- Boxed-product Weight: 2.3 Kg
- Item model number: DVD-LS80EB-K
- ASIN: B000QA1BXO
- Date first available at Amazon.co.uk: 10 Nov 2006
- Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,744 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 28 people found the following review helpful
When my old Polaroid portable DVD player - which had served me fantastically for a couple of years after being purchased for less than £130 - finally conked out, I decided, in buying a replacement, to go with a reliable trusted brand, and one of the more expensive models on the market with the Panasonic LS80. With a company like Panasonic, the six hours battery life advertised on the box, and an 8.5 inch screen (my old Polaroid was a mere 8) to enhance my viewing pleasure I couldn't go wrong. Could I?
My first impressions weren't good. Pretty much all portable DVD players have plastic exteriors, but this one managed to seem particularly cheap and tacky - the plastic so feeble that you felt you were holding a toy rather than a piece of electronic equipment. The controls were fiddly too - the chapter skip and fast-search are accessed by the same buttons (you them down to search). Even the volume was controlled by buttons rather a wheel. And it doesn't even come with a remote control. I also found it irritating that you can't swivel the screen, even though it has the cheek to have the words "FREE STYLE VIEWING" beneath it!
Then I popped a DVD in the player, turned it on, and found that I could barely read the piracy warning. Then I could barely read the menu screen. Then I could barely read the opening credits. The picture quality is simply dire. It's so blocky and grainy that text of any kind is genuinely hard to read. Furthermore there is a washed-out lifelessness to the picture that makes viewing a rather depressing experience on several levels. It's possibly just about adequate if you watch from some distance away.
As for the six-hour battery life, what a joke. It's the standard two and a half hours. In the instruction manual it explains that it's only six hours with the headphones plugged in and LCD level turned down to -5 (the norm is +5). I don't even want to think about what the picture quality would be like on -5.
I'm trying to think of some plusses but frankly I can't. In the manual it frequently mentions, with smug complacency, your "enjoying" the unit - "enjoying in the car", "enjoying with headphones" etc. Personally I really enjoyed taking it back and getting a full refund.
My first impressions weren't good. Pretty much all portable DVD players have plastic exteriors, but this one managed to seem particularly cheap and tacky - the plastic so feeble that you felt you were holding a toy rather than a piece of electronic equipment. The controls were fiddly too - the chapter skip and fast-search are accessed by the same buttons (you them down to search). Even the volume was controlled by buttons rather a wheel. And it doesn't even come with a remote control. I also found it irritating that you can't swivel the screen, even though it has the cheek to have the words "FREE STYLE VIEWING" beneath it!
Then I popped a DVD in the player, turned it on, and found that I could barely read the piracy warning. Then I could barely read the menu screen. Then I could barely read the opening credits. The picture quality is simply dire. It's so blocky and grainy that text of any kind is genuinely hard to read. Furthermore there is a washed-out lifelessness to the picture that makes viewing a rather depressing experience on several levels. It's possibly just about adequate if you watch from some distance away.
As for the six-hour battery life, what a joke. It's the standard two and a half hours. In the instruction manual it explains that it's only six hours with the headphones plugged in and LCD level turned down to -5 (the norm is +5). I don't even want to think about what the picture quality would be like on -5.
I'm trying to think of some plusses but frankly I can't. In the manual it frequently mentions, with smug complacency, your "enjoying" the unit - "enjoying in the car", "enjoying with headphones" etc. Personally I really enjoyed taking it back and getting a full refund.
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
I purchased this player as an upgrade to a very cheap Goodmans unit that has recently worn out. Unfortunatly despite the array of features, this player falls far short of what I expected regarding minimum picture quality. The 8.5 inch display has fairly low resolution, (dont be fooled by Panasonics specification claims of high quality!!), even the characters of the players own screen menus are very fuzzy and hard to read. The biggest issue is the lack of any effective contrast control, and a poor dynamic picture range which means that picture highlight are bright but darker areas have little or no detail. The viewing angle is rather poor and the display flickers slightly during playback. BUILD QUALITY is only average considering the £200 list price and there is no remote control or carry case supplied, all of which were included with my Goodmans player for half the cost (and far superior playback Picture). The quoted 6 hours playback is unrealistic, this is only possible with LCD brightness set to minimum, and given the high contrast picture this is not an enjoyable experience. The real battery life in normal use is around 3 hours. All in all this player was a big dissapointment.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Recently bought this portable DVD player as a replacement for a broken earlier Panasonic model.
I'd read reviews concerning the picture quality, but it wasn't until I actually saw it for myself that I was shocked by just how awful it truely was! Highlights were completely blown out, with brightness adjustments not really making any difference and colour balance completely artificial. But the nail in the coffin is the dreadful resolution! The picture is just pure 'blocks', with text virtually unreadable, even of the DVD players own menu system.
I could find out no information, either via here, anywhere else on the web, or even Panasonic's own website, regarding the actual picture resolution - so I phoned Panasonic customer services. They informed me that the actual screen resolution was only 160 x 120, and to put that into perspective, similar models by Philips and Sony are 800 x 480!!!.
Please, please, please do not waste your money on this awful player. I've always been a been Panasonic purchaser, but over the last few years, they have downgraded the quality of their products to the point that they are no longer in the same league as the likes of Sony, more like Goodmans or worse.
FYI - I replaced the Panasonic with a slightly smaller Sony (DVP-FX720), which has a much better screen resolution, colour balance and overall build quality.
I'd read reviews concerning the picture quality, but it wasn't until I actually saw it for myself that I was shocked by just how awful it truely was! Highlights were completely blown out, with brightness adjustments not really making any difference and colour balance completely artificial. But the nail in the coffin is the dreadful resolution! The picture is just pure 'blocks', with text virtually unreadable, even of the DVD players own menu system.
I could find out no information, either via here, anywhere else on the web, or even Panasonic's own website, regarding the actual picture resolution - so I phoned Panasonic customer services. They informed me that the actual screen resolution was only 160 x 120, and to put that into perspective, similar models by Philips and Sony are 800 x 480!!!.
Please, please, please do not waste your money on this awful player. I've always been a been Panasonic purchaser, but over the last few years, they have downgraded the quality of their products to the point that they are no longer in the same league as the likes of Sony, more like Goodmans or worse.
FYI - I replaced the Panasonic with a slightly smaller Sony (DVP-FX720), which has a much better screen resolution, colour balance and overall build quality.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A good buy providing you pay about £170
With the exception of the overhyped battery life quoted by Panasonic, I do not agree with the reviews that I have read for the following reasons:
1. Read more
1. Read more
Published on 27 Dec 2007 by fred26
waste of time
Buying this is a waste of time.The screen image is very poor and Panasonic are just lying about the battery life. Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2007 by S. J. Wright
sorry i bought one
well i really am sorry i paid over the odds at £225.00p for the panasonic name but it fall well below and battery life is says 6 hours which was i main reason i needed a long... Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2007 by A. Goddard
