On first look, it reminded me of the Panasonic Tough Book, that I reviewed some time back. Same chunky design and the swivelling display screen almost fooled me into assuming it to be a notebook computer. But the moment I lifted the top flap open, the similarity faded away, it is not a notebook but a Portable DVD player. Mitash ? the manufacturer of electronic toys and TV video games have ventured in to manufacturing ?Big-Boys-Toys?!
And one such Toy, is their portable DVD Player with 7-inch TFT display screen introduced in the Indian market recently called TFD-7608. The TFD-7608 is one of the very few portable DVD players that comes with a inbuilt TV tuner, which means you can also watch TV programmes on it like any other TV, once you run out of new DVDs or get bored watching them.
The very tidy design with tapered edges and rounded corners may not stop a bird in its flight but it definitely succeeded in keeping the size small and compact (approximately 20.5X16X4.1 cm). Finished in non-glossy metallic silver outer shell and matt black inner, the TFD-7608 weigh only a little more than one kilogram with battery. The top panel houses the 7-inch TFT display screen and a set of stereo speakers and can be rotated 2700.
All the control buttons and the DVD bay is on the base panel. The top loading DVD mechanism works fluidly without making any whirling noise but the lid is a little too plasticy and rickety. The control buttons are intuitive and easy to use but make a loud clicking sound. I found it to be a little irritating at times. I would have rather preferred soft touch-control buttons instead. But the accompanying white-coloured remote control is the saviour and I preferred to use it all the time.
The matt black interior design looks rather plain and unimaginative. However, the basic interior is more than compensated by the LCD, TFT display panel. The 7-inch display panel is inherently of 16:9 aspect ratio but can also display in 4:3 TV format. It is very sharp and bright and reproduced very life like true images with superior contrast. I tried a couple of movies including a documentary film made by a friend on Bamboo plantation in north-eastern region. The colour rendition of bamboo leaves and shoots were almost life-like without any traces of colour bleeding. The human skin tones too were rendered faithfully. The bright colours of popular Hindi films were vivid and shimmering.
The audio quality of TFD-7608 is good. The twin stereo speakers blare-out music at 2watts RMS, loud enough for a device of this size and utility. There is also a preset equaliser with bass and treble boost options to tweak audio a bit, but I suggest it to be better left alone in off position.
The TFD-7608 is compatible with DVD, CD, VCD, MPEG-4, MP-3, CR-R, DVD-RW, JPEG Picture, Kodak Picture, DIVX formats and can play them effortlessly. For input, it has built-in SD/MMC/MS card reader, a Hi-Speed USB Port, AV-in and a TV cable-in connector. To watch TV on this device you can connect either a cable to the ANT socket or a set-top box to the AV-in socket and use the provided remote control to scan the channels like any television set. The Mitashi TFD-7608 is powered by a Lithium Polymer battery is just enough to see you through a movie if fully charged. To make it a truly portable DVD player that can also be used in a car while on the move there is a car-charger, a CD car cassette adaptor, and to make it personal, there is also a stereo earphone thrown in as the provided accessory in the package priced at Rs 7,490.