Walkabout Dvd

The Age

Thursday December 19, 2002

Paul Best

Once spurned, the portable DVD player is making a comeback, writes Paul Best.

Widely available overseas in countries such as England, portable DVD players have been slow to catch on in Australia.

But our growing love affair with the DVD has prompted a rethink, with two electronic goods manufacturers, Samsung and Panasonic, recently launching models here. While this is Samsung's first foray into portable DVD players, for Panasonic it represents a return to a category it abandoned in Australia a couple of years ago.

At the time "price was a significant barrier and DVD penetration wasn't strong", says the marketing manager for Panasonic's digital networking group, Peter McKeon.

"With improved price, functionality and market conditions, we saw an opportunity to introduce a new segment, particularly suited to the business traveller."

Panasonic's first player sold for $5000. The model it has just released, the DVD-LV65, comes in at a more reasonable, though not exactly cheap, $1699.

The Samsung portable player, the DVD-L100, is dearer at $2999 (RRP), but its LCD widescreen, at 10 inches (about 25cm), is twice that of Panasonic's and the biggest - its makers claim - in the DVD portable class. Panasonic does offer, though, a similar-looking nine-inch model in overseas markets, but it's not yet at a price for the local market.

While the DVD-L100 is mainly a high-end product, the audio-visual product manager of Samsung's consumer electronics division, Frank Malcaus, says the player positions the brand as a quality producer of DVD players.

Similar to those used by airlines for business and first-class passengers, Panasonic's DVD-LV65 is more compact than the DVD-L100, which more closely resembles a smallish, slim laptop.

With the emphasis on portability, the Samsung measures 2.35cm thick, 26.7cm by 18cm, and weighs 1.3kg without the battery pack. The Panasonic is 3.25cm thick, 14.4cm by 14cm wide and deep, but weighs only 566g.

Importantly, this means they can be more easily stowed than, for example, a laptop computer.

Of course, DVD drives are increasingly found in many laptops. Why would you need a portable DVD player as well?

Yes, they take up less room than a laptop and there isn't the long start-up procedures of a PC. Both models also offer widescreen format (16:9).

More importantly, explains McKeon, is the longer battery life. He says you can squeeze more than 2.5 hours continuous watching time out of the LV65's Lithium-Ion battery (3.5 hours if you buy the larger battery). Samsung claims the

LW-100 can play up to three hours continuously (it, too, sells a longer-life battery); but it's still important to remember to recharge the unit. Otherwise you might find yourself losing power halfway through a film, as I did.

The DVD-L100 includes Samsung's power-saving smart inverter control technology, which automatically senses screen brightness. This means when the scene is dark, power use is cut, and boosted during well-lit scenes.

The Panasonic's sound quality is superior to laptops, McKeon says. Both models offer 96KHz sampling frequency and 24-bit resolution audio digital-to-analogue converter, providing noise-free enhanced sound as well as DTS digital sound.

"With all the audio capability, you get the full surround sound of home theatre," Samsung's Malcaus says.

Both players also have AV outputs, which mean they can be hooked up to the TV at home, in the bedroom, holiday house or in a hotel room (there are other portable players without monitors on the market that can be used this way, too).

Another important feature offered by both players are in-built removable memory slots: the Memory Stick in the Samsung and SD in the Panasonic. This means that players can be used as multimedia devices. You can listen to MP3 music files, view digital camera images and, in the Panasonic, MPEG-4 files. Both players also handle DVD-R, CD-R and CD-RW. The Panasonic also plays DVD-RAM discs.

McKeon says functions such as AV outputs and card slots are new to this model, which supersedes the one launched two years ago, and a key to the category's success. The company may also broaden its range depending on how well the LV65 sells. "It's part of an expanding strategy," he says.

SPICKS & SPECS
PLAYER          RRP             PLAYS           SCREEN SIZE
DIMENSIONS              WEIGHT
SAMSUNG $2999           DVD-Video,      10"                     266x25.5 x 204
mm              1.3kg
DVD-L100                        CD, CD-R                widescreen
                        (without battery)
                                CD-RW, MP3,
                                Memory Stick
CONNECTIONS                                     REMOVABLE MEDIA SPECIAL FEATURES
Composite audio & video input/output, 5-Video out,      Memory Stick
Zoom, DTS and virtual 3D sound, advanced graphical user
digital optical audio output, dual headphone sockets
interface (GUI)

PANASONIC       $1699           DVD-Video       5"                      144 x
32.5 x 140mm    566g
DVD-LV65                        DVD-RAM,        widescreen
                (with battery)
                                DVD-R, CD
                                CD-R, CD-RW
                                MP3, SD Audio
CONNECTIONS                                     REMOVABLE MEDIA SPECIAL FEATURES
Video out, S-Video out, 2-channel audio input/output,   SD card
Zoom, DTS and Dolby Digital, GUI
digital optical audio output, one headphone socket

© 2002 The Age

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