Audiovox D1420Portable 4.2" DVD Player

Do not purchase this portable DVD player.

Strengths: Unique form factor and super portability attracted me initially.

Weaknesses: Very poor out of box quality. The battery system is the worst ever and is not user replaceable.

Summary: If you are the type of person that appreciates spending your money on a portable device that has terrible battery life and awful out of box reliability this is the unit for you. I purchased this unit due to it's unique form factor and design features. It aslo has a very attractive price. This unit has the worst quality of any portable electronic device I have purchased in the past 5 years. The first unit I pulled from the box would not take a charge. I called Audiovox customer support and they told me that this is an issue and to keep charging and discharging the battery 5-or 6 times to try to remedy the problem. This is unacceptable to me since the unit is brand new. But since the engineers must have been drinking too much the night they designed the power system in this unit they decided to make the battery permanent so this is the only remedy! That's right, a portable DVD player that you cannot replace the battery. This would be fine if you thought you may never actually use the battery but then why by a portable in the first place? And what happens a year (or most likely 6 months from now) when the battery only takes a partial charge and you get an hour or so of life? You are now stuck with a portable player that is only good on AC power (not very portable) or DC power in an automobile. So I returned the first unit and received a second unit. Removed it from the box and guess what, you guessed it, the second unit would not take a charge either. To be fair it actually charged for about 5 minutes before the charging cycle indicated that the battery was full. I turned it on and of course got about 1 minute worth of life. The battery system in this unit is a major issue and all because the user cannot replace a defective battery. I returned the unit and exchanged it for a Toshiba SD-P1600 based on very good reviews. I can say that the Toshiba has been flawless and provides excellent video quality along with excellent battery life.

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Sweet DVD player...Oh, but it ain't portable.

Strengths: Widescreen, great souns and picture quality, lightweight. It comes with car cord, AC power cord, a case, & headphones.

Weaknesses: Battery. Very weak battery.

Summary: This unit was a huge disappointment. It requires an 8 hour charge time. I charged it for 8 hours. Then I attempted to use it while standing there, over the charger having just unplugged the unit. The unit came to life with brilliant color and bold sound. The anti-skip worked great. Then it happened. The battery died. The DVD player screen went black and a screeching sound came from the speakers. I stared at the unit in disbelief. The battery last ed for only 30-45 SECONDS. I recharged the unit and got the same result. I took it back to the store and exchanged it for another identical player. I charged the second player for 20 hours and I got the same heartbreaking result. This unit works great while plugged in. If you plan on using it in the car where it can be plugged into the lighter, this DVD player will do just fine. But it should be called a tethered DVD player, not portable.

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