The latter is what most consumers prefer since they can easily focus or position the LCD monitor in a way that they won’t strain their neck and arms. NextBase, as one of the few brands to create such trendy DVD players in the market, was kind enough to lend us one of their latest tablet DVD player. It was quite portable and light it only weighs 1.3 kilograms. The NextBase SDV1102 Tablet DVD player surely won't just sit on top of your room table.

The SDV1102 has a black matte finish that has a rubber coating feel to it. The buttons below the LCD display and the boarder around have a silver finish. Unlike other NextBase DVD players with the same design, there is no slip-in drive located at either side simply because all discs should be placed underneath the LCD display.

Yes, the LCD display can be lifted up by releasing the sliding lock located at the bottom side of the player. This may be a minus factor for this model, but NextBase added a few things that users can take into consideration. Like other portable DVD players, it has two built-in speakers located on the sides of the LCD. The speakers may be small but it emits adequate audio that is loud enough to fill a small room.

The player can be viewed or mounted in several ways. The SDV1102 is meant to be placed almost anywhere imaginable. It can be mounted on a car’s headrest with the supplied headrest mount if you can’t afford to install a permanent LCD monitor inside your car. The headrest mount is strapped using Velcro so there’s no need to put any holes on your headrest.

You can also mount it on a wall using the VESA wall mounting bracket. Now this will required you to drill holes on your wall but it won’t stay permanent since the bracket will just slide snap in. If you don’t want holes on your wall, the SDV1102 has a built-in support stand at the back that will make it stand like a picture frame. It is also adjustable depending on your preferred angle.

The SDV1102 can play DVD-Video 12-centimeter or 8- centimeter, single-layer or double-layer discs or regular CD discs of the same sizes. It can play formats such as JPEG images, MP3 and WMA (Windows Media Audio) digital audio, DAT, VOB, MPEG2, and MPEG4 (AVI, DVI) video files. Aside from playing with the different medium mentioned above, you can also play those various audio and video files from a Secure Digital (SD) card, Multimedia card (MMC), Memory Stick or Memory Stick-Pro memory card. You can just plug it in at the card slot located at the left side of the player beside the USB port (which is both protected by a rubber cover). Too bad I wasn’t able to try and play both audio and video files from a flash disk

So, aside from playing videos with it, you can also put in your favorite audio disc (either on DVD or CD). If listening to the same music again and again gets you bored, the SDV1102 has a built-in FM tuner. It’s quite tricky to go to this feature and you have to press the “Adjust’ button. Once pressed, a set of adjustments can be chosen and the FM mode is the second choice from the right. Select enter to activate the FM tuner and you can search for your favorite station by using the fast rewind/forward or jump to previous/next buttons.

Another great thing about the SDV1102 is its capability to become a mini-television. It has an ATV/CATV type aerial input located at the left side where you will plug the supplied ATV antenna. Then, press the “Mode” button and choose the ATV function and you can start watching your favorite TV program. Although using this function may require you to place the SDV1102 near a window or somewhere it can receive television signals to get a clear channel.

NextBase was also kind enough to include various accessories like an accessory bad where you can put in the AV cable, the car power cable, earphones, ATV antenna, and remote control. The package also came in with the player’s own carrying bag which is like a laptop sleeve.

What’s not to like in the NextBase SDV1102 Tablet DVD player? It’s like a portable media player only that it is not capable of storing files within it. It can still function as a regular DVD or VCD by simply connecting it a TV. The only thing that this all-in-one player is a battery compartment so that it can still function even when there’s no electricity.