Portable DVD Player

[dbarker]

I am looking into buying a portable DVD player for long trips. We will be in the car for 8 1/2 hours to our "vacation destination" this summer (not WDW ). Anyway, I know nothing about the portable DVD players. I appreciate all responses, reviews and advice.

What features should I look for? What should I stay away from?

Family: DH, Me, DS9.

BTW I get so bored riding in the car. (and flying is really not an option for this trip).

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Michelle67]

I'm no expert on features and such, but my two cents' worth is that we just got the cheapest one we could find. That way, if something happened to it on the trip (we forgot to take it out of the car and it was stolen, one of the kids managed to spill on it or kick it to death, etc) we weren't heartbroken. I'm a huge fan of them. We drove back and forth from WA state to NY three times, plus trips to Disneyland, Canada, etc., and it is the biggest lifesaver ever. Give the kids a movie and a snack and they are great travellers. Ours recently died, which probably had a lot to do with my four year old son. But we had it for about six years, and definitely feel like we got our money's worth out of it!

 

[wdw_girl_18]

I also bought the cheapest one I could find. It cost about $50 and works great. It even came with a battery so it didn't have to be plugged in all the time, a case to hold it, and a car charger. I think any portable dvd player will be fine for you! they seem to hold up pretty well

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

Reviews on Amazon. com and other big box retail store sites can be helpful. I just bought one of the more expensive ones for my 14 year old. Having read the reviews, I felt it was worth the extra money - guess I shouldn't say that on the budget board

 

[dbarker]

Reviews on Amazon. com and other big box retail store sites can be helpful. I just bought one of the more expensive ones for my 14 year old. Having read the reviews, I felt it was worth the extra money - guess I shouldn't say that on the budget board

For us, it will be kind of like an investment. Probably a one time only buy. We will use it for the trips this summer and on the plane going to WDW in the future. It will not be in the car constantly. My DS would probably destroy it on "accident". (Everything is an "accident" w/ him )

Can you play games w/ the DVD players also, or just movies?

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I am pretty sure you can plug in your Playstation (at least PS2 - we don't have 3). Ours also plays the DVD +R's - or the homemade DVD's I have made from recording movies on our DVD recordable machine at home. This was one thing my son wanted as we have a lot of those DVD's and also we made DVD's of his baseball games we recorded from our home video recorder.

Our is the new Sony DVP - FX820. It has an 8" screen and great resolution. We paid $179 at Sears, and it is on sale this week at Target for $179 + $20 gift card.

Any player you buy will be hard to see in daytime driving conditions - keep in mind.

 

[dbarker]

Any player you buy will be hard to see in daytime driving conditions - keep in mind.

Wow, thanks for that heads up. I had no idea. . I've never had one or used one before. I am totally clueless. I'm just trying to get as much info as possible before I actually go to the stores w/ the sales people.

 

[autumnsmommy]

I've seen the plug things for laptops, couldn't you just use a laptop and watch the DVDs on it, or is that a bad idea for the laptop?? We had a portable DVD player that now sounds like it's grinding gears. Maybe it just needs to be cleaned, not sure.
While it lasted it was a good investment, just for no "I'm bored" going down the road, and getting stopped in construction, etc. Had no problem seeing it in daytime, but the viewing angle can affect that, too.

 

[Michelle67]

We never had any problem with daytime viewing either, but then again we have a minivan with pretty dark tinted windows.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

We never had any problem with daytime viewing either, but then again we have a minivan with pretty dark tinted windows.

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply you couldn't see it, but just like a movie theater, it looks better in darker conditions.

The problem with viewing DVD's on a laptop is the battery life on a laptop is fairly limited - around 2 hours tops I believe. The portable DVD player we bought has a 6 hour life.

 

[autumnsmommy]

Sorry - I didn't mean to imply you couldn't see it, but just like a movie theater, it looks better in darker conditions.

The problem with viewing DVD's on a laptop is the battery life on a laptop is fairly limited - around 2 hours tops I believe. The portable DVD player we bought has a 6 hour life.

I saw an auto-plug adaptor at Wallyworld for about $30, still cheaper than most DVD players, and I'd have a way bigger screen. The only thing would be no menu buttons for DVD menu, no remote, either.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

I saw an auto-plug adaptor at Wallyworld for about $30, still cheaper than most DVD players, and I'd have a way bigger screen. The only thing would be no menu buttons for DVD menu, no remote, either.

That's actually not a bad idea - never thought of that. My laptop does have on screen controls for playing DVD's. Hmmmmmm interesting idea!

 

[dbarker]

Thanks for all the replies. Even though the laptop may be a good idea for some, it is not for us. Both DH has a laptop...for work. So, I will be getting us a portable DVD player - that plugs into the car.

Now, I just have to figure out which features I might want.