Kids' Portable DVD Players

Fisher-Price Kid Tough portable DVD player


Fisher-Price Kid Tough portable DVD playerThe Kid Tough, as its name suggests, is designed to be able to put up with quite a lot of abuse. According to the marketing blurb it is built to survive "drop after drop after drop" and simply keep going. While this is all well and good, it may be best if you don't emphasize this aspect of the product to your child or you may find the claims put to the test! And regardless of how tough it is, sustained abuse will take its toll sooner or later - as attested to in some reviews I've seen by parents who have bought it (and you also have to ask yourself if it's a very good message to send out to your kids; personally I think it's better to teach them to look after their stuff).

Kids are bound to find the styling extremely attractive, and the chunky child-friendly controls are simple enough for even two or three year olds to master easily. And it's available in blue or pink so you can begin to reinforce those gender stereotypes from an early age ;-P

I like the fact that this player runs on four standard AA batteries, meaning it's easy to pack in a spare set or two to cover those long trips and not have to worry about the battery giving up half-way. My advice is to use rechargeables though or you'll end up spending a small fortune on replacement batteries. And of course it also comes with an A/C adaptor for when you're in the house, which also can be used to recharge the batteries.

Another nice feature is that the Kid Tough has a video-out jack so you can plug it into a TV - but be aware that the cable it needs is sold seperately (easily available from the A/V section of your supermarket or electronics outlet).

The main negative of this model is the small screen size - at only 3.2 inches it's smaller than an iPhone! This makes it very much a personal dvd player as you have to hold it close to be able to see what's going on, so it may not be the best option if you're trying to engender a spirit of sharing amongst your kids.

Please note: there seems to be a significant minority of customers who have received defective units which cannot read DVDs that are known to be good, have lines across the screen, or have defective buttons. So make sure you purchase from a retailer with a reliable returns facility, just in case the same happens to you!

Reviews

My daughter loves this DVD player... I wish the screen was a bit bigger but it is easy to use and she managed to learn which buttons to press on her own.
D. Oder
I was so disappointed in this product... within days of my son opening it from Christmas, it was already broken and we hadn't even dropped it yet (like the commercial).
D. Arcadi