Home > Consumer Reviews > Magnavox MPD720 7-Inch Portable DVD Player

I bought this model from Walmart in 2003 or 2004. My girls watch movies in their room almost everyday and play cds everynight at bedtime. This one has been a great player. No problems. I can't believe it is still going strong.

I am impressed by all the features offered by this dvd player. I have been using my laptop to play workout discs and having something just set in place all the time or something small (and it is pretty small) you are able to take on the road with you, is very handy. This is a solid little player (did I say little?) and comes with lots of plug-ins and features. My main complaint: sometimes it sounds like a race car grinding gears when it starts up and sometimes it'll just start grinding in mid-play. It can also have trouble loading a disc unless you really press down onto the spindle. It tends to freeze sometimes in the midst of playing and then it moves on. It does the same with movies sometimes and other times it plays right through. So over all I would say it's a good machine but a little erratic. The price was certainly right and I'm not looking for anything more serious or expensive for my uses.

This product demonstrated its unwillingness to work as soon as I put my first DVD in it. It was so scratch sensitive that it began skipping and hanging up on one of my own films immediately. I knew that if this thing handled my own purchased DVDs like that (which I take good care of), then it doesn't stand a prayer with the scratched, hacked copies the rental places distribute. An inability to read through simple scratches is a must nowadays, given the technology these players are capable of. Luckily I was still within the warranty period, or else I'd be taking slapshots with this player against my garage door.

We've had no performance issues with ours. Have two boys, 6 & 4, who are the primary users so it's not exactly been handled with care. It still holds up well, loads the discs with no problem. My only complaint would be that for some movies, I'm not able to get the image bright enough to be seen clearly. This thing has saved our sanity on many cross-country trips to visit family. Has done well both in the car and on planes.

After reading good reviews for this on Amazon.com, I purchased it February 2005. Now I am seeing the more critical reviews from the period after my purchase. The criticism is justified. Within the first 90 days, the Magnavox MPD720 was no longer playing despite no abuse - usually played from my nightstand. I sent it back to the manufacturer who replaced it. Recently I began to hear the dreaded grinding and see the now familiar mid-scene pause - it has stopped loading. So within a year, two machines failed.

I did not feel the volume was adequate from the beginning. The battery did work well on a vacation last year; however, it protrudes in such a way as to make the unit not fit in the case when used to hold it in position in a car.

Yesterday I purchased a Philips portable dvd player which was recommended on this site. It is the same company as the Magnavox, but the model looks like a completely different product so I can only hope. I do not have the budget to replace it annually.

The best reviews are not the ones from people who have just turned on the machine or are quoting the product sheet, but who have had some time to see how the machine works over time.

Thanks to others who took the time to analyze what they do and don't like about their portable dvd players. Without these informed comments, we are buying blind.