By Christine Frietchen on October 22, 2009 in
In this leaked Black Friday circular from OfficeMax, the store looks like it's going to offer a 7-inch Memorex portable DVD player as one of its 7:00 a.m. doorbuster deals. So is it worth the hassle of fighting the crowds and waiting in line?
The deal: 7-inch Memorex MVDP1078 portable DVD player for $30
Our verdict: A good deal for what's pretty much a disposable player
UPDATE, Oct. 23: Just as soon as this circular was leaked online, OfficeMax began legal action to get sites like BFads.net to pull it down. With all of these leaked, it's important to note that these circulars are not finalized, and stuff in the ads may or may not appear in the actual circular.
As we note in our report on portable DVD players, there just really isn't much reason to spend a lot on one of these gadgets, particularly if it's mainly going to be used by the kids in the car. A 7-inch screen is pretty small and not much fun if two kids are trying to watch Harry Potter at the same time. But comparable models like the Coby TF-DVD7377 cost $80 and get similar reviews for durability.
So what do reviewers say about the Memorex MVDP1078 that's in the leaked OfficeMax Black Friday circular? We found some user reviews for this model, plus checked out the product data. Here's our take:
Pros:
- At $30, it's half as much as comparable portable DVD players
- Includes remote control
- Decent 3-hour battery life
Cons:
- No headphones included
- Iffy durability
- 90-day warranty
- 7-inch screen is pretty dinky
Owners overwhelmingly prefer larger screen sizes. We found better reviews for the much cooler Sony DVP-FX930, which has a swiveling 9-inch screen. But that model costs 160 bucks. The Memorex DVD player isn't anything fancy: it doesn't even come with headphones. But a couple of users do say they got 3 hours of battery life from it -- that's pretty good since Memorex only rates it at two hours. The battery pack is rechargeable, and a car adapter is included in the box, so it's a good pick for the car.
More from the unofficial OfficeMax Black Friday circular can be found on BlackFriday.fm. Note that this flier might not be finalized, and deals can certainly change between now and Nov. 27.