Excellent picture quality

Smaller screen than previous version, heats up.

This baby has the best picture and sound(with a good pair of headphone) in a small package. Even though the L10 has a bigger screen, it just looks so clunky compare to this one. It has a nice handy remote, abd the overall design is really cool. The only bag thing is that it heats up really hot when you are watching it on your lap or something. The battery life could be a little longer, but 3 hrs is adequate for most movies. Beside that it is a sweet machine.

Compact, Light-weight, Great Sound, Clear Picture, Dolby Digital and DTS output...etc.

Wish it was supplied with a carrying case.

I use it just about everyday. Bought it in 1999, and is still in excellent shape. I travel with it, and also use it at home. It can be hooked up to a T.V., or watched on with the attached LCD screen. I like the fact it's very portable!

I paid $939 from an independent distributor (because I needed it right away - not to keep them in business ;). I saw it for as low as $872 at www.cdeals.com (plus shipping) but they couldn't get it to me fast. They do have a nice price for extra batteries - and they have them in stock (lately) for $150 (They are $225 if you get them directly from Panasonic service centers).
So, loaded with 2 batteries, 2 splitters, 5 headphones, and 25 DVD's off we went to Thailand. A month later here is my review: Great unit. Great sound through the speakers if you play 5.1 channels and use the audio features to boost midrange and do virtual surround (it has 2 v.s. settings). Awesome picture (not kidding!), and it's fun to use. The older L10 was "the" item of 1998, and I certainly didn't lack any attention from the flight attendents or anyone else - it made it hard to watch the movies! (The sound was a bit flat from the speakers if the DVD doesn't have dolby digital - it does some DSP conversion I think to make it sound better on the small speakers - but only if you start from 5.1)

The L50 has a 3-hour rated Li-Ion battery, and I didn't have a problem with this, but I expected with 2 batteries to be able to watch 3 2-hour movies, and I wasn't able to. I think this is an errata, but the player refused to start a new movie with a 1/2 or 1/3 full battery. The battery lasted fine for a 2:15 movie, and I had put the screen on its dimmest (it looks just as fab on dim as on normal - and on bright it actually looks washed out anyway) which is recommended to conserve battery juice. I also used 2 very low power earbud earphones through a splitter - which automatically turns off the built-in speakers which I thought would also be less of a power drain (hoping to sneak out 3:15 or so from the first battery). The first movie played fine, but when I powered it down, put a second flick in, and powered it up, the unit refused to power up! It would flicker, start, then stop and power down, then eventually it would completely refuse to start. I actually thought it was broken! Then I put the 2nd battery in and it worked fine for an 1:45 movie, and then it also refused to start so I couldn't watch a 3rd movie.

These batteries were both pre-charged and pre-drained once, and were fully charged for the normal period, then left to trickle charge for 4 more hours, then were removed from the player (leaving them attached to the player drains an additional few watts if the power cord isn't in). The batteries were only stored for a few hours (they are rated to lose 2% a day normally for storage), so overall they should have been primed for 3 hours use each.

I don't want to test this problem out too much, because the batteries cost alot and are good for 300 cycles, but if anyone figures this out, let me know. This 1-movie-limit per battery charge held for all 4 movies I saw on the plane.

Other minor gripes: short battery life for playing CD's. I assume this is because it spins the disc at 16X+ because a 4500mA-hr battery should play a CD for days if not weeks - seems like a better motor controller should let it spin different discs at different speeds. Oh, well.

I get different results playing 1.33:1, 1.85:1, and 2.35:1 aspect ratios. 1.85:1 (16x9) is the best, since it matches the screen, but for certain movies (too many to list) it will put a 16x9 picture into the 4x3 screen setting! This means that there are black bars on the left and right (16x9 -> 4x3) and MORE black bars at the tops (for 4x3 -> 16x9), so there are black bars all around the the end-result picture is like 3.5" instead of 5.6". This really sucks. It also happended on one or two 2.35:1 movies, I think. Usually they play fine, but I noticed it on maybe 10 or 15 of my 150 discs. Now, this only happens on the screen itself - when pumping the video out to an external it always come out fine. Also, you can hit a cool little button called zoom on the screen, and it pumps it up to full mini-screen again, but the picture quality goes down the tubes with noticable banding lines, and the stupid machine is so dumb it even zooms it's own menu and display lines, so they are 75% scrolled off the top of the mini screen and can't be read! doh. But again for the other 90% of 16x9 movies you'll get an AWESOME picture. They thing is great to throw on the bed and watch it stacked up on some pillows (they don't recommend this because of overheating - at least on down pillows and/or blankets) but it stayed just as warm as it was on the plane (on the seat-back tray) and never gave a problem so I thought it was fine.

I love the outputs. You get an S-video out (new this model - I hear the Sony has this also, but of course you need it since the Sony doesn't have a screen) and a mini-output (with a wire that goes from mini to RCA), and the same wire has a mini audio to red & white RCA's), but the trick audio out is the built-in laser BEHIND the mini-audio out. If you have a special cable (someone PLEASE tell me where to get this cable!) you can go from a mini-shaped optical cable that plugs into a standard optical on the other end, and use the L50 in a home theater setup and get S-video and Dolby Digital or DTS (if your receiver can decode it of course).

Throw these together with the included credit card sized remote and the thing fully replaces a component home DVD unit.

Other cool things: has great slow-mo and fast-forward settings, allowing you to do 2X speed WITH SOUND, and 5 forward speeds, 5 reverse speeds, 5 forward slow-mo speeds, 5 reverse slo-mo speeds, frame by frame, still (great quality), normal play speed (of course) and infinitely variable forward & reverse speeds (from 1x to 100x). Plus repeat, A-B repeat, and other playback features. I've never seen this much control on ANY full size DVD deck. Awesome.

Watching 2.35:1 movies on the 16x9 screen is a bit less than ideal since you get black bars top & bottom, and looks worse with the zoom / banding problem. To be fair, I compared the picture with the pictures of the 3 movie screens on the 747-400 I had in site on the plane - and the L50 rocked. We watched Enemy of the State while NorthWest had it showing as one of the airline movies, and looking at the L50 screen, compared to the one direct TV, the one 7 or 8" LCD, and the one 3-tube projector I could see from my seat, the L50 was BY FAR the BEST picture quality! The TV was showing all the blues as green. the LCD had terrible contrast, and the airplane projectors always look bad to me (snow, etc.) And of course our sound was a lot better, also. And don't 747-400's cost like a quarter-billion dollars too? ha!

So far my favorite movies to watch on the portable were Get Shorty (awesome!), Elizabeth, and Unforgiven.

Even though I took connectors for S-video, mini, RCA, and even Coaxial, (and my screw driver set) I was never able to port the picture to the hotel room TV in Thailand - I guess they use some type of unique plug - I don't know if it's in all hotels, or just because it was Thailand, if anyone knows about this or where I can get this connector let me know. It seems a bit like coax but bigger and with no threads.

The carrying case that you can get from panasonic is very reasonable, seems to be real leather, is roomy, and holds a lot. It is also small enough not to count as a carry-on, so I took that and my carry-on suitcase. This little wonder held my L50/battery, extra battery, case-logic 25-disc carrying case, Sony E55 minidisc player & extra battery & 8 MDs, color gameboy & 4 games, palm pilot & cover, 3 connectors, 2 splitters, 5 headphones, power cable & adaptor (awesome - does 100V-240V, 50hz or 60hz, and will even charge the unit in the low-watt "shaver only" plugs in the hotel rooms - and no converter needed anywhere, and it's very small & light), and 2 other cables, and the bag held all this. Of course, it was stuffed to the brim, and I had to walk it threw customs ;) (leaving Thailand was funny - I was asked if I was carrying any "electronic equipment" in my little black bag - Doh!)

If you look for info on this unit on Panasonic's page do a "search" for L50, because it's not listed yet under the normal place, but they have a press release page you can find that gives a lot of info.

Any commets please send to inline@NOSPAMameritech.net (remove the NOSPAM please).

-Kevin

Short and sweet: this thing delivers. The picture is small but excellent on the unit. I like that the on screen menu system is the same as my home unit (Panasonic 120). It makes air travel a blast. It is worthy of investment in good headphones. I use Etymotic 4's with a Headroom AirHead amp.
Airplane neighbors are pretty dumbfounded when this thing comes out. Also great for vacation (rental homes or hotels) either on their TV or in bed with unit's screen.

On the screen size, I was surprised how much true movie experience I felt watching it in the airport and airplane. My headphones have major isolation, which obviously contributes to the escape, but I completely forgot I was traveling.

DTS and Dolby Digital out is key for anyone using at home.

Compact & Portable

Accessories dont come cheap (e.g. Batteries)

I saw this one selling in miami for $799 and loved it the moment I saw this. I immediately bought it at Onsale for 700$. I have been using it since July and I just love it. I like the picture quality and the sound is good considering the way its been build real small. Havent tried taking it on airtravel yet though. I have this connected to my Onkyo receiver's (tx-ds747) Dolby Digital Output and it sounds amazing in DD.
To the poster Kevin below, check out the local circuit city and look for mini-disc optical cable or check out the sony site they have the cable's for this kinda connectivity.
To me even though its at the High price range its definitely worth it.

Portability, Excellent Widescreen Video, Ease of Use

Extra batteries are expensive

I've owned this player for 2 weeks and it is truly the coolist electronic gadget I've ever owned. (And I own a lot of electronics!) I love movies so the ability to watch them anywhere is terrific. You don't have to be a traveller to love this puppy. I almost never travel but instead I use it while waiting for others. I spend a lot of time in Doctor's waiting rooms (which are the most boring places on earth) and with this unit on your lap you won't be bored at all.
I also use it in bed rather than watching TV. Also by comparision to VHS hardly anyone owns a DVD player so I can easily take it to their house and watch DVD's with fantastic audio and video rather than having to watch fuzzy VHS. But the real truth is hardly anyone owns a Portable movie theater yet so I get to show it off. I love being the "first on the block." Sure it'll get cheaper in time but you could croak tomorrow. Sieze the day!
Keep your overpriced SUV. I'll ride in a compact car and watch my Palm Theater on the way! (Ride not drive!)
BTW I bought a Toshiba DVD2595 Laptop and it had all sorts of problems playing DVD's. It uses software decoding which I now know is a mistake. I also decided I really didn't need a laptop as I was mostly going to use it for movies anyway. So why spend an extra $1300! I bought my DVD-L50 at The Good Guys. Plus I bought a 3 year warranty (for $80) as Panasonic only gives you a 90 day (labor) warranty. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with any DVD player. Miniature curcuitry makes repairs astronomical so I would highly recommend an extra warranty. If you've got the cash and you love movies go out and get one today!

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Laptop with DVD

Incredible... portable, beautiful picture, good sound with headphones.

Heats up, battery only good for 3 hours.

Expensive, but worth every penny.

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Panasonic A110

portability

picture quality/size

The L50 seems to be a vast improvement over the older L10, but at the cost of screen size-the new screen is smaller, but the picture is much more clear-and getting an AC adapter thrown in is nice too.

My main complaint about the unit is on non-anamorphic movies with the built in zoom-the built in zoom unit does not seem to do a decent job at stretching the picture vertically-there's quite a bit of artifacting in the pictures after that, but overall, it's still watchable.

The player does get quite hot underneath while playing, so you don't really want to use it on your lap, and there's an 8 hour battery now available (for a few hundred) for those who want a movie marathon on international flights...

What I really want is a slightly larger screen-so I won't feel the need to use the zoom on non-enhanced dvds, so I may trade it in for the new pioneer (7" screen) if I'm satisfied with the picture quality.

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pioneer portable

Small, nice picture, used AC as well as battery, has a remote, DTS supported, outputs to connect to a home receiver or TV.

My only complaint is that the small remote doesnt slide into the unit or hook to the unit so you dont have to carry it separate.Its so small that they should of made a slot to hold the remote with the unit.

I liked the DVD L10 that a friend has. This unit is also nice, though a smaller screen (but you cant have the world in a portable) and the price is as good as it gets for mini technology. Beats VCR tapes!

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DVD L10

Great price, great picture, plays CD-R's, compact size

Needs a quick way to re-charge battery
extra battery expensive

I love it!
I paid 299.00, with $100 rebate from Costco.com and $100 rebate from Panasonic. For that price I couldn't beat it!
It's been a cool little toy to have. I thought the screen might be a bit small at first, but got drawn into each movie like its a big screen.
The picture is very sharp, and with good headphones the sound is awesome. I was able to start using right away with just skimming the manual. I'm going to buy a second battery, just for the convience. There are pricey though. At around $250.00, it cost almost as much as what I paid for the whole unit (after rebates).
I did find a the battery at CompUSA.com for $199.00.