Panasonic DVD-LS50 7-Inch Portable DVD Player
From Panasonic
The DVD-LS50 features a 7-inch (diagonal screen measurement) LCD 16: 9 screen, built-in stereo speakers, the Mono Arm design and dual headphone jacks. The battery life of the DVD-LS50 is 2.9 hours at the minimum LCD brightness. The Panasonic portable DVD player includes high-speed, 5-step Smooth Motion Scan, a feature that provides crystal-clear forward and reverse scan, in 5 speeds. At the highest setting, the unit scans at an incredible 100 times normal speed. Panasonic portable DVD player optimizes the viewing experience by adding two key features - Dialog Enhancer and Cinema Mode. Dialog Enhancer boosts the center channel volume - where most of the principal dialog emanates when playing a Dolby Digital 5.1 disc - by 6dB. Cinema Mode improves the picture quality by reducing glare, softening resolution and improving visibility of details in dark scenes - resulting in a more realistic, cinema-like image.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #39177 in Consumer Electronics
- Color: Black ? Silver
- Brand: Panasonic
- Model: DVD-LS50
- Dimensions: 9.30" h x 5.80" w x 5.30" l, 1.60 pounds
- Display size: 7
Enjoy your favorite movies wherever you roam with Panasonic's portable DVD-LS50 multiformat DVD player. Featuring a 7-inch screen, the 16:9 aspect ratio DVD-LS50 enables you to watch movies in widescreen format or conventional 4:3 formats such as letterbox and pan-and-scan. The LCD can be manually adjusted to a variety of different angles that can accommodate a wide range of viewing positions. The DVD-LS50 also features built-in stereo speakers, a rechargeable battery with a battery life of up to 3 hours, audio output for Dolby Digital and DTS, and a remote control.
In addition to DVD video discs, the DVD-LS50 is compatible with DVD-Audio, DVD-RAM, DVD-R, video and audio CDs, MP3, WMA, and CD-R/-RW discs. It also supports HighMAT (High-Performance Media Access Technology), a technology codeveloped by Panasonic and Microsoft that improves the method of storing, arranging, and playing back digital photo, music, and video collections on recordable discs, such as DVD and CD recordable media.
With the high-speed, 5-step Smooth Motion Scan feature, you'll get crystal-clear forward and reverse scan at 100 times normal speed at its highest setting. The Cinema Mode function lessens glare, providing colors that are more cinemalike, and picture resolution that is gentler to the eyes. It also improves the visibility of details in dark scenes by automatically adjusting picture contrast, and helps to suppress color smearing as well. The Dialogue Enhancer feature increases the center-channel volume relative to other channels, making movie dialogue easier to hear and understand.
The DVD-LS50 has 1 composite A/V out and a 3.5 mm headphone minijack. It offers advanced virtual surround sound, headphone surround sound, and optical digital audio output for Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound--making this road warrior a complete solution for your home theater as well.
Tech Talk
Dolby Digital: Digital audio compression technology developed by Dolby Laboratories that provides the same 5.1 discrete channels of high-quality digital audio found in Dolby Digital cinema audio systems. Because all of the channel data are recorded discretely, Dolby Digital offers good channel separation and little sound deterioration due to the digital channel data processing. It conforms to 5.1-channel surround sound. The rear channel is stereo, and there is a discrete subwoofer channel.
DTS: Digital audio compression technology developed by Digital Theater Systems that conforms to 5.1-channel surround sound. The rear channel is stereo, and there is a discrete subwoofer channel.
What's in the Box
Panasonic DVD-LS50 portable DVD player, remote control, batteries for remote control, rechargeable battery, and AC adapter.
light, well-built, great performance, features and battery
I bought this after noticing that the DVD player rental chain in many airports uses Panasonics exclusively, which to me says something about durability. Comparing this unit with Audiovox, Mintek and Magnavox, it is obviously much more solid. The great thing, though, is that for the same screen size, the unit is slimmer and lighter. The swivel screen makes it very easy to hang on the back of the driver's seat in the car for kids to watch, since it folds flat and won't protrude from the seat back. Others have noted short battery life. I took it on a plane trip from Alaska to Arizona and watched all of the extended version of The Two Towers (over 3.5 hours) and didn't run out of battery. I turned the brightness all the way down, but the picture was still very clear and easy to see in a darkened airplane. The great thing is that the battery is much smaller and lighter than other DVD players I've seen, and doesn't really add to the size or weight of the unit. This thing is great for viewing my CR-RWs with lots of family photos on them, as well as listening to MP3s or WMAs (it even recognizes playlists, although I haven't tried this out yet). The controls on the player allow you to easily operate it without the remote, except for specialized functions. With the free case and airplane/car power adapter offer through Amazon (I'm still waiting for mine), and Amazon's great price, you just can't lose with this. The only thing the Mintek has that this doesn't is A/V input, but if you don't need to play video games on it, it's not a problem. Don't waste your money on a slightly cheaper unit that doesn't even compare with this. You'll be glad you spent a little more.
Small, light, versatile and fantastic
I frequently take the 4 hour bus ride between New York and Boston and was growing tired of lugging my 7lb laptop to watch DVDs. I was also concerned about this $2000 work computer getting lost/stolen. So although it was tough to justify the cost because I already had something that was 'free' and had a 15" screen, I was ready to buy a portable.
When I first shopped a year ago, I really liked the look and feel of the Toshiba P-1200. But online reviews citing battery problems scared me away. And a guy in work had it happen to him. It just died. I was hoping they fixed it with the P-1400, but I still saw a few users saying they had battery issues. Meanwhile, the reviews for the Panasonic were glowing. Here were the pros and cons between the two:
- Toshiba $70 less vs. Panasonic
- Toshiba 3-3 1/2 hr battery life vs. 2-2 1/2 hr for Panasonic
- Toshiba credit card remote vs. big remote on Panansonic
- Toshiba comes with car charger, but Panasonic has charger AND case via rebate
- Toshiba 3.25 lbs vs. 1.75 lbs for Panasonic
So it came down to this. Should I pay more money for a smaller, lighter product that had better reviews, even though the battery life might be an issue. So I went to see them in person.
The result? No contest. The Panasonic is very small and very light. Much easier to toss in my carry-on messenger bag. And the screen is bright and clear. The coolest thing is how the screen can be contorted into so many angles, which is very helpful when the person in front of you reclines their seat halfway into your lap. Additionally, the remote is a non factor for me. I leave it at home. Why? The Panasonic has a very slick shuttle dial that lets you FF and REW through the DVD at different speeds.
In summary, I've used it on one bus ride and one flight so far and it's been great. While I don't want to completely diss Toshiba (I just bought an awesome 30" Toshiba HDTV), for my money the Panasonic has been the right choice.
The Best Portable DVD Out There
I just purchased this unit after owning a 5" Panasonic DVD player. The chief differences between this unit and similar units of others brands are:
(1) The picture is much brighter and sharper
(2) The simulated surround sound using headphones (I use the
Koss Porta Pros) is much louder and the sound is more spacious and open
(3) This unit plays "marginal" DVD's with make other units skip
(4) The screen tilts to virtually any position making its use in planes or other tight spaces more flexible
(5) It is much more solidly built than its competitors
(6) It immediately recognizes the DVD that has been placed in the unit and adjusts the size of the picture automatically
(7) There is less wasted space around the 7" screen making the unit smaller and lighter..it is barely larger than the actual size of the screen.
(8) It's battery is virtually internal, simply snapping onto a recessed area in the bottom of the unit. It appears to be "built directly into the unit"
(9) It's remote control is "full size" Although it occupies little space in my bag, it is much more user friendly than the small remotes that come with other units.
(10) It's price is only about $50 more than the competition, and given all of the above, it is well worth the difference, especially considering the "rebate package" which includes a case and a DC adaptor.
I bought mine at B&H Photo...The shipping charge is only about $10, and, although the delivery promises 3-5 days, I received mine the very next day (in CT).The price was also as low as any out there.
