A Year and a Half Old And No Problems

I have had this player for over a year and a half and have never had a single problem with it, and I have used it almost every day since I bought it. The picture quality is excellent. It has a good size screen and is very light weight. I put it on my lap and watch it lying down in bed, and it is excellent for this purpose. You need to use earphones with it in order to get the maximum from your battery. You can also purchase a more powerful battery that gives you over 13 hours between charging. When you turn on the player it automatically resumes playing where it was when you turned the machine off. No need to push any buttons to memorize your place.

I'm a totally satisfied customer.

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Easy to fix HO 3 error plagues Panasonic DVD players

The LS90 is the third portable Panasonic DVD player I've owned (the LS5 and LS55 before this). I bought this bigger screen size although my LS55 is still going strong and I really like the LS90 which is good for kids due to 9" screen size, good picture, genuine 6+ hour battery life and decent speaker sound.

However all owners of the LS model Panasonic portable DVD players need to be minimally tech savvy and self sufficient to deal with the highly probability that an H03 error that will very likely occur at some point in your DVD player's life - depending on play and wear.

The HOSSAN online tech fix involving the removal of 12 screws and gently resetting the laser threading is far easier than it first sounds and should fix most peoples' units for a while.

But to some extent this is a band aid because in my experience, I have found the real culprit in this sleek, expensive and otherwise well made player boils down to a small substandard plastic cog. Anyone that opens up their player (remove all the back screws (store carefully), gently remove back, locate and inspect the small motor that drives the laser arm along it's track. Attached to the motor spindle is a small metal cog that immediately engages a larger white plastic cog (that drive the laser advance) on a short metal spindle set in a small cradle. You will need to remove a few more small screws holding down the motor and laser drive cog assembly. The small white plastic cog is the achilles heel of the whole mechanical system and is prone is wear, and plastic flaking caused by friction with the metal surface of the motor cog - I am sure this is the real cause of the laser jam.

All other fixes probably act to loosen a plastic flake that has jammed the drive cogs. My solution on 3 different units (for myself and friends) has been to shave down the width of the plastic transition cog by about 1 mm and creating a very slight bevel using a razor blade or exacto knife. This allows both cogs teeth to engage properly without rubbing up against each others sides.

I must stress that this sounds more intimidating and difficult than it actually is in practice! Although fiddly - the parts are small, it is easy and very effective. A visual inspection with these suggestions will make sense of everything.

I cringe every time I read of someone discarding their Panasonic DVD player due to an HO3 error that is really easy to fix in about 15 minutes with a small Philips screwdriver and an exacto knife/razor blade (a pair of tweezers is also handy). Yes it is shameful that Panasonic hasn't acknowledged and fixed this problem caused by a small humble plastic cog in the drive system especially with all the expensive sophisticated electronics functioning flawlessly. This tiny part probably costs less than 1/10 of 1 cent on a $300-$400 dollar appliance! Shameful! But all owners of these otherwise sturdy and handsome Panasonic DVD players can get years of excellent return on your investment if you take the plunge and fix your own LS model if and when the dreaded HO3 message occurs! Yes it takes a leap of faith in this technological age to unscrew the back of an electronic appliance (need I say that it should not be plugged into the power!) and fiddle about with the inner workings. However this is a simple mechanical fix easily performed by anyone with the courage to not discard their $350 machine without some intervention! I must emphasise that in practice it is a bit fiddly but very straightforward and easy. Your biggest pain will be to carefully remove and store the screws you take out - drop one and you'll spend 15 minutes on the floor hunting for it!

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After 90 days, $200 gets you a replacement

Worked well for a short time. After the 90 day full warranty, however, returning my unit to the Service Center in Texas yielded an offer of $200 plus shipping for a replacement refurbished unit. Given that price, you would have shelled out well over $500 for a portable player and only have another 90 days of coverage.

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