Thumbs go up as the price of portable DVD players goes down.
Buy Now...
A psychopath jumps over the ticket barrier, runs down the platform and just manages to catch the train leaving the station. He storms along each carriage, looking for his next target. A gleam shines from his evil eye and from the shiny weapon concealed in his back pocket. Victim spotted, he pulls out his dagger and lunges it forward.
Except this isnt real, its just a movie. Actually its the 19:58 train to the suburbs and youre on it. Youve been watching the latest action blockbuster on your portable DVD player during the long commute home. But the knife part IS for real and it is now staring you straight in the face.
"Hand it over" grunts a spotty hooded youth as he shoves his tool of crime up against your body, gesturing his hand towards your electronic wizardry.
Regardless to the expense of your hard-earned gadget you reluctantly give it him, realising that youd rather report to the local Police station that evening than the local casualty.
You feel frustrated not only of your helplessness, but of losing a piece of your property worth hundreds of pounds.
While the latest consumer gizmos (or Hollywood for that matter) cant stop the scum of society robbing you of your worthy goods, the fast depreciating price of them can help soften the blow to your wallet if the unlikely does happen.
At an unbelievable £79.99, the ProLine DVDP350 rakes in as the lowest ever priced portable DVD player. Five years ago, you would have been looking to spend around a grand for something like this.
Although the price tag is minute, the size of the player unfortunately isnt. Both the weight and size feels about the same as an A5 hardback book, although thats to be expected at this price.
The ProLine comes complete with a rechargeable battery that clips onto the back of the player and helps prop it up. During testing, the claimed two hours battery life was proved to be accurate.
A 3.6 inch widescreen liquid crystal display (LCD) provides the pictures. Like most LCD screens used on this type of product, it has a limited viewing angle and should be watched straight on to achieve the best quality image. Also, my players screen had the slight irritation of one dead pixel stuck on black, again a common problem with some LCDs.
Although the tiny screen means that two people watching is off limits to all except the most amicable of couples, the picture size is comfortable enough for solo viewing. The image is sharp and well detailed, even if some straight lines in the picture do occasionally look jagged and the dark levels do lean more towards misty grey than true black.
Volume is reasonable enough for the built-in speakers. Although its best to make use of the provided headphone socket whilst on public transport to avoid steely glares from your fellow passengers. A fate far more deadly than any muggers knife.
On the player there is a dial for brightness control, a 4:3/16:9 picture ratio switch and also the usual play, pause, stop and track change buttons. Missing however, are any buttons to move around the disc menus to choose the various extras usually on offer. Annoyingly, these can only be accessed by using the included remote control.
Some users may find it a good idea to also purchase the carry case and extra accessories for £19.99. With the machine inserted inside the case, it allows you to affix the unit upright to the back of a car seat. Also included is a cigarette lighter adapter to use the car batterys power while on the move. I tried shaking the unit to see if it would cause the disc to stop or skip. It didnt, so journeys on bumpy roads should be fine.
Also included with the case are two cables to allow you to connect the player to a normal TV set and/or a separate sound system.
The ProLine DVDP350 is excellent value for money and represents the introduction of yet another technology reaching a true mass-market price-point. In fact its almost a giveaway price which as weve already discussed, you might not have a choice in.
As Nick Ross would say; "dont have nightmares."
The ProLine DVDP350 portable DVD player is available for £79.99 from Comet.
| add to del.icio.us | Digg this review |
| StumbleUpon | |
!!
