Entered CNET Catalog: 06/26/2002
SKU: 0037988406272
Manufacturer: Panasonic
Manufacturer description
Have a seat. You're about to enter the digital dimension. Inside the DVD-LV65, you'll find a digital Cinema Mode that combines brightness control with picture noise canceling. The result is a clear and crisp image that appears on your screen. And from the comfort of your chair, you can adjust the picture on your screen. Built-in Advanced Virtual Surround (VSS) provides channel surround sound that will blow back your hair. It's like going to the movies or a big concert without even leaving your home or being outside! You can watch the movies anywhere because this player is equipped with built-in widescreen LCD monitor that uses approximately 337,000 pixels for clear DVD images on the go. The LCD even allows you to watch movies in the standard 16:9 widescreen format or conventional 4:3 formats such as letterbox and pan-and-scan. That's the digital dimension. This product comes with SD-MovieStage Ver.1.1U CD-ROM. This software allows you to record still and moving pictures from your computer onto SD Memory Cards.Product summary
The good: Compact design; display arm swivels; multiformat playback; SD card slot.
The bad: Glossy finish attracts fingerprints; battery life could be better.
The bottom line: The stylish LV65 can count itself among the top ultracompact portable DVD players.
Average user rating: from 8 users
3.5 stars
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 01/29/2003
This model's Freestyle LCD is its distinguishing characteristic; it attaches to the main unit via a short, articulated arm, giving you additional flexibility when positioning the screen. You can make the display sit almost flat against the top of player, which increases your viewing-angle choices. Cosmetically, Panasonic went with a glossy-black finish on the display element, and while it looks cool, you'll find yourself regularly wiping the player off after you--or your kids--handle it.
Though none of the buttons are backlit, we had no complaints about their positioning; they're logically laid out, and the key-transport controls--next chapter, previous chapter, and pause--are easily accessible, even when the screen is flat. Panasonic also gets kudos for including a nice remote with small but tactile buttons. This remote is a little bigger than the credit-card-sized units that ship with most portable DVD players. Around the LV65's side, you'll find a couple of minijack outputs--including a Dolby Digital and DTS-compatible optical-audio output (cable not included)--that allow you to connect the player to your TV or surround-sound A/V receiver. You get a minimal set of picture-adjustment options; we kept the brightness and color settings at moderate levels to preserve battery life. This Panasonic also offers basic DVD features, including the ability to scan forward and backward at multiple speeds up to 200X. The player supports DVD-RAMs, VCDs, CD-Rs, MP3 CDs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs, and DVD+RWs, but it can't handle DVD-RWs.
As noted, Panasonic has included an SD expansion slot on the right side of the screen for adding memory cards filled with MP3s, MPEG-4 clips, JPEGs, and voice recordings. We took a few pictures with Casio's Exilim EX-S2 digital camera, which saves images to an SD card, and we were able to display them on a TV using the LV65 as a conduit. If you don't have a camera that uses SD cards, you can transfer JPEGs and MPEG-4 clips to an SD card using the included SD Movie Stage software and an optional SD-card reader attached to your Windows computer.
Getting MP3s and voice recordings onto a card is more difficult and requires Panasonic's Media Manager. Really, this feature is geared toward users who own a Panasonic MP3 player or multi-A/V device such as the SV-SD50. Another warning: Though the LV65 reads JPEGs from an SD card, it does not read them from a CD-R. Users who don't think that they'll need the SD card slot can save some money by stepping down to the $499 (list) DVD-LV50, which offers many of the same features for less cash. All in all, we had no major gripes with the display and found that we could still view the movie from an off-axis position, which means that someone sitting next to you on a plane won't have a problem watching the DVD with you. That said, a more expensive portable player, such as Toshiba's SD-P2000, has a sharper screen.
The LV65's 5-inch screen is shaped for wide-screen movies and includes Full, Zoom, and Normal modes to accommodate anamorphic, nonanamorphic-letterbox, and 4:3 movies, respectively. This Panasonic automatically sized the Predator 2 DVD to fill the screen. Detail was adequate but--as you'd expect from a smaller LCD--we did notice some blurring of facial details and stair-stepping along high-contrast edges. These issues can be seen in Danny Glover's silhouette when he stands on the edge of the building. Like most LCDs, this one tended to display a dark gray as opposed to a true black. On the plus side, colors looked vibrant, and the screen was plenty bright for viewing in a well-lit room.
Besides using the player on a few coast-to-coast flights, we took the time to hook it up to a 30-inch, HD-ready Samsung TXM3098WHF TV, as well as to an analog Sony set. Viewing Predator 2, we thought that the picture and the sound quality were about what you'd expect from a $120 home player--that is to say, quite good. While you do get an S-Video output, there's no component-video connection for optimal picture quality.
Aside from a more compact design, the other main advantage to having a smaller screen should be increased battery life. However, we were a little disappointed that we could get only 2.5 hours from the included detachable lithium-ion battery pack with brightness set to the lowest level. That's about average for portable DVD players these days, but the older LV60 hit 4 hours.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 8 user reviews
terrific compact player
Pros: clear screen, reliable, good sound, sd card is a real plus to view digital pix
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User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 8 user reviews
Nice Portable DVD player
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Review: Been using the unit for a few months now, and find it to be fine. Small slick design, extra long AC power cord, easy connections to TV's, makes the unit works as a DVD player for the home. Battery pack doubles as a small stand and snaps firmly in place. on/off button on top of door are clear and the monitor button just below the screen works nicely when switching the display from normal screen, full screen, zoom screen, or off. The pointer rocker switch works ok when moving pointer left/right or up/down, but when you want to push down for select, it can sometimes can be a little hard since the same button can move in any direction. You have to push straight down with effort. When opening the unit's door to insert a DVD or CD, you must first tilt the screen up before using the un-latching button. A few time's we tried to un-latch the drive door with the screen down and kept wondering "what wrong with the door?". But the screen can also fold in many additional angles. Have used the DVD-LV65 on long international flights and found the screen a bit smaller than those on planes, but the color is more brilliant. Remote is small and well design, except for the forward - fast forward and reverse - fast reverse button. These four buttons are at the bottom of the remote and the play button is at the top. You have to play thumb wars to switch between modes. Speaking of thumbs, the black cover is slick, but your thumb prints will remain. You will be using your shirt to clean finger prints. The unit's front LED's, red & yellow, alert you to the status of the unit across the room (when connected to a TV) and blink to keep you informed. Overall, a nice portable DVD player worth the money. Get yourself a 12volt adaptor. Unit will lose power during the climax of the second movie!
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 8 user reviews
Terrific color & portability
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Review: Quick update to "really great-no hype" - It is still great after 4 months, but the free carrying case/headphones in the sales promotion have never arrived! The support at Panasonic should care more about this even though the DVD player is superb
User Rating:
3.5 stars
out of 8 user reviews
If you travel a lot, it's a must have
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Review: No complaints. A little pricey, but when compared to a lot of the other lower quality models on the market, it's well worth the investment. You get what you pay for.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 8 user reviews
Nice Picture
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Review: Nice sharp Picture, Compact and a steardy feel, very good sound, I would recommend this highly...
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 8 user reviews
GOOD DEAL
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Review: Excellent portable DVD player at right price point. It is much better than dragging your laptop on a plane and the picture quality is sharp. I highly recommend it for the frequent Southwest flyer.
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 8 user reviews
rather have a sony
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Review: panasonic never in there history made a piece worth buying besides last time i bought a tv from them it was defective.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 8 user reviews
Great Value - Sharp Picture
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Review: This unit is just terrific. It's same size as older thin sized high-end portable CD players from 10 years ago, so, it travels easily. Picture quality is very sharp and the 5" screen is just fine and very bright on a train or plane. I hook it up at home and it works perfectly on my 20" TV. The remote does everything (including turning the unit on and off) and the unit has an easy to use mini-joy stick for scene selections, etc. Also, the sound quality on CDs is better than any portable CD I've ever used. Getting through to Panasonic support can take some time (20 minutes wait time once I got past a busy signal), but they were helpful once I did. Toshiba's SDP-2000 may be sharper, but this unit is still very sharp, (the screen moves and tilts with lots of flexibility), $250-$300 less, and is truly more portable. Highly recommended.
