Panasonic DVD-LS5 Portable DVD Player

In the beginning, the DVD player had hard time reading DVDs and then it just got progressively worse. I had the player for a little more than one year now and it has stopped playing all DVDs.

I was on vacation last summer and looking for a portable DVD player. The moment I laid my eyes on the LS5 I fell in love with it. I'm a distance learning graduate student and get my lectures on video tape. Well I already had a combo VHS/DVD recorder and the DCMA nothwithstanding (it was for my personal use), I wanted to transfer those tapes to DVD so I could watch them on my Tokyo (where I live) train commute. Well I transferred the tapes to DVD and presto, my two hour train commute was transformed into two hours of productive lecture viewing and note taking. That's how small it is. I am able to watch and take notes at the same time even though I'm on a crowded train every morning. But don't let the size scare you into thinking it's too small for viewing. It's great for traveling and commuting and the picture is beautiful.I do have a "BUT" that lowered my rating to a 4 out of 5 star review and that was the fact that Panasonic chose to limit the playback of burned DVDs to -R and -RAM. Panasonic is probably the biggest supporter of -RAM, so that would explain that.The other reason for my 4 out of 5 rating and that would apply to ALL of the U.S. DVD player manufacturers and retailers, is that they continue their collusion with Hollywood and play their game of making players coded by world regions. I live in Tokyo and though there are a great many Hollywood DVDs available, the prices are double that of North America and the extras on most DVD movies in Japan are pitiful. DVDs that are released in Japan are also 4 - 6 months later than in North America, so I just purchase my DVDs through Amazon.com and I get them sent to me in Tokyo.I did my search on the Net looking for companies that could help me make my player region free. Well I found one (...) and I had to buy what they called a "chipped remote." This Star Trek looking thing that would allow me to make my player region free once I followed the three step instructions.Well not only did it make my LS5 region free, but I can now play any type of DVD that is burned. That means I can now watch DVD-R/+R, -RAM, -RW/+RW and I can watch NTSC AND PAL DVDs, which means I can watch DVDs that come from Europe. Be warned that the manufacturers warranty is voided should you choose the route I took in making the player region free, but by reading all of these reviews you will see that everyone is extremely happy (as I am) with the quality of their LS5 and I did not read one review that mentioned a breakdown.It's a great buy (...)Now for another portable DVD player to consider (and a little cheaper) that we bought and we love equally as well, there is the NextBase SDV17-A Table DVD Player. We just got this, but it's so cool. It's region free, PAL and NTSC compatible out of the box and plays DVD/VCD/SVCD/MP3/CDDA/JPEG CD-R/CD-RW/DVD-R/DVD-RW formats.The screen on this one is 7" (2 more than the LS5), it's the length of a novel and only an inch thick. What worries me about this one is that there is nothing to protect the screen other than a soft, felt carrying case when it isn't in use. The LS5 has a folding screen which gives me a little more security.Both are great though.(...)And just for your information most European retailers offer region-free DVD players, including Amazon.co.uk, but they will not deliver to customers outside of the EU. Does anyone know of way we can lean on U.S. retailers to stop colluding with Hollywood so that start truly giving the customer what she/he wants???It's ridiculous that the government continues to protect Hollywood as they do. Once we buy a car we're not told what we can and can't do with it outside of traffic laws.

Compared to the Chinese imports (Apex, Initial, Cyberhome, etc.), the Panasonic DVD-LS5 is definitely a premium model, and both the price and quality show. If you just want to watch DVDs on the road and don't mind teeny sound or blocky images, the low-end models will serve you well. In fact I love my 8-inch Initial. On the other hand, if you want to truly enjoy a mobile DVD experience, you gotta buy this product.Better styling and build quality aside, the Panasonic has at least three significant advantages over non-Japanese players: 1) the screen is clearer and offers better viewing angles horizontally, so you can share the joy of DVD with another person; 2) the sound is just incredibly loud for a small player like this, unlike the low-end players -- in fact it feels almost like surround sound in a quiet room; 3) the tilting mechansim is really cool and allows you to adjust the screen angle freely.The battery snaps to the back (and raises the player a bit) and offers a little over 2 hours of viewing pleasure. All considered, the Panasonic player is also much more portable than the other ones; even with the battery installed we are talking something you can just grab and watch, as opposed to carrying in two hands.Is the Panasonic worth the extra money over the other players? I definitely think so.

For Christmas this year I decided on a portable DVD player as my present. I dont travel very much but I LOVE technology so I figured why not, and so began my quest. I went to various online sites and eventually went out to my local electronics stores to do some research and to see the different players. I visited the usual Wal-Mart and Target, which had decent amount of relatively inexpensive portables on display but none of which were working models. I went to BestBuy to find 3 models on the floor. The one which price wise, was close to the Panasonic, was a Toshiba sd-p1200. It was HORRIBLE, it looked like an Etch-A-Sketch playing a DVD. The other two models, one a Poloroid that wouldnt work, and the other a Mintek which like the Poloroid wouldnt work, looked very cheaply put together and not worth the money. So I decided to move on to Circuit City. Once there I came across this wonderful little DVD player. The Panasonic DVD-LS5. I didn't want something clunky or bulky, and this player fit the bill. It is about the size of a portable CD player. The screen resolution is amazing. It is like a nice LCD computer monitor (albeit a small one). But with just over 500 lines of resolution and a 5 inch widescreen display, it does the DVD's justice. It is lightweight and very quiet. I played two movies back to back (Terminator 3 and Indiana Jones and the last Crusade) and this bad boy didnt even work up a sweat. The entire unit stayed cool and whisper quiet 4 hours after I first turned it on. I used wall power as my battery was not charged yet. Later on I used the battery and got through one 2 hour movie. So the description of 2 hours per charge is accurate. It only takes 2 hours to charge the battery back up and since it is a lithium ion battery there is no need to fully discharge the battery. The swivel screen function is really very cool. It allows you to watch a movie in classic portable dvd player fashion (like opening a book) or you can adjust the height and tilt, or you can completely compact the unit by laying the screen flat on the player. Little rubber wheels on the bottom of the screen prevent the screen from scratching the player. Panasonic has thought of everything. I only paid $299 for mine and at that price I almost felt like I stole it! It is an amzing little machine that has phenominal sound too. I am a radio dj so I am all about sound. When the headphones are plugged in.. WOW!!!... I've heard sounds on the portable that I never heard on my full size DTS home theater system! The bottom line is, if you on a quest for a solid portable system, the quest ends here. I know that it is a little pricy, but considering some of the other models out there that are shotty construction and hit or miss as far as it working or not, for the money (and it was well spent money), the Panasonic DVD-LS5 is at the top of its class!