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(More customer reviews)I've been closely tracking this item ever since it was announced back at CES earlier in the year and I was fortunate enough to get one of the first shipments that came out. Here's a brief look at some of my pros and cons with the item.
Previously I had bought a Philips Model: DCP850/37 DVD/iPod portable player and was very happy with it. Albeit the screen was only 7 inch, but it was relatively portable and fairly light and easy to use. Unfortunately it did not support the later generation 160 GB iPod classic, where I store most of my videos (I could only use my 60 GB ipod for the Philips) so I decided to upgrade to the iLuv i1166.
My initial impressions are the following:
The look of the iLuv 1166 is superior of the Philips. It has a nice, sleek black frame with a very nice large 9" widescreen panel on the face of the gadget. Unlike the Philips, which has the screen on the inside of the clamshell design, the iLuv's screen is on the outside, with a little stand to support it on the other side. When you open the iLuv clamshell, that is where the DVD drive and the iPod cradle is. Like most other ipod/dvd hybrids, there are different adapters you can use for your nano, ipod, itouch or iphone. One definite plus of this item is that it supports many of the current gen ipods, which was lacking in the previous model (i1155) and the other philips players. So if you're like me and you have the 160 GB classic, this is the player for you.
I was only able to test the gadget with my ipod and a test DVD. It is very easy to operate (either via remote control or the menu buttons next to the screen) and the menu options are quite simple. The menus are easy to read and it's quite nice to have a battery indicator which gives you a heads up that you're going to run of of juice soon.
The picture quality was quite nice. I ran a DVD video and also ran movies, music videos and tv shows from my ipod. The image is crisp and the 9" large screen is definitely a plus. I have yet to test the SD inputs though. But from my experience there is definitely a noticeable improvement in terms of image quality from my philips player.
There are also 2 headphone jacks that allows multiple people to watch the same video. The battery took me approximately 3 hours to charge in the first run and I ran 2 movies to drain it out as a test. After running it for about 3 hours (before falling asleep) I noticed it was working fine, so that's definitely good (vs a roughly 2.5 hour play time with my philips).
I did have a few gripes that kept me from giving this 5 stars though. First, there is an annoying lack of a chapter search for the ipod movies. So if you're watching a 2 hour movie and want to fast forward, it ain't gonna happen. That's sort of annoying if you want to try and speed through 2 movies on a long trip.
EDIT: (I switched up a few movies to test and found that the chapter search worked on one or two of the 6 I tried out. Not sure why this happened and seemed like the rewind function worked more than the fast forward. Not sure if this is another glitch like what I saw with the ipod videos, which I addressed below)
I also noticed a strange glitch in which for some reason the menu on the ipod wasn't able to read my music videos in sequential order. Say if you had multiple videos of Michael Jackson in 1 category, for some reason I couldn't access MJ's videos in the order I have it on my ipod. Rather, every time I open up one category, every single video in my ipod appears on the list regardless of category. Again, annoying but doesn't impact the performance of the item.
Also there is no video out option (one plus of my philips was that it had a video out that i could connect to my tv). Not a deal breaker for me, but it is a bit irritating for those of you who want to use the DVD option for say, an extended stay at a hotel or at your other home and don't have a DVD there.
If you're a gadget freak like me, I think you'll enjoy the item. I also recommend purchasing a cover for this item (I ordered mine from the iLuv/jwin site) as the screen seems very easy to scratch given its location on the outside of the clamshell design.
In summary:
Pros:
1. Cool, sleek design
2. Works with most ipods/iphones including current gen
3. Decent battery life
4. Huge screen, great image quality
5. Great variety of inputs (dvd, ipod, sd, usb, multiple headphones)
6. Can play in car with car adapter
7. Easy to use menu, remote control
Cons:
1. No video out option
2. No chapter search for ipod movies/tv shows
3. Kind of heavy
4. Screen location makes it potentially easy to scratch/damage
5. Gitchy menu at times (at least for me)
6. Speakers not exactly useful (tinny and not really good for playback)
But net net, it's a pretty neat item on the go
EDIT: So on extended use during a recent vacation ... I would like to add the following notes:
1. After taking extraordinary efforts to keep the screen protected (I bought a cover from jwin), I still noticed surface scratches upon repeat uses. This despite being very careful in placing the item carefully in the storage case. I also didn't drop the unit and didn't scratch it during usage so not sure where they came from but just wanted to offer a heads up about the potential for easy screen scratches.
2. I noticed the battery life was about 3 to 3.5 hours when it was used with the ipod for movies. That seemed a bit shorter than what was advertised, though I did have the crank up the volume substantially at times since it seemed somewhat low for certain movies or clips. I didn't have the brightness cranked up, but perhaps the volume at max at certain times (I was using headphones) may have contributed to the shorter battery life.
3. Video quality is excellent and having a widescreen does make the experience a lot better!
4. I tested the unit with an SD card, and it functioned just fine. Given the design, it can also serve as a nice picture frame of sorts, albeit a big clunky frame. I noticed that the slideshow of the pics also moved somewhat slow. Nonetheless plugging an SD card to view pictures were relatively easy and painless.
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iLuv i1166 8.9 Inch Portable Multimedia/DVD Player with Dock for iPodThe iLuv i1166 is an award-winning multimedia player with an 8.9-Inch widescreen digital TFT LCD display, support for DVD/CD/VCD discs and a variety of digital formats, an iPod dock for enjoying iPod audio and video while your device charges, and plenty more. Take your entertainment with you.
8.9-Inch Screen Video looks great on the brilliant 8.9-inch widescreen. The convenient on-screen display makes navigation a breeze.
Charge and Enjoy Your iPod The i1166 lets you enjoy both audio and video iPod content, and control your iPod with a user-friendly graphic interface. While your iPod is docked, it will receive a charge.
Wide Media Support In addition to your iPod/iPhone, the i1166 plays back DVDs/CDs/VCDs, DivX/MPEG4 video, MP3/WMA audio, and JPEG images. Watch your favorite movies, TV shows, and video content on SD/MMC memory cards or USB flash drives, play DVD videos on the vibrant widescreen LCD display, and use fast-motion playback to find your favorite sequences again and again.
Connectivity As mentioned above, the i1166 allows you to enjoy content from USB devices and SD/MMC cards. Dual headphone outputs let you share the entertainment--great for plane flights or back seats.
Power Options AC and Car adapters are both included for using the i1166 without draining batteries. When you're away from a power source, you're still covered by the internal rechargeable Li-Polymer battery, which'll give you approximately 3 hours of DVD video and 4 hours of iPod video on a single charge.
Remote Included A full-featured remote control is also provided.
What's in the Box iLuv i1166 Main unit, Remote control (battery included), iPod holders, Car adapter, AC adapter, Instruction manual, Warranty card
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