Toshiba SDP1900 9" Portable DVD Player Best Buy

Toshiba delivers quality - 05 Oct 2007

69 out of 69 found this review helpful.

Toshiba SDP1900 - 9'' Widescreen Portable DVD Player

I have searched for a few weeks for a portable DVD player short listing my choices to the manufactures that I personally trust based on past experience and personal product ownership. These were Toshiba, Panasonic, Phillips and Samsung.

I have a Toshiba 37 inch LCD at home and a Toshiba laptop, both of which I am very pleased with thus went for this Toshiba SDP1900 unit based on my trust of Toshiba, that this was a 9 inch unit and the benefits listed below, which I hope assists you in making your own decision as to whether to buy this unit.

Pros

* The unit is attractive and gives a feel of quality with easy to use unit buttons; play, skip, etc.
* The 9 inch screen feels `just right' for a portable unit, many others are a smaller 7 inch, which I enjoy watching on the train, in hotels and traveling in the car with. The up to 5 hours battery life is positive compared to limited offerings from other manufactures.
* A `value add package' offering; the unit, a good multi function remote (not just a simple credit card remote for play, stop, etc.), a carry case (which can accept the unit, all cables and still have room for a number of movies and stuff), the units car kit and AV cables to connect to external equipment.
* Two headphone sockets; useful for `both of you' to watch a movie i.e. when traveling.
* `Bigger Brother DVD' functions i.e. resume, bookmark, etc.
* No LCD drag or digital noise.
* Toshiba's E.A.M. (Enhanced Audio Mode) an audio effect giving a `warmer / rounded' sound.
* Good audio through headphones (better than the onboard speakers).
* Easy to use Set Up Menus with simple choices and an easy to following instruction booklet making it very easy to set up, which some other manufacturers do not offer, in that some can be complex.
* Simple picture settings with the choices of; Colour, Brightness & Screen Fit.

Cons

* Onboard speakers are a bit tinny, you can adjust the sound with the different audio options on the unit however you get better sound through the headphones.
* As with all LCD screens if you view the screen too close i.e. under 15 cm for this unit you get a pixilated picture, so don't. The unit is best viewed IMO from around 50 cm and above.
* I taped a movie from SKY then burnt it to a DVD+R (not supported by this unit as DVD-R is the supported standard but through finalization I created a supported DVD-V, DVD Video, playable on all players). The displayed image was 2 1/2 x 6 inches not 9 inch widescreen, I tried all four of the Setup picture options, which did not alter the image size. You can alter the image size using the Zoom function. In this case Zoom-3 was the best, although not widescreen. The Screen Image Auto Fit works well on store purchased movies and shows the movie in full 9 inch widescreen. I will buy some DVD-R discs and test whether this has a positive effect.
* Some brands of blank DVDs are unreadable as can be the case when using some brands of blank DVDs in PCs and Players, bear this in mind before you bay a cake pack of 50 or 100 discs.

Summary

I am very pleased with this unit and award it 4/5 recommending you purchase it based on my view of quality, functions and price / value for money (get it online for around £150, Oct' 07)! I would give it 5/5 if it offered (i) better onboard speakers, (ii) DVD+R support & (iii) TV / SKY movies were playable `full screen' - although this IMO is not an issue with this unit but how I have burnt the movie (TBC).

16/10/07

I have purchased DVD-Rs and burnt a movie from Sky to a DVD-R to create a DVD-V (DVD Video with a top level menu), which gives the same small image as the DVD+Rs. Thus if you are transfering movies from Sky, DVD+R and DVD-R give the same results, which are improved by using Zoom/2 or Zoom/3 depending on preference.