Sony DVE7000S DVD Walkman

I'll say right off the bat that I'm a fan of Sony's slick design and neat products. That said, I thought this would be a big step up from my old-school Sony DVP-FX1 DVD portable. However, I ended up re-gifting it and sticking with my PSP/iPod for portable video.

Speaking of the PSP, the DVE-7000S's screen has a similar resolution (480x234 vs 480x272 for the PSP). On a 7" screen, the video and menus look more pixelated and grainy due to the low pixel density. If you see a demo model, just check out the on-screen displays to see what I mean. They're not crisp and clear, the text appears muddy, for lack of a better term. The screen is nice and bright and has good contrast, though there was some blurring apparent during fast action scenes.

The two headphone jacks are nice when you want to share the movie with someone, but they're both on the left side of the portable, which led to some problems with the person sitting on the right because their headphone cord wasn't long enough to reach around. A better design would have been to put one on each side. Headphones are the only way besides the speaker dock (more below) to get sound out of the unit, because it has no built-in speakers.

Battery life is adequate, and I got about two and a half to three hours of usage. One thing to note is that the lithium-ion battery is embedded in the machine, which means you can't carry extra batteries and swap if you're running low on juice.

With most DVD portables on the market using a folding clamshell design, it was interesting to see Sony go with a one-piece format. By going with this design, the screen isn't protected from dirt and scratches as a regular clamshell would. A small kickstand foot folds out of the back of the player to support it during viewing if you choose, though it seemed a lot less stable than just a regular clamshell player. I've uploaded a photo above, you can see how a 1.5lb+ device leaning back on a one-sided tiny little foot isn't exactly confidence-inspiring.

A nifty feature is that with the input options, you can use the player as a video monitor of sorts. The video quality isn't all too great, but in a pinch, it's not a bad option. The speaker dock included with the player was also a nice addition. The sound is good from such small speakers, and the dock also serves to charge the player.

The disc-playing performance is fine for the most part, though things can be a little sluggish booting up and during navigation. I also ran into a couple of movies where the DVD layer change caused a pause noticeably longer than on a regular deck. I guess that's the tradeoff for getting a portable, but you'd think they would have had it ironed out by now.

I wanted to love this sleek new player, but there was always one thing or another that bothered me about it. If you check my past reviews it's clear that I like Sony products, but this one definitely had a half-baked feel to it in many ways.

Picture is good but a little grainy, the screen covering is glossy, not matte like other players. Viewing angle is good, two kids can share but as other review noted two headphone ports on one side can be difficult for sharing. I bought an extender cable so the twins could share easier. Heavier than I thought, not really ideal for one handed use. Very strange there are no built in speakers, would have been nice to have. Battery life ok, but couldn't make it through Lord of the Rings Extended Edition. Speaker base seems cheap, more weight would be nice. Screen scratches already visible after 3 weeks' use, bought Fellowes WriteRight screen protectors and cut to fit. A little expensive and some compromises but a fun toy to keep the kids quiet.

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It was just yesterday afternoon when I thought about writing a positive review of the DVE-7000S. I'd been happy with it as both a portable and a desktop player. It was while using it as a desktop player (on AC) when it just sort of popped, sizzled, and died. The smell of fried electronics wafted into the air when I opened the disc door. This happend without warning and for no apparant reason.

It's about 75 days into the 90 Day full-warranty period, so I'll only be out the cost of shipping it to Sony to get a replacement (most likely a refurb). Be that as it may, however, it still calls into serious question both the quality of the engineering and of the manufacturing components of the DVE-7000S.

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I wanted a DVD player for the road when I was away on business, and maybe on my nightstand, because my wife can't sleep with the tv on. I wanted womething with a little smaller footprint, so I bought the Sony. OK, here's the staight stuff. Let's start with 3 stars, for the average player. Nice bright picture, add one star. 16x9 add a second star. Nice charging stand and two phono jacks, give it a third. Embedded battery instead of a replaceable one subtract a star. DVD player with a flip top instead of ejectable, subtract another. No memory stick slot, subtract a third. Do the math three stars. I can't believe that Sony passed up the chance to sell a few more proprietary products like the memory sticks that and batteries that would make this really usefull. Compared to the other portable DVD players, this one is OK, so buy it if you find one cheap. Otherwise, get the monster Archos 504 that has no DVD, but is a really, really good portable player.

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I too am a huge Sony fan.I got a chance to pick up a demo model at a retailer.Brand new ......... I like to watch a DVD in bed while the wife sleeps.Unlike the clam shell type I used previous.This unit takes a lot of adjusting of the knees,covers etc.to get it just at the right angle.

The picture quality is quite granny.But these are all things I can live with.......had I paid full price well.....