Hi all,
I currently use a portable DVD player for meetings and have been getting lazy burning extra copies of newer jobs on to DVD for myself. I burn an extra Bluray and put it in the bag. Now that portable bluray players are hitting the $200 mark who here is using one at consultations? I'm considering purchasing one and using that as the new player at the meetings. How is the clarity for such a smaller screen size? Is it a better viewing experience versus portable DVD player? Thanks for any comments. I'm not interested in using a laptop nor Ipad at the meetings. Portable players works for me :)

Monday

It won't be HD. I had a struggle to find the specs on any portable Blu-ray players but the best that I could find was a 10" screen with 1024 x 576. I am not sure why you don't like the iPad as while this isn't HD either at 1024x768 it is a very cool piece of technology that makes your videos look great & really impresses potential clients.

Thanks for the info Nigel. I was thinking the screens weren't HD quality as well now you've confirmed it. Oh well.

Monday

The ipad has one of the best screens I have seen for a device of that size. All portable players I have seen tend to have really awful screens.

I think until the iPad 3 is released which is rumoured to include a retina display the iPad has the highest pixel density of a portable player. Were more than happy to show clients our work on one. There also very sexy and dont forget (depending on how your taxes work) its a business tax write off.

Another plus, AirPlay and an apple TV.

Hi Danny,
Thanks for your input but I'm not interested at all in a Ipad to show my work to clients. Portable bluray players are hitting $200 and it has raised my eyebrow. I just wanted to see if anyone has tried them out and see if there's value in it before purchasing. I'm glad to hear many like the Ipad as a way to present work.

Monday Isa

Hi, interesting topic. May I ask what is wrong with an iPad? Why are you not interested at all? I don't have one, but I'd be interested in hearing what is wrong with them from your POV.

Thanks.

Hey Rodrigo,
Nothing is wrong with the Ipad. I know numerous people who love it a lot. My reasons for not wanting one is pretty simple. I don't want or need a $500 player, extra encoding for playable files, screen will crack in my bag. I currently use a DVD player which works for what I need it to do. Was just considering upgrading as the cost has come down for portable bluray players.

Saludos
Monday

Got it! Didn't know the price difference was such... also encoding the video takes a while and then you have to transfer it, very true. Thanks for clearing that up... if you get a protable BD player let us know how it turned out.

People still use portable dvd players? If an iPad or other tablet device doesn't work, wouldn't a laptop work? I think that on any of these portable devices playing a .mov file or wmv file directly on a device is much better than playing a DVD or blu-ray. I always had issues with my DVDs getting scratched and skipping from being bounced around in my bag. Now I have an iPad and I'm not looking back. The iPad sticks out to potential clients. Hopefully your work will stand on its own, but clients will remember the company that showed them their work on an iPad, its a great conversation piece.

Chris thanks for your input. Yes I still use a portable dvd player for my meetings. Yes my work really stands out. What's wrong with a portable dvd player? Laptop is to big for me. I specifically asked about Portable bluray player and you come in here and slam me for what I prefer to use. My clients or the people I meet don't remember the guy who plays his video on the Ipad but remembers whose video they loved the best. Thanks

Monday

Hi Monday,

I'm sure no one was bashing your preference of using a portable disc player over a computer device. I think that there are just so many options at his point, and of course we all have our own opinions. There's certainly nothing wrong with your choice, if that's what you're most comfortable with. You're right in that your work should sell your services, not the playback device. That's not to say that presentation isn't important, though.

Good luck with your search!

Just be sure to test whatever device you are thinking about - screens seem to vary widely in viewing angles and overall quality. They do make small laptops with nice screens that play back HD video and look good doing it, although they are 1366x768 rather than "full HD", but on a small screen they can still look stunning.

You have to dig around to find the small laptops - most places think everyone wants "BIGGER", but I picked up a little used Dell with an 11.6" screen, am pretty happy with all the things it WILL do, and it was cheap!

That's my current weapon of choice - serves multiple duties and is pretty small and light, although the little machines don't have the "beef" to edit HD!

The tablets like the iPad have the current "buzz" and a certain aura about them, they are great for many purposes, but I find for a little more weight and size I can get a lot more usable device in a small laptop, which are now being dumped cheap by people buying iPads or similar Android tablets!