Are Panasonic Portable DVD Players Still the Best?

Since the first days of the portable DVD market, the Panasonic portable DVD player has always been one of the best offerings among all makers. Jump ahead to the present and you'll find that top honors are shared by a diverse number of brands and models. They might not be alone at the head of the pack as they previously were, but you can still rely on Panasonic to churn out a portable DVD player of extremely high quality.Today, their portable DVD players inhabit the mid-range category in terms of both price and quality. Purchased new, nearly all models in the Panasonic line-up vary in price between $100 and $250. Consumer ratings for picture quality are always positive. This is in part due to Panasonic's handy and effective brightness control.Individual ratings of portable DVD players call the sound quality into question on some models, but not so much so as to suggest an issue inherent in the model itself. Portable DVD sound is occasionally a difficult thing to evaluate by means of purchaser ratings because you just don’t know what people are attempting to play or what their expectations were. In all honesty, these devices are built to be used with headphones or ear buds and without them the sound quality is going to be mediocre at best on all but the highest priced machines.The controls on the face of the Panasonic portables are arranged somewhat inefficiently, and this is reflected in many of the user reviews. Oddly, a remote control is not included with several Panasonic portable DVD player models, so watch out for that. At the average price charged for these devices, you ought to get a remote control in the package. Again, some models have them and others don't, so if it a remote control is important to you, check to make sure that your model includes one and don't just assume it will.Battery performance is one the most critical features on any portable electronic appliance. Consumer evaluations all appear to be in agreement that the Panasonic portable DVD player rates highly in this category. They re-charge efficiently, maintain their charge as expected, and generally meet battery life expectations. Depending on the model being reviewed, Panasonic advertises that their batteries will survive from between 5 and 13 hours. These claims should be kept in perspective however. Real world battery performance for every brand relies to the highest degree on how the player is used. And just like all other brand names, Panasonic advertises result for what they considered ordinary operation. Real world operation may differ. For example, do you put the brightness at the uppermost setting, or use the exterior speakers rather than an earpiece? If so, you can expect a sizable reduction in battery run time compared to the advertised figures. Consequently models advertised as possessing 13 hour battery capacity might only accomplish seven or eight hours under these conditions. Still, eight hours is nothing to complain about on a portable DVD player and compares quite favorably to competing models from other manufacturers.