Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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164 of 169 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Flawed, but the best high end portable dvd as of Aug '05, August 12, 2005
I wanted a 9-10 inch portable dvd. The best values I could find came down to the Pansonic LS90 and the Philips PET1000.
I decided on the Panasonic for several reasons: (1) It had superior audio over the Philips ... I could hear nuances in the Incredibles like phones ringing in the background that I couldn't hear on the Philips. (2) The Panasonic operated more quietly, particularly when skipping through chapters. The Philips emitted a grinding sort of noise as the laser sought chapters. (3) The Panasonic's ability to position it's screen in so many configurations is a big plus when using it on a airplane. (4) The extra battery life on the Panasonic is helpful, even if you need to darken the screen a bit to get that extra time. (5) The Panasonic takes up less room in my briefcase, due to a slimmer profile, and a more space-efficient way in which Panasonic attaches the battery to the unit (as compared to the Philips, which is a bit more bulky).
The Philips has a better picture, hands down. It's considerably clearer than the Panasonic. But that doesn't mean the Panasonic is bad. I'd give the screen on the Panasonic a very good, with the Philips scoring an excellent -- best currently available I might add.
All in all, it was a no brainer for me to trade off some picture quality for the extra advantages the Panasonic held over the Philips.
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64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Built for a purpose, and it exceeds at it, December 6, 2005
Once I came to terms with my requirements for a portable DVD player, it made the purchase decision very easy for me. Your needs may be different, but here is my review. (Like many others, I looked at many units before purchasing.)
1) Battery Life - a player is dead-weight on an airplane if the batteries are dry. The LS90 advertises the longest battery life on the market and it delivers on it. 4.5 Hours. A blank screen is not entertaining.
2) Durability - a portable player will be bumped around on a plane and a car, this is inevitable. This one has survived several trips, including some very bumpy flights and car rides. Other players would have skipped or broke. LS90 chugs away.
3) Ability to play multiple formats - again, a portable DVD player is worthless if it will not play your disk. Looking at a blank screen is not my version of entertainment. This one plays everything that I can throw at it.
4) Sound - The internal speakers provide the quality that I expected - adequate for its design. I do prefer headsets, and it excels at that.
5) Picture - Yes, with a portable DVD player I can keep outside elements from intruding my personal space. So far, it has not been viewed to be rude, but rather "trendy" behavior. A side-by-side comparison of the LS90's with their competion does have the competition show a sharper and brigter picture (Toshiba), but they also advertise a 2 hour battery life. Once I took the player home and started using it, I found the picture quality to be very enjoyable.
Bottom line - I bought this unit to be entertained while traveling. A blank screen is boring. The LS90 delivers 4.5 hours on a charge, and enables me to escape my longest flights. If I had a sterile environment that rides on a cushion of air with unlimited power, then maybe I would select a different unit(perhaps a 50" plasma w/DVD?). My world has bumps, space and weight constraints, no AC power, and unpredictable delays between flights. The LS90 keeps me entertained and I award it my highest rating - 5 stars.
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Updated June 2006.
After 6 months of moderate use in very bumpy environments, it has held up perfectly. I have learned how to tweak the screen through its customizable display options to make the picture very bright and clear. I also use it in the car so that my [...] is entertained when we take long trips. It is perfect, a life saver. Flawless performance. I am impressed with Panasonic. They will get a lot more of my business.
Copyright 2005 SFG
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108 of 117 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Expensive but worth it ..., May 27, 2005
I picked up the DVD-LS90 so I could watch DVDs because of jury duty. I ended up watching numerous episodes of Family Guy and part of Thomas Crown Affair on the LCD panel.
Fast forwarding and reversing is a little tricky because the buttons on the unit itself doubles as chapter skip. You have to hold down the button to fast forward or reverse and then use the play button to stop (this is a bit annoying). Each single push is read as chapter skipping, even while fast forwarding or reversing.
I don't believe this particular unit is progressive scan. Amazon's website say progressive scan but Panasonic's website indicates no (and I tend to believe the Panasonic website since there's no indication on the box exterior or manual about the unit having progressive scan capability).
The ability to move the LCD panel and pivot (it doesn't simply open like a clamshell) gives it a big edge when using the food tray on a plane since the panel can swivel so it's on top of the unit (vs behind it like the typical clamshell). This allows the unit to rest more securely on the tray (vs sticking out partway like typical clamshell displays).
For some reason, I was expecting a sharper display since it's supposed to handle 500 lines of horizontal resolution (but perhaps I'm trying to compare a notebook LCD that does 1600x1280 on a 15" diagonal against a 9" wide-screen that only claims 500 lines). I can't offer a comparison with other portable DVD player displays (I didn't compare before picking it up -- it wasn't available to demo at any store in town -- too new).
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