Back in early August I took a look at the Envizen Duo Box 7” portable DVD player and TV, and I found it wasn’t a bad product, but I didn’t really care for the external battery pack. They’re recently released a second generation of the Duo Box and asked me to take a look at it again, the main difference is they now have the battery built into the player. Having the battery built in really makes a difference in portability and usability for this product and the battery lasts quite while. So read on for a second look at a decent choice if you’re looking for a portable DVD player with lots of extra features…
The packaging is as expected, there’s pictures of the product and information about it on the box:
The Duo Box Pro comes with it’s own carrying case that also enables the player to attach to the back of a car seat with the straps.
Included with the player is a remote, A/V input cable, power supply, car adapter, cable adapter and an external antenna. One note is that there is supposed to be a USB adapter as well included but apparently it didn’t make it into my box..
The player itself comes with protective plastic covering it. It’s a glossy black and mostly all black in color.
The display is 7” in size and has a resolution of 480×234, under the display there are two speakers.
The bottom half is where you’ll find the basic controls and the DVD player itself. The controls include DVD/DTV/AV button, USB/Card Button, Volume +/-, navigation pad and setup and stop buttons.
The bottom is where you’ll find four rubber feet, along with ventilation slits and the identification labels.
On the right side of the player is the antenna input that can also be used with the adapter to hook cable to the player. The right side is where you’ll find the power switch, headphone jack, A/V input, memory card reader and the power connection. On the front is where the infrared receiver is for the remote.
Specifications:
Price: $159.97
The Envizen Digital Duo Box Pro is the new and improved version of the successful Duo Box Player. It is still the only portable entertainment system that allows you to watch digital TV, play DVDs, enjoy slide show of digital photos, and listen to music all on one device. With the built-in ATSC digital tuner, the Duo Pro lets you watch all available digital channels on a vivid 7″ screen.
Now, the Duo Box Pro comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that makes the device even more compact and portable than ever before. You can take this lightweight device with you anywhere whether it is at home or traveling on an airplane, on a vacation, camping, or to your office.
Versatile and portable, the Duo Pro is the perfect companion and the only portable multimedia device you’ll ever need to own.
Specs:
* ATSC digital TV, DVD player, card-reader/USB all-in-one
* Built-in 2.5 hour Li Polymer battery
* AV-IN for playing game consoles (xbox 360, wii, PS3) with player
* Supports the following formats: DVD/DivX/XviD/VCD/CD/CD-G/PictureCD/MP3/HDCD/SVCD/CD-R/CD+R/RW/JPEG
* 7 inch LCD TFT Wide-screen display
* 3 in 1 (MMC/SC/MS) Card Reader
* Mini USB 2.0
* Auto scan/channel scan
* Electronic Program Guide
* OSD multi-language support
* Channel control/channel edit/closed caption/program timer
* Memory play
* Built in speaker and headphone port
* 2-channel audio output
* Intelligent battery charging
* Screen modes: 4:3 and 16:9
* Resolution: 480×234
* Contrast Ratio: 500:1
* Brightness: 200cd/m2
* Dimensions: 7.8 x 6.3 x 1.7 inches (w/d/h)
* Weight: 1.87 pounds / 29.9 oz / 850g
Ok, here are the the 1st generation and 2nd generation Duo Box DVD players together:
There’s really no difference at all between them cosmetically, except the 2nd generation has black rubber feet and bumpers inside and the 1st generation has white. There’s also one small difference on the bottom, the addition of the battery, you can see the silver through the ventilation slits:
The menus and the on-screen display are the same , there’s no change there, setup is also the same:
Picture quality on the DVD is as can be expected from such a small resolution, but it’s clear and the colors look fine.
I used the USB adapter that came with the original Duo Box with the new version and it worked the same, you can play music and videos from your USB stick, which means you can take a lot of stuff with you if you’ve got a large capacity USB stick.
The built in speakers are adequate for how small they are, and they can get very loud.
The remote works fine as well.
As far as battery life I got almost four hours on a charge which is nice, good enough for the average hour and half movie along with more.
Reception on the TV is of course dependant on your area but for me I got the same over the air channels as I get with my regular TV.
Overall the Duo Box Pro is nicely made, and the built in battery is truly an improvement over the external battery of the original Duo Box.
Several of the same complaint come up though with the new version, there’s no internal antenna, OSD is hard to see at times, and it has a fairly low resolution display.
Conclusion:
The 2nd Generation Duo Box Pro gets a much needed upgrade with the built in battery. The 1st generation was good, and I like it quite a bit actually, but the 2nd generation is much better now. It’s much more portable with the battery inside now.
Is it worth buying a whole new player for the built-in battery? Maybe, because you can actually use the battery pack from the 1st gen with the 2nd gen to provide even longer run time.
Pros:
+Unique all-in-one device
+Seems well made
+Includes lots of accessories
+Decent battery life
+Built-in media player
+Loud volume
+Picture viewer via USB or memory card
+A/V Input
+Internal Battery
+HDTV Tuner built in
+Case converts to mount for car viewing
Cons:
-No internal antenna
-Low resolution display
-Includes mini-USB port, must use adapter
-On-screen display hard to see at times
-Menus look odd or old, or unfinished
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