full size (l x w) of the player. That makes the unit feel a bit thick. That said, it still fits on the exercise machines without difficulty. Despite other reviewers, I have not complaints about the quality of video. It looks fine to me - though I am not an expert. Overall, I would say that I'm very pleased with the purchase.

Written by Arthur Bradley, author of "Process of Elimination" - an intense thriller in which a martial artist, a greedy corporate attorney, and a sexy conspiracy theorist team up to stop a world-class sniper from killing presidential candidates.

Please be kind enough to indicate if reviews are helpful.

This unit has very good picture and sound quality. However, the speaker on our unit malfunctioned in less than a month. What a disappointment after paying over $200. To top it off, the customer service from Sony has been frustrating. It has taken close to a month to receive a replacement for a defective unit.

I got mine in the airport to kill time on long flights and it was the battery stamina that draw me to the Sony when I looked at all the available DVD players. That turned out to be a bad decision.

After charging and trying to watch my first movie I thought I had got a broken unit because the screen viewing angle is vertically maximum 20 degrees. Basically you have to tilt the creen forward and look on the screen slightly from above to even be able to see the picture. It is almost impossible to view the screen straight. Secondly the picture quality is really poor and the image becomes pixelated (you can actually see the individual pixels in the screen) due to the low resolution in the screen.

The contrast is bad and all dark areas merge together in a movie. Initially I thought the DVD I was looking at was a poor copy because the image quality was so bad. I was so convinced that the unit was broken that I took it back and changed it for a new one. Then I relaized that the unit wasn't broken, it was the design that was broken. Since the replacement unit was equally bad.

Then I happened to read the specs for the display used by Sony and it turns out that the vertical resolution is only 200 pixels on an 8" screen. That clearly explains why I could see individual pixels in the screem while wathcing a movie.

So, the bottom line is that this player has a very nice design, long battery life but completely and utterly useless with the built in very low-resolution LCD. So, the point of the whole device is lost.

So now I have it in the Office purely as a DVD player and use it with a small Denver LCD TV which has a magnitude better screen.

I can only speculate why Sony chose such a poor display but I suspect that it was very power efficient to allow them to have the exceptional battery life.

I've been using this product a lot for a couple months now. The screen is quite good and unlike other units I've tried this one has very low dvd spin noise (in fact, when a dvd is playing you don't hear it at all). So far I've not had one problem with this unit. Why only four stars then? Because the volume is really not loud enough; infact, I use this with two small portable Sony speakers that plug into one of the two mike jacks (the speakers work with their own battery). The overall battery life is great, but of course you can plug into a regular wall outlet or battery outlet in your car.