Sharp DV-L70U 7" Portable DVD Player

About the size of two DVD cases stacked on top of one another, the DV-L70U Moviegoer weighs just over two pounds with the supplied lithium battery pack, making it lighter than competing models. With a 7-inch diagonal, 16:9 aspect-ratio screen, the Moviegoer also offers one of the largest portable DVD pictures currently available.

The L70U's liquid crystal display is extremely impressive; it offers good brightness and contrast levels (even in high-ambient light) and we found absolutely no anomalies such as dead pixels. The DV-L70U exhibited a minimal amount of hotspotting--a common problem with LCD technology, where the lower-middle portion of the screen appears washed out. Although some grays appear slightly blue, colors remain faithful overall; flesh tones and outdoor scenes look natural instead of pink and neon green. In fact, the Moviegoer's vivid images seem to expand the 7-inch diagonal screen size instead of diminishing it.

The rechargeable lithium battery pack snaps into place and connects to the player via a short, pin-connector cable. An onscreen icon flashes when the battery is low. Sharp estimates the battery will last for up to three hours before it needs recharging. With the supplied AC adapter, you can recharge the unit in about five hours. The AC adapter allows you to play movies on the DV-L70U, which is useful if you want to watch DVDs in a hotel room. You can also connect the DV-L70U to a TV monitor and use it as a standalone DVD player.

Sharp supplies all the necessary audio-video (AV) cables, except the digital-audio optical link that's necessary to connect the DV-L70U to an outboard processor with DTS or Dolby Digital decoding. You can use the AV jacks for outputting and inputting audio-video signals. This enables you to use the LCD screen as a monitor to display images from a camcorder--or even a VCR.

The layout of the DV-L70U's features is very intuitive; its basic functions--play, stop, skip, and arrow buttons for navigating DVD menus--reside on top of the panel to the right of the disc-loading well. You can access additional functions, such as zoom, virtual sound, subtitle on/off, as well as disc programming features, from the supplied remote control. You can also get to basic features from an onscreen graphical user interface (GUI), but we found the GUI to be more cumbersome than the remote or panel buttons.

Our only other minor complaint concerns the Moviegoer's aesthetics. Although the faux brushed-aluminum design is very appealing, it reflects light back onto the LCD screen, particularly in the dark, which diminishes picture quality. We'd prefer a flat-black coating on the inside of the player.

Soundwise, the dual front speakers below the screen are merely adequate. However, since portable DVD players lend themselves to solitary viewing, most users will use headphones. We recommend that you purchase a high-quality set. We also strongly recommend that you purchase a carrying case, given the cost and delicacy of the liquid crystal display.

With an excellent set of headphones, a comfortable seat, and low ambient light, you may find yourself glued to the beautiful 7-inch LCD screen of Sharp's DV-L70U Moviegoer DVD player. --Eric Gill

Pros:

• Very impressive picture quality
• Extremely compact and lightweight
• Automatic anti-skip buffer
• Doubles as a stand-alone DVD player

Cons:

• Brushed-aluminum design reflects light onto screen
• Mediocre sound quality from built-in speakers