Customer Reviews

Toshiba SD-P1850 Portable DVD Player with 8-Inch Widescreen LCD

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I can recommend this DVD player after doing a lot of research and also trying out a few other models. My opinion is that the 3 best brands of portable DVD players are Toshiba, Phillips and Sony.

But I eliminated Sony because Sony is more expensive and does not include a fast forward button built in. In order to fast forward on the Sony models, you have to use the remote control which is sort of a dumb design.

While Phillips brand has better LCD video quality than Toshiba, and seems better built, the Toshiba has much more functionality. I chose Toshiba because:

-it has AV in (as well as out) so you can plug in a digital camera to display your photos or a video game system to play games. Phillips does not.

-the battery connects to the back and still allows you to set the player down flat on a table. The Phillips, oddly, makes the player rest at an angle when you attach the battery.

-Battery life. Toshiba is rated 4 hours, Phillips is rated 2.5 hours.

-Resume function: if you stop a movie, you can resume where you left off. The Phillips lacks this basic and useful function.

The Toshiba seems solidly designed and came very well packaged. It can read homemade DVD-Rs too, which not all players can do (Phillips can). For the 8" size of the screen, it seems nice and compact unlike the equivalent Phillips, which seems a lot bulkier.

I would recommend this player, it seems to have all the features I want, yet is compact and seems sturdy.

I'm really impressed by the combination of quality of design and construction of this player. I'm no expert, but have been looking for a few weeks rather intensively, and this is by far my favorite among the $150 - $200 players. The screen is bright and sharp--a much more watchable picture than some 10" screens I looked at. Two headphone jacks and the ability to play DVD-r's were essential to me, and this unit delivers without a hitch. It's got plenty of volume (I prefer to listen through headphones), and all the necessary controls are on the unit itself as well as on the small but not cramped remote. It also plays divX discs well.

I had been looking at some of the units around $100 and after handling this one, couldn't justify putting any money toward those universally cheaply constructed units.

It is more compact than many of the 7" units I looked at, which I like. It didn't seem overly warm underneath when playing a full-length movie (an important consideration when holding it on your lap!). But I bought it for the clarity of the screen and the solid feel. A great value, and an all around winner!

Out of the various gear I use to compose and edit video I especially love this Toshiba SD-P1850 player. In fact, merely calling it a "DVD player" doesn't do this product justice.

This is a great geek device. It's simple enough for people who just want to merely watch DVDs. For people like me who LOVE details this player is as geeky as it can get. For example, if you want to talk about sheek geekiness how many players do you know of that that can display ALL stats on the current title you're viewing (video/audio codecs, bandwidth information, etc.) in realtime? For DVD reviewers who want to present such stats in their reviews such information lends this player much cred for those seeking the ultimate reference-quality movie experience.

What I've noticed as of late that more DVD players are shipping with flash memory card slots. Intrigued and, since I was looking for a portable DVD player anyhow, this is the feature that sold me. I was curious as to how this technology would help me in my design work. Now I can say with complete satisfaction that for quick & dirty video presentations on the road or testing a cut of a video presentation before committing it to a full CD-R/VCD or DVD-R/DVD burn it is a great alpha/beta-testing tool.

Where this unit shines is within its DivX video codec capability (MPEG4). While I don't use DivX to encode my short films I do use its free open-source counterpart, XviD. For XviD afficionados I offer solid first-person anecdotal evidence: This player DOES play XviD-encoded video beautifully. So for those who had any doubts or still hesitating on whether to buy any DivX-compatible player yet didn't feel like an investment in a player just to realize in the end that it didn't work, here's your confirmation: Assemble your footage, encode it with XviD (I also use the Lame open-source audio codec to encode the audio to MP3 format) and play away. The only limitations are what you impose during the encoding process (more bandwidth means higher-quality video, of course) and by the speed of the memory card (or disc speed, depnding upon where you have your .AVI files). Since DivX/XviD is optimized for low-bandwidth the results are beautiful as opposed to the more ancient codecs out there (Indeo or Quicktime, anyone?). And Lame-encoded MP3 is definitely the way to go for a killer audio presentation.

Anyhow, back to the review of the player itself. I'm sure that a nice discussion of XviD and Lame can ensue as people discuss off of my pithy review. ;->

The dual headphone jacks are a nice feature if you want to view footage with a friend in relative privacy without the need of a splitter. There are also ports for A/V to output this player's data to a full-sized stereo system and monitor (television, HDTV, etc.) plus a PCM/bitstream jack for digital audio output (for external DTS decoders). When the external output is in use the LCD screen's backlight turns off. If you want you can close the LCD screen while it's still playing, turning this unit into a very sleek and space-saving DVD player. For other video work this player can also double as a simple portable monitor for other video devices.

The LCD screen quality is quite good. In fact I was watching Martin Scorsese's "Casino" DVD on it and found the video quality to be superb. In fact one may detect some grain in certain DVD footage because the screen is that sharp (Sidney Lumet's/Paddy Chayefsky's "Network" is an example of such a film which, due to its age, does show its grain). Also it appears that the screen is interlaced like that of a television. While I'll have to dig within my DVD collection to see if I have some progressive scan titles to verify that it's not just the hardware but the specific DVD video itself, it's still an impressive small screen. I would like to have the option of adjusting the brightness of its backlight, though.

The only problem that I have with the player is that on the handful of 4:3 aspect ratio titles I own or of video shot and presented in that format is that the player's LCD screen doesn't adjust accordingly (for example, non-anamorphic 16:9 titles which were simply 16:9 features letterboxed into 4:3 format). So, the 4:3 fills the 16:9 screen completely and destroying the aspect ratio in the process. It would be nice if the unit had a feature to matte the sides of the screen so that the original aspect ratio would be preserved (just like in widescreen features). The model of my DVD player was manufactured in September 2006 and I recall that HDTV monitors did have that feature at the time, so this is a "bug" as it were within a great technological presentation.

All in all, this is turning out to be one of my favorite toys. Err, I meant to say "TOOLS"! ;-> With this product along with my notebook computer and my Nikon digital camera (it can take very good video clips too) I have my own guerilla video editing platform that can fit in a couple of easily-carried bags (the camera and player total less than $400 in price and take up very little space). As a standalone player with killer battery life that can play most video tossed at it I cannot recommend this product enough. This is a killer toy...err, TOOL for geeks.

Oh, and keep an eye out for ANY player with BOTH memory card slots AND DivX capability. If a player doesn't have those two features then it's obsolete.

I have been very satisfied with the features and performance of this DVD player thus far. It is easy to use esp with its handy remote and while the battery pack is rather big, it does sit at the rear of the player inconspicuously and has a long life unplugged. I have been able to watch 3-hr movies so far without any need for recharging. The sound from the speakers is very crisp and it also has a surround sound effect. However, it can sound just a little "tinny" when the volume is turned up all the way. You can however hook it up to your own audio system if you want better sound quality. Otherwise, I would say that this is a very good product with many great features.

I find the Toshiba SD-P1850 to be a very good player. Granted I don't have any other portables to compare it to but I did a lot of comparisons and research before buying this.

Things I liked about the player:
1) Nice long battery life. About 4 hours under normal use is what I got and I know if I had a battery that only lasted 2-2 1/2 hours it would have driven me crazy.

2) A really good display. Video comes out looking sharp and the colors are very good. Of course you can change the video output to your liking through various adjustments.

3) Will play various formats. From MP3, WMA, JPG, Divx/Xvid to just plain CDs it'll play most of the formats out there.

4) One nice capability of the player is that for playing Divx/Xvid videos it can read them off of DVD-R, DVD+R, CD-R and to my surprise DVD-RW(unfinalized). I haven't used the memory slot yet but I'm sure it works fine there too. One thing to pay attention to is that the files have to be saved in the ISO 9660/UDF format. I was saving using Roxio's Drag-To-Disc program that came with my laptop and the player would not recognize the files on the disc. I first thought the Divx playing capability of the player was broken plus I burned 2 DVDs and a CD-R in the process before I figured out what the problem was. I finally used another program called Imgburn and that solved the problem.


Some of the quirks I find annoying with the player are as follows:
1) On fast-forward for 8X and 16X, as the video skips along the picture displayed is not the actual point where the video starts playing when you press Play but about a 30 seconds later. 2X and 4X actually are okay as the picture displayed will be where the video starts playing when you press Play.

2) Doesn't have a true Resume feature. If you press Stop once but don't turn off the player it will play where you stopped. If you press Stop twice it loses your place and will start from the beginning. Also it will lose your place when you turn it off. This may not seem a big deal but when you combine it with quirk #1 above, it gets kind of old when the chapter stops aren't exactly where you stopped in the first place.

Update: A workaround for doing a Resume feature is using the Bookmarks feature. It will even work when you press the Stop button twice.

3) As someone else stated on Divx/Xvid videos, the video is stretched to fill the 16:9 screen instead of being at 4:3 format for those videos that require a 4:3 format. This cannot be changed like you can with DVDs.

4) Speakers sound very 'tinny' compared to when you use a really nice set of headphones. The difference is night and day but then again this is a portable. I'm probably one of the few that is glad they didn't include any headsets as I would've thrown them away. Invest in a good headset i.e. Grado, Shure and Sennheiser to name a few, as they will make enjoying the movie/music that much better. It will cost more upfront but in the long run you will not have to buy a new headphone in a couple of years. There is an EQ Mode with the player and with a nice set of headphones you won't need this feature. The only reason they have this mode I think is to compensate for bad headphones. Life is too short to listen to crappy sound so get a nice pair of headphones. Your ears will thank you for it.

A surprise with this player is that while the manual states that it plays NTSC only, I put a PAL disc in and it actually played! This was a region free DVD and the disc would not play on my 2 other DVD players and a DVD recorder. To make sure this wasn't an anomaly, I've taken the PAL disc out numerous times and it has played it every time and all normal DVD functions are available. Also you can take the A/V cable that comes with the player, connect it to your TV and watch it there if you want.

Other 'undocumented' features included being able to enter the time to a specific location on Divx/Xvid videos, using the on-screen display for Divx/Xvid videos, and Divx/Xvid file names can be greater than 8.3 character format as given in the manual. I have file names for example that look like this "Filename.Xvid.English.avi"

Overall I'm very satisfied with the Toshiba SD-P1850 and would recommend it.

I am going abroad for a while and I really needed a portable DVD player for my American DVDs. I originally bought the Phillips 8.5" (with ipod hook-up) but after reading the instruction booklet, I learned that it had a 2.5 hour battery life! I thought this was ridiculous and returned it for another. I probably spent an hour in Best Buy and decided upon the Toshiba player.

One of the main deciding factors for this DVD player was the battery life. The box states that you can get four hours of battery life from a fully charged battery and I had read reviews of people getting even more than that. Many of the other DVD players only had 2-3 hour battery life, which is completely ridiculous when you consider movie length.

Other factors that really pushed me toward buying this model were the little things. For example, a lot of the portable DVD models have swivel screens, which is nice, but I think that those are slightly flimsy. This model has a simple open and close screen that latches shut, which many swivel screen models lack. It is also much slimmer than many swivel screen models, which is nice when you are cramped for space.

I found that the sound and picture quality are very good. This model was easily heard in the middle of a TV section in a Best Buy. It was sitting next to a Sony with an 8" screen and this model blew the Sony out of the water in sound volume and quality. It also has amazing color and clarity in the picture, which is great considering this is an 8" screen.

There was only one thing that I did not like about this DVD player and it was the running sound. At first I felt that it was a little loud, but I have gotten use to it now. This however, could just be my model, others may run very quietly.

This portable DVD player is a GREAT value for the money!

This is my first portable DVD player that I have purchased. It has all the bells and whistles I need, including an 8" widescreen format to enjoy mini theater like video while on the go. I have seen other views fixated on "do not use in a moving vehicle", but I think that is meant to be "don't watch while driving", poorly translated to english. This works fine while moving and in the backseat, and properly secured. This Div-X certified, DTS, Dolby, THX,...ect, plays almost anything you throw at it. It also has build in MMC/XD/SD/Memory stick slot built right into the front, so you can see a nice slide show of family photos prior to returning home. The battery is a bit bulky, but fits nice and flat to the back and bottom of the unit, and has a reasonable life (4 hours). This comes iwth AV mini cable adapter, AC adapter, Car adapter, slim remote, and battery pack. I do see a possible inconvenience of having to send this back to the vendor for work, but I recieved this as a gift, and that is fine by me. An extended warranty was not available where purchased, so this was the option anyway. Overall, picture quality is great, sound is adequate, but with 2 headphone jacks, there is no fighting to hear the sound. This has video in and video out and optical audio out...so it can be hooked into a big tv/stereo system. Finally, very light unit, 1.9 lbs without battery, very portable. Worth checking out, I'm happy, and I think you will be too.

I bought this toshiba portable dvd player yesterday and think it's a great buy, based on four hours of continuous use.
Of concern to me while selecting a portable dvd player was battery life, however, i watched an entire dvd of Prison Break (all four episodes) in one sitting with no problem. Initial charge time the battery was under 2 hours. I was able to pause, stop and resume with no problem. It also has nice picture quality and is light weight and does not seem to over heat like a laptop.

My only issues with this DvD player are:
1. Power on/off and volume cannot be accessed by the remote (those features are manual which was surprising)
2. It is also a bit loud if you are not using headphones.

Other than that, it's great.

T. Tom wrote an excellent review. This is indeed a great player and the best I've found in this price range. I just want to add one tidbit of information that I wish I could find out before buying the unit.

The AC adapter for this DVD player works at 110-240V. That's exactly what I wanted so I can be sure that I can take the player with me overseas.

We have had this portable DVD player for about 2 months now and are quite pleased with it. I have been able to play DivX and commercial discs without any problems.

I wish that the screen could swival so that it would be easier for my daughter to view it while in the car. I bought a case that hangs between the seats and it's a bit awkward. But with some adjustment on my part, I am sure that we could make it better.

While I understand that it does state in the manual to never operate the player in a moving vehicle, I believe that if you are using this product for highway travel, it will be fine. I think that they put that in there so that they are protected against people claiming that discs were damaged when people use it one roads that aren't as smooth. I mean...sure if you take this down a dirt road or pothole infested road...you are going to get skipping.

I wish that the battery didn't stick out of the back so far. And I also wish that there was a menu option to see how much life was left in the battery.

The case does feel a bit flimsy. Very plastic. I am careful but as my daughter starts to want to do things for herself, we may have some damage.

Overall, very good product at a reasonable price.