Portable DVD Player for Car?

[Lisa3]

On our last 2 trips we have used our 9" TV/VCR in the car to keep the kid occupied. I have started looking into a portable DVD for our next trip since they seem to be coming down in price. We have 3 kids so I don't want one with the tiny screen and I don't want to buy three screens. I have seen some systems that hang between the front two seats like our TV with 8" or 10" screens. Does anyone have any info or experience with these systems?

 

[BillPA]

Can't help with your question, but have you looked at a low end laptop with a DVD player? You will get a 12-14 inch screen, and a computer in the $500 range, or less if you get a used one.

Good luck.

 

[mom2boys77]

Hi..we bought a portable tv/dvd player on clearance from target a few weeks ago for $143!!!!It even came with the bag to put it in with the straps to hang it between the seats. When we bought it, we had a very small car and it was took up too much space but we bought a new minivan last week and it fits great in there. It has a big screen too and both of my kids can see it. I don't know if Target still has them but I'd definitely check it out. Hope that helps!! Barbara

 

[Lisa3]

Thanks for the quick responses. I looked at the one in Target but it is the same size as the TV we have. I was looking at the portable DVD players because they take up less room between the seats (would give DH more elbow room on that long drive).

I also looked into the laptop options but I really need a good laptop for my husband's business and we just replaced our desktops. The laptop will have to wait until next year.

Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[VA_mouseman]

We have an Audiovox brand (can't recall model #) portable DVD player which we've used once for a long car trip. We had it hanging between the two front seats of the minivan, and the two kids in the middle row each could see the screen just fine.

We were initially concerned about the size of the screen (small) but the proximity of the screen to the face is pretty close. It does have the capability of having a second screen added to the player, so each child can have their own screen.

We also bought two headphones so we wouldn't have to hear all the movies during the 10 hour trip!

Overall, an excellent investment.

(kids don't know we bought it. We told them we 'rented' it for the car trip. That way, they won't be asking us to watch movies every day they're in the car!)

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Good move VA_mouseman! I'd like to buy one also, but the thought of dealing with the DD's trying to wrangle a tape every trip would drive me nutty!

 

[DeeCeeSW]

We traveled to WDW with our Mintek 5.8" Portable DVD Player with a case that has straps that attach to the front seats and had great success. Our son had no complaints about the size, etc. We got the player at Target about 6 months ago for somewhere around $200 (I just learned we paid $225). However, we too just purchased a minivan and it has a DVD player installed, so we are in the market to sell our portable. I don't normally use this forum/thread to sell my wares, but if anyone is interested in a slightly used but in excellent condition player and case, feel free to PM me.

 

[Nebsky]

I bought a Panasonic LA95 Portable DVD player in Jan for our trip in March to WDW.

It was great. I almost went with the lower priced dvd players like Audiovox, Mytek, Initial, but after reasearch found that these overheated and stopped working. Sure if you buy them from like Walmart, Circuit City, you can return them and get a new one, but I really didnt want to go searching for a store on my drive down there. Some of the lower priced ones have issues on the screens too. In sunlight you cant see them as well. No problem with this one.

Mine was just the DVD player itself. Has a 9 inch screen which is great. It also came with plugs to hook into the TV. No car adaptor, but I got one on ebay for 39.95. Much cheaper than the panasonic one that they wanted for 149.00. I also purchased a carrying case and a head phone spliter (so two people can listen to the same thing). Case came with straps to mount hanging between seats, on seat or straped to center console) We put it on the center console and had no problems viewing from either side of vehical. If you own a car with a tape deck, buy the converter so that you can listen to the movie through the Car Stereo system. Listening to movies helped me..It plugs into the headphone out and is in the shape of a cassette tape. If you dont have a tape deck in your car, they make one that will broadcast on an FM station of your choosing. Tape deck accessory is about 20.00. The FM broadcaster is like 35.00

I bought mine for 699, but got a rebate of 75.00 on it so it was down to 624.99. About a month later, I saw it again at Circuit city (where I bought it) for 524.00 I thought this was a misprint so I took it to the customer service center. They credited me the 100 bucks and gave me an additional 10% back.

I would choose a name brand and not go anything less than 7inches viewable screen. Wouldnt choose a Laptop as someone else has suggested. Granted it is a bigger screen, but its hard to strap down and could become a projectile if there was an accident.

Good luck in your decision...