DURABRAND DUR7 7 in. Portable DVD Player

Introduction

A few weeks ago the always thinking Mrs. Xeno came home with a toy. A DUR7 Portable DVD Player with a 7” screen. “We need that?” I asked. “Think,” she replied. “What are we doing July 4 th weekend?” “Ohhhhh, right!” What we were both thinking now was that we were taking (driving) our 9 year old daughter Jenna (J.J.) to her first sleep away camp experience in Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. So now it all made sense. Nervous camper + 12 hour drive + neurotic parents = Portable DVD Player and plenty of DVD’s. That Veronica is always thinking.

So, while she was stocking up on camp stuff in the local Wal-Mart, she came across this DVD Player with Screen for an amazing $99.99 price. Pretty tempting. But isn’t that the Devil’s modus operandi? OK, enough devil talk. The Xeno’s are OK with Wal-Mart. But what can you possibly get for $99.99? Well surprisingly, a pretty decent little machine.

What you get
Open the box and you find:

- DVD Player with 7” screen
- AC Adapter
- Car DC Adapter
- Remote Control
- Rechargeable Battery (2 – 2.5 hr)

There was no carry case or headphones, but no big deal. We have probably no less than a half a dozen sets of headphones scattered around the house.

The set up and use of the DVD Player was so intuitive that Jenna had it running in less than 10 minutes. Initially she operated it off the AC Adapter to familiarize herself with the unit. Trust me when I tell you that operating this thing is a total no brainer. If you have ever operated a CD Player you’ll feel comfortable with this device. The Remote Control is surprisingly full functioned. I’d tell you more about its functions, but Jenna misplaced it within the first day. Say! That’s a good argument for spending as little as you can on one of these things.

The Player itself has a Composite A/V Output Jack for viewing on a separate screen. Not a feature I see us using since the house is littered with DVD Players. Well, maybe if we were going to watch a Food Network DVD on our 15” LCD TV in the Kitchen. But we’re stretching here.

In addition to DVDs, the DUR7 also plays CDs and picture CDs. It played DVD-Rs made on our Humax DRT800 Tivo/DVD Recorder.

So, How’s it Doing?
In the month since we’ve owned it, it has performed perfectly. The Picture, in terms of clarity, brightness and contrast were all satisfactory. The Sound, although a little tinny, is adequate for all but a music DVDs. In the car, my daughter tends to use headphones, so the sound issue is kind of a moot point. It has recognized and played every DVD we’ve attempted to play. The misplaced Remote Control hasn’t proven to be a problem since all the controls on the player itself are easily accessible. The one time we operated it on a fully charged battery, it managed to last the 2 hr. 15 min. length of the DVD. Not bad.

The build quality seems impressive. It doesn’t feel flimsy at all. It has already survived some minor falls.

The drive to camp, you ask? Well, thanks to the DVD Player there was a noticeable decrease in the number of times we heard “Are we there yet?” or “How much longer?” I love this little device!

Shortcomings?
As another reviewer pointed out, the battery can be charged only with the AC Adapter while the unit is powered off. The car adapter cannot be used to charge the battery. It provides power to the player only.

Summing Up

It’s hard to find fault with a portable DVD Player that does pretty much everything you’d want it to do and cost only $99.99. So, if you’re looking for an inexpensive DVD player to make hours on the road go by quickly, the Xeno family highly recommends the Durabrand DUR7.


Regards,

Rudi

©Rudi Xeno 2006