Panasonic DVD-LS80 8.5 in. Portable DVD Player

The DVD-LS80 has very good picture quality, acceptable sound quality and outstanding battery life. I wanted a player to take on a trip involving long plane rides as well as trains. The battery life was important...wanted to watch at least 2 DVDs without re-charging and this machine fits that bill. Re-charging is claimed to be 4 hours when not turned on and I found it took less than that...about 3.5 hours. Although the sound is only "acceptable", given the small speakers, it comes through very well when headphones are used. The screen is clear and bright without glare and viewable from a wide angle. When I connected it to my TV and viewed DVDs, they were every bit as good looking and sounding as they were when viewed using my regular DVD player. The machine was priced at $179, $10 higher than the Sony DVP-FX810 unit I was looking at, but the screen had no glare when compared with the Sony. It doesn't have a swivel screen, but I think that's more of a gimmick than a real feature. It does, however, allow you to fold it down on top of the base, making it useful when hung from the back of a car seat. Unfortunately, there is no hanger for that purpose. You need to go up to the more expensive LS82 to get that feature. The on-screen menus are pretty easy to use, although I would have preferred a more simple way to speed up the playback speed. It's a couple of levels into the menu. Top speed of playback is 1.4x, but it still plays the audio as well at that speed. I had a 15% off coupon, bringing the unit down to $152, which was a real steal. I'd buy it again in a heartbeat!