DVD Players - Laptop

It's the ultimate screen test as we rate the best in-car and laptop DVD players

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January 2006

The cost of in-car DVD players is plummeting, and the January sales have seen some even better bargains available for canny buyers.

To keep prices to a minimum, forget built-in models - they're expensive if you do not already have a monitor and they can only be used in the car. Look instead at portable units that are equally at home in the front room, caravan or even on a picnic.

These fall into two main categories - the ones designed for in-car use with seat or headrest mounts, and those built to be viewed on a table or lap.

There's usually a choice of mains, internal battery or cigar lighter power with external or headphone audio. When choosing, also look out for twin headphone sockets, plus AV in and out to allow a bigger screen or games console to be connected. So which DVD players get our vote? We tested 12 to find out.

Verdict

Among the in-car units it was a hard-fought battle between the Venturer and Centurion, with the latter winning. The laptop player contest was similarly close, with the Hitachi sneaking ahead of the Bush, thanks to its great price.