Portable DVD Player

[MamaCrush]

We're considering investing in a portable DVD player system for our trip from NC to Port Canaveral for our cruise in January. Anyone have any recommendations? We drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee, but will be renting a minivan for our trip. DD will be 3 and DS will be almost 5.

Any recommendations or thoughts?

 

[GlenelgMom]

We have a Panasonic. Got it from a great online company www.onecall.com. - highly recommend them.
You can also get a case for it from them that attaches to the back seats of your Cherokee (kind of hangs with loops), so the kiddos can watch it in the backseats, but you still have the portability of bringing into hotel rooms, on your cruise, etc.
We love ours - taking it with us when we cruise in December! Have fun shopping!

 

[MamaCrush]

Thanks GlenelgMom!

This may sound crazy, but is it possible to get two screens (price tag and technology permitting, of course!)? We have two little ones in the back and if we attach it to a head rest (preferable) the other child will have trouble viewing.

Again, any thoughts?

 

[RF536]

I bought a portable DVD player at Walmart this past spring. The unit comes with 2 screens that tilt and can be easily attahed to the back of the seats, a carry case, remote control and connections to allow it to run off the car or off of a standard outlet in your house. The price was about $275.

This has been a life saver for us this summer with 2 boys ages 3 and 1. The unit is easy to hook-up and take down and operate.

 

[Brian Noble]

We have a Polaroid 7" that we like quite a bit. We put it on the little table between the driver and front passenger seat---everyone in the second row and most folks in the third can see it just fine.

As for two sets of headphones: ours doesn't have a second jack, but I bought a splitter at Radio Shack for a few bucks, and it works for us.

 

[MamaCrush]

RF536, I think I love you!

I can always count on these boards...

 

[metivier]

Originally posted by RF536
I bought a portable DVD player at Walmart this past spring. The unit comes with 2 screens that tilt and can be easily attahed to the back of the seats, a carry case, remote control and connections to allow it to run off the car or off of a standard outlet in your house. The price was about $275.

We have this Durabrand DVD player as well and it has been wonderful! We ordered ours from Walmart.com instead of buying it at the store.

Karen

 

[kldmom2000]

We just bought the Eddie Bauer Audiovox one with the 7" screen and holes for 2 sets of headphones for this very reason-it went onsale yesterday at Target for $199-too good of a deal to pass up! The girls gave it a "test" run in the car the other day when we went on a short road trip! It works great and the girls loved it!

 

[ckckc2000]

My Dad just purchased my children a dvd/mp3/cd/game player from Sam's club for under 200.00-It's great because it does two things at once-the two little ones can watch DVD's while my teen can play his game system all at the same time-the system comes with 2-7" screens and it also comes with a carrying case that can be placed between the front seat of a minivan-We go on vacation next week-13hr drive to NC/GA and can't wait to try it out. My teen already hooked it up to try it out and it's really easy to set up- The brand is Mobile DVD- GG2gear-it comes with a power outlet cord for the car,and a cord for in the home too-it also has a romote,two ear phones and the DVD player has attachments for two ear phones-it was a great deal!!!

 

[Lollipop Mom]

If you have a BrandsMart USA near you, check them out. We have a factory installed TV with VCR in our minivan that has been a lifesaver for us. My parents bought a portable DVD player for the kids last year and it's been great to have too. We were just at BrandsMart USA and my Mom bought a second one for only $114. It was too good of a deal to pass up and now my boys can each watch their own or they can watch one together. That will be nice too for this upcoming trip!

 

[HappyLawyer]

just got one for our trip there is even ropes and case to put in in the back of the seats in the rental car, we can use it at the hotel and the plane 188.00 best buy and walmart same price 7 inch panosonic if you get the 4 yr warr then 79 more

 

[alloyd1170]

We have a Panasonic and its done a lot of traveling! I too got a carry bag that has a suspension system. You can hang it on the back of one seat, or inbetween the two. Since we only have one child right now, we hang it from his seat. Be sure to check and see if yours comes with a car charger. We had to get ours separately. It wasnt cheap either, but it has an adapter that can be used on airplanes, though we havent come across a seat with a plug yet. I havent been on a long flight with it yet, but I charge it up beforehand, and if we have a connecting flight, I charge it up at the gate. You cant charge and watch it at the same time though. Also, by reducing the brightness, it adds time to the battery life. If youre going to be doing a lot of long flights, you might want to invest in another battery.

alison

 

[hokiefan33]

We bought the Durabrand (Walmart) brand before our last trip to WDW in July '04. It had the player and 2 detachable screens, for about $279 or so. Worked fine for the trip down and back, and worked fine for about 3 weeks afterward, then it just quit playing DVDs. It would power on, and the DVD would spin, but it would not play it at all. I double-checked all the connections and settings, but everything was the way it had always been, so it appeared to be a problem with the DVD player itself. No problem, I took it back to Walmart for an exchange (be sure you're within a 45 day window and have a receipt, by the way, which I did) for the very same thing, figuring I probably just had a lemon. This new one worked fine for about 3 weeks, then all of a sudden it had the same problem. Would power on and spin the DVD, but not play it. Again, all connections were fine, so I'm not sure what the problem was. Anyhow, I took it back for a cash refund that time. Went to Circuit City and got a Sony portable DVD player in a hard case that can be suspended between the seats. Works much better, and feels much sturdier, since it's encased in a hard case rather than just a flimsy Walkman-style player. Only drawback is it has only one screen, but you can buy another screen if you really need one. Got it at CC for about $169, and very pleased.

I may have just bought into a bad lot of the Durabrand players at Walmart, b/c others have said they were fine with no problems, but I'm very pleased with the Sony.