The included remote control has all of the buttons found on the P71S itself, including shortcuts to other functions that you would normally have to navigate to via the buttons on the actual player. The remote is well laid out and is slim enough to bring with you anywhere you would take the player. And unlike the "credit card" style remotes found on most portables, this one has actual buttons, too.
While there's no USB port or flash card reader, the Toshiba can play MP3 and WMA audio files and display JPEG photos from a CD-R. While we enjoyed having the ability to play these file types, the interface to do so isn't the most easy-to-use experience.
On the performance front, the SD-P71S delivered. Picture quality was good with the DVDs and DVD-Rs we played. And while the sound quality from the stereo speakers below the screen was perfectly adequate, you'll probably find yourself using the headphones jacks. Toshiba claims up to 3 hours of playback with the battery on the P71S, but we were glad to see that a 2.5-hour charge netted almost 4 hours of total movie playback time.
Summing up, the Toshiba SD-P71S is a solid portable DVD player with better-than-average picture quality and decent battery life. Given the lack of extras (no media slots, lackluster digital file support, no car seat mount), we'd like to see it priced closer to around $100--but considering that it's widely available for 25 percent less than its $150 asking price--around $120--anyone who's looking for "just a portable DVD player" is likely to be satisfied.
What You'll Pay
- Set Price Alert
