Troubleshooting Your Portable DVD Player

A portable DVD player is a great item to have when you’re on the road, or even in the back yard. It’s lightweight and generally works well. Like all appliances, however, a portable DVD player can develop problems and you can save a great deal of money if you know how to troubleshot it yourself.

Step 1 - No Power

If there’s no power to your portable DVD player the chances are that will be due to dead batteries. The simplest way to check this is to use the AC adapter that came with the unit and plug it into an outlet. If the portable DVD player works when plugged in, simply replace the batteries and try the unit again. There should be no problem in operation.

Step 2 - Freezing Picture

One problem people sometimes find with a portable DVD player is that the picture freezes in the middle of a disc. This can be extremely annoying. Examine the disc for any signs of dirt and clean it. If this doesn’t solve the problem you’ll need to use a cleaning disc in the player.

These can be bought almost everywhere the DVDs and DVD players are sold. It helps to clean the lens and should eliminate the freezing of the image. If it still proves to be a problem, you will have to pay for a professional cleaning on the portable DVD player.

Step 3 - No Disc

Sometimes when you insert a disc into the portable DVD player, the machine won’t read it and the screen reads “No Disc.” When this occurs, clean the disc with a soft cloth that’s made for the purpose. Return the disc to the player and see if the machine will read it this time.

If it still won’t, try a different disc which has given you no problems. If the disc still isn’t being read you will need to take the portable DVD player in to be serviced.

Step 4 - Stuck Disc

Where the disc won’t eject when the eject button is pressed, this is a problem that’s usually solved quite quickly. Under the disc tray there is an emergency eject hole. This is very small. Take a safety pin or unbend a paperclip and push it into the hole. This will force the disc drawer out. On the few occasions where this won’t do the trick you’ll need to disassemble to portable DVD player in order to remove the disc.

Step 5 - Unbalanced Picture

If your picture seems squashed or stretched, the problem will almost certainly be in the settings of the portable DVD player. You will need to open up the main menu for the unit, get into settings, and check how the unit is set. Go back to the default setting to correct the fault. Try again and you should have a normal picture on the screen. Check, too, that the movie you’re watching isn’t a widescreen film. If it is, adjust the settings accordingly.