Ever been stuck in a traffic jam or on a long tiresome flight? Mitashi has a nifty gizmo, the TFD 7305 Portable DVD Player, to lighten you up.
Measuring about the size of a compact notebook/tablet PC, the TFD 7305 could easily fit in a side pocket of a rucksack/backpack or even a ladies handbag. The unit is an inch-and-a-half thick, and weighs about 1kg. Encased in an aluminium and fibre-composite shell, it has a 7-inch TFT LCD display we think a 10-inch or at least an 8-inch would be better. The LCD is a widescreen with 16:9 aspect ratio and a display resolution of (480x234) pixels.
The disk bay sits to the left on the deck and comes with a spring loaded lid. To the right are the controls. There are two four-way buttons. One for playback which lets you play, pause, stop, forward, rewind, and skip. The other is for indexing menu navigation and for setup configuration. There is a power toggle on the left side panel and the right side has the A-V ports, headphone jack, power port and the volume control.
It's conservatively button free, and intuitive to operate. Most people will be able to get it up and running without looking at the manual. The player has an audio-video RCA out port which means you can even use it as a regular DVD player and it supports NTSC/PAL video signal systems. The video quality is pretty good and the viewing angle options cover the gamut from single viewer to three to four viewers.
The device is quite versatile in that you can playback encoded MP3 files and view other digital media like JPEG photos. The acoustics of the built-in mini speakers are decent although the volume could be louder. When fully charged, the battery lasts for around three hrs. Its life can vary on screen brightness, volume, and other factors.
The unit comes with a standard Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack, travel (car/boat) DC power adapter, remote, AC power adapter, RCA A-V cables, headphones and a headrest mounting bag that allows the player to be strapped on to a car seat headrest. All in all, a pretty neat gizmo although lacking slightly in refinements like better acoustics and higher screen resolution.
We liked the password-controlled screening of titles allowing parental control over viewing; built-in anti-skip circuitry; multiple subtitles/viewing angles/ audio; slow/fast motion play, zoom operation; support for 5.1 channel surround sound; and headrest mounting bag.
What we didn't like was the aluminium and fibre-composite body. An all-aluminium body would have 'ruggedized' it. Besides, the battery could come with more power. A more powerful battery would have meant longer viewing time ensuring that you don't miss the climax of those rare three-hour plus movies.
Price:
At Rs 8990/-, even though this is cheaper than some of the better-known brands, there are lesser-known but comparable in terms of quality Chinese brands that are nearly 40-50 per cent cheaper. It's your choice finally.
