Go to Windows 7 Insider GuideSony DVP-FX820 (black)
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: DVP-FX820
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- Despite a few drawbacks, the combination of a stunning high-resolution screen, long battery life, and impressive design make the Sony DVP-FX820 a winning portable DVD player.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon.com Marketplace |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 12/08/2009 |
 |  | In stock | as of 12/08/2009 Refurbished |
CNET editors' review
Sony DVP-FX820 (black) price range: $119.95 - $249.00
- Reviewed by: Jeff Bakalar
- Edited by: John P. Falcone
- Reviewed on: 05/06/2008
- Released on: 02/29/2008
The good: Gorgeous 8-inch screen with 800x480 resolution; full 180-degree swivel screen; includes remote control, audiovisual cable and car charger; reliable 6-hour battery.
The bad: Somewhat hefty 2.7-pound weight; no USB port or flash card reader; no support for DivX or other digital video files.
The bottom line: Despite a few drawbacks, the combination of a stunning high-resolution screen, long battery life, and impressive design make the Sony DVP-FX820 a winning portable DVD player.
When Sony released the DVP-FX810 in 2007, the biggest complaint about the portable DVD player was the lackluster resolution of its screen. For 2008, the company has addressed that issue in a big way: the 8-inch screen of the DVP-FX820 boasts an 800x480 resolution, up from the paltry 480x220 found on its predecessor. The result is the best viewing experience we've seen on a portable DVD player in a long time.
The DVP-FX820 has a smooth plastic housing that Sony sells in a variety of colors--the one we tested was accented in dark blue. The player is one of the heaviest we've seen, weighing a sturdy 2.7 pounds. We liked the placement of the unit's battery that runs along the entire bottom of the player. It may be large, but it doesn't protrude at all, unlike the Toshiba SD-P71S, which has a small bump on the rear.
All of the DVD controls are located below the screen, making them easily accessible even if you take advantage of the swivel hinge and watch the unit in tablet mode. The screen can flip a complete 180 degrees and fold back on itself to be held in your hands. We were happy to see that most DVD controls were represented here, including the sometimes forgotten fast-forward and rewind functionality (just use move the four-way directional pad left or right during playback). The FX820 also ships with a remote control that expands on the playback options. It's among the larger remotes we've seen packed in with a portable DVD player, but there's no reason to leave it at home. The two IR sensors let the player respond regardless of its orientation.
On the right side of the unit, you'll find all the connectivity options available. In addition to dual headphone jacks, there's a switchable video in/out port (for using the player's screen as a monitor or playing DVDs on a larger TV, respectively); Sony includes the necessary composite AV breakout cable as well. Also on board is a digital audio output, for surround sound playback (when connected to an AV receiver). In addition to a standard AC adapter, Sony throws in a car charger--but the FX820 does not come with any mounting straps for mounting on a car seat.
The Sony DVP-FX820 delivered on the two most important aspects of a portable DVD player: picture quality and battery life. By doubling the resolution of last year's player on the same size screen, the FX820 delivers a much more detailed image--and it's all very noticeable, thanks to your close proximity to the screen. This was most apparent when we watched an action scene from Aeon Flux that took place in a garden. The fine detail of the grass and flowers was better than any screen we've recently tested. Battery life, meanwhile, was also impressive: the player hit Sony's rated life of 6 hours right on the nose. That falls far short of the 9 hours we got from the competing Panasonic DVD-LS86, but it should still let you get in about three full movies per charge.
So what's not to like? The Sony DVP-FX820 just doesn't boast any other additional features. You can play back MP3 files and JPEG photos burned to discs (in addition to CDs and DVDs, of course), but that's about it. There's no compatibility with DivX or other digital video formats. Also absent is a USB port or flash card reader.
Of course, none of that is going to be a deal-breaker for anyone who's just looking for a standard portable DVD player. The impressive screen, long battery life, and slick design makes for an overall winner, with the comparatively hefty 2.7-pound weight being the only notable drawback for most users. Widely available for $180, the Sony DVP-FX820 is well worth the premium over "bare-bones" portable DVD players from no-name competitors.
User reviews
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Should have bought the panasonic!
by katulsa on December 1, 2008
Pros: Long battery life. Solid unit. Clear picture. Battery DC plug comes with kit so you don't need a converter.
Cons: Doesn't play scratched/worn cd's. alos has a problem with alternate CD-W,R formats so forget about those home movies. Don't bang the bottom in your brief case r the plastic slots for the battery will break off.
Summary: Stuck but will still use the player with new DVD's and music cd's.
Summary: Stuck but will still use the player with new DVD's and music cd's.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Good picture quality, solid build & performance
by CWY00N on January 8, 2009
Pros: Clear picture, solid construction, long battery life, easy to use, kid loves it!
Cons: Trouble playing scratched/dirty DVD's (likely same with competing players), no USB port, I wish the playback buttons were backlit for nighttime use
Summary: Overall, we love this player and use it almost daily in our car to entertain our 2 year old. It's proven to be very reliable and durable the last ...
Summary: Overall, we love this player and use it almost daily in our car to entertain our 2 year old. It's proven to be very reliable and durable the last 6+ months having taken it on hundred+ car rides and on several air travels. The battery life is several hours which was great for our 14 hour overseas flight.
The one minor issue I wish it had was to have backlit buttons so that I don't have to turn on the dome light of our car to see the "Play, Back, Fast Forward, Pause, Stop, Menu, etc." buttons in dark conditions.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Best Out There
by agilmore01 on November 22, 2008
Pros: Top notch picture quality
Loud speakers
Swivel screen
Anti-glare screenCons: None that I have found yet.
Summary: I went to Best Buy and compared all of the portable dvd players next to each other for about an hour using the same DVD. This Sony was BY FAR ...
Summary: I went to Best Buy and compared all of the portable dvd players next to each other for about an hour using the same DVD. This Sony was BY FAR the best in picture clarity, hands down. It also had pretty loud speakers. I travel in the car a lot with this so I needed to make sure it had an anti-gloss screen, which it does. I spend a lot of time reading reviews before I buy electronics, and this one really stood out.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Video quit working, control buttons would not respond
by magenta687 on August 1, 2009
Pros: When it was actually working, the picture was crisp and it was very wonderful for a long car trip we had taken.
Cons: Video stopped working after very little time used. Replacement had the same issue within an hour of using it.
Summary: We had used the player for a little over a week when the video stopped working and the control buttons were not functional. I sent it back to Sony for ...
Summary: We had used the player for a little over a week when the video stopped working and the control buttons were not functional. I sent it back to Sony for a replacement. We received the refurbished replacement yesterday and the replacement did the EXACT same thing within an hour.
When this player was working, it was fantastic. However, for a brand like Sony to put out a product that breaks in such a short time, not to mention replacing it under their warranty with another broken unit (does Sony have QA people there at all?) I am really regretting this purchase. -
Not True Battery Life & It Skips
by IFLYMAUI on May 2, 2009
Pros: Size and screen are great.
Cons: Skips. It's good for a movie at best while in-flight.
Summary: Wish I had bought the Panasonic.
Summary: Wish I had bought the Panasonic.
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Excellent picture, very good for travel use with kids
by gunshipgator on March 18, 2009
Pros: Clarity of screen is great. Plenty of volume, have not used it with headphones. Disc door is a button, not a slide release - very nice addition. Swivel screeen with all controls accessible below screen.
Cons: A little heavy, but not terrible. Default screen size leaves black margins on sides, but I ahve not read up on how to change this yet.
Summary: Screen resolution is fantastic and volume is plenty loud for planes and car use. There is not a OEM car case/headrest holder for this, but I bought one made ...
Summary: Screen resolution is fantastic and volume is plenty loud for planes and car use. There is not a OEM car case/headrest holder for this, but I bought one made for a NextBase 8" portable and it works fine. You have to take the player out of the holder to change the disc, but I'd have to do that anyway, with any tablet style player. NextBase headrest holder is available on ebay for $14 and attaches by two straps only to the headrest. This keeps it up high and out of the "kicking range" of out toddler. Very convenient after using flex-straps to hold our old one up. The remote is thin and works well from the front seat - no more contortionist moves while trying to ride up front and control the player. Highly recommend this player and the headrest holder as a combo. Ebay has hte player cheaper than say, Best Buy, but usually within $10-$20, so if you need it right away and a good return policy, just go buy it at the store.
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good resolution, color fidelity, handles dvd+r dl
by 62mike on January 23, 2009
Pros: has plenty of pixels for the screen size; good color fidelity for the price. so far it's played all of my dvd +- r's even dl's. most menu's, functions accessible without the remote, has a/v (composite) i/o. good battery life.
Cons: thin, faint sound tho about what you'd expect from "speakers" this size; much better with headphones. not region-free. battery replacement very expensive.
Summary: in short, i love the picture. for some of my favorite movies (three women, juliet of the spirits) color matters greatly, and i haven't enjoyed them this much since ...
Summary: in short, i love the picture. for some of my favorite movies (three women, juliet of the spirits) color matters greatly, and i haven't enjoyed them this much since seeing them in a darkened theater. mind you, this is wholly subjective; one could nitpick about color settling time, contrast non-linearity, non-adjustable sharpness, but as a recovering audiophile i've learned not to. i just enjoy it for what it is; a small, cool gadget that lets me watch movies anywhere with a great picture for the price.
i've since found that others have used 9.6v battery packs successfully in place of the ac adapter.
as for internal sound quality, try before you buy; i've heard cheaper players with better low freq. and volume.
sony claims 6 hrs per charge at min. backlight; my experience is 3 1/2 hr with backlight set at 3 to 4. the player will work with ac adapter only; i strongly recommend taping a small piece of thin cardboard,etc over the exposed battery connector when using it with the battery removed. the replacement battery is expensive; $79 to $114 as of this writing. sony is close-mouthed as to whether an external (9.6v) "universal" dvd batt. can be plugged into the (9.5v) adapter jack without damage - anyone tried it?
minor quibbles;why make a region - specific portable dvd player? tho the 820 handles 3:4, 16:9 and extra-wide with optimal screen fit without distortion, it would be nice to have a best fit /zoom for those of us who would trade the edges for better vertical resolution. in this connection, the world would beat a path to the door of anyone who would make a player that ignores all disc- imposed functional limitations...more later, maybe; c-net permitting. - 62mike
Updated on Feb 24, 2009
Updated on Aug 16, 2009this may be peculiar to my unit, but i found the battery losing almost 30% of it's charge in 10 days while connected ( power off). disconnected it lost only about 6% in 2 months. (this is based on time to full charge indication compared to time from full discharge.) otherwise, i continues to work faultlessly.
also, you mat notice a faint crickety chirping from within; this varies from dvd to dvd but seems more obtrusive ( using the speakers) at the start of a disc and with double layers. i suspect it has to do with how much work the servo is doing to stay on track ? i've found that i can reduce it somewhat by selecting better balanced discs to burn for this player. i'd suggest using a light slimline player for this test, support it with your hands. most rev pretty high with a blank and you can feel the vibration from unbalanced discs as it tries to read. there's surprising variation from no perceptible vibration to considerable shaking, both recordable and manufactured dvd's -
Easy To Use And Enjoy
by ogoj on January 20, 2009
Pros: Variety of colors, sturdy contstruction, variety of format capabilities, connection cable included, top of the line product at a decent price, Sony dependability, 180-degree swiveling hinge, lightweight remote control. Easy to use. Long life battery.
Cons: Vibration & some noise during use. A bit heavy. Play buttons on remote control located at the bottom (awkward placement for hand comfort). No protective case included.
Summary: This is my first portable DVD player. I bought it in red & made my choice on this model based on Cnet reviews & customer satisfaction. I like the swivel ...
Summary: This is my first portable DVD player. I bought it in red & made my choice on this model based on Cnet reviews & customer satisfaction. I like the swivel screen that allows viewing like a TV monitor or flat like a tablet which can be mounted, handheld or laid in the lap to watch in bed. It's a little bit heavy but is sturdy & portable. I most often I hook it up to my TV set & it comes with the TV connection cable. The battery is one of the longest lasting in its category but I haven't tested it out. Most users report viewing time of at least 2 movies before needing to charge the battery. I've only had this player for one month so far but I use it several times a week to watch DVD's & am enjoying it, plus I trust the Sony name & reputation. I look forward to traveling with this unit. As a first-time user, I don't know if the vibration & noise coming from the unit are a normal part of usage when spinning a disk, but once the movie's playing you can't hear anything from the unit. If you play a disk with the unit on your lap, you will feel the vibration though, which I find a bit distracting. Sound quality is excellent through both the speaker as well as through earphones. I got a deal for little more than a hundred dollars online & am happy with the purchase. Now I just need to find it a protective storage case.
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Gorgeous screen, solid build
by Jeth_usa on December 3, 2008
Pros: Screen resolution
Swivel screen
on-screen controls
long battery life
durableCons: battery adds bulk
very sensitive selector padSummary: The screen on this thing is gorgeous!! Compared to my old Panisonic, the higher resolution really shows. I also love that it swivels around and flips down flat. I also ...
Summary: The screen on this thing is gorgeous!! Compared to my old Panisonic, the higher resolution really shows. I also love that it swivels around and flips down flat. I also used it swiveled backwards. All the possibilities are great. The controls right on the screen are very nice, too. My only complaint is how big the battery is. It covers the entire bottom of the player, making it almost twice as thick. But on the plus side, it lasts a long time, and doesn't get hot. Another minor thing is I had a little trouble with the selector pad. When I tried to "click" it to select, it actually took that as a left or right click. You have to be very careful to press straight down in order to click on the current selection. But overall, I'm very happy with this player. It is a quality product.
Just a note about battery life - I didn't try it for a full 6 hours, but it did last for me through 2 movies, and I still had 1 bar left. So I was very happy with that.
Updated on Dec 3, 2008 -
Never worked for me!
by AChetlen on November 11, 2008
Pros: Nice looking. Appeared easy to use.
Cons: This DVD player NEVER worked out of the box with numerous different DVDs. I did all the troubleshooting techniques, but to no avail. Very very dissapointed!
Summary: Terrible experience. Did not work on day #1. Would not even consider purchasing another Sony product.
Summary: Terrible experience. Did not work on day #1. Would not even consider purchasing another Sony product.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: DVP-FX820
- Description: Watch movies anytime and anywhere you want with Sony's cool DVP-FX820 Portable DVD Player. With a 6-hour battery life, an 8" high-resolution swivel screen that provides a clear and crisp picture from any angle, 2 headphone jacks for sharing, and a car adapter that ensures your movies outlast even the longest road trip. And when you want more than movies, the FX820 plays your CDs or MP3s, and lets you view your personal photo albums. Control buttons are located on the screen bezel for ease of use. Skipping or fast forwarding a scene is so easy to do, either with the control buttons or with the dual-sensor remote control. This portable DVD player is so lightweight and compact that you can carry it anywhere you go. Though it is designed for adults, its durability is certainly built for kids.
General
- Product Type DVD player
- Form Factor Portable
- Enclosure Color Black
DVD
- Media Type CD, DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL
- Video D/A Converter 12bit / 108MHz
- Audio D/A Converter 24bit / 96kHz
- Media Load Type Top-load
- Analog Video Signal Composite video
- Supported Digital Audio Standards MP3
Display
- Display Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 8 in - Color
- Image Aspect Ratio 16:9
DVD Features
- TV Screen Saver Yes
- Additional Features On-screen display, JPEG photo playback
Audio System
- Sound Output Mode Stereo
- Digital Audio Format DTS digital output, Dolby Digital output
Remote Control
- Type Remote control
- Technology Infrared
Connections
- Connector Type 2 x Headphones, 1 x Audio input / output, 1 x Composite video input/output, 1 x Digital audio output (optical)
Miscellaneous
- Included Accessories Car power adapter
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
- Power AC 120 V
- Battery DVD player battery - Rechargeable
- Capacity 6 hour(s)
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts - 1 year, Limited warranty - Labor - 90 days
Product series
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Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: DVD player, Portable, Remote control, Stereo, Black
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Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: DVD player, Portable, Remote control, Stereo
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Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: DVD player, Portable, Remote control, Stereo
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Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: DVD player, Portable, Remote control, Stereo
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Manufacturer: Sony
Specs: DVD player, Portable, Remote control, Stereo, Pink
Manufacturer info
- Sony
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sonystyle.com
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790
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