Sony DVP-FX930 9 in. Portable DVD Player

I'm now on my third DVD player in about 5 years.  I hope this one lasts longer than the Mintek or Phillips that I've owned previously.  But at least we're off to a good start. This Sony FX930 is the best one I've had so far!

Supplied in the Box
Obviously, the player, battery pack and AC power adapter
Car battery adapter
Remote (battery included)
Audio/video cord

Screen, Resolution, Volume
The FX930 has a 9" wide (diagonal) LCD screen and the resolution is 800x480.  While not the sharpest screen on the block, this is the largest and sharpest of the screens I've had on a portable DVD player and unlike my past players I haven't noticed any blurring of edges on the screen. It's sharp all the way around. 

The screen also swivels 180 degrees which is cool when you want to share watching a movie so you can both see. With the flip screen you can view in any number of different situations and angles.  BUT, it's strange to me that Sony designed this so it only swivels 180 degrees clockwise from the starting point. If you try forcing the screen to swivel the other way from the original position, you run the risk of snapping off the screen.

I have only used this player indoors. While sitting near a lamp or an open window during the day I have not noticed any annoying glare which might otherwise make the screen difficult to see.

It's also a pleasure to be able to actually HEAR the movies without headphones.  I can't speak for most of the players on the market, but on my old Mintek and Phillips players I could barely hear the movies even with the volume turned all the way up.  This player (like many of the newer portable ones these days) have two headphone jacks so more than one person can watch and listen to a movie using headphones.

Playable Media
As is the case with most portable units, this one plays a variety of media: DVD video and DVD-VR as well as CD's and DATA disks (which contain MP3 or JPEG files).  For those who don't know, DVD-VR is a format that allows you to create DVD movies that can be edited.

I have only played commercial movies so I can't speak for how well the FX930 handles recordable disks.  One of the problems I've found with the other portable players I've owned is that if the disks are not in perfect shape and if the recording quality wasn't great the disks would not play.  Again, I've only played commercial movies and no recordable disks so I can't speak to this unit.

Battery Life
One of the biggest irritations in the other the players I've owned is the short battery life.  This Sony is one of the few which claim a 6 hour battery life.  I've never tried going the whole six hours, but I've been able to watch two movies and all the DVD extra features without having the battery dying on me.  I normally keep the unit plugged in and play the movies. It will keep charging while plugged in.

When you stop the player there is a battery indicator level that shows up on the screen. After watching the two DVD's I had one of the three bars remaining. I'm guessing that means two more hours.  It takes six hours to fully charge the battery.

Controls
The most aggravating design issue on this machine is how they've designed the "on-board" controls. They are touch based and they are located on the bottom of the LCD panel.  The other players I've owned have had (real) button controls on the either the side or on top of the unit near where the disk lid opens.  

I guess part of this is may only be an annoyance to ME because most of the time I use this to watch movies at night when I'm in bed. When the room is dark I can't see or feel where the volume, play, pause, stop, and previous/next controls are. I find myself touching the skip or previous control rather than the volume control. It's incredibly frustrating.  It would be nice to have real buttons rather than touch control.  This is where I feel like I need the remote. It has all the controls needed to work the player BUT it would help if the remote had some lighted buttons to see what you're pressing in the dark.  But then this is a relatively inexpensive consumer product and I wouldn't expect Sony to include a more advanced remote (with lights) with the product.

Also, there's a "hold" switch which locks the controls on the player so they can't be accidentally pressed if moving the unit.  But it does not lock the controls on the remote.

Disk Resume Feature
I've found the disk resume feature really really really helpful! This resumes play after you 'boot' up the DVD.  "So when you've turned the power on again after power off, the resume play starts automatically." (copied from the the manual)

Dimensions:
9 x 1.375 x 6.75 inches (width, height, depth)
Weight: 2 pounds
Plastic, not metal (accounts for the lighter weight)

Final Thoughts:
I've had this for about four months and outside of the frustrations with the touch controls, I love the picture and sound from this portable player.

I hope if you've been looking for a new portable DVD player, I've given you enough information to make your decision.  Let me know if you need further information or if I've left out any important details.

At $139 from Amazon.com, I thought it was well worth the cost compared to the $80 Mintek and the $99 Phillips