Coby Electronics TF-DVD8501 8.5-Inch Slim Portable DVD Player with Swivel Screen

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

Review of Coby 8.5" Slim Portable DVD Player

This is a fantastic item. I bought this because I needed to replace a Toshiba player that had died on me (less than 1 year from the date I bought it), and I tried a couple of units. First, I tried an Audiovox 7" unit, but it didn't work properly. Then, I ordered the Coby player. It worked as soon as the battery was charged (about 4 hours), and it played straight for about 3.5 hours before I needed to recharge the battery or plug in the AC adapter. I am very pleased with the swivel feature also. It allows you to make a "book" out of the unit. It comes with a cover that holds the book on the back of the driver's seat or the front passenger seat, so that the kids can watch video in the car (plus there are 2 headphone jacks and 2 headphones provided)! To me, this little machine was more than worth the money.

(5 out of 5)

Great Little DVD Player

For the price, this unit has been great. It came with tons of accessories. We've used it in cars for trips as well as an extra DVD player hooked up to a TV at home. I would definitely recommend this item.

(3 out of 5)

Does not play PAL dvds!

I just wanted to add a word of warning for shoppers looking for a dvd player to play non-region 1 dvds. I bought this player because the specs said it plays PAL and NTSC formats, but when I put in a PAL dvd today I got the error message "wrong disc region". On checking the instruction booklet I discovered that the dvd drive doesn't read non-region 1 discs, and the PAL/NTSC thing advertised is some nonsense about using cables to play from a PAL tv on the dvd player's screen. My solution was to permanently set my dvd drive on my Mac to play region 2 dvds (you can only set it a few times before it locks), and use the portable dvd player to watch region 1 dvds. If you're looking to play PAL dvds, do your research carefully on other players to make sure it doesn't mislead you by advertising PAL & NTSC compatible the way this one did.

Another thing with this player is that when a dvd is playing, there is a horrible high-pitched electronic whine over the audio, which I can tolerate through the speakers, but it's unbearable on the headphones. I have a feeling that it's some sort of problem just with my unit since no one else has mentioned it, and I'm too lazy to return it when it's only slightly noticeable without headphones. I did go to Coby's website to ask them about it, and their link to contact their help desk is conveniently (for them) broken, so I'm not sure how helpful they'll actually be. I'm just shrugging it off, but BUYER BEWARE!

(5 out of 5)

Excellent picture and sound quality

I just got the unit yesterday so I don't know how it will stand up in time, but I was really surprised by the excellent sharpness and picture and sound clarity. Some might be turned off by the Amazon specs showing the weight at 5 lbs. This is erroneous. The unit is quite light--I would say under 2 lbs. with the battery.
It comes with a surprising amount of accessories. Car seat attachment, 2 sets of headphones and a remote (which many much more expensive units don't include).
Finally, I could never understand anyone saying that something is "excellent for the price". Something is either good or not good. A low price doesn't make it any better.

Well it is now 7/8/08, several months have passed, the unit has accompanied me on several trips and continues to operate perfectly. The image remains gorgeous.

(1 out of 5)

Won't play DVD+R

Bought it for one reason - to play the DVD+Rs I make on my PC. False advertising - it can't.