Panasonic DVD-LV55 Portable DVD Player

• Portable DVD/CD/Video CD player with built-in 5-inch LCD screen
• DTS and Dolby Digital compatible
• 5-speed smooth scan
• Built-in stereo speakers
• Superthin design for convenient travel

This little unit, while being on the small side in terms of screen size, is great. I travel cross-country on planes at least twice/week and have never been able to sleep while sitting in the ever-shrinking, upright, rigid airline seats; this device has made these sardine-can trips bearable!

Pros: better than expected sound out of little speakers; ease of hookup to full size monitor; easy-to-operate controls on both remote and unit top; bright picture, even in bright light conditions; electronic brightness and color adjustment controls; battery life (3.5 hours with a "0" brightness setting on a -5 to 5 scale) that averages better than listed in the specifications (2.5-3 hours); stands up to jostling and bumping of airline travel well (skip-free play sideways and inverted); extended electronic sound processing features (simulates theatre surround modes while using headset); healthy substitute for full-size DVD player in the home

Cons: battery cannot charge while unit is plugged in and in use (i.e., must be turned off to charge); remote cannot be used while unit is operating on battery power; manual is poorly organized, but after a couple of times through, the technically-challenged can operate this unit; no carrying case or headphones packaged with unit; lack of dynamic range dampening feature requires a quick finger on the volume control when using a headset; (not completely sure about this but) optical output jack on the back of the unit is not truly optical-cable compatible

Suggestions: for successful audio during air travel, get a noise-dampening headset that either covers the ear completely or some headphones/earbuds that insert into the ear canal; if you connect to external monitors routinely, invest in an S-video cable as well (not included with model, but RCA style video and audio cables are).

I compared this 5" model to the larger screen Panasonic model and found that the extra money for the latter wasn't warranted. With this unit roughly 15 inches from my eyes, the picture is crisp, but not too grainy ("liney") and I have yet to come across a movie where something wasn't resolved well enough on the screen to see it.

I give it 5 stars for overall quality and ease of use minus a star for not including a case and headphones. Bottom line: pros far outweigh cons, great bang for the buck.

Buy Panasonic DVD-LV55 Portable DVD Player Now

I bought one of these immediately after a particularly frustrating transcontinental flight, so I wasn't in the best frame of mind when I made my choice. I also only had a choice between this one and one made by Pioneer.

Nevertheless, after two very long business trips I have been extremely satisfied. I not only used it during the flights to watch videos, but also to listen to CDs. The battery lasts for slightly longer than 3 hours (just about as long as I want headphones on my head) and easily charges up overnight. (In the future, if I do longer trips, I might consider buying a second, backup battery.) Additionally, the unit seems rugged. I use a soft-sided totebag for travel, rather than a hard-sided briefcase, and it gets thrown/stuffed/mushed around a lot. I liked the fact that the unit was small enough, even with the battery pack, to allow me to cram a lot of other stuff in with it. (You know how we women are with our handbags and travelbags!)

The hotels I stayed at only had about 10 channels available for viewing on their TV, so I also used this unit in the evenings, for both DVDs and CDs. This allows me to catch up on all of those alternate soundtracks on DVDs -something that I'm often too busy to do at home.

One very small complaint I have is that the picture seems a little grainy. However, I could have bought the Pioneer unit sitting in the display case next to this one, which had both a very good quality picture as well as a slightly larger one, but cost ($) more. Obviously, price was a factor in my decision.

This unit didn't come with headphones, so make sure you purchase a set when you get yours. The unit's speakers sound pretty tinny but what else could you expect in a small DVD player? Use the headphones, which have a perfectly acceptable sound. And don't forget, you can select two settings that simulate surround-sound. I found that some DVDs had an improved sound with these settings, but some didn't. (There may be a technical explanation for this but I can't tell you what it is.)

The unit comes with a remote but it only works when the unit is running off of a wall outlet. I found that for basic watching, the unit's own buttons can get you through any DVD menu selections, forward/freeze/reverse/zoom options, or player setup you wish to do. (Note that most home DVD players don't have enough buttons, and require the remote for accessing all of its functions.)

I found the instructions easy to follow -I'm the type of person who reads almost every page -and was soon able to navigate through the unit's setup menus.

Overall, considering this unit's price, the amount of features provided, and the enjoyment I've gotten with it, I consider this a very good deal.

One last thought. If you travel with a laptop, why get one of these? Well, if your laptop has a DVD drive, you don't really have to get one of these. However, I like how compact this unit is, allowing me a little more privacy. No...I don't watch any X-rated stuff, but I also do consider my fellow travelers who might not want to see any explicit scenes in their peripheral line of sight. I can also fit this along with a cup of coffee, a snack, or a book (when listening to a CD)on the seat tray. When listening to a CD, this unit fits into my lap or between me and my handrest more easily than a laptop would.

Read Best Reviews of Panasonic DVD-LV55 Portable DVD Player Here

The quality is second to none! Not only was I shocked at how wonderful and workable the five inch screen is when you hold it on your lap, it's the same ratio as watching on a 52 inch TV several feet away. The surround sound is incredible and really works even via headphones! I sit in my back yard late at night and enjoy great movies the overall enjoyment and relaxation is better then watching from a large screen TV in my living room. This is the best product I've ever bought!

Want Panasonic DVD-LV55 Portable DVD Player Discount?

Though the LV55 is advertised as having a 5" screen, the actual viewable screen size is 4.8" diagonal, with a 16:9 width-to-height ratio just like a widescreen TV. There are several "display modes" that let you change the image size. One of them lets you enlarge a non-anamorphic image so it will fill the whole screen (albeit resulting in a more pixellated, less sharp display). One of the display modes turns off the display, so that you can save battery power while playing audio CDs.

The LV55 has a screen resolution of 280,000 pixels, which comes to about 700x400 pixels. This is less than the 720x480 resolution that a DVD is able to deliver, but it is enough to give a clear, sharp picture.

This player only lets you adjust color saturation and brightness, and not hue and contrast. Using "Video Essentials" and "Avia Guide to Home Theater" to test the display, I find that the display has a slight over-saturation of red, and cannot display certain grey scales (which could cause "dithering" in playing black-and-white movies). Also, the player has some built-in edge enhancement that strikes me as rather excessive, resulting in "halos" appearing around borders.

The display also has the common overscan problem, which results in a little bit of picture cut off from the left and right sides of the image. Overscanning is common on most consumer CRT and LCD displays.

The built-in speakers produce expectedly tinny sound, considering the player only uses 13 watts of power. A good pair of earphones or headphones is a must, but even so, the advantage of a 5.1 soundtrack is totally lost without 5.1 speakers. There is a "dialog enhancer" feature that raises the volume of the center channel sound, which is useful in a noisy environment. There is also a "dynamic range compression" feature that lowers the volume of loud sound if you feel the soundtrack is too overwhelming.

The LV55 is able to play DVD-Video discs with Dolby Digital or DTS sound, audio CDs, and Video CDs (VCDs). Although the manual says it does not play CD-R discs, it does play CD-R discs that are copied from audio CDs and VCDs.

The player can also send Dolby Digital or DTS signal to an external DD/DTS decoder's optical input, although you need to obtain a miniplug-to-Toslink cable yourself. It can send its video signal (via RCA or S-Video cable) to an external monitor. It can also receive video from, say, a camcorder, so you can view it on the display.

With the battery pack attached, the LV55 weighs 2 pounds and is 1.5 inches thick, which is a little too bulky for me. But I do like the fact that the screen can be flipped open to an almost 180-degree angle, and that the playback is not affected even if I don't hold the player horizontally; that gives me great flexibility in viewing positions.

I bought this unit to use for travel and it's turned into an invaluable and indispensible little unit. The unit has worked perfectly for my daughters to watch Jackie Chan movies on road trips and for me on business trips. Not only does the battery last for two movies (~3.5 hours+), but the picture is fantastic.

This unit cannot be beat for the money.

The only con is the lack of some sort of dynamic compression circuit. Many DVDs have too much dynamic range to be heard properly through headphones on a noisy plane. Invest in a noise cancelling set of headphones and you'll be VERY happy with this unit.