Rating: 
Summary: Better Than I thought
Review: I bought this portable DVD player to watch DVD movies and my own home made DVD+R's at work, to my surprise it plays everything it advertises and also DVD+R's and DVD+RW's, one thing it fails to mention and it really should is the Surperb Audio system for earphones, the built in speakers are no better than whats on a laptop but put on a very good pair of earphones and tweak the audio from the built in equalizer, bass boast and super boast and you have the sound and feel of very large and good theater sound system, its about the best sound system I have heard from a portable item. Picture quality very good, widescreen is a plus. This will also play VCD, XVCD, SVCD, XSVCD of any bitrate and resolution, I made a 704x480 at 4000 bitrate as a non complaint MPEG2 SVCD and it played it back perfect.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the price!
Review: I bought this product at Walmart over a year ago and it has worked beautifully ever since. Boy, have the portable DVDs come down in price since then! I paid almost twice as much for this unit. At these prices, I would have gotten a larger screen, but the 5.8 size has not really mattered. I got it to keep my toddler entertained on trips, but it has also come in handy when the power has gone out in my house during storms. It sure was nice keeping my 3 year old distracted watching Dora rather than watching the lightning. I have never had it run out of battery life on any flight, but I wish I would have bought the extra battery while I had the chance. It is currently unavailable, but I think there is an alternative rechargable that is compatible with many different portables that I plan to buy. I would definitely recommend this product.
Rating:
Summary: Great for the price!
Review: I bought this product at Walmart over a year ago and it has worked beautifully ever since. Boy, have the portable DVDs come down in price since then! I paid almost twice as much for this unit. At these prices, I would have gotten a larger screen, but the 5.8 size has not really mattered. I got it to keep my toddler entertained on trips, but it has also come in handy when the power has gone out in my house during storms. It sure was nice keeping my 3 year old distracted watching Dora rather than watching the lightning. I have never had it run out of battery life on any flight, but I wish I would have bought the extra battery while I had the chance. It is currently unavailable, but I think there is an alternative rechargable that is compatible with many different portables that I plan to buy. I would definitely recommend this product.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly surprised
Review: I did a lot of research -- reading on-line customer reviews and in-person testing -- and this DVD player seemed like the best value...but I was skeptical because Initial isn't a well-known brand.I have been using it for several weeks -- at home, in the car and on planes -- and it has been great. It has a good solid feel, good picture quality, and decent audio. It comes with all the important cords (unlike Panasonic's 5" player, which does not include a car adapter). The only complaint I have is with the user manual, which is written in almost broken English. I did call Initial's customer service number with a question and they were pleasant and helpful. I definitely recommend this portable DVD player.
Rating: 
Summary: Got a good one, after a try or two
Review: I got this player as a gift, prior to deploying over here to Iraq. Fortunately, the giver provided a gift receipt. The first one simply stopped working after a the first day. So, with about 3 days left before i flew, I returned it to the store at which it was purchased, and they cheerfully replaced the entire unit. The second one worked wonderfully, but the battery would not charge once depleted. Another trip to the store, where again, they replaced it. Since then, though, I've used the player and new battery for the entire 14-hour trip over here (recharging at each stop, and using a portable power converter on European power) and have used it in the dust and grime here for some time. This one works great! Exceptional picture, good sound, and can even hook up, easily, to almost any display device I've found. I'd recommend it, but not to purchase on-line. Get one from a store that can provide you with immediate replacements for anything that goes wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Got a good one, after a try or two
Review: I got this player as a gift, prior to deploying over here to Iraq. Fortunately, the giver provided a gift receipt. The first one simply stopped working after a the first day. So, with about 3 days left before i flew, I returned it to the store at which it was purchased, and they cheerfully replaced the entire unit. The second one worked wonderfully, but the battery would not charge once depleted. Another trip to the store, where again, they replaced it. Since then, though, I've used the player and new battery for the entire 14-hour trip over here (recharging at each stop, and using a portable power converter on European power) and have used it in the dust and grime here for some time. This one works great! Exceptional picture, good sound, and can even hook up, easily, to almost any display device I've found. I'd recommend it, but not to purchase on-line. Get one from a store that can provide you with immediate replacements for anything that goes wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: It might be nice for a week or two, but...
Review: I hate to say it, but the people who have given this item good reviews haven't owned the player long enough. Initial's build quality is very poor- it is a fact that if you buy a product from Initial, it WILL need service. It is only a matter of time, and, unfortunately, not that much time. Now, you have your new DVD player that you were all excited to purchase, but it's worth jack because the screen hinge completely broke and it won't play movies. You now get the unenviable task of contacting Initial's customer support. It's a nightmare! I think their customer service is comprised of a bunch of 8 year olds in a sweat shop in India. Trust me on this one, go with a proven brand like Sony or Toshiba, and you won't regret your decision if anything ever goes wrong.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Player for the Price!
Review: I was initially going to buy a more expensive DVD player at CC but was so impressed by this model (which was rebated for a good price) I bought it instead (two of them actually). The picture quality is good (hint make sure you go into setup and set the 'TV' display to wide screen, at least when watching wide format shows - makes a difference in quality on LCD). IMO the 5.8" screen is ideal in the fact that this player is no bigger than a normal CD player. As long as the player is close to you that size is pretty good. It works well if no more than a couple of people are watching it. The sound is also good (given the size) and is loud compared to other DVD players. (Another hint - change the equalizer setting to live, etc. to get louder sound). I can also play SVCD and DVD+R disks in the player although this appears to be undocumented. This is good news if you have computer with a CD/DVD burner. My only real complaint is with the battery pack design. Instead of attaching neatly onto the bottom of the player like some models, it is 'hung' on along the back and plugged into to the players power connector. This is kind of minor but I would have prefered a more integrated design. A larger complaint related to this is the battery cannot be charged at the same time the DVD is in use. I would have rated the player 5 stars except for this. Also, it has a red light that illuminates when the power switch is turned off. I've noticed this in other low end players like Mintek. What is the purpose of this function? It seems pointless and irritating to me. One other minor complaint is most functions can only be accessed with the included remote control. This is also common to a lot of players. It seems like they could at least use the joystick to navigate the setup menus and such. For the right price this is a very good player and is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: very slick little player
Review: I was ready to be underwhelmed considering the low price of this player, but got a pleasant surprise. This is a slick little machine with a good sharp image, and slick features like the battery pack that clips onto the back (adding extra weight, of course) and comes off (taking all that exra weight with it) when not needed. All in all, better than I hoped for, and boy does it make a long car trip easier with kids!
Rating: 
Summary: Good product - poor customer service
Review: I've owned this unit for about 2 years. The only problem I've had is the power receptacle came loose. I work on mechanical and electrical devices quite often, so I found it easy to disassemble and repair that. I eventually purchased a DVD recorder to make back up copies for movies I wanted to take on trips and for my home movies. The unit was not able to play any of the DVD-R or DVD+R formats I tried. I called the customer service people at Initial asking if there was a firmware upgrade I could acquire that would make the unit compatible. (Firmware is the operating system and is actually software that is written to a memory chip on the player). The person at Initial was polite, but decidedly very unhelpful in a smug way (smarmy). He told me the unit is no longer manufactured and that they do not have the firmware. Thinking I might also have a corrupt firmware, I asked if I could get just the original firmware; either just the firmware or send the unit to them to have them install it. He told me THEY DON'T EVEN KEEP THE ORIGINAL firmware. I had to laugh. I know it's a little piece of code that will fit onto a floppy disk. If the R&D people don't keep that, they don't have anything with which to use as a base for the next version of players or to fall back on if the next version fails. Not only that, but to those wanting to purchase one, this means INITIAL CANNOT FIX THE UNIT IF IT BREAKS. I asked him "So, in reality, you guys don't want to help me, right?". The lack of a reply was enough for me. Other than that, I've put the unit through a lot of abuse and it is still going strong!
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