tv/vcr combos for car trip. Rent or buy?

[LisaNJ25]

We are renting a chevy astro mini van for our trip down to the world next month. I was hoping alamo had the tv/vcr combos to rent but they dont.

I remember finding a site last year where you can rent them from but I dont rememebr what is was.

Our main car at home is a Ford Taurus Wagon so long term if we bought one I dont know how often we would use it.

I would love to know if you bought one, where is a good place and an expected price range or if you rented where did you rent it from.

Thanks,

Lisa
52 days and counting AHH

 

[GeorgePA]

We got ours at Best Buy it woirks really well we paid around 239 if i remeber correctly
one of the best investments we made for the trip down. We have used it 2 times so far since we got it for trips to the world and use it when we travel any distance. and serves another purpose as a TV for my daughter once in while when we are watching something that she should probabaly not be watching. at home.

 

[Disney Fool]

you can rent one at SruvivetheDrive.com Good prices and delivery. Very reliable. They also have games and goodies for the kids, and you can rent movies. I think the price was $70 for a week.

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[Minnie's Mate]

We purchased a 9" color TV/VCR combo a couple of years ago. We use it in our sunroom for the kids to watch videos between trips. It operates off of a cigarette adapter/dc/ac. We have used it on trips to the beach and WDW. I couldn't imagine taking a long trip with our now almost 4 yr old without it.

One note of caution, we mount ours on the console between the front seats with tie downs with buckles. Make sure you have a method of securing it. An apple has a force equal to 25 LBS in an accident. Imagine how much force a 25 LBS tv would have if you had to slam on brakes or swerve to miss something unexpected on the road.

Also, our TV has a speaker on the left side, so the driver got an earfull. We stopped on our last trip and purchased a cheap pair of portable CD player speakers at Walmart for $10.00 and put them in the backseat so the driver wouldn't loose hearing in the right ear. The sound quality is not that great, but its better than a half deaf driver!! lol

Also, the units that survivethedrive.com had a couple of years ago had the flat LCD screens that you can only see clearly if you are looking at it straight on. This means two people in the back seat might not be able to see the screen very well. Imagine the monitor on a notebook computer.

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[curlyjbs]

Hi, I just bought one for our van for our upcomming trip this Oct. Unfortunetly I didn't know you could buy one mounted in a console. I got a free standing one with the lighter adapter thing. Any ideas how I can mount it in the van safely?
Thanks.

 

[master yoda]

bumping!
How would you mount them?

 

[momothree]

We have had one of these for several years and have mounted it several ways depending on the vehicle. The van we have now has flip down seats. We slide one all the way up and use bunjee cords to attach it to the headrest support poles. We also put a non slip carpet pad thing under it and it has never moved an inch.

When we rode in another vehicle without flip down seats we put it on top of a milk crate between the two front seats and again used bungee cords to attach it to the headrest.

Our three boys love it and we plan to watch Disney videos all the way to Orlando!

 

[Momto2Minnies]

We purchased one at Costco last summer for $239. It was great for our summer trip that was an 8 hour drive. We also folded down a van seat and bungee corded it in place. We did not have any problems with it moving. The kids used headphones (like walkman ones) so we didn't have to hear the tv. We listened to the radio. If you have more than one child you can get an adapter at radio shack that allows you to hook up extra headphones. This was a very worthwhile purchase for us.

 

[BCAMom]

I highly recommend buying one. We use it A LOT. We have used it in a Chevy Blazer and Mazda 626. We secure it with bungee cords. When it is not in a vehicle we have it in the kitchen so that I can watch TV while cooking. You can also hook up video games such as N64 (which helps to pass time). We bought ours at Sam's Club for about $235.

 

[SueM in MN]

Bungee cords are not a safe way to mount anything. In an accident, everything keeps going forward at a force of its weight times the speed it was going at, so a 25 pound TV in a 5 mile accident, might hit somethingwith a force of 125 pounds. At 60 miles an hour, it would be 1500 pounds. Bungee cords won't stand that much force. I have seen tie downs with hooks and strapping that pulls tight at Target that are similar to the ones used to tie down wheelchairs. They would be much safer if you can figure out a place to hook them.

SueM in MN
Co-Moderator of disABILITIES

 

[fostrmom2mny]

And it came w/ a TV and seperate VCR. It's great for times when the kids can agree upon what to watch One word of advice, the VCR part plays a clearer picture than the TV in my experiance. Even with a top of the line antenna, our TV will get alot of static when we are around alot of trees and going up and down hills. (In Oklahoma, that's most of the time) It is especially enjoyable at night when it is dark. It gives off some light and the kids most always fall asleep when it is on at night. QUIET TIME!!

 

[glo]

We actually got ours at Walmart a year ago for $189! We used it all the time. We have taken it camping, on our long car trips, As an extra TV when the kids needed one! We have definitely gotten our moneys worth out of it! If the pice was w/in $50-$75 I would buy one!

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[pstepka]

My husband 'mounted' our in the van behind/between the two front seats on a double size milk crate standing on end. He used bungee cords to hold it down. We figured if we were in an accident so severe the tv was flying around, so would all the suitcases, car phone, radios, etc. It worked out good cuz the kids in the back back seat could see it also. It SAVED our ride down -- I don't think my 1-1/2 and 3-1/2 year olds would have survived the trip without alot of screaming and crying along the way if they didn't have their tapes to watch. We taped the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon also so they could just watch t.v. rather than a movie

 

[JulieWent]

Disney Fool - thanks for the tip about Survivethedrive.com . I just checked it out, and it's a great service! I can't believe it exists! We've got one of the nine-inch tv's that we have to strap down, but I worry about the safety issue. I think we'll definitely rent one for our upcoming trip. Thanks again! (It's $99 per week (10 days) now.)

 

[TinkerbellRules]

You'll can always use it on other trips.

I totally agree with SueM about the bungee cords. They won't hold a darned thing. We learned the hard way with my husbands woodstrip canoe. His dad said "oh, I've done this for many years..." I didn't trust it. Darned if we didn't run into 60mph winds that ripped it off the car! Lucky for everyone, there wasn't another car next to us on the interstate. We bought a canoe rack after that!

I had my dad make us something to strap the tv/vcr in with, kind of like a platform which is raised on one end. He makes cabinets so it was hard for him to do. We put it between the two front seats (custom van) and we can't get the platform to come out now since it's extremely tight fitting! We used large straps and wrapped around the unit and the platform. It won't move.

Been there, done that, going back!

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[mar3990]

I dont know which size most people buy but there was one at Sam's club today for $149. I think it was 13 inch. Is this too big for most vans? If you can get one for that price it would be worth buying and using at home to rather than renting.

 

[schmoopie]

There are lots of good deals on tv/vcr combos. I too was worried about the safety issue though and went ahead with a "for the car" designed one. Originally we went to Best Buy because they advertised a tv/vcr that fits in a little bag with straps that go over the two front headrests - that way it will go in any car! Maybe around $300. However, we ended up with an all-in-one tv/vcr console that fits perfectly in the van between the 2 front seats. The only bad thing is the kids have to look down the whole time. My DH thinks this will help them to sleep a lot. (We're driving down in May with 18 month old and 4 year old) I think it will just give them a stiff neck. Anyway...the tv/vcr in the bag was pretty cool. We went with the console because the screen is 9" as opposed to 4". Good luck!