Review on Sylvania SDVD1256: 11.6-Inch Portable DVD Player with USB and SD Card Reader - Watch Movies on the Go! by Robert Gilbert

For several years I've been watching a 30 minute DVD lecture on my laptop every evening. Unfortunately, the laptop has not been working for a few weeks. After much deliberation, I decided to buy a portable DVD player instead of looking for another laptop. When I first started looking for different models, I wasn't very impressed with the choices available. Although the Sylvania brand has been around for many years, I doubt it's the same company today as it was then. In any case, this model seemed to me the best value for money, so I ordered it. Here are my first observations: The video quality isn't as good as I expected, but it's certainly acceptable. Some reviewers complained about the lack of volume and sound quality, but for my purposes (listening to human speech) both are fine, and with the built-in speakers, the volume range is noticeably better than a laptop. However, I have no idea if the quality of the music will be acceptable to others. The player is very light and the screen can easily be rotated vertically (but not horizontally) to suit your viewing habits. At first I complained that when watching a DVD there was no way to tell how much time had passed and how much time was left. However, I recently discovered that this feature is available when using the remote control by simply pressing the "OSD" button. I apologize for this initial oversight. I was initially unable to reset the player to the same spot on the DVD when it was turned on again. However, as I later put batteries in the supplied remote control, I found that the player reverts to the last saved position when this option is selected in the settings. UPDATE: Strangely after only a month the player wouldn't revert to the last saved position and I had to go into the settings again to restore that option. It's a little embarrassing, but it could be a one-off accident. (UPDATE: In the 14 months I've owned this player this has only happened twice and it's easy to fix.) When I first bought this player I wasn't sure if it was reliable over the long term, so I bought a three-year warranty; To my great surprise, however, it has been quite reliable so far. Should I encounter any issues with this product I will definitely update this review. Thank you for reading. UPDATE: 1/13/2017 After 18 months it started to fail. Some DVDs froze at certain points, but played fine on other computers. Luckily I bought a 3 year warranty from SquareTrade. Sent it back to them for repairs. They returned it to me with a note that it worked fine with their tests. They speculated that the problem was due to "scratches on the CD". Since the DVDs I played on it are brand new, I knew this wasn't a problem. I spoke to SquareTrade again and was told to send it back. The second time I returned it I got a call from the technician saying I had to send in the DVD for them to look at. However, I actually asked for the DVD to come with the player when I sent it back, and each time I was told not to! The technician said he would replace the laser. When I returned it it still didn't play. This time when I called SquareTrade they said to send it back a third time and this time they would give me a full refund! I am very glad that I took out the insurance.