Rating: 
Summary: excellent unit!
Review: **UPDATED**
Back from vacation, 19hours each way everything works great! NO PROBLEMS.. Here is the deal with the car adaptor.. If you have the DVD running and you turn the car on the screen goes black.. here is the solution: before you turn the car on just close the screen so it shuts off (just the screen shuts off, not the power to the unit. you could probably just hold that little button down that turns the screen off), power the car on, open the lid/screen, the screen should come on.. i have some VCDs so whenever i shut my car off to get gas it kept playing but when i turned the ignition on the screen would go black. I tested shutting the screen down before starting the car, then opening it back up and it worked! I Love this unit. I went ahead and got the 3year warranty thing from Circuit City just in case. Also hooked it up to a big screen and watched some VCD & DVDs. Looks fine to me. ---------------------------------
i was a little afraid after reading the reviews. First you must understand that the IDM-1810 is sold at Walmart. I purchased the Initial 8" portable DVD which is almost exactly the same from Circuit City and the model is IDM-830. Now that this is clear, what an awesome little unit! I have not had it for 30 days yet, but as soon as I bought it I plugged it in at home and ran "Casino" on it for at least 6-8hours straight just to see if it would burn out. I had no problems whatsoever. I have also played many VCD's. I think the screen resolution looks excellent for what i need. I was looking at the Toshiba's, but the cost and the need to buy some adapter for your car (12V to 120V?) sucked. I have used it in my Tahoe SUV for days driving around town with my child playing Disney movies with NO problem. I live on a brick road that makes the car vibrate big time. Again, no problem. Remote control works great also! I love this thing, please don't die. BTW, I have not used the battery yet. Lastly, I am taking a 19hour drive each way for Christmas and plan on playing movies most of the time. If I can update this I will fill you in on how everything worked. I say purchase it. But you might want to go to Circuit City for model IDM-830. Also, do a search on Amazon for DVD-830, tons of reviews. It has to be the same unit.
Rating:
Summary: The FINEST Portable player available
Review: Amazon has really outdone itself with this package deal. I've shopped around forever for one of these players and have gotten an average price range of 1200-400 for an 8" player. I was a little skeptical at first buying initial since they didn't have as much market presence as the other brands, but the price was too good not to investigate further. By calling their customer service department i found that the player alone retails for 375 and the car kit for 49.99. that was a savings of 125 dollars!!!
I enjoy the picture and the sound quality. The unit has saved me from the constant fighting of my 9 and 5 year olds by just sitting them down putting in their newest movie and driving beside my wife in utter silence to enjoy the ride.
Thumbs up to Initial and Amazon.com for this great deal!
Rating:
Summary: You Never Know Until You Try It For Yourself!
Review: B4 I type in my review, I have browse the web a lot reading various reviews and models of portable DVD Players. Regardless of bad reviews I too bought this player and got a different feeling to it.
I chose this model mainly for the price. What other models are out there with these specs with 8" wide screen for under $300. As soon as I rec'd my model IDM-1810 I was already pleased with what it comes with. The slim design is very nice and the battery snaps to the back nicely with 3 hours playing time and 5 hours playing time when the LCD screen is closed. I tried every type of media including DVD Rom DVD-R,DVD+RW, CD, CD-R. It passed. It only takes 4 ½ hours to charge the battery.
I wasted no time and I watched a movie right after another. I wanted to see if it would get hot on me and turn off. Wow, I had it on for over 4 movies. That's about 8 hours of nonstop playing time plugged in. It didn't even skip or shut down on me. So that test passed. I then tried the battery alone, this time I used the RCA cables it comes with, and plugged it in to this player and to a TV monitor to see how it would work. I can even plug in my Xbox to this thing if I want it to. It has an input and output for audio and video. Very nice. I saw a movie a little more than 2 hours using the battery, I did close the player so It would conserve the battery. That passed. The next day, was the test I was scared of. Plugging it in the Car cigarette lighter, with the car on. Let me tell you guys, I tried plugging it in using various ways and it worked all the time. I did all this with the battery not plugged in the player. I even shook the hell out of it, The anti shock works also. This test Passed. The remote has everything you want except it does not have volume control. If anything that is my only negative remark. I guess I'm just being lazy to just higher it from the player. Now All I have to do is test the durability of this and see how long it will last. It does have a one year warranty and you have to mail in the warranty card within 14 days of purchase to receive this limited warranty. I called Initial electronics to find out more about this product. They told me they have sold thousands of these and the reason why if the screen goes dark that's because it protects your player from over heating kind of like a fail safe. I guess I haven't been that unfortunate yet. They also said the difference between IDM-1810 and IDM 830 is the software updates. These 2 products are there newest and IDM 830 has a software update but both have the same functions. IDM 830 does cost more. I inquire for accessories and you can purchase accessories straight from them just not the player itself. The extra battery for this is not out yet and they estimated it would cost $100. Too much if you ask me, They do carry a universal battery but it does not snap on the back of your player. They don't have a case for this also. The MFG is located at La Verne Ca. and there customer service number is 800 216 5156. I should get commissioned for this detailed review. Bottom line is this product receives my high rank of 5 out of 5 stars. Just read my Title for my review!
Rating:
Summary: So far, so good
Review: Compared to other brands (more expensive), Initial delivers. The on board speakers are capable but a decent pair of headphones make a big difference. I keep a splitter handy for two headphones. The features are numerous and the 8" screen is clear and bright(color and brightness adjustable). The quality of the hardware is somewhat flimsy but doesn't seem too far off the more expensive brands I've seen. The mechanism is a bit noisy while playing and I don't know how that compares to the others. If your passengers are viewing in your car you can pipe the audio into your car stereo using a cassette adapter, etc. So far, I'm happy with this purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: Black Screen of Death
Review: Do NOT -- I repeat DO NOT buy this unit. I made the mistake of purchasing it at Circuit City on a Friday for a week-long trip. Got on the plane, turned on the unit and within 5 minutes, the screen was black. I arrived at my destination, went into the local Circuit City and we went through 3 brand new units before I found one that wasn't black when I turned it on. I took it back to the hotel and poof, it went black. Saturday, went back to Circuit City, and I know you'll find this hard to believe, but the store clerk tore through 6 boxes of brand new Intials before finding one that wasn't a black screen. I took it back to the hotel and needless to say it went black within 15 minutes. So, that's a total of 12 units that were delivered to Circuit City in two different cities that had a black screen. So please, folks at Initial, don't tell me you don't know what's going on and this is something quirky. You know exactly what's going on. By the way, kudoos to Circuit City for providing great customer service and doing the best they could under these circumstances. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and just got a refund.
Rating:
Summary: I would not buy this item again
Review: I am in the process of returning mine for a refund. As soon as I plugged it into the car charger, the screen went dark. Contrary to the other review this was NOT solved by leaving the battery pack on the unit. I had the battery pack on the unit and the screen went blank after plugging into the car adapter. I cannot understand why Amazon coninues to sell this product.
Rating:
Summary: 2 Bad experiences
Review: I bought one unit and was very happy with it for a while. The power cord was flimsily attached and eventually required holding it just so to get the movies to play. Even with that, it would cut out for no reason, so back it went. I paid the $50. repair fee (the three month parts and labor warrantee was over).
I just got the new unit (or probably refurb) two days ago. I had one happy day then the unit went black. It plays the DVD, because you can hear it, but the screen is too dim to see. I believe that this had been an infrequent problem on my first unit. Back this unit goes. The technician was friendly and Initial is paying the shipping this time, but I have to wait another 4 weeks, and hope that I don't have problems again. Yes this is a good price for a portable DVD, but I wish I had paid more and gotten better quality. No matter how little money you pay, you might be wasting it.
Rating:
Summary: Short lifespan
Review: I got several hours of use from my player before the screen went black. I tried to revive the system for several more hours and gave it up for dead. Very disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Circuit City 830 model
Review: I got this for Christmas, and had not heard of the brand. I read these reviews with some concern of the quality. I had the screen once go black when using a/c with the battery pack on, but I reconnected the battery pack and it has work fine. I did intermittently get 4 white bars at the top of the screen when playing a letterbox dvd that has the black band at the top and bottom of the screen. Battery works a long time. Nice size screena nd weight. Hope nothing goes wrong!
Rating:
Summary: Bad experience
Review: I had major problems with this Initial DVD portable player. The first time I turned on the player, I found a small glowing green dot at the top of the screen (I believe that's called a dead pixel). Then, I found the player took forever to load dual sided DVDs. I could have lived with those problems for the price I paid for the player (around $355). However, the next day when I turned on the player, I could barely see the image on the screen even after adjusting the brightness control. Obviously, the player was defective. Fortunately, I was able to return for a full refund and I ended up buying the more expensive Toshiba player with the 8.9" screen. I figured you get what you pay for.
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