Magnavox MPD820 8-Inch Portable DVD Player

The MPD820 is a widescreen rather than "full screen" unit, which means most DVDs will play without black bars over and under the image.

The TFT LCD display is crisp, with good horizontal (side-to-side) viewing angle, which is a real-life advantage for backseat passengers in a vehicle. Predictably, vertical (up-down) viewing angle is rather less, so you may find yourself tilting the screen occasionally to find the best picture if you change your viewing position (e.g. slouching down or sitting up straight). You can adjust the color and brightness, but the factory settings are subjectively optimal.

Screen size: To my eyes, an 8" screen is noticeably bigger than a 7" screen. Sure, it costs more, but the xtra real estate is worthwhile, especially when you figure how many hours you will spend peering at the thing.

Sound: You would expect the tiny stereo speakers just below the screen to buzzy, but they are surprisingly clear. Obviously, the laws of physics have not been repealed and they produce nothing approaching bass, but the articulation of dialog is crisp (which is much more important for movies). Another pleasant surprise: There was no buzzing or harsh distortion at their relatively polite "top volume." The sound through either of the two headphone jacks is excellent.

Other observations: The aluminum and plastic case feels solid, and the screen feels securely attached by the two hinges. The removable battery (included) clips onto the back of the unit. The power cord is a little over seven feet, so you can't range too far from an outlet when using AC. Thermally, it stays cooler than a laptop, which is a plus on long flights.

A couple of gripes: 1.) The remote's white-on-gray lettering is hard to read (though the slide out battery drawer is a nice touch); 2.) While you can change scenes with the push of a button, you need to dig out the remote to fast-forward or skip back within a scene. Doh! This omission alone costs a full star; 3.) The disc handling mechanism is buzzy getting up to speed, then settles down to the barely-audible whirring common to DVD players everywhere. Sound-deadening adds cost, weight and thickness, so this is a logical and defensible design tradeoff.

As another reviewer noted, this unit is clearly sourced from the same manufacturer in China that makes the entry-level players for Mintek. One might read Mintek reviews for hints about reliability.

I have enjoyed watching movies on the MPD820 and find this is one entry-level DVD player that doesn't seem cheap at all.

I have compared the 8-inch Magnavox with the 7-inch 1770 model from Mintek and they are very similar. The switches and jacks are all in the same places, and the battery configuration is identical. The power switch is exactly the same. I suspect that Magnavox got their players from Mintek, then put their more recognizable name on them. Since Mintek is a very small company with no track record, you might want to check out their reviews before you buy this player. I've had the Magnavox for 2 weeks, and the Mintek for 2 months, and so far they both work fine. But when you buy a big name brand, you expect that it is more reliable than the unknown maker. In this case, I don't think that assumption is justified. That's the only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5. If you want this player, BestBuy.com has it for $350, with free shipping, a nice case, and 2 sets of lightweight Sony headphones.

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I am very upset at Magnavox right now. I received this player on Christmas Day, and it died in mid-March after less than 20 hours of use (the disc spins but never loads, while the drive makes terrible grinding noises). I tried 10 different discs before declaring the device dead. I called Magnavox to ask about repairs and was extremely INSULTED by their reponses and policies. Get this.

This unit, a portable player with many moving parts, which is expected to get banged around through transport and reasonable use (it's a portable unit), has only a 90 DAY WARRANTY. 90 days. Not a year. Not even 6 months. Only 90 days. Guess what happens after 90 days? THEY WILL NOT REPAIR THE UNIT AT ALL. Your ONLY available option is to exchange the unit, through them, for a 'Discounted Exchange Price'. HA! Would you be surprised to know that their 'Discounted' price is MORE THAN I PAID FOR THE NEW ONE IN DECEMBER? What a lousy excuse for service! They will not budge on this, and they do not offer any kind of repairs.

My call to Customer Service was quite disappointing as well. I was transferred from person to person, spent nearly an hour on hold (over and over), and went through four people. At first, I was told by the phone representative in Manila (overseas, of course!) that the unit would be replaced for free. That's what I was expecting to hear, and I was pleased. They asked me to fax my proof of purchase, which I did. When I called back, I ended up speaking to three different people, each of whom had a different story. In the end, I was told that my 'ticket number was changed', that they DO NOT REPAIR these units at all (they always just replace the defective ones, IF they are still under warranty the paltry 90 day warranty, that is), and there's nothing I can do but buy another one either from them (more expensive than Amazon!!!) or from someone else. There is no likelihood whatsoever that I will buy another player from Magnavox, portable or otherwise.

My advice is to STAY AWAY from this piece of junk. You will only be disappointed. If it malfunctions after 90 days, you will be left with a worthless and unusable player. Magnavox was entirely unhelpful, and their return policy is absurd. You will regret buying this player if even the slightest problem arises. Stick with a brand that you can trust one that has a reasonable warranty and that treats its customers with *respect*.

I will never, for the rest of my life, buy another Magnavox product of any kind. Of this, I am completely certain. You should take my advice.

What a disaster.

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I picked one of these up about a month ago on the basis I can burn Divx/Xvid to DVD-R discs and play them back.

Good Stuff:

* Yes, if you rename the file from .AVI to .MPG it will play them.

* It has played all but one or two of my .AVI files (Divx/Xvid).

* The screen is good with a good viewing angle.

* Battery life is generally long enough for me, about 2 2.5 hours I would estimate.

* If you have multiple AVIs in the same directory when it finishes one it will go right to the next one.

* The size is good (but not one of the "ultra slim" players that are out there now.

Bad Stuff:

* I don't think it supports subtitles (that I can figure out).

* Haven't been able to find mention of updated firmware for it, or that it can be updated.

* It doesn't seem to have any sort of "resume" function -when you turn the unit off it forgets where it was on the disc, if you leave the unit on (sleep-like mode) it uses the battery (although somewhat more slowly).

* To scan forward and backward you DO need the remote (bummer).

* For my use on the train I had to pickup a Radio Shack Headphone Amplifier.

* I am having a hard time finding a replacement battery so I ended up getting one of the "universal" batteries at Radio Shack that I can plug into the power jack on the unit. It works but being external on a cord is kind of a pain.

* When playing Divx/Xvid there is no On Screen Display (OSD) to tell me things like the time into the current video -since it lacks resume this would have been nice.

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I used this player 7 times in 8 months the manufacture date is April 2004 and every time I play a dvd on it, it plays for 15 to 20 minutes then freezes.

I called Magnavox for support and they told me to clean the laser. I cleaned the laser and it still does the same thing, and I was told it is no longer warranteed. I spent nearly $400 for a player that I used less than 10 times and the company wouldn't repair or replace it. BEWARE!!!!