Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player

We have been wanting a dvd portable player for some time. Plan on using it when we go on our short mini-vacations.

This is one of the best portable DVDs I've used. The screen has a very wide angle view thus you can see the picture eventhough you are not directly in front of the screen, great for sharing what you're seeing (specially if you have more than one kid).

The battery duration is also the longest!

This Panasonic DVD LS86 replaced a boxy, Toshiba 9" DVD/TV player that we had for years. It was a regular CRT, and worked very well as a DVD player for road trips for my family. Too many drops out of the car ended its career.
We then researched the various DVD / LCD players. Our biggest dislike of what we researched was the picture and the sound. Too many players had low viewing angles, and too many required headsets to listen. Well, we wanted our kids to be able to watch roadtrip DVDs without completely tuning us out (in other words, without headsets), and to be able to see the picture from both sides of the backseat. Thus, we didn't really buy anything and on the next trip our kids had to actually read books (Auugghh - mean parents!!!)
After that trip we really just lucked into this Panasonic. I went to the local Big Box electronics store, and they told me this one had just come out. It was marked really low, and they told me to try it and see if it met my requirements. If it didn't they promised I could bring it back - no questions asked (I was skeptical).
Well, there was no need. This player works like a charm. The sound is perfect (not too loud, nor so soft that my kids require headsets - even on loud roads), the picture is very visible from both sides of the car, and its portability makes it easy to mount (on a strap between the two front-seat headrests). Plus, it's easy to hide when we're out of the car, or to simply tote into a hotel room.
The battery life (on full brightness and probably full volume) usually gets my kids through about 1-1/2 movies. Then I just plug the thing into a cigarette lighter. Frankly, nothing could be easier.
We've had this around a year now, and we are very happy with it. We had no other needs for a player, and this one gets highest marks all around.
Great job, Panasonic! This has been perfect for our needs.

We travel internationally a lot with small children and these DVD players with their long battery life have come in handy more than I ever imagined. Works wellon bumpy car rides too.

The picture quality is better than any portable DVD player I found before. The battery life isn't the best out there, but it's far better than most. (I found another with 13.5 hours of battery life, but the picture quality was terrible.) This one's supposed to give you 6 hours. I'm not sure I've ever gotten the full 6, but it's worked well enough.
I'd recommend it to anyone.