Next base Portable DVD Player review

22 December 2004 7:34 GMT / By Stuart Miles

“Are we there yet, are we there yet?” - Kids in the back of a car on a long journey can be annoying, but what better way to shut them up than to have them watch a movie when you next take that long journey.

The Next base Portable DVD Player is, according to Next base, the world’s first tablet style DVD player. Flat and fairly lightweight the 7in widescreen TFT display player offers you the chance to watch movies on the go at a decent size.

Because the player is flat (it’s dimensions are 202x154x26mm) it means that with the included leather pouch you can attach it to a headrest in a car and keep the kids in the back quiet.

Aside from keeping kids quiet the player offers plenty: DVD/ VCD/ CD/ HDCD/ CD-R/ CD-RW/ MP3/ Kodak Picture and WMA Disks playback means that you won’t be short of media to play on the unit.

Additionally, in keeping with the idea that you’ll want to use this in the car the player comes with a cigarette lighter power socket. Away from the car it comes with an AC adapter and even a battery (albeit an large ugly one). Power from the battery lasts roughly 2.5 hours - enough to watch most films, and in tests, we felt that you are unlikely to want to watch anything on it for much longer in one sitting anyway.

The screen when viewed at the right angle produced very clear, crisp results with a good balance of colours. We tested it with Shrek 2, Die Hard and Star wars to see how the screen coped with fast moving colours, animation and for the action fan explosions.

To stop you standing there like a gimp for 2.5 hours the back of the player offers a pull-out stand so you can watch it at the optimum viewing angle, that is until you add that ugly battery to it and then just like other DVD player screens the poor angle means more colours and picture quality.

Verdict

At £250 you can’t really go wrong if you are hoping to catch a movie on the move - especially if you are planning on mounting this on the back of your headrest.

For the ultra-lazy there’s even a remote control included in the box and those looking to get extra use out of the player can connect it to the television when you’re not out and about. A great product that would win pocket-lint’s Hot Product award if it wasn’t for that ugly battery. Technology being what it is, maybe this single flaw will be eliminated when we next see a player of this type.

This product was kindly loaned to us by Merconnet.com.

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Review Recap

Made by: NextBase
Price as reviewed: £279
Latest price: Compare prices
The good: Multi-region, large screen, Ideal for cars, car lighter charger included, battery pack
The bad: Battery pack is very large when attached, screen isn’t great at certain angles
Quick verdict: A large screen and cheap price makes it one to consider
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