Portable Small Screen DVD Player?

Was wandering around Circuit City and Best Buy today looking at these things.

Looks like what I want would be in the 7-10" size.

What I saw was about $400-500 for something that will play a DVD, but not do
much else and which has about 2-3 hours of playtime in the battery.

Walked over to the laptop computer area of Best Buy and saw 15 or 17" name-brand
laptops for under a thousand.

Made me wonder what's available in the laptop line to somebody who would be
happy with a screen even smaller than 15"...

I'm thinking terms of a "travel companion" here...and having MusicMatch/MP3's
and something like DeLorme StreetAtlas or Microsoft MapPoint on the thing as
well would seem to outweigh the increase in size.

Any thoughts on laptops or notebooks with screens of 10" or even less...that
will also play a video DVD?
--
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell)

"(Pete Cresswell)" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Was wandering around Circuit City and Best Buy today looking at these
things.
>
> Looks like what I want would be in the 7-10" size.
>
> What I saw was about $400-500 for something that will play a DVD, but not
do
> much else and which has about 2-3 hours of playtime in the battery.
>
> Walked over to the laptop computer area of Best Buy and saw 15 or 17"
name-brand
> laptops for under a thousand.
>
> Made me wonder what's available in the laptop line to somebody who would
be
> happy with a screen even smaller than 15"...
>
> I'm thinking terms of a "travel companion" here...and having
MusicMatch/MP3's
> and something like DeLorme StreetAtlas or Microsoft MapPoint on the thing
as
> well would seem to outweigh the increase in size.
>
> Any thoughts on laptops or notebooks with screens of 10" or even
less...that
> will also play a video DVD?

In most laptops you won't get much longer than 2 hours battery time playing
a DVD. Also, most laptops these days have TV out so that you can hook it up
to a reg. TV, much like the small portable players you're looking at.

I travel a lot and need a laptop. Buying a portable one in my case would be
redundant. However, if you're going out of town for less than a week and
don't need access to a computer, the portable DVD-screen players is probably
more than adequate. But for a little more, people would be better off
getting a laptop I suppose.

Michael