Sony DVP-FX820 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
by Sony
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Our Price: $194.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $57.95 (click here) Category: Home Theater See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony DVP-FX820 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
Customer Review: Its worked great for presentations
Summary: 5 Stars
We've been using this as a video or audio source for presentations (showing short videos) and short live events (rallies). It's worked very well. I'll start with negative aspects, then positive ones.
Negatives: The battery has lasted only a year before its lifespan has decreased drastically. This is not a problem for us, because we always have mains power available.
The screen is hard to see in sunlight. It looks OK in the shade, so we have to bring something to shade the unit outdoors. It would be fantastic if this device had an outdoor-sunlight mode.
There is no fast-forward for audio, at least not on the controls on the console. If I were using this unit for audio that required cueing up music, this wouldn't work.
Positives: Very good sound, superior to many portable audio devices. It has a full, rich bass. The on-screen volume control works better than an analog dial because it's less likely to be jostled accidentally.
Decent video with lots of contrast. I've seen better (like the video out from a Mac), but for short presentations, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't use a combined "camcorder" style A/V plug. It has one output for video, and one for audio (the headphone out). This makes it a LOT easier to interconnect this device with external amplifiers and projectors, because these two devices are often in completely different locations, in opposite directions from the player. Also, if a cable breaks, it's a lot easier to make a quick fix when the audio and video are on separate plugs, and the plugs are totally generic, as they are with this unit. This feature is a must-have for our purposes.
It has a digital audio out, which would potentially be an awesome feature, if our equipment had digital audio in or an external DAC. One problem we suffer is impedance mismatch - our projector causes our amp to hum. If we had a digital-to-audio device that interconnected via the optical output, we'd be able to separate the video electronics from the amp, and have totally clean sound. For our purposes, this isn't necessary, but, in more critical projection situations, this is a useful feature.
The controls are simple, and right beneath the screen. There's enough space between them so you aren't likely to press the wrong button. You can put tape over the controls you don't want to touch, and labels over the ones you want to see more clearly. If you're into putting tape on your device, this allows it.
The software is okay. It took a while to learn how to get the system back to "start", and how to cue a DVD or CD, but, once you know, it's predictable. The pause and play are responsive and nearly instantaneous for both DVD and CD. The "screen saver" visual is pleasant (it's an abstract blue image, not a big Sony logo). For presentations, these features put this unit ahead of others.
The unit seems to be sturdy. We've hauled it around to many locations, and it still hasn't broken.
Overall, it's not perfect, but I still give it 5 stars.
Customer Review: Private Movie for Two, Anytime, Anywhere
Summary: 5 Stars
I spent a lot of time recently comparing various portable DVD players. I was looking for something that would allow my S.O. and I to watch movies together wherever we liked without interference from roommates, etc. I also wanted a player that had high enough resolution to power a full-sized TV so that when I'm traveling, I can hook it up to the TV in my room without a loss of resolution.
This player meets both needs perfectly.
Noteworthy Features:
* It had dual headphone jacks for when we're in a public place, and rather good speakers (for a tiny device) for when we have more privacy.
* The ability to tilt and rotate the screen is very helpful. The base can remain firmly seated on a table, lap, dashboard or behind a headrest and still remain visible without impairing the remote control's reception.
* Battery life is quite good. It has enough power to play thru 2 feature-length films with time to spare. In addition, it ships with a power adapter for the car so you won't need a power inverter should the battery become expended.
* The battery pack itself latches onto the bottom of the unit. It doesn't weigh much and doesn't add much bulk, but it *can* be removed/reattached quickly and easily if desired.
* Comes in several colors (if that sort of thing matters to you). Mine's got a matt-black finish and I'm happy with it.
* Menus and remote are both easy to use. I especially like being able to toggle thru the language options without exiting to the main menu.
* Screen resolution is 800x480 widescreen! Most of the other players are merely "QVGA" which means quarter-VGA (i.e. 1/4 the total pixels). This easily has the best definition of any of the players that were out (in a comparable price range) as of Christmas 2008/New Year 2009.
Other Considerations:
* The disc is accessed via a flip-up lid on the top of the base. (As opposed to a slot-drive.) The screen folds down against the door.
* There is no USB or SD/MMC port. However, the unit does have AV inputs so if you want to hook up your iPod, just attach the AV cable kit from the iPod to the ones that ship with this player. Not quite as elegant but it gets the job done.
* "Chick flicks" and most comedies (i.e. movies with mostly brighter scenes) generally look ok even on an overcast day with lots of ambient light. However, darker scenes like in lots of "guy movies" an horror/sci-fi might be too dark to see in similar conditions even with the backlight maxed out.
* Not all of the [excellent] remote's functions are available on the unit itself. FF/Rewind seem to only be available on the remote. This is a non-issue for me, but it might be important for some.
5 Stars:
There may be some additional "wish-list" features that could be added, but at the price I paid ($140 on Amazon), I couldn't find another other players that fit the bill without sacrificing the all-important screen quality/resolution. Therefore I can only give the highest rating when factoring price and quality into the equation. Hope this helps.
Customer Review: Great Portable DVD Player
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros:
- GREAT picture!
- Long battery life (over 5 hours at normal settings)
- Very user friendly remote, along with onboard controls
- Comes with cables to hook up to a TV or video camera
Cons:
- Sound from the speakers is only mediocre, but the sound over
headphones (not included) is fine
I have been shopping for a portable DVD player for several years. I wanted to find one with a long battery life, but that also had a good picture and good features. I was leaning towards the Panasonic LS86 Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player mainly because of it's huge battery life (13 hours). But I was put off by the lack of a remote, and the funny way the screen folds, so as to hide the controls. So I chose the Sony DVD-FX820 Sony DVP-FX820 8-Inch Portable DVD Player, Black
It has a six hour battery life, the screen swivels and folds nicely, and has the best reviewed screen resolution of all the portable players out there.
The unit comes with a wall charger/power adapter, and also a car power adapter. The remote is very handy, and the unit can be plugged into a TV and used like a normal DVD player.
I decided to do some current tests, and discovered that the player pulls between 0.6 and 1.1 amps, depending on the settings. With the display brightness set to half (which would be good enough for most situations, except bright sunlight), and the volume at a comfortable level using headphones, the current draw is 0.65 amps, and the battery will last for just over 5 hours.
I bought two AA battery holders from Radio Shack, attached them to the power cord in place of the car adapter, and ran the unit with 8 NiMH 2900 mah AA batteries. At full brightness the player ran for two hours. With reduced brightness the playing time is increased by at least 1/2 hour. Thus it is possible, using rechargeable AA batteries, to power this unit for many hours. Note that disposable batteries will NOT work, as their voltage decreases gradually, and the player must have about 8 volts to run normally. 8 AA NiMH batteries give a voltage of 9.6 volts, compared to the 9.5 volts provided by the wall charger.
One thing I especially like is the design of the battery. It covers the entire bottom of the unit, and when it is removed, the bottom is smooth and has small rubber feet, so the unit can sit on a table with nothing poking down. Good engineering.
Overall I am very satisfied with this unit, and would highly recommend it. I have owned it for only one week, but have used it extensively and have had no problems with it. I am especially pleased that it can be modified to run on AA batteries, so that it will last for an entire overseas flight.
Customer Review: Terrific High Resolution Screen DVD player !
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had this portable dvd player for a little over a week now and have enjoyed it throughly....Previously I have owned Panasonic and Polaroid brand players....and this one out shines them both !
The High Definition Screen truly gives your regular DVD's the look of a Blu-Ray or HD DVD....I have them both in my den and I safely say it's very close to that quality...maybe not exactly....but until they come out with portable units for Blu-Ray...this is going to be the closest I think you can get !
The screen on this one is 800 x 480 resolution where as most of the players out there have a 320 X 240 screen....that's a very big difference and it really shows.
The battery life is also excellent ( I do listen with headphones so that helps ) but I have watched about 4 hours with it already and still have 1/3 of a full charge left...so that's right at about the 6 hours they say you will get.
The last thing I need to comment on is the remote control...I never used to think that was very important on a portable unit...but after not having one on the Polaroid I owned.....I love having this one with a remote that will provide every feature the player will do...all the way to the ON/OFF...It has very nice on screen displays of all the functions....volume level...battery level.....everything.
Also it doesn't get hot at all...I know my Panasonic got pretty hot on the bottom...not this one....and it's also very quiet...makes very minimal noise.
Can't honestly think of a way they could improve this player !
After having this for a few weeks I wanted to update my review.
First I have added several pictures up top in the gallery for everyone so they can actually SEE the player and not just Sony Shots.
Also I have tried DVD-R's and +R's in the players now and they work perfect...no problems what so ever...With a program recorded for 2 hour Length on a DVD-R it looks like a commercial quality DVD.
One more thing on the battery life...I am not getting the full 6 hours....more like 4 1/2 ...then if I try and watch something that's a hour long I don't get all the way through it.....once it shows the last bar on the battery graph you have about 1 more hour to watch...maybe a little more....but about a hour.
But I am still loving this player very very nice !
I have a big tip for everyone...If you turn the LCD brightness down from a Level 20 (the default) to a Level 10...which is still plenty bright...you can improve your battery life very much !....I am now getting the full 6 hours from the battery and that's the only change I made :)
Customer Review: CCD REAR VIEW CAMERA OPTION
Summary: 5 Stars
Sony DVP-FX820 8", this is a great dvd player for several reasons.
I was at Ultimate Electronics Mpls shopping for 2 - 46" Sam's for the monster garage.
I was about to leave the store being tired and brain damaged from all the choices when I stumbled
onto this new model FX820.
10 minutes later it's out of the box in my truck and viewing the CCD camera view out the back.
This has been an ongoing pending project for months to get this done.
I can now back up to enclosed motorcycle trailer dead on target in the middle of the night w/o
getting out and checking for permanent DAMAGE. That's a snow storm story in it's self.
Bring it into the office and simply plug in the Bose sound system and enjoy theater action at it's best right in my lap.
I researched all the options to use my Apple laptop as the infared CCD viewer, and it's not possible under $200.
Not only is playing DVD's on the laptop a heavy heated process, but a huge pain in the vehicle being the laptop's screen doesn't rotate 180 and lay flat like this Sony player can.
It's simply not possible in close quarters with high performance 5 speed shifter in the way for a laptop.
Next option now is making velcro holster on the face of the dash to hold the SONY player for viewing for travel enjoyment and camera viewer. Just tap into stereo or the dual head phones jack on player.
I'm also a photographer using highend digital Canon SLR's, and video gear and this player with be the greatest gadget to view RAW images straight out of the camera before processing.
Yes, I'm a Happy Camper having just picked it 3 weeks ago. This QUALITY for under $200, are they nuts?
Here's the problem I have buying products on-line. I never really get a true sense of quality of what I'm looking at in a micro image thumbnail until it's in my hand the first time. My hard drive is full of research.
The biggest hurdle to start with, there's so many out there. Sony was a hands down choice to begin with.
I'll bet NASA will have these on board for the shuttle crew. The heck with free satellite TV while in orbit.
Me, I'd be watching re-runs of Mad TV, and Married with Snots.
I payed a little more at the store than here, and if I did have an issue, I'd be back in the store within 5 minutes. That's a bit difficult with a mail ordered deal. My research was complete that day. But to see People paid $1000 for players not that long ago, this is very cool.
I'll be back at this page to purchase the next one or two for wedding gifts. They won't be returning this one.
Cheers..