Sony DVP-FX980 9-Inch Portable DVD Player

I got this DVD player for my husband to use while he's a work. He has a lot of down time in between VERY busy, stressful periods of work where he needed something he could use/watch and decompress. He's been using this DVD player for about two months now and he loves it. The picture is very clear and the screen is just big enough that you don't feel like you are squinting at a tiny ipod or the like, but not so big that it becomes obtrusive or feels like you might as well be carrying around a labtop. It is very light weight and has held up very well being toted around, thrown into his work truck (and I'm sure bounced around inside), and probably dropped a few times as well (I got him the Case Logic WDEC-10 EVA Molded DVD player case to carry it around in). Sound is also great for a portable DVD player. He loves the fact that it has a car charger (again, perfect for when he's using it). I think the only thing he mentioned was that he wished that it had a longer battery life for the rare occasion that he was not somewhere that he could either plug into a car charger or wall outlet (I think it might only have a 2 hour battery life).

I bought this for a relative who has the use of only one hand. So I immediately checked out how easy it would be to turn on and operate with only one hand. No problem. I also ordered a different brand at the same time, so I was able to view them side by side. This Sony player had far and way the better picture quality and features. The sound quality of the Sony was also better, BUT the volume is VERY low. I think headphones may be necessary to clearly hear this player, if there's the least little background noise. The Sony played both commercial DVDs and those I'd recorded myself, although the sound was even lower on the ones I'd recorded. I didn't have that volume problem (at least to much extent) on the other one. I opted to keep this player because of ease in operating it with one hand and the awesome picture and sound, and just told my relative she'd have to use her earphones. If you need a player where you don't use earphones, this probably is not the player for you. As many others have mentioned, the cord is WAY short! What's up with that? We tried using a different cord, but it didn't fit. My relative will probably just leave it plugged in, since she doesn't have time to charge and then watch a movie. She says the cord barely reaches her plug from her bed (which she is confined to), but it does reach. If I were going to get a player for myself, this would be it.

I got this with an Amazon card I got for Xmas. My PC doesn't have a DVD drive in it, and it's clunky to use an external. I bought this because it had generally good reviews. So far (3 weeks) I've got no complaints and am very happy with it. Pros: Bright and clear screen Wide viewing angle - my wife & I will be able to watch it together on a plane Long battery life Surprisingly good sound from the speakers Plays from memory sticks in addition to DVDs Cons (tentatively): Only 1 headphone jack - but I can just get a splitter Large remote - it's a full size remote. I'd have preferred a small one that would fit in a slot on the player Short AC cord Buttons - so far they're working fine but they're the kind you just tough & I've had some bad luck with that style in the past As you can see, my "cons" are pretty minor. I would definitely recommend it.

Just got this portable DVD player. What a difference a Sony makes. I had originally bought a Craig portable DVD player; the spinning sound was so loud it was really distracting; and top volume level could not drown out the spinning sound. So, I returned the Craig and paid up and bought this Sony DVD player. I love it. The picture is quality is beautiful; of course it is a Sony. I don't hear any spinning sound while the DVD player is playing, The sound is really good; I only have to turn up the sound about half way to hear the DVD really well (and I am 57 years old, not a young kid). I don't care that it doesn't swivel; that was not something I needed. You pay more for this portable DVD player, but as they say you get what you way for, and in the case it is well worth the price.

I was looking for a portable dvd player to play my dvd mp3 audio files. I purchased (online) several collections of old-time radio shows that are contained on DVDs in mp3 format. The mp3 format allows hundreds and hundreds of shows to be contained on a single dvd. (Comedy, horror, adventure, plays, etc.). These are playable on a pc, or you can copy them to an mp3 player, and play them on that. But, I wanted to be able to simply pop a dvd into a player and play it without going through the rig-a-ma-role of transferring files or relying on a pc to be handy. Great for sitting around a campfire and listening to a spooky old-time radio story. I thought that an advanced-type boombox would do the trick. But, I found out that no cd boombox (even if it claims to play mp3 files) will play an mp3 dvd. It is a bit confusing because cds and dvds look identical (Who ever came up with that brilliant idea?). But, the cd mp3 format and the dvd mp3 format apparently are completely different animls! This is not obvious, and I learned the hard way. I bought a cd boombox that can play mp3 formatted discs-- but, only if the disc is a cd, not a dvd. OK, so now I know. Anyway, I started then thinking about portable dvd players to use for my purpose. I didn't really need to play dvd films -- just audio files. There are only a few portable players out there that seem capable of playing dvd mp3 files: Sony and Panasonic have a few (Some may actually be out of production, but still available). There may be others, but it is often difficult to actually find the specs on these units. Often, the manufacturer's website is not even very helpful. I bought the Sony DVPFX980 9" screen. It was less expensive than the Panasonic, had good reviews, and (most importantly for me) could definitely play mp3 dvds. I figured that the larger screen and better resolution of the 9" version (vs. the 7" version) would come in handy if I did want to use it for watching a standard dvd at some time. And there was not a big price difference. So, in general, I like the Sony. It definitely plays my mp3 dvds. Plays standard dvds, too (figured I better check). Sound quality is fine. It is easy to use. The playing time of only 4 hours (on battery) may be a negative. (The Panasonic, if I recall, has a playing time of 11 hours -- a big advantage.) My only significant complaint is that the file names for the various programs are truncated on the screen. So, for example, if the file name lists as "The Case of the Missing Skull" on my pc, it gets truncated (to 7 characters)on the Sony player to "The Cas". So, it can be difficult to know which file you really want to select from the menu, since the file names are not totally visible. Does anybody know if there is a way for the Sony player to display the full file name for mp3 files? (Update: I have contacted Sony Support, and the support person says there is no way to expand the screen to show more of the file name. The player screen shows a 7 digit file number from the mp3 dvd, then a space, then the first 7 characters of the file description. Anything after the first 7 characters is not seen. Makes it difficult to identify a particular file that you want to play from the hundreds that may be listed.) One other thing: the On/Off slider switch is really hidden. It would be nice if it was a different color (other than black) so that it was readily findable. And, I'd prefer it to be located on the inside top surface where all the other controls are located.

This is one of many portable DVD players I have owned. This time I went for something a bit more expensive- simply because I was hoping to find a durability worthy of a house full of kids and pets. Too many broken electronics can make a woman go insane. This came extremely well-packaged and complete with everything a person could ask for- including a remote (which all kids adore). We have a 'one channel' television in a remote part of Alaska, so we buy DVDs to make up for the 'cool kid cable shows' that the kids miss out on (Disney, Nickelodean, Cartoon Network, etc). So far I'm very impressed with this DVD player. It's one of the most kid-friendly ones I have found on the market. The screen and DVD player itself are made of a... plastic? sort of material that doesn't leave fingerprints- which is GREAT for young children. It has a textured back that always looks shiney and new, no matter how many cheeto-covered fingers have touched it. And the screen itself seems to be kept fairly clean as well. The buttons are a 'touch' ones- meaning they don't press down, they react to touch. I did notice that with our younger children the touch wouldn't register right away (I'm assuming because their fingers are small). But with any kid about 7 years of age I would say it works flawlessly. We never have problems. And if the younger ones do, we just let them use the remote. The playback quality is very good. The sound goes from a nice, low bedtime tone to a much louder (traveling in a car or airplane) tone. The screen is fairly large and the picture quality is very clear. For being portable, it really does offer a nice viewing experience. But the one thing I love about this DVD player is how durable it is. It has been dropped, jumbled in backpacks, collected dust on the floor, and probably stepped on a few times- and it's heald up like a pro. This is definitely one of the best child-friendly technology purchases I've ever made. Kudos to Sony to obviously thinking through tiny finger prints and book bag durability.

Over a decade I've owned some six of these portable DVD gizmos, for home use only and daily screenings of mint-condition DVDs and CDs. Planned obsolescence seems to be engineered in; all brands--save Sony--quite predictably fail on schedule in the seventeenth month of the standard eighteen-month warranty period. Panasonic is marginally acceptable but will ultimately break down. Sylvania players were marginally acceptable but current production models balk at playing brand-new DVDs. RCA players are a regrettable joke, shoddily manufactured and barely functional. Some thought has gone into the engineering of Sony players, although the AC power cord is ridiculously short and may necessitate some furniture jockeying in your viewing area as it did in mine. Sony is committed to delivering, with its big crisp pixels, exactly what is inscribed on the disc, and that means Original Aspect Ratio. If you insist on "full frame" presentation (a tragic marketing misnomer if ever there was one), look elsewhere. Sony delivers--if the DVD distributors have been doing their element restoration and print sourcing correctly--precisely what the director and cinematographer intended for us to experience, nothing more nothing less. The sound quality is adequate and much improved by using headphones (not supplied by Sony), the picture quality superb: bright, sharp, excellent resolution. The touchpad controls are sleek and very responsive if not ideally viewer-friendly. The unit is sturdily constructed (cf. RCA) and fits comfortably in the viewer's lap, short power cord notwithstanding. The Sony is very fairly priced and represents good value in an offshore manufacture. It is clearly superior to its would-be competitors and will outlast them. If you appreciate Original Aspect Ratio and crisp visual imagery, the Sony player is the most reliable way to get visual authenticity out of your DVD library. Inexplicably a major big-box retailer based in Chicago which used to feature this brand can no longer do so, and I worry that the portable DVD player may become obsolete hardware (along with our cherished DVD software). Fortunately, Amazon and its third-party vendors continue to market the ideal Sony player fairly widely, and we must hope Sony sees fit to keep it in production since it fulfills a real need admirably and affordably.

I've been wanting to get a portable DVD player, mostly for when I travel and want to do my exercise vids. Purchased this Sony due to the reviews and I'm glad I finally made the plunge. It's been out on 2 road trips now and I've used it approx: 8 times- so figuring at least $10 to take a class it's almost 'paid' for itself. Now that I'm home I can get that sword exercise vid and use this outside to workout. Instructions are easy to understand, remote is working perfectly - I did leave the remote at one hotel (got it back on return trip) and had to go manual for most of the trip; remembered one reviewer mentioning using a very light touch on the 'buttons' and that is exactly right. Can move this unit around while the video is playing without any interference with the movie.The picture quality was pretty darn amazing. The sound quality was about 3 stars for the exercise vids, but I'd say 4 stars for the one movie I watched - I'd equate that with either the sound of the gym setting, or perhaps too much music. Super happy with this product.