Industry Trends in Portable DVD Players

If you're anything like me you'll be finding it a challenge to keep up to date with the portable DVD player industry. It is becoming even more difficult to locate sound and current information on individual players.

The top source of information is frequently user reviews on sites such as Amazon.com and Buzillions.com. A number of portable DVD players on Amazon.com have over 100 reviews, making Amazon your best source of user reviews. The likes of Walmart.com, Buzzillions.com and Newegg.com have lesser reviews but can still be useful. The disadvantage with user review sites is that a number of the portable DVD players with the most comments are no longer readily available.

Portable Widescreen Dvd Player

Expert reviews of PDPs that are recent are become harder to locate. CNET is the best source of expert opinion with a good amount of recent reviews. Other so called expert reviews from ConsumerReports.org and Good Housekeeping are a little out of date. There is a tendency for ConsumerReports.org and Good Housekeeping to review PDPs that are now either out of stock or in limited supply through retail stores. That aside, it is still of value to peruse these review sources as several of the reviewed portable DVD players are reviewed are still in production. Also some players that are no longer in production can still be found through some retailers.

Reviews from outside of the United States can be another relevant source of information. British sites, in particular TrustedReviews.com and TechRadar.com are useful. These review sites will often include comment on some portable DVD devices that have versions obtainable in the United States. While there may be some variation with technical specifications, you will find that there will be hardly any difference in quality to the comparable United States version.

One of the trends that is becoming more noticeable in DVD players that are portable is the increasing popularity of a cheap laptop over a PDP. What seems to appeal to consumers who opt for a cheap laptop is that they you get a much larger screen. So rather than watching their favorite DVD on a 9 inch screen, they're getting 15 inches. Another advantage with a laptop is that it has many more functions than a portable DVD player. A major detraction of a laptop is that it is usually much heavier than a portable DVD player. And most parents are reluctant to allow the kids to play around with their laptop in the back of the car.

Portable media players are also becoming more popular, but their small screen size of around 4 to 5 inches is not all that appealing to the average consumer.

Industry Trends in Portable DVD Players