portable movie players

1. Posted: Aug 2 2008

   Just returned from a week long vacation with the portable player. Great picture. The sound isn't full range. No bass, but it is perfectly mid and highs for cars to cut through road noise. Sounds way better in the car than my laptop. The 6 hours battery is rated with brightness at lowest, which is almost not viewable. Expect closer to 4 hours. I like how both the standard electrical and car power adapter are included. I didn't do the car DVD holder. My kids like it on their lap then angle the screen way back Only complaint- Haven't figured out how to turn on the player without using the remote control.

2. Posted: Aug 1 2008

   First portable DVD player I have ever owned but it would be hard to beat. Very nice display, great sound. Battery life was 5 hours+ . I wish there was some illumination of the controls. Very difficult to see what's what on a dark train until you learn where everything is. Power button is also hard to find and easy to accidentally press. Individual volume controls for the headphones would be great so I suggest keeping all your headphones to the same model. I highly recommend a carrying case like the Targus.

3. Posted: Jul 30 2008

   I had bought the kids an RCA player and it did not last even a month, I decided to go with Sony as so far, it has been wonderful.

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1. Posted: Aug 2 2008

   Just returned from a week long vacation with the portable player. Great picture. The sound isn't full range. No bass, but it is perfectly mid and highs for cars to cut through road noise. Sounds way better in the car than my laptop. The 6 hours battery is rated with brightness at lowest, which is almost not viewable. Expect closer to 4 hours. I like how both the standard electrical and car power adapter are included. I didn't do the car DVD holder. My kids like it on their lap then angle the screen way back Only complaint- Haven't figured out how to turn on the player without using the remote control.

2. Posted: Aug 1 2008

   First portable DVD player I have ever owned but it would be hard to beat. Very nice display, great sound. Battery life was 5 hours+ . I wish there was some illumination of the controls. Very difficult to see what's what on a dark train until you learn where everything is. Power button is also hard to find and easy to accidentally press. Individual volume controls for the headphones would be great so I suggest keeping all your headphones to the same model. I highly recommend a carrying case like the Targus.

3. Posted: Jul 30 2008

   I had bought the kids an RCA player and it did not last even a month, I decided to go with Sony as so far, it has been wonderful.

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1. Posted: Jul 31 2008

   Unit has a good, sharp picture that can be viewed at an angle and the player's controls are easy to use. The headrest mount leaves something to be desired as it would not hold the player in place through a whole movie. Movement of the car as it traveled was enough to cause the mount to suddenly loosen it's grip and drop the player. I tried several different positions to no avail. The kids wound up holding the player on their laps.

2. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 10 2008

   I haven't had this device for long, but so far I think I agree with most of the positive reviews here. One thing I have not seen mentioned, however, is that there seems to be no way to have the player adjust the image of anamorphic DVD sources such that the picture fills the screen as much as possible. If you've got a 16:9 TV, then you're familiar with the various "stretch" viewing modes, and how with many sources the image must be "stretched" in the vertical direction in order for it to fill the screen and (more importantly) for the image to be rendered at the right aspect ratio. In other words, if the movie has a shot of a basketball, the basketball should look like a basketball, not a blunt football. With this player, the only means I've found to get the aspect ratio right for anamorphic disks is to tell it to use the 4:3 TV setting. That corrects the aspect ratio problem, but it leaves about half the screen unused - that half-screen is more-or-less what I wanted when I paid extra for this thing! Anamorphic DVDs are not rare, by any means! As I was picking DVDs from my shelf to test the player, I found that the first 5 I picked were anamorphic. It's something I generally don't think about at all, because all my other playback mechanisms are capable of dealing with that format. Apparently, the Philips people decided it wasn't really important for this device. That's really a shame.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 6 2008

   We received the dvd player and were happy with quality, picture, and controls. But the car mount is very cheap and broke within the first week.

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1. Posted: Jul 8 2008

   I bought this player for my sister in August 2007. I think she used it two or three times before the screen went out. She mailed it to me, and I mailed it back to Audiovox, paying them to fix it. Over the next few months, I had to send the player to Audiovox TWICE in order to get the thing fixed. Now, after the last "fix", I used it myself for two hours and the screen went white. I don't know if the whiteness of the screen is related to low battery power or what, but it stopped working. My principal complaint is that the service/repairs are shoddy, and the company simply doesn't stand by its products. This has been a horrible waste of my time and money. I will *never* purchase an Auudiovox product again. EVER.

2. Posted: Jun 1 2008

   I've owned this unit about 6 months, it worked fine until I left the battery uncharged. Unit is now completely dead, can't find a service center. Can't find a direct replacement battery pack. I don't want an auxillary battery pack hanging off the main unit. Don't buy Audiovox products, their service is non-existent.

3. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 14 2008

   Ok, so, I received this portable dvd player for free, so obviously, I can't complain about the price. When I first used this unit, I loved it. The battery lasted almost 4 hours, the picture was great. The only downside was the tinny sound of the speakers. A pair of good headsets solved that problem. Then the problem started. I used this only three times, and now, the battery will not hold a charge. It works maybe 4-5 MINUTES before the battery shuts down. I have contacted the company, and they offered a new battery for 40 dollars. I was considering buying one, thinking maybe it was just my battery that was defective. Then I talked to others who bought this same DVD player. They ALL had the same problem. I will not waste 40 dollars on a new battery. The DVD player still works fine if plugged in to a AC outlet. But, what is the point of having a portable player, if you need to plug it in.

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1. ( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jun 30 2008

   bought and had to return. Volume was miserably low during video play back, could barley hear on airplanes. Archos service was terrible, plugins cost too much, video playback battery life too short, internet browser too clunky and ridiculously slow. Amazon return service was great, still fighting Archos for refund on plugins.

2. Posted: Jun 3 2008

   The list of what this video player can do has been well stated in previous reviews. So let's get to the good stuff! First and foremost, I received my 705 WiFi very quickly. That said, I opened the box to find everything neatly boxed and easy to find. This baby does everything and for the most part comes with everything you need to start experiencing your music and videos in a whole new light. Connecting to my home network was a breeze! DETAILED instructions are provided within the unit. They are easy to read and understand. While I was playing around with the device, my wife configured Windows Media Player. She does not dabble nor care much for electronics. However over the years I have ripped alot of her music into WMP and felt she should help setup this new toy. Within minutes we were listening to our favorite tunes, wireless. Granted the OPERA web browser isn't all that fast but it is adequate and better than my cell phone browser! I would recommend any and all of the plugins that interest you. I have the web browser, video enhanser, Dishnetwork plugin (free) and the Widget plugin. All were easy to download and install. Oh yeah, being able to record movies from my satelite dish...PRICELESS.

3. Posted: May 23 2008

   This is a great device. This can play almost any type of media file including AVI, MP3 WMA and many others if you pay archos for them. I however haven't bought extra decoders and plug-ins from them yet, because it can get really expensive. It does not come with any software for your computer, you must use your own software that you have, or bought, or download, or something. The main problem I think with this is the sound. Yes the sound reproduction is good but the volume is WAY TOO LOW even with the volume turned up all the way. No, I'm not deaf and yes, I know you have to turn the volume up all the way on the headphones themself that come with it. When I talk headphones I mean earphones or earbuds. This will not work with large headphones. Still even when I use other headphones the volume is just too low. Now, it can actually be loud though depending on what you listen to like good quality recordings of (rock, pop, rap and other stuff I don't like) and if you're not in a loud place, but for what I like to listen to such as classical recordings you'll miss a lot because you can't hear it. Forget about using this device in the city, a car or in other loud places. I haven't purchased isolating headphones yet but it may help a lot with this. Still if I compare the volume to other MP3 players such as the Toshiba Gigabeat and the creative Zen the volume is less than a third of what theirs are. Even the new models of the 705 have this problem (and all of archos players for that matter). Archos claims they did this to protect your hearing and to comply with international law. Maybe they did, but it's still a shame. The second problem although in no way as big as the first is the battery life. Even reviewers here claim 20 hours of audio. Well, they simply haven't tried out the product and timed it because you will really get no more than eight hours of audio with the wifi turned off the screen to 20 seconds and hardly any messing around with it. Doesn't matter the bitrate or the format of the audio, it's all the same. No, there isn't anything wrong with my battery or unit, it's just the way it is. I do have a large 2X extended life battery 704 battery (supposed to work with 705 and it's not made by Archos) coming from an amazon merchant and I hope this remedies the poor battery life I'm getting. I have heard though that this battery is large, sticks out and is hard to fit. I haven't tried it much for video but I was able to watch an hour and a half video on it and it took off half of the bars from the battery indicator. So, if the indicator is right, and it seems to be, you should be able to get two and a half hours of video(gotta say less than three). Funny how audio playback doesn't last many more times then that. in Comparison to other products that I use for audio my Sony CD MP3 player that runs on ONE AA lasts 13 hours and the Gigabeat lasts six and the Zen four. All these have great volume levels too. The thrid problem with this is you have to keep buying more. Now I haven't bought a whole lot yet, only a car adapter, a 2x battery and a fanny pack so I can take it hiking but just getting this means you're going to spend at least a 150 more just to get it to work right. The web browser is an extra 30 bucks and you must buy that if you plan to use the interweb on this thing. Not to mention the extra decoders that you must buy to play certain formats such as AAC(don't know if it's supported actually), MPEG2 and 4 and such. I did buy this mostly for music and to take hiking. There is a problem though, this thing is big and heavy. Basically think about something the weight of a brick and thinned out into almost a one inch thick tablet. Another problem is this has really no places to hold on to it, it's just a slab. The solution?, a large fanny pack. Just put the screen lock on to keep from it doing stuff when that thing bounces around in there. There is yet another problem with that thought that can drain it's already mediocre battery life even more. Any touching of the screen will turn it on, even when it's locked, it just won't do anything. So you got to make sure you put it in a good spot and try not to bounce around too much or touch the fanny pack. Still, it works better and has more features(even if you have to buy them) than any other media player I have ever owned. Just be aware of these things if you decide on the 705 or any Archos products. Update: well I returned this product to Amazon and I'm hoping for at least most of my money back. Why would I return a product I thought was good? Well after more use the more I realize this thing is not worth it. The sound volume is just too intolerable, it really is that low. It also sounds pretty bad, just a lot of hissing and wind blowing sounds with all headphones(earbuds and earphones). The battery life for music is terrible and it's a big and heavy battery yet it still has a short life. Then there's the plug-ins, I had problems trying to purchase them and Archos is no help. Plus it is almost as big and heavy as my computer yet it costs more and does less.

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1. Posted: Nov 7 2007

   Months after I purchased the player I recieved the dreaded HO3 error code. I fixed it per Panasonics specifications but got it again after the next play. However, even with the directions I have it won't work at all now. Upon researching this error code; I found that this error is so common - this model should have been recalled - save your money!

2. Posted: Sep 11 2007

   This DVD player was well used in the ~13 months since purchase until suddenly "Error H03" was displayed on the screen and the player could not read the DVD. After looking into having it repaired, (cost being from $95-160, depending on what was found) we decided to purchase the LS80 ($155) as we had this model before and had no problems for over two years until our toddler son dropped it and it subsequently stopped working. After reading the reviews, I am not alone in having the "Error H03" message and a nonfunctional player after the 12 mo. warranty has expired. Note, there were similar reviews re: the LS82 ($180) model, which we considered as that battery life is 12 hours. Both the LS80 and LS91 have 6 hr battery lives.

3. ( 6 of 6 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 12 2007

   We have owned this dvd player for 13 months. We just got the H03 error; right on time according to other reviews. I would recommend looking at other players first or expect to repair this one after about a year.

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