Advantages and Disadvantages of Cheap Portable DVD Players

If you’ve been on a long train or bus ride, you will know just how boring it can be, with nothing to do but look out of the window. Wouldn’t it be great if you could watch your favorite movies instead? Well, you could do just that with a portable DVD player. A portable DVD player is a smaller version of regular DVD players, which come with an attached screen, which enables you to see movies wherever you may be. So what’s new, you might well say. Well, the good news is that these days you get cheap portable DVD players, hence just about anybody can afford to buy one.

However, before going in for one, you should know what the advantages and disadvantages of cheap portable DVD players are.

So, What are the Advantages of Cheap Portable DVD Players?

Cheap Portable DVD Players are Inexpensive: Yes, that is one of its best selling points. Cheap portable DVD players are generally priced in the range between $70 to about $200, with most of them priced at the lower end of the price range. Some, in fact, are available for even as low as around $20. Except for a few, many of the manufacturers of cheap portable DVD players are not big time names. The cheap portable DVD player segment of the market is dominated by names like Audiovox, CyberHome, Astar, Mustek, Coby, and so on.

Cheap Portable DVD Players are High on Features: Although they are low-priced, the features that cheap portable DVD players have are equivalent to the premium models that are high priced. Many of them come with a built-in 7-inch or 8-inch LCD, or liquid crystal display, screen. There are also models that come with 5-inch or 61/2-inch screens. Compact and light, most cheap portable DVD players play practically all types of media formats as well as support all types of television systems.

However, despite its main advantage of enabling you to watch movies wherever and whenever you want to, especially when you are on the go, since you get what you pay for, there are certainly some disadvantages that cheap portable DVDs do have.

Here are Some of the Disadvantages of Cheap Portable DVD Players

Some Cheap Portable DVD Players Unable to Play Different File Formats: These days, DVD players usually are able to play various file formats such as DVD, CD-R, CD, etc. So, when looking at cheap portable DVD players, check to see whether they can indeed handle the various file formats, so that you don’t end up missing out on this important feature, especially if you want to use it to create your own home movies or CDs.

Some Cheap Portable DVD Players have Poor Sound Quality: The quality of the audio in cheap portable DVD players can be poor. They just do not have enough volume to counter the noise that occurs while traveling, such as the noise on the road, or conversation, and so on. Also, the components that make up the units of cheap products usually are of poorer quality. Hence, it is wise to test a cheap portable DVD player before buying it.

Check the Screen Size and Viewing Angle of a Cheap Portable DVD Player: In case more than two people are going to be viewing it, then the smaller 5-inch screens are certainly inadequate, especially for those sitting at a distance from it. Also, if people sit on either side of it, in effect viewing the screen at a 45 degree angle or thereabouts, some of them appear blurred. So, when choosing a cheap portable DVD player, it is a good idea to check out these factors.

However, because of its price, its portability and that it provides the basics of movie viewing while on the move, cheap portable DVD players are well worth it.