Mustek MP 80

Author's product rating:   

Picture Playback	Good
Sound Level	Poor
Ease of Use	Very Easy
Durability	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	brightens up a long journey
Disadvantages:	sound quality could be a lot better

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

***INTRODUCTION***

Since I first heard about these great gadgets over a year ago I have had my heart set on getting one. I bought the Mustek MP 80 portable DVD player a few months ago and have loved taking it away with me for entertainment purposes. It comes with a great little carry case and a remote control with the same functions as an average DVD player.

Just think you are going on that long trip away and you need some entertainment to keep you occupied. Take a set of DVD's and a portable DVD player to pass the time. This sexy little silver gadget is great and I wouldn't be able to cope without it. It certainly brightens up a boring journey, and if you have kids you can buy special fitting and accessories to fix it to the back seats in the car. Quiet journeys wherever you go ;-)

***TRAVEL***

I have taken my portable DVD player everywhere I go whether I fancy watching a film in the car or in a hotel room the DVD players is suitable for both. I usually take my DVD player on long coach journeys with me. It has a headphone jack so you can listen to it quite easily without annoying other passengers with the film. The DVD player is relatively light and can be sat on a lap for a long period of time without giving you numb parts. I also like the fact that it does not get hot like a laptop would so I can sit it on my lap or a hard surface without over heating occurring.

I must also add that I have dropped it a few times and have not caused any damage to the DVD player and it still works as good as new. It is built in with anti-shock so the disk does not skip however I have found that with this DVD player it can be prone to skipping on a bumpy journey which can be most infuriating.

***APPEARANCE***

The Mustek DVD player is silver in colour and I like this as I believe silver looks modern and goes with most household appliances. The DVD player is less than a kilogram in weight which makes it quite light to carry and use. It is about 20cm wide so fits in most DVD carriers. Unfortunately the DVD player did not come with a carry case. I would recommend that you get one to maintain the quality of the player.

***EASE OF USE***

I have found this product very easy to use. The remote control is a great feature where you can watch the player from a distance and not have to get up to turn it off or skip scenes. In fact for the lazy person it really is quite ideal.

Generally it is very easy to use, basically like your average DVD player. When you turn it on place the DVD in the casing the screen will appear with options. As you would with any DVD select what you want to do e.g. change language, subtitles, play, pause, stop etc.

The DVD player uses a variety of formats such as CD-R and CD-RW so you can listen to any music tracks or watch those great picture CD's. You can also watch recorded disks as it is compatible with DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW and DVD+R. It does also play your average CD/DVD if like me you can get a little confused with abbreviations.

The instruction book is easy to follow although a lot of it is obvious. I haven't actually used the instruction book but I keep it close in case of any problems, of which there have been none so far.

***PICTURE QUALITY***

The screen is a 8" TFT LCD colour screen and to be quite honest is better quality than my old 15" curved TV screen. I like the fact that this item is portable. The compact size but top quality graphics are a real advantage. I am not experienced when it comes to technical language so all I can really say is that I enjoyed watching my DVDs the screen was clear and the picture was crisp. The picture on screen was not juddery and was great to watch. There was a light clicking and whirring sound when loading the DVD which can get a bit annoying.

***SOUND QUALITY***

I was slightly disappointed with the sound quality on this DVD player. I needed to buy separate speakers as on the maximum volume it was still very difficult to hear. The sound quality is great when using headphones but pretty poor when used as 'normal'. I also found that as the mains lead was quite short so we argued over who was closest to the DVD player. Unfortunately this aspect ruins my opinion of this product - what good is a DVD you cannot hear. If more than one person would like to watch the DVD it is rather poor. To hear the DVD we needed to be sat so close to it which was annoying. If the built-in speakers were of a better sound quality then this product would be great.

***BATTERY LIFE***

The battery is rechargeable which is always useful. The battery is charged using the provided mains plug. At first the battery was great however with age it is starting to lose power a bit faster. I used to be able to watch a DVD or two without having to recharge but now I am finding that the screen looks dull towards the end of a film as it needs recharging. I don't think I have ever run the battery out completely but do need to charge it up after every use. I have noticed that the screen looks darker when running off battery power however this is probably the case with many battery operated products. It is a lot clearer when powered by mains electricity using the cable provided.

***VALUE FOR MONEY***

I got the Mustek DVD player from Ebay and it was fairly cheap at a cost of £53 however it can be found online between £70 and £119 which is a fairly good price. Portable DVD players are coming down in price all the time as newer models come out. If you can snap this up at a great price then it will give you hours of entertainment.

***SUMMARY***

Portable DVD players are a great invention I have watched DVD's and picture CD's on a few different designs and makes and I must say this is a good one. Whilst it is not the best it is good value for money and it is useful to take with you on any long journey. I personally have my heart set on a new one at the moment as I am not happy with the sound quality on this one. Still if you plan to listen to it with headphones on it is fine and a great buy.