Instruction: Generate an answer to the question by utilizing the information contained in the document.

Input:
Question: Is this player region-free? If not, what's the best region-free portable DVD player for a 5 year old?
Document: I bought this unit for my 83 year old Mom. The unit is easy to operate and very intuitive  which was important for her to be able to use it. While a 9" screen isn't huge it is one of the biggest available in the portable DVD Market. It has a very nice clear picture and the ability to swivel the display is a really nice feature. The sound isn't great  but its not bad given the size of the unit. I think the unit works best with a pair of headphones.
I did a product search on Amazon for a region free portable dvd player and this was one of the nicer ones I was shown. When it arrived I tried some of the DVDs I have from Europe and Asia and it wouldn't play them. So I've had to return it.So if like me you've been shown this when you searched for a "region free portable dvd player" don't make the same mistake I did! This only plays American DVDs.
I bought this DVD player for our three year old for traveling. It is very easy to use, has a great picture and sound, and best of all it has a SIX hour battery that really lasts that long. Perfect for flying because it actually lasts the entire flight!
At first, I was just happy that the buttons didn't really look like buttons. My two year old will push every circle in sight. Then I was thrilled to discover the "hold" button on the side of this portable DVD player. So far she hasn't discovered the hold and power switches that are on the side.Unfortunately, the "open" button doesn't lock when HOLD is pushed and it's placed prominently on the top of the player.
My first portable DVD player was an Intex (?) and it worked very nicely. I gave it away to he four-year-old granddaughter of a dear friend, and treated myself to this 9-inch screen model, and found the small increase in screen size to be a large increase in viewing pleasure. I used it daily at a very low-pressure job (I just had to be there), and found it a life and sanity-saver.
This is a great dvd player. We have a 3year old and have tried 3 different dvd players. This one is the best by far and the price on amazon is great. It is wonderful to have such a long battery life and durability is important with our 3 year old. The first dvd player we had was broken by our toddler within a week.
We bought this a couple of years ago for our then 4 year old daughter for long airplane and car rides. It works really well and has amble battery life for about 5 hours of constant use.
I can hang it between the two front seats and it is plenty large for all those in the back seat to see.Didn't originally see the value of soft-touch keys but now like the fact that my 3 year old daughter isn't tempted to touch them as she is with traditional buttons. Keys are very resonsive and remote is great addition. Works well from any angle.I highly recommend this product to anyone who realizes they are buying a 9-inch portable dvd player and not a 50 inch flat screen.
I bought this DVD player for a 12 hour road trip with a five and seven year old and this worked great. they both figured out how to work it better than I could in a few minutes.
I love Sony products because they usually never break. So, I paid the premium to get this portable DVD player. After 3 weeks, the LCD screen stopped working. It now flickers, has a line through it and shows incorrect colors (almost like a film negative). I tried everything I could think of to "reset" the screen but nothing worked. It's under warranty so I'm sending it in to be fixed for free. However, I will only get a "refurbished" unit back.
Answer: Apparently this unit can't be made region-free.I bought the Philips DCP951/37 (saving some bucks), which, like with any Philips DVD player, can be made region-free by punching a few codes (a once in its lifetime operation). The code is easily searchable.Life's too short to deal with the region-lock BS.