Portable DVD Player...

I've been looking at various portable media players recently. Some of the most popular are the Creative Labs Zen, the Samsung Yepp and several Archos players including the AV3xx, AV4xx, and GMNI 4xx. Some of these have some ability to record, but the majority just plays content loaded via PC. None of them will play the most common video format (DVD). They start at about $400. I have decided that (for me) a better option is to purchase a portable DVD player and a DVD recorder. There are several advantages to this system when compared to a portable media player and few disadvantages.

Advantages of a DVD portable and DVD recorder

• Can record & view different items simultaneously
• Larger Screen (7" vs 4")
• Creates media which is almost universally accepted
• Can buy one item, then the other, which creates a lower cost of entry
• Unlimited capacity for movies
• No DRM!
• With Audio in and video in, no reason that it can't be used a display for a portable media center, tv, camera, videogame, etc
• Remote Control
• Doesn't require a PC or Mac.

Advantages of a portable video player

• Size
• Weight
• Coolness factor
• Possible ability to subscribe to podcasts
• Possible ability to attach to PC and use as a mass storage device

Similarities

• Price
• Portability
• Ability to drive TV or monitor