Sony DVP-FX820 (black)

• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 14 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 6 stars

  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.

• 2 stars

  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 ...

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  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.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 10 stars

  Best Out There

  by agilmore01 on November 22, 2008

  Pros: Top notch picture quality
  Loud speakers
  Swivel screen
  Anti-glare screen

  Cons: 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 ...

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  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.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 1 stars

  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.

  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 1 stars

  NOT recommended. Stopped working after 20 hours of use.

  by kingmd88 on February 7, 2010

  Pros: Looks nice and plays high quality (for a very short period).

  Cons: Even with very gentle use and gentle care, the unit stopped working after about 20 hours of use.

  Summary: Bottom Line: I can't review a product that will not work. Look for a different model/brand.

  Summary: Bottom Line: I can't review a product that will not work. Look for a different model/brand.

• 4 stars

  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.

• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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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• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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.
  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

  i've since found that others have used 9.6v battery packs successfully in place of the ac adapter.
  
  Updated on Aug 16, 2009

  this 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
  
  Updated on Jun 24, 2010

  it's still working, tho i had to clean the lens a couple of months ago, after daily use. despite keeping my discs as dust - free as possible, stuff settles on the lens eventually and weird things start happening. in the absence of greasy cooking fumes, cigarette smoke etc. solvents aren't needed. dust particles adhere by van der waals forces and are easily removed. i use a light touch of finest, smallest of brushes to dislodge the particles together with a little dust-off to move them along; for small, delicate assemblies i've found this combination to be more effective than either alone. otherwise it continues to work flawlessly. this player makes considerable mechanical noise with some discs especially near the beginning, is nearly silent with others; tho distracting it doesn't seem to be causing any damage to the mechanism.
  
  Updated on Jun 12, 2011

  it keeps going and going and going ... discs are getting easier to snap on and off the spindle; eventually may not be held down firmly enough to resist vibration? also, the back light has dimmed noticeably; setting 4 is what 3 used to be. otherwise, all's well.

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• 8 stars

  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 ...

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  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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