Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by F. G. Gates "tech nut" : Great unit; rotten warranty

We bought one of these for our 7 year old daughter to keep her entertained on trips. For that it has been great and kept her happy all over the US and Europe. It is even much more tolerant of dirty young fingers than several other portable DVD players we've owned.

But, after 10 months the wall power supply died and we are now unable to charge the unit. After literally hours on the phone with Panasonic I fought my way through to someone who read from a prepared statement declaring that the 12 month parts warranty relates ONLY to the DVD player and not to the accessories, including the power supply. This has completely alienated me since (a) the power supply is a separate but essential component of the system advertized as having a 12 month warranty and sold as a 'bundle' in the original packaging; (b) the warranty verbiage itself only excludes the batteries (to 10 days) and makes no such qualification about accessories, even if we accept that an essential component supplied with the DVD player is an accessory.

So, despite being a great little product I am reluctant to recommend the unit to other consumers lest they suffer the same fate as I and be stuck with either an unusable DVD player or a $58+shipping charge for the replacement power supply, which has a proprietary connector not available on after-market adaptors sold in say Radio Shack.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by cobaltspectre : Nice when it works, but not quite as advertised.

I originally purchased the predecessor to this unit, the DVD-LS82. When it worked, I was happy, even if the speakers were a bit soft at full volume on my nightstand. Even after repairs at the Panasonic depot, however, mine was EXTREMELY sensitive to the faintest disc imperfections that my other DVD players ignored. When I returned it to Amazon, per Panasonic's instructions, it was no longer for sale by Amazon. So, I ordered the DVD-LS86.

The only differences between the 2 units are that the earlier incarnation was silver, came packaged with a car kit, and had an advertised battery life 1 hour shorter. The newer unit, while initially offered at the identical price, is, as I write this, now offered at enough of a discount to almost buy your own car kit, if you choose.

The operating manual states that the battery on this unit recharges in 7 hours, when turned off, at 68 degrees F. When I brought my brand new battery up to full charge, it took barely longer than that.

What most people will be interested in is the battery endurance when playing it. Again, according to the manual, this unit will play (always assuming using headphones) for 13 hours at a brightness level of -5. This translates to noticeably dimmer than "Moonlight" mode; unless you're an avid spelunker/movie buff with severe photophobia, it's reminiscent of bright moonlight through welder's goggles. I actually have photophobia (and welder's goggles), and I couldn't stand -5 in my darkened room at night. "Moonlight," which translates to about "-3," however, was fine.

At a brightness level of "0," the manual states that battery life drops to 7 hours; that's about what I suspect most users would compromise for in the trade-off between visibility and battery life during the day. "0" is noticeably brighter than "Moonlight." I tolerated "Moonlight" in a brightly lit indoor location to extend the battery life; it's rather like watching a film in a discount, second-run theater that turns the projector brightness down to conserve the bulb life.

Finally, the manual states a battery life of 5 hours with the bightness on "5." If you use the "Daylight" setting, you get an even slightly brighter picture than that; so, if you choose the "Daylight" setting, you'll get the most vivid picture, but the battery life will suffer even more. You might need this if you want to watch movies on a sunny day at the beach-- if you go to the beach to watch movies.

Personally, I thought it would be easy to scratch a disc on the steel portion of the housing around the lense or bend the disc a bit too much when removing it from this family of units. I wish that they'd design a release mechanism that caused the machine to let go of the disc at least as easily as most cases. I managed to avoid scratching any discs; but, I was uncomfortable seeing the discs bend. I, therefore, wouldn't recommend leaving it to children to change the discs, particularly if the unit is as sensitive to micro-scratches as my DVD-LS82 was.

Sadly, my love of Panasonic products has been, in the case of portable DVD players, so far, unrequited. My DVD-LS86 has a habit of turning itself off at random intervals when using the a/c adaptor. I can't believe that this is a universal product feature, so, I'm exchanging mine for a new one. I hope that the replacement will finally live up to its promise.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by G. Crain : Perfect for our needs

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.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by dchao : Not state-of-art but still most flexible

Pros: Light weight. Zoom feature (smooth manual zoom too). Long battery life (5 hours on highest setting, reduce brightness for longer run time). Plays DivX movies (I rip 6 DVDs and compress it to 480x272 and burn them onto one DVD-R). Smaller charger compared to the old model.

Cons: Display only 480x234, out-dated compare to newer 800x480 displays. Remote not included anymore.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by S. Coe "S reader" : Best DVD player

I'll admit, like most, the price of this portable DVD player almost turned me away. If the player was for an adult, I probably wouldn't have thought twice: the main purpose of this, however, was for a 4 year old to use during long plane/car trips. I purchased and returned several players before buying this one, as I found the other players to be far inferior. I had issues with batteries not clicking and staying in place, but more so, was just disappointed by the short battery life. I broke down and bought this one prior to taking our last vacation. This is a hands down winner. The battery life is true to what is advertised....10 hours in plane with no issues and it's still going! It's lightweight, thin, and has all the features you need (and none of the annoying one's you don't). I'd recommend this product to anyone and will likely be purchasing another one in the future.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by Nicole Cates : Portable DVD

We recently purchased 2 of these dvd players for travel with our children ages 3 and 6. So far we have used them on 3 trips and they have worked great. We were able to watch 2 full length films and a shorter Elmo video before the battery went dead - definitely NOT 13 hours but still pretty long.

Panasonic DVD-LS86 8.5-Inch Portable DVD Player
Review by Buttercup : Solid choice for portable DVD-its a compromise

Mogo¿ Portable DVD Player Car Mount

We just bought a van and did not want to spend $1500 for the overhead DVD player. I researched portable DVDs thoroughly and decided on this compromise. Picture is not as good as some, but sound is decent, and unit is built to withstand some abuse. I tested battery life, and as expected, did not get anywhere near the 13 hour battery life advertised. I used the daylight setting for brightness and had the volume up to max level to recreate real use conditions. The DVD player lasted 5 hours. I am sure if you use the "moonlight" setting (darker pic), you will get longer battery life, but that is not how we will be using the DVD player. We want the best pic possible. So am happy with this player so far. We used the MoJo DVD mount for between the front seats and the unit works well-the mount is easily installed/removed. It could be better materials, but we were happy to get away from the hanging bag option. Also, the audio out port is directly in the path of the velcro attachment on the MoJo, so not ideal, but the port can still be utilized.