Rating: 
Summary: Great Price & Great Image Quality
Review: I did extensive research in prior to purchase of an Initial DVD player simply it was never heard of. I finally made my purchase and I am very IMPRESSED. The 7" screen delivers great image quality, as well as its speaker sound. Its accessories ( S-Video, DC charger and etc)comes with purchase and that is a big plus, consider you have to pay extra $ 45 or $50 for it.
I am very pleased with this unit given the fact it is only half the price of a Toshiba and Panasonic!
Rating: 
Summary: Mobile DVD fun
Review: I actually have the 8" version, but played with a demo unit of the IDM-1731 (with 7" LCD measured diagonally) at the Circuit City store in Union Square, Manhattan. I had just purchased a "Bedazzled" DVD at the store, and was able to try it out on this little machine. (Yes, many CC stores let you load your own DVDs to play on their demo DVD players.)As with my 8" player, this model delivers good picture quality. It plays pretty much all kinds of video disc formats out there: DVD, VCD, SuperVCD, etc., as well as CD and CD-R with MP3 files. WMA files are supported as well. My 8" player, which I use on the bus a lot, is surprisingly resistent to road bumps: I've never experienced a frame drop due to bumps or even when I move the player around, so I expect the 1731 model will be the same. The verdict on quality is rather mixed. Overall this is far less refined than portable DVD players from Panasonic. The paint on my player, for example, is already coming off after less than a year. The buttons on the player are not very responding, so you'll have to press hard or even press twice to make them work. The remote is ok. Not very user-friendly but totally functional. On the other hand, I've used my Initial a lot and done countless pauses and stops and restarts, and it's still quiet and working flawlessly. In summary, Initial DVD players belong to the value category. If I had some extra cash I'd opt for a Panasonic model for better picture quality, much better sound (both from speakers and earphones), and infinitely better quality and reliability. But, the Initial's are inexpensive and the one I have has not let me down at all.
Rating:
Summary: does what you need it to do at a great price
Review: i did extensive research on portable dvd players. Being a toshiba and panasonic fan, I didn't look much into the Initial brand until I saw the prices of similar players. i compared the picture quality of the Initial with the toshiba sd-p1200 and was quite suprised to see that the Initial hung in there with the Toshiba, and at almost 1/2 the price!! Plus, you get all the necessary cables needed to go on long trips (this is why I wanted a portable dvd player) The sound quality through the speakers is ok, although the toshiba sound isn't any better. When you use headphones, the sound is terrific. Plus, this player has an anti-shock system similar to that found in cd players, so it won't skip in the car or when you child drops it a dozen times. If you want a nice size player (7 inches is plenty big enough for portable) that plays dvd's/cd's, this is by far the best bang for your buck. I only gave it 4 stars because it doesn't come with all the frills of the higher end players, such as progressive scan, numerous menu options, and the battery pack isn't the best, but it certainly isn't the worst either. I saw no justification on spending 200-300$ more on the higer end players. They're not that much better.
Rating:
Summary: a question
Review: I'd like to buy an Initial 7" DVD player, but first I'd like to find out if anyone has encountered the following problem on the one they bought: (I found this from another web site) "I bought the INL IDM1731 and it had great picture, after
2 days I noticed that some of my DVDs looked scratched around the outer most edges . This Player has small felt/cotton pads on the inside where the DVD spins.These pads get frayed, collect dirt, and swell up with moisture like a sponge or q-tip would and when they do they scratch your DVDs . I had 3 brand new dvds scratched by these pads,and then the dvd player skipped and stopped playing these disk. " If anyone could get back to this msg, it would be greatly appreciated! 'cause I'd like to buy a portable DVD player by the end of September. Thanks!
Rating:
Summary: A Good Player
Review: This is a good player with remarkable reliability. I have had five previous portable players that I had to return under warranty within months, this one has worked for over 9 months without a hitch on every kind of DVD. I subtract a star for the non-standard S-video jack and lack of cable (you can't even buy one).
Rating: 
Summary: Battery connection unreliable
Review: The picture and sound on this unit are decent. However the connection between the player and the battery is not well designed, so the battery can slide a little bit and then the player loses power. This is extremely annoying since you have to start the movie from the beginning again. Unusable, I returned it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Bargain
Review: This is a great little gadget. The 7 inch screen is perfect and the sound is very impressive. My kids watched a movie in the car and no skips even when the road was a bit bumpy. The battery lasted for more than 3 hours. I shopped around for this item and this is the least expensive price I could find for this size of screen. I am very happy with my purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Works great for me
Review: The only reason I am leavening a review is because I started looking into it for a friend and started reading all the reviews and some made it sound bad.
Now I've owned my Initial 1731 now since Nov03 and it has worked great. Picture is darn good, speakers are nothing great but with headphones it sounds great and in the car I hook up my irock FM signal transmitter (any Radio Shack 29$) and play it over the car speakers and talk about surround sound.
I've had none of the problems that others on here have mentioned. Maybe if you want this to be a work horse DVD player for you. You might want to spend the extra money. But for my money and usage this is a great buy. I gave it only 4 stars out of 5 because it would have to be perfect in everything to get a perfect score. I've never found anything to be flawless. So for me this is about as good a score as I could give it.
Sure the motor makes a little noise when you first start it maybe 5 sec after that I can't hear it unless I turn the volume off. And then you have to be in perfect silence. Headphones are cheap so that little thing doesn't bother me. Plus I've got about 5 pairs that have come with other things that I don't use because they sound bad or are awkward.
With any kind of electronics you have to take care of it for it to last.
Rating:
Summary: Car Trip Lifesaver
Review: We were a little apprehensive about buying this DVD player after reading some of the other reviews. We decided to take a chance, because of the great price. We took an eleven hour car trip with a two year old, and we survived! This DVD player was perfect. We did not store our player in a padded holder, instead we figured out a way to keep the dvd player cool by placing it in front of the air vents. This player never skipped a beat! The only complaint that I have is that I had to watch the same three Dora episodes over and over again. Now I can sing all of the songs in my sleep :)! I would highly recommend this player to anyone on a budget. Just keep the player cool, and I think you will be fine!
Rating:
Summary: Mobile DVD fun
Review: I actually have the 8" version, but played with a demo unit of the IDM-1731 (with 7" LCD measured diagonally) at the Circuit City store in Union Square, Manhattan. I had just purchased a "Bedazzled" DVD at the store, and was able to try it out on this little machine. (Yes, many CC stores let you load your own DVDs to play on their demo DVD players.) As with my 8" player, this model delivers good picture quality. It plays pretty much all kinds of video disc formats out there: DVD, VCD, SuperVCD, etc., as well as CD and CD-R with MP3 files. WMA files are supported as well. My 8" player, which I use on the bus a lot, is surprisingly resistent to road bumps: I've never experienced a frame drop due to bumps or even when I move the player around, so I expect the 1731 model will be the same. The verdict on quality is rather mixed. Overall this is far less refined than portable DVD players from Panasonic. The paint on my player, for example, is already coming off after less than a year. The buttons on the player are not very responding, so you'll have to press hard or even press twice to make them work. The remote is ok. Not very user-friendly but totally functional. On the other hand, I've used my Initial a lot and done countless pauses and stops and restarts, and it's still quiet and working flawlessly. In summary, Initial DVD players belong to the value category. If I had some extra cash I'd opt for a Panasonic model for better picture quality, much better sound (both from speakers and earphones), and infinitely better quality and reliability. But, the Initial's are inexpensive and the one I have has not let me down at all.
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