You see on the news the horror stories of people sitting on planes on the runways and around airport areas for hours on end. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to watch a movie during unavoidable travel delays?

Toshiba, Panasonic, Coby, Audiovox, Axion, and Sony; the list could go on. All of these manufacturers and many others make and sell portable DVD players. Wading through specifications may not help many choose which player would best suit their needs. What features help make the player a better choice?

Important specification to pay attention to are:

1. Size of the display area. A fantastic picture is not good to the viewer if it is the size of a postage stamp. Typically 7" and higher are offered today. Widescreen or standard screen? If you go with standard screen sizes and play a widescreen movie, your playing area will shrink with the black bars. However, many players offer the option to change your playing area where you can enhance it to fill the screen. If you have a bunch of full size (old TV) display DVDs, you may want to verify if these settings are present.

2. Battery life is an important feature. If your battery cannot last the length of one average length movie what good will it be? Most want a portable player to watch movies away from areas where power outlets are available (camping, plane travel, car seats, etc). In addition, is a car adapter provided or must it be purchased separately? How long will it take to recharge a battery from drained? Is the battery the type that builds a memory if charged too early slowly reducing the amount of playing time? Try to find a unit that does not need the battery to be fully dead before recharging without detriment to the battery life.
3. Sound or speaker output. If you have a great picture but transistor radio quality sound, it will detract from the movie watching experience. Granted, this is not a movie theater system, but you need to be able to clearly hear the dialogue between the actors to follow the storyline. Stereo output should be expected as well as jacks for using personal headphones.
4. Media playable in your player may be important. All should play movie studio DVDs, but if you have folks in your life who send DVDs of family outings and such, it would help to know they can play. Look for a player that can support all types such as DVD, DVD-R/RW, DVD-DL, DVD+R/RW, as well as CDs and CD-R/RW. You never know when your unit will need to play something like these.

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