Date: November 30th, 2003
Article by: Nathan Glentworth (Owner, Head Editor & Hardware Reviewer)
Product was donated by: Merconnet
<--Shop for Portable DVD Players

PRODUCT WALKHROUGH (cont'd)

On the left hand side is the unit's power switch. This little switch had me puzzled for about five minutes seeing I really didn't know it existed. I thought you popped in a DVD, pressed play and the unit would power on which in this case didn't happen. After finding the tiny switch, the unit fired up without a hitch. If anything can be said, I wish the switch would have been a little bigger. You borderline have to have women's fingernails to access it.

The right side of the player is where you can access the standard headphone jack and its dedicated volume control. For the love of god, please turn the volume all the way down and then put on your headphones and adjust the volume. My particular unit had the volume maxed out and when the movie started, my ears got the blast of their lifetime. They are still ringing today.

The unit's rear panel is where all power, video and audio connections are made. Moving from left to right, you first have the digital optical out to hook directly into your AC-3 home theater system amplifier. I was initially only expecting two channel stereo and was surprised that this player can output full digital 5.1 surround.

Moving to the right you have your S-Video video output along with the composite audio and two channel stereo connectors. You cannot use both video connectors at the same time and have to choose whether you want your TV to use the higher quality S-Video connection or just a standard composite. Either way, choose one. Closing out the connections on the far right is the 12 volt adapter connection for the included power supply.

If you have a rather old TV with only the coaxial connector, you will be forced to take a trip to your local electronics store to buy an RF Modulator. This is not out of the ordinary seeing that even the bigger standard DVD players require the modulator to combine the audio and video into a raw coaxial signal. A little hint of advice, invest in a better TV before you pay for a modulator. That way you can take full advantage of the video quality.

Now I know some people will be noting that the unit lacks any sort of component connections. Is that a draw back? Not at all really. Although a component connection will give you the best overall visual quality, it is hindered by several other factors. For one, you will have to have a TV that has the special connections which is only included in the expensive models. Secondly, decent component cables are awfully expensive and the difference in picture quality in my mind doesn't justify the price. I have used both and really, I can't see a difference on a standard 27 inch television set.