LG DP561 Portable DVD Player with 7-inch Screen and 5 Hours Battery Life

Sound is good, didn't expect Hi-Fi sound so lack of base, etc., is acceptable. Picture very good.
Has USB, two headphone sockets, AV out, DC 12V in (mains charger), volume, on-off, Open CD button.
Came in black, which I prefer, not "biscuit" as pictured. If it bothers you, the case does show fingerprints easily.
Haven't used enough to comment further, but no regrets so far.
Delivery took a week from order.

Delivered very quickly which was nice because we were taking it on holiday. Ideal for travelling as it came in good carrying case. Swivel screen good when two people watching video on plane. happy with purchase.LG DP561 Portable DVD Player with 7-inch Screen and 5 Hours Battery Life

(This wasn't our first choice, so this review should be read with this in mind.)

Until now, we've always bought Sony players as they have such good reviews, and haven't been disappointed - until the last two both failed and had to be returned.

This left us in a dilemma - take a chance and go for a third one, hoping we'd just been unlucky with the other two, or try another make? After much thought and discussion, we decided not to chance Sony again and went for this one instead. The reviews weren't quite as good, but it was considerably cheaper.

And we haven't been disappointed. It may not be quite as classy as the Sony players, but it's still very good, and excellent value for money.

When we first tried it, I thought the picture quality wasn't as good as the Sony, not quite as sharp and bright (although now it seems fine), and the volume control is an old fashioned 'wheel', which makes adjusting the volume tricky (especially for young children) and, more importantly, means that you can't adjust the volume with the remote (a crazy piece of 'design' in my opinion). But that's about it for real negatives.

Some people may not be happy with the battery, which slots on underneath the player and which is almost as big as the player's base (so effectively doubling its thickness and weight), but, once you've got used to it, it doesn't really bother you (and you can always plug in the transformer and use the player without the battery if you want). On the up side, the battery lasts a very long time (easily the 5 hours claimed), we tend to use the player on battery most of the time and we can go days without recharging (incidentally, it charges whilst playing, which not all DVD players do - and the lights indicating the charging status are very clear). Also, I'm not entirely convinced of the logic of putting the battery inside a player (as with the latest Sonys) - what if you need to replace the battery one day, or would like to keep a spare for long plane journeys? With this player you can, with the Sonys you have to open the player (thus invalidating the warranty) and work out how to remove the battery and plug a new one in - assuming you can get replacements.

The one big difference between this player and the ones we we're used to is that the screen rotates. I don't really see the point of this, except when used in a car, but it does mean that most of the controls have to go on the screen, instead of the base. This gives this player a very clean look, but it can be a bit confusing and fiddly to use the controls. The remote (apart from the volume - see above) is very good - easy to use and not too directional. Why would you need a remote on a player with a 7" screen? Well it's a lot easier to hit 'pause' on the remote than shout at the kids on the other side of the room!)

Some other points: To change DVDs you have to slide a button on the front to one side to release the 'lid'. This is a vast improvement on the Sony, which has a very easy to press button to open the lid, which our two year old could (and did - often!) push very easily. The image on the screen defaults to full screen, which makes a nice change from the Sony, where you had to manually resize every 'TV' format DVD. The player also automatically remembers where you were when you pressed stop and restarts from that point - a nice touch.

One minor oddity - the transformer/mains power supply is curiously old-fashioned, having a very large rectangular plug/transformer and a rather thin (and short) lead. With the small, lightweight transformers you see so often these days, it's odd that LG chose to supply one that looks like something you might have got 15 years ago. It also has a slightly smaller socket than the Sonys, so the spare transformer we had left over (from an earlier one our toddler drowned!) can't be used instead. However, an old Shinko transformer (from another DVD player that the kids destroyed!) does fit, and this has a separate transformer (i.e. not built into the plug) and therefore has a much longer lead (actually two leads), so we are using this instead of the one supplied with the player.

And one other plus - the player has a very good car fitting kit (it bolts onto the supports for the head rest). This is by far the best solution I've seen for the problem of watching DVDs in the back of the car - as long as you have the 'traditional' type of head rests, of course, the one where the head rest slides up and down two metal rods. The player also has two headphone sockets.

In summary, I would still choose a Sony, if they were the same price (and the Sonys didn't keep breaking down!), but, for the money, this is an excellent player and (apart from the volume control) very easy to use. And battery life is incredible.

If only LG had used an electronic volume control, redesigned the battery so that it looks less obtrusive, and supplied a 21st century transformer, then this player would be the best we've used.