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car gizmos

Philips 9-inch Portable Blu-ray and DVD Player

Keeping kids quiet on a road trip doesn't have to be challenging if they have content at their disposal to keep them occupied. Portable DVD players aren't new, as they've been around for years, but now they offer better support for Blu-ray, DivX and other file formats for videos from your computer and the Internet.

Philips 9-inch Portable Blu-ray and DVD Player (PB9001)

$299.99

Available at: Best Buy

This one's a bit bulky, but that's a good trade-off when it means a quiet drive. The unit plays both Blu-ray discs and DVDs, including copies you may have made to keep originals safe from your child's indifference. On top of that, it can play video, music and photos stored on a USB storage device, with good file format support.

Controls are pretty straightforward, so kids will be able to navigate this easily. Power Resume is also neat in that it picks up where the movie left off once the unit starts again, even if the power has been turned off or the battery dies.

Battery life tops up at three hours, but this won't matter as much when using the included 12-volt charger. Bring an HDMI cable along, and you can use the unit as a player on any TV with an input in the back. It even upscales DVD quality for a sharper and cleaner picture.

Sony 7-inch DVPFX755 Portable DVD Player

$129.99

Available at: Future Shop, Best Buy

While not Blu-ray-enabled, Sony's portable unit has upside as an alternative to a pricey Blu-ray one. It offers the same disc resume feature the other two have, and it supports DivX playback through the USB port. Dual headphone jacks also allow kids to share the content, while peace and quiet prevails in the front seat.

It will play DVDs, CDs and copies without any hiccups, and there is an AV line-out jack for connecting to a TV or external monitor. Aside from that, there isn't anything overtly special about the unit's performance that will stand out. It has a nice design and is more than compact enough to carry around, just like the others can be.

One thing that does set it apart is that it comes in three colours: black, white and pink - which might help give your kids a feeling of personalization. Battery life is about three hours, but that can be offset with the included car adapter.

Toshiba SDP75S DVD Player

$109.99

Available at: Future Shop, London Drugs, The Brick

The 6.9-inch screen might be a bit on the smaller side, but kids probably won't care. The good thing is that its vibrant, glare-resistant and the controls are user-friendly. Dual headphone jacks also ensure that two kids can listen together.

The SDP75S can only play DVDs, CDs and copied discs, so its reach is limited, which is why it's more of a budget purchase. Battery life is about three hours, but that becomes less of an issue with the included car adapter.

A downside is that there's no USB port to playback any media. There is an SD card slot but it can only be used to display images stored on a card because there is no support for video files at all. The AV connector on the side plugs into a TV or external monitor, but you don't get any up-converting here, since the unit can't even play HD video to begin with.

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