Mustek MP80D review

Great specs, but overall rather average performance Tested at £140.00

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

Great spec and biggish screen are intriguing, but performance is nothing special.

Pros

  • +

    Price

  • +

    Freeview tuner

  • +

    colours and sound (via headphones)

Cons

  • -

    Flimsy build

  • -

    big battery

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    poor black detail and motion tracking

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    uninspring sound via the speakers

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Does the combination of small children and long car journeys fill you with dread? This could be the way to distract your little dears from arguing, fighting and asking ‘are we there yet?' every half-mile – it's a portable DVD player and screen with digital TV, too.

The MP80D (the ‘8' refers to the screen size, in inches) can be powered by mains, battery or 12v ‘cigarette lighter' adapter. There are speakers (thin, sibilant and breathless-sounding), and there's a headphone socket, too (which curbs the shriller excesses), so it shouldn't be hard to find a configuration that'll make Junior's journey (and yours) a bit easier.

By the standards of the best rivals, pictures are mediocre. DVDs are colourful and vibrant, but motion – of any severity – is tracked uncertainly and black tones lack any detail. There's also a surprisingly confined ‘sweet spot' in front of the screen, too.

The TV tuner picks up many stations in quite short order, but adds a great deal of blocking and digital noise to those existing motion and detail problems.
Many of this Mustek's portable DVD rivals might not boast a TV, but they're still more fun to watch.

What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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