Polaroid PDV-0800 8 in. Portable DVD Player

I have purchased this particular unit about a month ago. The features that got me thinking about this unit were rotating screen, multi-zone DVD playing, the size of the screen, to mention a few. Whereas all these features are working quite well, the most annoying thing is with the display itself. The very top of the screen, maybe about 1/8th of an inch, pitches to the left, at about 40 degrees. First I thought there is a problem with the DVD itself, but after having tried bunch of them, with the same result, a call to the manufacturer was warranted. Polaroid customer support is a third party support, as Polaroid does not make these units, they just stamp their name on them. The rep stated that this pitching of the screen is correct and that it's their standard. Whatever that means. What this boils down to, if a DVD is viewed on the full screen, it gets annoying real quick. Best Buy salesman, after complaining to him about this issue, suggested that I place a black piece of tape over the offending section of the screen!!!! No comment needed on that one. After doing a bit of a research, I came to believe they have a serious problem with the decoder within the unit. The rep stated there is no firmware upgrade in the works. You either buy it or not. Now you know.
OK, so what are the good parts? Everything else. This thing works under great duress. I bought it for our twin toddler girls, to watch some flicks while on the road. They kick it with their feet, the smacked the screen few times, keep pressing buttons, and darn thing just keeps working, and without skipping a beat. Remote control has bezillion features and options. The screen rotates any and every way, you can view the movie in almost any configuration, including as a tablet - a very nice feature. If only that screen pitch would go away.....

REVIEW UPDATE = JUNE 2004 =

6 months after the above review, the electrical cord connector at the DVD unit became very loose. After a while, the connector jack would not transfer power to the unit. After a quick replacement of the DVD unit at Best Buy ( extended warranty really pays off - in some cases ), I realized that Polaroid made a few changes, for the better, that warrant my updating my original review. The pitch, at the top of the screen is gone. It took Polaroid a few months and a ton of support calls to update the firmware. There is a thin black line at the top of the screen now that takes the annoying pitch away. The electrical connector, on the right side of the unit, seems tighter as in the jack does not have as much "wiggle" room as before. Also, the resolution seems better. Polaroid also changed some of the setup options, for the better. The sound still sounds tiny, but hey, it's a portable DVD. Get a pair of great headphones and you'll get more sound than you need.
All said, with the modifications that Polaroid has done, along with some price reduction ( you can get this unit now for about $250 refurbished) I am changing my overall rating to "recommended". You just can't go wrong with this unit for the money.