As far as the picture goes, it's OK, though not great, which is what we've come to expect from players that cost less than $200. As we said, the screen has some glare issues, but overall, the picture simply suffers from lack of resolution. In other words, the screen is quite watchable for almost everybody, but discriminating viewers won't be satisfied. The picture is pretty soft, and if you're sitting too close, there's enough space between pixels to give you the impression you're looking at a movie through a screen door. The Sony DVP-FX810 offers a good amount of picture control options, but you probably won't stray far from the default settings. The exception: Shadow detail isn't a strong suit, so you might want to crank the brightness on darker movies.
Aside from its attractive styling, another one of the Sony DVP-FX810's assets is its battery life. Sony says you can get up to 6 hours of battery life if you keep the brightness settings down and listen through headphones. That's a stretch, but we managed around 4 hours with the brightness setting cut down a bit from the default--better than average for portable DVD players.
Sony's done a good job of designing a player that looks more expensive than it really costs. Throw in good battery life and an OK picture, and you're looking at a decent value, especially if the DVP-FX810 sheds a few dollars from its list price.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
