Portable DVD Player for the Car HELP!

[LovingDisney2012]

I am contemplating buying a set of portable DVD players for my car, primarily for our trip to Disney. I have two small VERY active children that are going to be bored to death during the drive to WDW. So, I am thinking I can entertain them with Disney movies.
I have been researching portable DVD players and keep seeing horrible reviews. Can anyone recommend a good set of DVD players (if not a set, a good one I could buy two of)? I have been leaning towards the dual sets that can play the same of different DVDs, but still can't find any great reviews. I want the kind that strap to the headrest, not the kind that can be held (my kids are too small, they would drop or damage them).
Looking forward to your input!
Thanks!!!

 

[wdw4rfam]

My kids all (3) have the cheap Dynex from Best Buy. The reviews are terrible for them, but we have had good luck with them. We have had all 3 for about 3-4 years, and the first one just went last month. The other 2 are fine. The only problem is make sure you have enough power outlets for both. Although it said 2 hour battery, it was more like 45 minutes. My van had only 2 outlets, and we have 3 kids with DVD players, and our GPS, and phone chargers, so it was crazy. We bought a new van with the DVD built in (not the only reson). Now we just make them take turns picking the movie. But even though the Dynex has bad reviews, and did when I bought them, they were good for us. My dad the electronics guy, say that they aren't built great, so go cheap, then your not out a bunch of money. But I think we did Ok.

 

[Pesky]

We have the sony with the 9" screen and remote control. Great battery life. I would look into a regular portable one and get the car adapter so that it can sit between the seats or on the back of one of them. Look on amazon for portable dvd car accessory and you'll find them! I also got the kids special headphones from kidzgear and those have been great and very comfortable for them if you would prefer not to hear the movie.

 

[LovingDisney2012]

My kids all (3) have the cheap Dynex from Best Buy. The reviews are terrible for them, but we have had good luck with them. We have had all 3 for about 3-4 years, and the first one just went last month. The other 2 are fine. The only problem is make sure you have enough power outlets for both. Although it said 2 hour battery, it was more like 45 minutes. My van had only 2 outlets, and we have 3 kids with DVD players, and our GPS, and phone chargers, so it was crazy. We bought a new van with the DVD built in (not the only reson). Now we just make them take turns picking the movie. But even though the Dynex has bad reviews, and did when I bought them, they were good for us. My dad the electronics guy, say that they aren't built great, so go cheap, then your not out a bunch of money. But I think we did Ok.

From what I have seen so far, it sounds like your dad is right.

 

[miami305]

Buy whatever Best Buy has on sale, then spend the extra money for a well padded travel case. Buy a splitter so both kids can listen at the same time. The carrying bag will come with a headrest strap. We've never needed that option. The kids are seatbelted in, you're a few feet from them, and the DVD player is cushioned. I think holding the player helps them sit still. We've used DVD player with 2yr olds and never had a problem. Good luck!

 

[Meesh201]

My FIL purchased the Phillips 2 screen Blu-Ray/DVD player for the kids at Christmas last year. The kids have to pick one movie that is set up in the monitor that has the player, then there are wires that connect it to the other monitor. They have straps that attach them to the headrests, there is a remote, and the screen size is good (9 inch?). The only drawback is that there is no battery for it, so we could not use it on an airplane, but we usually travel by car anyway. The quality seems good, they are sturdy, and we have been very happy with the performance.

 

[HotMama]

We got the Philips dual screen portable dvd players that strap around the headrests. Best money ever spent. We bought them at Sam's Club. The kids can watch the same movie or seperate movies. There is a place for headphones if watching 2 different movies. We love them!

 

[lindsmom]

We got the Philips dual screen portable dvd players that strap around the headrests. Best money ever spent. We bought them at Sam's Club. The kids can watch the same movie or seperate movies. There is a place for headphones if watching 2 different movies. We love them!

Ditto - best purchase ever! Of course, we have a significant age difference between our two, so what DD10 watches is, um, distinctly different from what DS2 enjoys!

We also purchased a good set of earphones for our son, because the ear buds that our daughter uses won't work for him. The headphones we bought for him are lightweight, but have separate volume control to allow us to protect his ears even more.

 

[miami305]

I drought they all had batteries. Whoops! Be sure to check. For us, the use on the plane was a critical as car rides. They units lasted 3yrs and that was with the kids using them at home.

 

[BeveMom]

Whatever brand you get, make sure it has a good remote so you can use it from the front seat. For whatever reason, the volume control ON the unit for ours stopped working, and I can only adjust it with the remote now. :-(

 

[theworldneedscolor]

My little sister, 12 at the time, and our 13 year old cousin dropped our DVD player on the cement and cracked the screen at a rest stop when I was snoozing. Both say they didn't do it, but I highly doubt it was my mother or sleeping me. Very mysterious...

Anyways, the point to that story is that the risk of dropping it doesn't really decrease as they get older So I would go with whatever has the best price and is going to be somewhat durable. The quality of the screen really doesn't matter for kids, they are fine with whatever! I personally wouldn't purchase them individually, they should be able to share. My sister and I did for many years! Headphones splitters are a must though, you won't want to be listening to that the whole trip

 

[Mrs.viv07]

We have this one for about a year what I love about it is how the screen swivels all the way around and then lays flat so LO can't mess around with the buttons. It's lasted through falls and worse. I actually just ordered a second one so my other one can watch his own movies.and its the best price I can find. I also just got these from eBay for the other car at that price it can't be beat...guess I'll see how they turn out soon enough.

 

[chloe888]

The best way I choose is searching on some authoritative websites for suitable stores as justcardvd to get a highquality car DVD player , avoiding the cheating behavior, I choose EBay.

 

[Cobern]

We have gotten a RCA and a Phillips. The RCA are awesome, only problem is DD is so tall she can push the buttons with her feet while driving . Haven't tried the Phillips ye but will on our trip to Disney next month.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Years ago I debated getting a portable DVD player, but didn't want to spend the extra money so I just let the kids use my laptop. It worked great, the screen was much bigger than any portable, so we just use that for al our road trips now. I bought a cigarette lighter adapter for the plug so I never worry about the battery draining. I also bought a headphone splitter so they both can hear it and DH and I can listen to our audiobooks.

I found a picture of our setup. The laptop is strapped to a small crate so they both can see it.

 

[brooke789]

We have these. We've had these for over a year. They play the same dvd and we've been completely happy with them. The ONLY thing that is missing is a remote control. My twins were rear facing for nearly the first year we had them and if there was a problem w/the dvd or it got stuck on a menu you had to stop the car to get out press a button. Now they're forward facing, so you can reach back and hit a button for them.

We didn't own any dvds until recently (until booking our first WDW trip actually) and mainly checked out stuff from the library. But with library discs we had some problems w/them not being able to play b/c they were so severely scratched. Sometimes we could play the same discs in the laptop, but wouldn't play in this player.

 

[poohfriend77]

We didn't own any dvds until recently (until booking our first WDW trip actually) and mainly checked out stuff from the library. But with library discs we had some problems w/them not being able to play b/c they were so severely scratched. Sometimes we could play the same discs in the laptop, but wouldn't play in this player.

Unfortunately, we've had the same problem at our library. The portable units seem to be more sensitive or something.

We have had good luck renting from Redbox, though. Yes, you have to pay, but you can get in it one town and return it hundreds of miles down the road. It was a lifesaver on our last roadtrip, when the DVD players made it into the car, but the box of DVDs didn't.

 

[GPFirefly]

We have used this one from RCA for a few years without any issues and would buy another in a heartbeat. RCA DRC6272.

 

[set1208]

We go through them every year or so. We get the two screen sets that can play the same DVD or different ones, depending on who wants to watch what. We've had about four different sets so far but my kids are rough and I would often just leave them set up, even when they weren't being used so that may have contributed to their short lives. I think our most recent set is an RCA and its held on well for a while. One trick we use is to get large elastic bands to keep the lids closed tight. I've noticed that the door pops just slightly open a lot and skips the DVD, especially on bumpy roads. The elastic minimizes this.

 

[RachaelA]

We got the Philips dual screen portable dvd players that strap around the headrests. Best money ever spent. We bought them at Sam's Club. The kids can watch the same movie or seperate movies. There is a place for headphones if watching 2 different movies. We love them!

We have these and have had no real problems with them. Our only "problem" is that DD is still RFing so she sometimes kicks the DVD player and hits fastforward with her foot