Liam! " Some guy walks by - sees me and the DVD player - looks over our shoulder - watches the video - asks me to do some work for him!
" . . Brilliant! Now THAT'S better than the paper bus card . . pphhoorgh ..

You bringing one to UK? . .ooo Might have one by then and THEN I can show-off my stuff too!

Liam, this was eaxactly the type of business and idea creation fedback I was after . . very excited . . again . . .

Anybody had thoughts about the Personal Video Players? Hard Disc options on these look great! PLUS the option of recoding Quick n Dirty stuff to HD from a Cammie and thence "show" the client there and then .. yeah?

Great response Liam! Looking forward to meeting up ..

Grazie

Liam? You got the model number for the Sony? G

These are definately great things to have. I always take one along when i'm doing a gig so i can show off previous stuff and folks just go crazy over it.

The only thing that worries me is that if you have more than a small number of people trying to watch it at the same time, it's likely that some of them will see a very poor image. Most LCD screens have a "sweet spot" where the image is perfect, usually looking at it from just a tiny bit below the center point. It's not too bad moving somewhat off to the side, but if someone views it from higher up they'll see a washed out image. I always try to make sure the most impressionable person (ie. the one i'm trying to hook for the best future business) gets the best view.

"I always try to make sure the most impressionable person (ie. the one i'm trying to hook for the best future business) gets the best view."

Maybe leave behind a sample "reel" on DVD or mini-dvd with your contact information nicely printed on the disk (ie, a DVD business card?)

Sorry, always thinking marketing !

ROM business cards already exist. A business card which is, actually, a "rectangular CD-Rom" with your infos printed on it like an ordinay business card but with this hole in the middle... very neat!

I've never understood why people would get a portable DVD player, except for the "portable" part. They would be very nice for a long airplane ride. However, for not much more money you can get a laptop that has a 15" screen, and can play DVD, plus any other type of video file (WMV, MPEG1, AVI, etc.). Also, they have VGA and (some) have composite outputs so you can hook them to projectors.

I certainly wouldn't want to show something to a client, especially if it was something that I was really proud of, but do it on a 5 inch screen. It would be like exhibiting a 4x6 drug store photo at the Museum of Modern Art. Not exactly the way to make a splash.

HI Grazie, picked one up last week, from toys r us for about £130 made by Medion, It has a 7" screen, plays all DVD formats, inlcuding MPEG1, CD, MP3 & JPEGS
Also has a video input so you can use as monitor. Video , Audio & optical out, 12V adapter for car use.

Great picture soound Ok ish with the small speakers built in,

Cheema

"I've never understood why people would get a portable DVD player, except for the "portable" part. " . . er . . .

1/- It's the portable part for me.

2/- It's the effect of NOT having/needing a Laptop to show a client but a piece of kit to do it.

3/- Cheapest reliable Laptop here in UK is 4 times a portable DVD player I've seen .. and posted here.

4/- I can plug it directly into TV or sometype of Jack monitor ..

5/- I can leave my laptop at home!

But, John, other than that . .I really don't know too?

Maybe I lug around my aging Inspiron . . my Schlaptop! . ..

Have a look at the link I posted .. it lokks kinda neat and sweet though .. ;) . . guess that makes me one of thiose "people" you mention . . guilty as charged!

Grazie

Thanks Cheemie! John obviously doesn't understand us "Kit Freaks" . . Sooo... how come YOU . . er . . succumbed then?

Have a look at the link I posted and tell what you think too?

Dah-G-Man

I have this Mintek MDP-1010 That I really like. It has a 10.2" 16:9 screen, is region free, plays back both NTSC and PAL, and will play back Jpegs, mp3s and mpeg4s and DivX video files. I got mine from a little camera shop and paid about $200 over the price I can find them on the Internet because the guy there swore that the ones he sold were "region free" and worth the extra money when you travel (which I do at least once a year). I know that mine is definately region because I've used that feature, but I suspect that other ones are as well. Anyway, I use it to show off and check DVDs out all the time. the 10.2" screen looks great but the sound is tinny. It does have two headphone outputs though. I also find it good for double checking converted PAL DVDs since it seems to adjust the screen scan rate rather than do a PAL to NTSC conversion. It plays back 4:3 DVDs with sideways letterboxing.

This link has
http://www.x10.com/electronics/portable_dvd_player_mintek_mdp1010.html

what about the Sony DSR-10? it plays mini DV's. printing to tape is alot faster than burning a dvd, especially if your project isn't going to end up on dvd.

Liam? You got the model number for the Sony?

It's a Sony DVP FX700. In my case one of the "hinges" on the thing has begun to collapse... that is a bit of a disappointment. I should really get it fixed.

I've never understood why people would get a portable DVD player

I likewise smile when I see someone attempting to set up their bulky laptop, get into the DVD player software - manage the playing of the DVD (often without the convenience of a remote control). Often times they forget their laptop plays the DVD only on the internal LCD monitor and forget to switch it so it plays through the external port - then their laptop crashes.

I simply walk up. Plug my portable DVD player into the projector or TV monitor direct), using my remote, and I am showing the video within seconds.

Do you understand now John? Just think out of the box a minute. It is not just about displaying it on the small screen of the player (although EVEN that has it place).

I just bring my James Bond brief case, open it up and it expands to a 24" hd plasma monitor with DVD mini DV and a super sonic ultra digital dvdhdv. Blows their socks off.Gets me every gig.

and what about RCA DRC618?...anyone?

Oooh. I feel a need to investigate ROM business cards! Thanks for the info.

Pierre

I have two mini DVD's with 7" screens. I purchased them for our trip to Florida, but wrote them off as a business expense because of how I can now use them for demonstrate projects.

Even still I will bring both my laptop (with DVD) and my mini DVD to show work. The mini DVD starts up quicker than the laptop, but it sometimes has problems with I have a demo DVD with several layers of menus (it sometimes can't read them), so I had to optimize my demo DVD for the player.

Works. They are very delcate though (mine haven't broken, but the boards were full of horror stories of folks who's mini DVD players stopped after even a mild jolt.

"... for not much more money you can get a laptop that has a 15" screen, and can play DVD..."

Because it absolutely, positively will not crash at the most inappropriate time.

The portablity is extremely important if I am rubbing elbows at a Chamber Mixer. If someone indicates an interest in what I do, I can open the little DVD player and hit "play".

For more formal presentations, though, I may bring the laptop.

Steve Mann