Portable DVD Players

Audiovox Axion Philips Sony RCA Toshiba

I tested the AXN-6079 over the course of a weekend in our Toyota minivan, and over hill, over dale, it missed nary a beat—believe me, my daughter would’ve let us know about it. Playing animated features such as Finding Nemo and Cinderella, the picture looked good, although it appeared slightly pixelated when I watched action movies. The 7-inch screen is fine when hanging a few feet away in a car, but in home-viewing situations it might leave something to be desired. The audio and speakers are also adequate, but headphones are preferable.

Each display unit has stereo speakers, volume and brightness controls available on the face of the monitor, and a screen that tilts up and down. On the underside of the monitor are A/V inputs, dual headphone jacks, and a cable input for the external player. The player is powered with a car lighter adaptor, and can also use a standard wall plug—it does not include a battery option, however.

I did note a few flaws in the design and packaging of the AXN-6079, first and foremost the lack of a batterypowered option. There are plenty of times that family travel takes us out of range of a car lighter or wall plug, and this player is dead weight in those situations. A missing piece for the monitors is base stands, although there are slots for them. As is, if you don’t use straps to mount the player, you are left to awkwardly prop up the monitors in a slanted position, due to the cables that protrude on the underside.

Compared to the more expensive units we reviewed, the $229 AXN- 6079 isn’t going to win any awards for it’s A/V performance, but for a versatile, budget player it fills the bill.

And if there’s anything better than a portable DVD player for reducing family- wide stress on a long road trip—or in my case, house-hunting excursions— I can’t tell you what it is.