Seven inch portable DVD players allow people to enjoy their favorite movies and even music while on the go. The latest models are available in sizes that are not much bigger than those comparable to the old Sony Discman line of portable CD players. Even larger 10 inch portable DVD players aren't that much bigger. Such small form factors are a large part of their popularity, and falling prices have made 7 inch portable DVD players affordable gifts to give, something interesting and seemingly high-end without actually costing a lot of money when compared to other kinds of electronics.

Such affordability has made these devices popular in no simultaneously stranger or more appropriate place than the New York City subway system. 7 inch DVD players make some of the most fitting companions for an underground train ride, for obvious reasons, but for equally obvious reasons they can seem out of place, insofar as the negative reputation of the subways can make any kind of fancy electronics a magnet for characters best not met!

Yet it is also precisely such affordability that makes 7 inch DVD players nothing to risk a confrontation over. Their resell value is miniscule and now just about everyone has one, or could get one due to the low prices. And so they are a common sight these days, rivaling pulp fiction and subway advertisements for the attention of straphangers daily.

Another unexpected place to find these portable players are in the Chinese take-out joints that dot Brooklyn, particularly those neighborhoods with middle-class Chinese such as Midwood, Gravesend, and Bensonhurst. The counterperson can sometimes be found following some downloaded soap opera or other, especially when business is slow. More often than not, it is the owner him or herself who has decided on this form of relaxation and entertainment.

Indeed, devices like these tend to be much more popular in Asia, particularly gadget-crazy Japan, where the DVD specifications were first promulgated by an industry consortium consisting mostly of Japanese companies. The successor format to the DVD, Blu-ray Disc, was also invented in Japan, but no portable player for this yet exists, with mainstream adoption only beginning to pick up this year, after many years.

DVD portability may not even count for much in the years soon to come. Everything is becoming ever smaller, and big five-inch discs can seem more and more cumbersome, even if left in the player, which will be at least a couple of inches larger!